To Bay, or Not To Bay III
I've been quarantining as well as I can with my family, and keeping track of my temperature, and I plan to get tested for coronavirus before I leave for Bristol Bay.
It's a weird lead up to a weird season, but it always is. That’s what keeps me going back, the fact that every season is tough in its own way, and awesome in its own way.
We won’t be able to hang out on each other’s boats in the boatyard or on the water, we won’t be able to have bonfires on the beach, we won’t be able to have 30-person pizza parties at D & D’s, and we won’t be able to dance to live music at Fishtival.
But, some seasons are like that even without a pandemic.
Last season, our radio group got together for pizza at the start of the season, but we wound up fishing in different districts for the rest of the time. Even though two of my partner boats went to the Nush’ with me, the schedule there didn’t allow for the usual frequency of back-deck barbecues. We fished through Fishtival, and didn’t go into town at all before we flew out.
On the plus side, the weather was the sunniest and calmest I've ever seen in the Bay. We went swimming on July 4th, with the net out. Maybe I was enjoying myself too much as a first-year skipper, but it was on a tide when the fishing was slow, at least as far as our radio group knew.
Also, the price last season was the best I've seen for such a strong run.
I’m not sure what plus sides there will be in the Bay this season, the season of COVID-19. It's supposed to be another strong run, at least. It'll take some adapting to make it an overall success, though.
Bleeding every fish seemed impossible when we were first asked to do it, but now it’s normal. The quality of our product is better than ever, and that’s part of why the price was so good last season.
Wearing masks at the tenders and anchoring alone shouldn’t be as hard as bleeding every single fish that comes over the roller, and it could be much more important for the fishery. I’ve voiced my concern for the health of the local population, but I’m getting more and more concerned for the processing crews, too. Not only could an outbreak at a processing plant lead to shut downs and limits put on fishermen, but it could make recruitment more difficult in future seasons.
Plant workers have been mistreated before, and now there are entire regions that won’t send their experienced workers to some processing companies in Alaska. One recent instance had to do with food quality and quantity. The food at the company cafeteria wasn’t great to begin with, then it was rationed, which led to mass walk-offs, and restrictive limits on fishermen. Imagine the worst case scenario this season.
As fishermen, we can’t control the treatment of the people who process our fish, but we can protect them this season by not being a transmission line for the virus.
If we mask up at tenders and only board them in medical or mechanical emergencies, then there will be less risk to plant workers.
So, let’s mask up and wash our hands. We can not stretch our legs on the tenders, and not make the rounds in town, and not tie one on with a few other boats. Even if the risk seems to be past, we should keep this up for the whole season, if for no other reason than to prove that we can.
If we get through this season safely, every future season will seem so simple and social by comparison.