Brailer Scoop - November 2013

Nominations are open for board seats through nov 1

October 1-november1 nominations are open for the '4 seats currently being held by Mitch eide, Jeremy Jensen and Troy thomassen in the Alaska seats

And al Jacklet in the non-Alaska seat


Email nomination
Post them here
Call on my cell
Or write and send in a nomination


The nominee must be a fully paid seas member whom we'd like to work hard and well with other in a open minded but unified forum of leaders of the SE seine fleet.  This is what makes SEAS tick- teamwork


Thanks


Bobbythorstenson

Ps....hope you all had great seasons

May newsletter coming soon

Very soon.

For those SEAS business members who haven't had a clean shot at a couple paragraph piece in awhile, here's your shot.  If you want something in, you have around 2-3 weeks to send it either physically to our box or to my email address.

Seas ed as well as office staff, Tom Meiners, will both be on the water soon but not before we get one last newsletter out to members.

Have a great spring, or what is left of it, and ou should be seeing a new newsletter out in 3-4 weeks.

A lighter spring than last year, who we had a board of fish cycle, a ETJ hearing and a round of buyback to deal with.

Nonetheless, we are working behind the scenes on ETJ and working to further more enhanced salmon production to enhance the trollers position and help gillnetters and seiners as well in an all benefit from rising tides position on enhanced allocation .


Bobbyt

SEAS ED

Mr.Bacon retires from the PSC

Seldom would I recognize a person in leadership capacity through whom I could communicate and collaborate so that our  concurring goals and of the goals of those around us, in the commercial fishing community, become the force, the unremitting, powerful force of which could then, with strategic thinking, rational planning and intense co-mingling of forces of personalites..... that amazing place where the will of the larger, through individual connections, can become the mentor-pupil quality, the latter in which I delighted for years.   I could look at JB from the back of the room, shake my head as he spoke and we would concurrently run the room.  Peckham would take over with some finance report, budget, etc etc, but aside from the big picture, he tackled the more technical issues revolving around SEAS at the time.  JB would get on a political role, get the SEAS board believing his trip-- with Knowles alot through 2001 late.  JB wasn't perfect.  I'm not perfect.  I like JB as a great friend..  Had we better vacation planning, I believe we'd spend at least a weekend and a half out hunting mallards.

And so it is with great pleasure that I give you the career of Jim Bacon.  A career that consisted of contributions in skippering the Wavedancer( Prior to 2001, JB had the Eleanor), and seining in SEAlaska for 26 years, 19 as a skipper.  Jim served on the SEAS board from around 1989 to 2002 and as a member of the Pacific Salmon Commission, ending the final 7 years as Alternate Commissioner for Alaska for the US Department of Commerce at the request of the great State of Alaska.  Jim recently resigned at the end of 2012 after a 21 year career Alaskan diplomat, having served the state at both the great junctures

Perhaps it was after working with this magic that inspired us to work on the great issues of the day.
JB had this business like a steel trap.  He was back and forth from DC at least 7-8 times a year for about a decade and a half.

I would like to think that there are other great thinkers out there and they too are recongnizing that it's quite a different fishery from the days of his beginnings.  JB will tell ya that the Brindle family, specifically Joe if I remember his story right because this is about JB, some close friends and some good luck got JB in the game and then he balanced the skill and expertise to run a seiner for nearly 2 decades.

Jim Bacon.  Unparralled in SEAS history and in his impact to the fleet over the past 2 decades, SEAS would like to call to your attention that 8 different Gentlemen pitched in to buy JB a Lifetime  $6500 membership.

Congratulations, JB  YOU rock forever in the halls of fame at SEAS.    Right up there with Ole, Joe, John, Greg,..........you could go on and on..... you get the picture.

Fleet consolidation a no go

The latest round generated little enthusiasm on behalf of the number or the prices of bidders and permits.

So there will be no further fleet consolidation attempts until further notice.

Just an FYI

Bidders will be shortly notified by the SRA.

Brailer Scoop - Jan. 2013

To MSC or not to MSC

So the state is having a big pow-wow with PSVOA this coming Monday over the boards  decision to stick it out with MSC so that Silver Bay Seafoods could go it alone.

This is a complex issue.

First let's start out with SEAS unequivocal and total non-support of MSC from the outset in the late 1990's when then-Gov Knowles administration welcomed the MSC folks in to get the trophy of certifying the worlds best managed commercial fishery-Alaska Salmon.  SEAS, under the leadership of Jim Bacon at that time, determined that the short-term, feel good of having the MSC label would be short-lived and would not be worth the longer term of inviting the Eco-terrorists into the fold to wreak havoc on the Alaska brand.

SEAS is, has always been and will always be opposed to MSC.  The shine of the MSC label began to come off the wrapper in the early 2000's with MSC finagling and harassment of ADFG managers over breaking down Alaska salmon into multiple subdistricts as well as beating up our scientifically sound and and advanced, modern 21st century salmon enhancement practices.  Then the wheels came off when we were traveling in Europe with Governor Murkowski in 2006 and the MSC certifier was on a much ballyhooed rumored cocaine runner in southern California with both our money and our certification.

Shortly thereafter the state of Alaska dumped MSC.  At first ASMI picked up the tab, then AFDF, then finally no one.

Until PSVOA.

SEAS and PSVOA work together on many fronts.  This is not one of them.
But SEAS has no adverse opinion on the very controversial decision by PSVOA to go this course.
It's just not our bag.  Sure we've been adamantly opposed to MSC in Alaska salmon all along.  But then MSC is in several other Alaska species.  They must have just not caused as much mischief in those fisheries, we presume.

Obviously Silver Bay has a relationship they'd like to extend with MSC.  Before it was just down to Silver Bay, Trident was holding on even though Icicle, NPPI, AGS, OBSI had all had enough of MSC.  Once Trident kicked the MSC habit, SBS was left holding the bag.

So why do we bring this up?

The state of Alaska is happy to be going with the new certification program for the rest of he 80% of salmon sold in Alaska but  not while working for the MSC program in addition.  We presume there is a bit of marketplace confusion as well as a lack of staffing to handle both programs.

Having said that, there are some who feel that having both programs gives the marketplace a bit of time to switch as opposed to changing 'cold turkey'.   This is an understandable strategy that seems to allow some grace time between the final weening off of MSC prior to a final departure from using the MSC label.  Of course the financial benefits aren't evenly distributed under this scenario and that is probably one of the major issues here.  It's also confusing the issue for some that MSC must go while it sits on the product lines for potluck, halibut , etc.

SEAS hates MSC.  Always has.  Always will. We're the only state or administrative region in the world that disallows farmed salmon .  Yet we get blasted by MSC ( who certify everything but beluga whaling) for our scientifically sound ocean ranching programs.  MSC set back the Alaska hatchery program by 2 decades, allowing the world farmed salmon countries to eat our proverbial lunch.  MSC is, was and always will be a scam to screw Alaska.

But we are not going to disparage the decision by PSVOA.
These are our brothers and they must have their reasons.