Bristol Bay Fuels of Dillingham and Naknek has put in an order in for 50 quarantine flags, also known as the “Lima flag.” The black and yellow checked flag, sometimes called the “Yellow Jack,” is used to indicate to others that there is a person onboard the vessel who is in quarantine, and to stay away. The term “Yellow Fever” is somehow traced to the use of this flag.
The company has also ordered 50 solid yellow “Quebec Flags,” which indicate the vessel is free from infection.
According to a MRAK source, the flags will arrive around June 1 for the commercial fishing season.
New State health mandates will require much of Alaska’s fishing fleet to have a quarantine flag on board this season. The requirement is only if fishing vessels or their crew members are coming from out of state. All people coming into the state need to quarantine for 14 days, although in many cases, the fishing boats will have been underway for most of that time before they reach the Bristol Bay fishing grounds.
Most of Bristol Bay’s commercial fishing fleet is from Washington state.
What is being done will cause another Great Depression far greater than the one in 1929. This is Madness!!!!! What is President Donald Trump doing to stop this Madness????? Seymour Marvin Mills Jr. sui juris
Most of the Bristol Bay fleet is in dry harbor in Bristol Bay, it’s the crews who go south for the winter.
I have a serious question and maybe someone can answer this for me. Why are the majority of Alaska’s commercial fishing boats from WA state instead of belonging to Alaskans? Why does the fish and crab go out of state for processing and is then shipped back to AK where we have to pay a premium ? I moved to AK from TX and was looking forward to getting some great seafood once I moved to AK at a decent price, much like the fish, shrimp, and crabs you can buy in Texas for a significant discount below market value. Instead i am paying more for crab in AK than I paid for Alaskan crab in Texas!! It’s crazy. Why can’t Alaskans control the fishing and their resources instead of being fished like some 3rd world country? Those are premium jobs and they’re going to people who don’t even live in the state! This needs to change. If Alaska is ever going to develop into a 1st rate state and have a viable middle class then we need to stop this silliness. Also we need to have a railway system which connects us to the lower 48…i was dumbfounded when I found out that the Alaskan Railroad system only serves within the state and doesn’t connect to the Canadian rail system, which would allow us to bring goods from the lower by rail which has to be cheaper than shipping containers. This too needs to stop!
Most of the salmon limited entry permits and small boats are from Alaska. I believe the latest Alaska Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission figures put it at about 75%. It is, however, a much different story for the huge factory trawlers and other draggers where the majority are based out of Washington & Oregon. These are the boats that also account for the obscene levels of bycatch annually. They are also well connected in Congress & the National Marine Fishery Service.
Money, it’s all about money.
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The big dollar operations are mainly out of state interests. The processors are mostly big dollar out of state interests. There are areas in this vast state where local Alaskans own a majority of the permits, these are usually low dollar permits on low producing fisheries and the highliners, if any, live out of state because they can afford to buy an expensive permit and boat and fish for part of the year. From SE all the way to Norton Sound.
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Most fish that are caught in Alaska are minimally processed and sent to China for further processing, saving money. So catching fish in state, minimally processing it, sending it to China to process and create a product then shipping it back to the lower 48 before it gets returned back to the state it was caught in costs money, but is still apparently cheaper than paying the few local processors to do it…that an many Alaskans do the catching and processing for themselves saving the dollars in the process.
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Limited entry has caused some of the problem while it solved others. There are myriad reasons for the problem and few answers to fix the problems. The easiest is to catch and process your own fish.
Robert, the fleet you refer to is mostly from WA state. It’s been like that for untold decades. Reason: WA fleet fishes AK Waters in the summer and then moves down the West Coast in the winter. Large processing boats are all WA based. It’s an historical fact. AK fleet relies on WA for crew, boat parts, skill, and maintenance.
First of all, not all fish is sent out for processing, it stays here for processing. Second, you’re complaining about the price of crab and shrimp comparing it to your state of Texas. That has a very simple answer. Texas is ZERO like Alaska and it’s fishery. The prices your paying are for what it takes for men like many of our friends and families that risk their lives every single opener just to make ends meet. What they endure is what your paying for Sir. Many go out in the Bering and never come home. Every year there are fatalities that need no explanation. You chose to move to Alaska. Ive lived here over fifty years. Things are expensive here more than the lower 48 for a reason. Takes alot to ship anything here, and folks that live here know that. We don’t complain. If you would rather pay a smaller amount for your seafood then maybe you should move back to Texas and eat the oil infused shrimp and crab they are currently eating from the Gulf of Mexico. That is why you are paying less. It’s contaminated.
thank’s for pointing out the processing. The largest crab processing facility in the world is in St. Paul. As for the railroad idea. I am fairly certain when available, marine transportation is cheaper than rail. Here is one example.https://www.maritime-executive.com/editorials/comparing-maritime-versus-railway-transportation-costs It is written by the maritime industry I could not find anything from the rail industry to disprove it.
I was also very surprised when I moved here from Arizona 36 years ago that fish and other seafood weren’t cheaper here. In AZ, local products were much cheaper. It could have helped make up the difference from other things that HAVE to be shipped because they can’t be grown here. It’s never been explained to me in a way I could understand and I think I have at least average intelligence.
As per the Governor himself has stated that mandates are “Strong Suggestions”. So cluck the mandates, to hell with the Fear Mongering. OPEN ALASKA!
LMAO. Global pandemic and he calls it a sham.
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