Introduction to the NEPA workshop in Naknek - Saturday, April 23rd, 2011

-       RESCHEDULED – NEW DATE -

Introduction to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA):

A Workshop for Residents

• ·       Are you interested in learning about NEPA?
• ·       Do you want to be informed on environmental decision-making processes?
• ·       Would you like to know how to get timely information on environmental impact statements?

Please come to this free NEPA workshop –

new date: April 23^rd, 2011

 

Where: Bristol Bay Borough Assembly Room

When: Saturday, April 23rd, 2011

Time: 1:30 pm to 3 pm

Brought to you by:

Alaska Sea Grant 

marine advisory program

For more information, contact:

izetta Chambers, Marine advisory Program (MAP) Agent

at izetta.chambers@alaska.edu or (907) 842-8323

Get that crew contract in writing!

Spring is in the air, and you know what that means.  It’s time to start getting out your fishing gear, getting those needed repairs done on your boat, and evaluating your fishing business. 

This is the time of year when fishermen start thinking about hiring their crew for the season, if they haven’t already.  For captains, that means making sure that you have your crew lined up.  For deckhands, that means making sure that they have employment for the upcoming season.  If you are considering hiring new crew, or if you would like to reinforce existing roles, responsibilities and obligations of your current crew or position on a boat, you might want to consider a crew member’s employment contract.  For both captains and crew, a crew member employment contract is not just a recommendation, it is essential. 

If there is a dispute between a deckhand and a captain, how is one side going to prove to a court what the agreement is?  A written contract protects both parties, but it also makes it much easier to settle disputes that may arise out of the term of employment. 

At a minimum, a crew member employment contract should include the following:

1.      Crew member name;

2.      Vessel owner name;

3.      Vessel name;

4.      Term of employment (from what starting date to what ending date);

5.      How a crew member will be paid (% of the gross catch, or % of the net catch after certain listed expenses);

6.      Whether or not the crew member will receive a share of any post-season price adjustments (retro pay);

7.      What costs will be paid by which party (travel expenses, gear, crew members’ license, etc.);

8.      Medical history;

9.      What duties are covered in the employment;

10.   Signatures of both parties, with dates.

The medical history portion may feel a little bit too personal, but it can really protect a vessel owner in the case that a crew member makes a claim against them for a prior medical condition.  It also puts the vessel owner on notice if they hire a crew member that has a condition such as seasickness or a hernia that would indicate that they may some alternative arrangements for certain job duties. 

Finally, make sure to remember to sign and date the contract.  It is not an enforceable agreement unless it is signed and dated by both parties.  To be on the safe side, get it notarized before a notary public.    

For a good example of a crew member employment contract, see the sample provided at Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program website at http://seagrant.uaf.edu/map/fishbiz/pubs/crewcontract.pdf. 

Web-based seafood marketing and Direct to Market Forum

Originally posted on SeafoodSource.com Monday,8 November, 2010  I have written previously about how online media, including websites and social media outlets like Facebook make excellent marketing tools. How these are being employed is really up to the marketer. A new up-and-coming salmon marketer, Kvichak Fish Company, uses their Facebook page to post photos, inform consumers, and talk about the upcoming Bristol Bay salmon season.

This type of interactive marketing allows customers to share their thoughts and impressions, often obviating the need for costly and involved market surveys. Another new marketing tool, Bristol Bay Wild, allows direct market fishermen access to an attractive logo, label and website for a nominal licensing fee. The quality guidelines associated with use of the brand name ensures that customers will get a consistently high quality product from the participating fishermen. This type of quality guarantee provides assurance that one fisherman’s fish branded under the Bristol Bay Wild brand will be as good as the next licensed product. Quality standards include icing of fish from harvest to delivery, timely processing, and cold chain of custody requirements.

Fishermen who are looking to get into the direct marketing game have a lot more options than several years ago.  Several Bristol Bay companies will now provide custom processing services for fishermen.  According to a recently published story in National Fisherman, Tony Woods’ company, Wild Alaska Salmon and Seafood, is making life easier for numerous Bristol Bay drift fishermen who are engaged in direct marketing. For a reasonable custom processing fee, they will help to transport and process a fisherman’s catch, and will even help them with their logistics. Another company, Naknek Family Fisheries, which I started in 2006 and jointly own with several family members, provides tendering, custom processing, and logistics assistance. Naknek Family Fisheries also owns the licensing entity Bristol Bay Wild.

For those interested in learning about the ins and outs of direct marketing of seafood products, National Fisherman will be hosting the Profitable Harvest Direct to Market Forum event next Wednesday, November 17, 2010 at Quest Field Event Center in Seattle, Washington. This event occurs one day prior to Pacific Marine Expo, the preeminent seafood trade show for the Pacific Northwest. If you would like to keep informed on Pacific Marine Expo events, you can follow them on Twitter.  

Izetta Chambers is a Marine Advisory Program Agent for the Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program. She resides in Dillingham, Alaska. Izetta can be reached at izetta.chambers@alaska.edu.

National Fisherman - Commercial fishing news, marine directory and classifieds

National Fisherman - Commercial fishing news, marine directory and classifieds

Tony Woods - the story of a fisherman and how it is possible to do it all yourself.

What to do with leftover salmon?

Fish cakes on top of gorditas

1. Take leftover salmon and mix in food processor (or by hand, if you are old-school) with some chopped onion and 1-2 eggs, depending on how much salmon you have;
2. Form fish cakes into little patties by hand;
3. Fry in pan or on skillet with a little bit of oil.

Gorditas:
1. Mix corn masa with one teaspoon salt and enough water to make a dough that is easy to handle;
2. Form little gorditas (like fat little tortillas) by hand, making sure not to make them too thick;
3. Cook on a comal or a skillet until they are light brown on both sides.

Assemble dish by first placing gordita on a plate, than placing the fish cake on top. Put some shredded cheese on top (preferably something that melts well), and garnish with any of the following: chipotle sour cream sauce, shredded cabbage, cilantro, lime juice, or fresh salsa.

More money for Exxon Valdez plaintiffs

http://exspill.com/Portals/5/documents/TwelfthApplicationSarkoDeclExsA-C.pdf

Have a great season!

Just wanted to let all of my readers know that I go off contract June 15th, and may or may not be writing the column for the next couple of months. I will be back on contract August 15th.

I will be in Naknek, working at our family-owned fish processing company, Naknek Family Fisheries. For those of you who may be interested in seeing how a small fish processing company operates, I will be hosting a Seafood Processor Training on June 9th and 10th. The first day will be reviewing the really exciting stuff - processing regulations, seafood business licensing, etc. The second day will be in our fish plant, reviewing issues related to sanitation, HACCP, water supply systems, recordkeeping, and processing techniques. This will be a free workshop, open to the public. If you would like to sign up for this, send me an email with your name, contact information, and what day(s) you would like to participate.

We are so lucky to be blessed with such an amazing, renewable natural resource to harvest every season. I hope that all of the participants in the Bristol Bay salmon fishery recognize how precious our salmon and this lifestyle is.

I just wanted to wish all of you fishermen and fishing families out there a safe, profitable, and fun fishing season. Have a great fishing season!!