Our hook and line-caught wild salmon is as good as it gets for wild-caught salmon. What makes it special is the care each human being puts into handling each fish for quality. As one of our fishermen says, “By the time I’m done with them, I have a name for each salmon I catch.” That’s because after landing each salmon, our fishermen bleed and gut each salmon by hand. (Blood and guts are what accounts for off flavor in poorly handled fish.) Then each salmon is carefully iced. All of this takes time, energy, and grit.
Our co-op is made up of small boat fishermen who put the extra effort into producing a high-quality salmon. This pride comes from ownership of the co-op. Our people are what us special. Meet some of our fishermen below:
If you've ever wondered what it's like catching our line-caught salmon, in this new video fisherman Mark Holst talks about growing up on a small boat catching wild salmon on hook and line and shows us how it's done on his boat the F/V October.
We are a co-op of small-scale fishermen focused on producing quality seafood. In this video, you can see how Mark carefully handles each fish. It's one fisherman, one small boat, treating each individual fish with the utmost care, resulting in a beautiful quality, sustainably caught wild salmon.
Another fisherman in our fleet Lindsay Johnson fishes on the F/V Sika and pictured below is Erin Jakubek who has crew on the Sika. In this video Lindsay talks about how pure fishing with hook and line is--it's a small boat, small crew, and not uncommonly for lots of fishermen in our fleet (including Mark who grew up fishing since just about day one) one can raise a family on the boat as Lindsay talks about here.
A few other important points that Lindsay makes are that the presence of our fishermen-owned co-op keeps families out on the ocean working and allowing them to remain independent. This independence is really key to who we are as an organization.
One fisherman who has enjoyed this independence is Jesse Remund.
Jesse is a Port Alexander kid through and through. BTW, go ahead and try to find Port Alexander on a map. Port Alexander is a remote tiny village of 40 inhabitants on the southern tip of Baranof Island next to some of the best king salmon fishing waters on the planet. Jesse has fished these rugged waters off Cape Ommaney for primarily salmon, halibut, rockfish and lingcod.
Jesse grew up fishing with his father Marty, also a co-op fisherman, and Jesse sometimes brings the whole family fishing with kids Lilly and Eddy and Jesse’s partner Tracy, who works for the Fishing Partnership Support Services, which advocates for family-owned fishing businesses run by independent fishermen in Massachusetts and helps them navigate difficult decisions like how to get health care.
When not fishing in Alaska, Jesse likes harvesting beach asparagus and cool hikes through the Baranof Island wilderness. He winters in Cape Cod area with his family and sends me pictures of the scup and bluefish he catches on the beach there after work.
Lastly, Jeff & Ann McEntire are the epitome of what it means to be a family operation and co-op members. Fishing on their boat, the Blue Dolphin, Jeff and Ann have supported the mission of the co-op since 1976. That’s 49 years of not only by delivering their seasonal catches to our dock, but Jeff also served multiple terms as a co-op board member. And they are still at it today.
This longevity, dedication, through good times and bad, is the epitome of what the co-op is all about. Here they are after delivering some beautiful halibut from their recent trip.
We always enjoy seeing their faces at the dock, and we truly thank them for their commitment and support over the years.
