Dear Alaska Gold Seafood Customers,Within our fishermen-owned co-op, fishing and family go hand in hand. Many of our fishermen grew up fishing with mom and dad, learning the trade, and have passed on the fishing bug to their children. Many of our fishermen come from multiple generations of fishing with the co-op—the Eliasons, the Miller Family, Charlie Wilber and his daughters, Charlie Piercy and his son Abel, and the list goes on.
Fishing is an activity that teaches you about life. When children are out fishing with mom and dad, they learn about things like how to tell the difference between a king salmon and a coho salmon. They learn how to properly clean a fish. They build work ethic. Fishing together also reinforces a conservation ethic because fishing parents take pride in their craft and in the places where they fish – they want to see their children enjoy the same bounties that they have.”
Raising children on fishing boats is no small endeavor. Recently, our co-op Board Chairman Norm Pillen shared a photo memory of fishing with his daughters years ago.
“This was my last summer salmon trolling on the Katie J” Norm told me. “I was hoping to focus more on family time, but it ended up being a really big salmon season, which made it more challenging. My wife and I took time when we could to walk on the beach, whale watch, and appreciate nature with our daughters, but I heard my coding partners talking about really high scores of fish, and then we’d go chase the fish.” (Before cell phones, fishermen friends or “coding partners” used to communicate on radio using a preset code to disguise fishing reports from others listening in on the radio.)
“Unfortunately, both of my daughters inherited their mom’s inclination toward seasickness and I would feel guilty when they got sick, but it was hard to tame my competitive edge to catch more fish. It tore at my heart. But that summer we had a really nice balance of fishing hard and playing hard with the family.”