On October 30th, the town of Sitka and our fishermen-owned co-op lost a hero.
Seafood Producers Cooperative Board Chairman Tad Fujioka was a pillar of the Sitka community and the small boat fishing fleet, and above all a very devoted father to his daughters. As a leader in our fishermen-owned co-op, he has helped put our company in a better place.
My first memories of Tad were his exhaustive lists of questions on financial statements the co-op put out to fishermen. In fact, many of us in the office would groan when we received an email from Tad. Looking back, Tad’s questions were always on point. And I would say without doubt that Tad’s questions made our co-op a much better company and better place to work. In recent years, his lists of questions were much shorter, not because he didn’t care anymore, but because he had already helped us all to become better workers and better people. With his help, we improved and he acknowledged that.
When he became Chairman of the Board, he guided our Board meetings with a steady hand, eliciting good conversation on weighty topics.
In addition to his work with our co-op, Tad was on the board for the Alaska Sustainable Fisheries Trust. Fishermen are in debt to Tad because of the many times he has testified on behalf of Sitka’s small boat fleet, in particular our salmon trollers. Tad would come armed with data and very in-depth analysis. He brought sense to meetings that could be weighted with emotion.
My most recent memory of being with Tad was when he took me out fishing last summer. He had invited me a number of times to join him and learn more about what he and our fleet do every day. One of my biggest takeaways of fishing with him was his boat. Every fisherman’s boat says a lot about who they are and for some in our fleet they’ll remember a boat name quicker than they’ll remember the captain’s name, as the two become synonymous. Tad’s boat the F/V Sakura is a little smaller and it’s a lot faster than most boats in the fleet. And this is all on purpose. Having a smaller, faster boat allowed Tad to return home much quicker. He was such a devoted father to his daughters. Being a dad was always paramount to Tad. And I could see this when I first met Tad’s daughters at one of our Annual Meeting dinners. They are so smart! You can tell they had a great teacher.
When I think of Tad, I think of someone from whom I can still learn a lot. I think of the importance of education—of knowing how to ask good questions, of how to look at data, and make good decisions. I think of Tad’s love for Sitka, for fishing, for harvesting wild foods, and his dedication to family.
Tad was truly loved in Sitka. And it makes sense that the GoFundMe to assist his family wildly exceeded its goal. It also makes sense that the Fujioka family requested that instead of a fundraiser to assist the family that they would reopen the fundraiser to raise funds for a Tad Fujioka Scholarship Fund. This fund will be set aside to support young fishermen or community members who are seeking scholarship funds for higher education. The Tad Fujioka Scholarship Fund plans to begin making awards in 2025.
If you are able to, please donate to this GoFundMe to help support the Tad Fujioka Scholarship fund here.
It will be difficult to not see the F/V Sakura and Tad tying up to our dock almost nightly during the summer season. It will also be very difficult to pick up the pieces and move on, but I know that is what Tad would want us to do.
Kendall
Fish Monger at Alaska Gold Seafood
