Part of the albacore tuna fleet, much of which splits its year between the North and South Pacific Ocean chasing fish, is once again not far from here. Good-sized tuna are biting off Oregon and much of the fleet is working the water there. A few boats from Eureka will join them.
Many of the boats are the "hard-core" part of the fleet -- between 20 and 80 boats that fish for tuna all year. Smaller coastal boats, which generally carry between 15 and 60 tons, tend to fish for other species throughout the year.
Mike Cunningham and deckhand Roger Rowland have been working on the 50-foot Sally Kay for about a month, and will leave to fish for albacore within days.
Cunningham has heard there is good fishing around Oregon's Cape Blanco, about 16 hours away by boat. Like he did last year, he hopes to fish for a couple weeks, then motor back to sell tuna from his boat at Woodley Island. If need be, he has fuel to stay out a month.
"A couple of times I've stayed out that long," he said, "unfortunately."
Wayne Heikkila is the general manager of the Western Fishboat Owners Association, which represents about 500 boat owners from the West Coast to the South Pacific.
"It's a mix up and down the coast," Heikkila said of the American fleet.
Through the winter, the fleet worked about 800 miles south of Tahiti, chasing tuna that swim in water 60 to 65 degrees. They deliver their catch to American Samoa, where the two largest canneries in the world are situated.
The North Pacific is a mirror image from May to October, Heikkila said. Now, some boats are working not far from Japan, while others are off Oregon.
The bigger boats, 70- to 120-foot vessels, which might carry 120 tons of albacore --frozen at sea --, may not see land for four months at a shot, he said.
The boats troll with jigs to catch tuna between 11 and 25 pounds. They set out 10 to 15 jigs, dragging them behind the boat at about 7 knots. When the tuna bite, the crews -- usually two to three on a big boat -- haul them in on line and leader by hand.
But the fish don't bite at night, and there can be long stretches of time between hot fishing. "It's pretty boring really," Heikkila said. "All you can think about is things to cook or eat."
Most of the albacore caught by the American fleet is sold to Spanish canneries taking advantage of the growing Spanish market for high quality tuna.
Comparatively little jig-caught tuna is sold to American producers, and when it is it's sold as white meat, as opposed to light meat. American producers mainly purchase tuna caught on long lines by Taiwanese and Korean boats. The only way to tell if the common canned tuna you buy at the store is caught with jigs or long lines is to look at the fat content, Heikkila said. A serving of long-line tuna contains 1 gram of fat compared to 4 to 5 grams of fat -- replete with healthy Omega-3 fatty acids -- for jig-caught fish.
More is now being done to market jig-caught tuna to the American consumer. Heikkila said since the price for canning tuna remains relatively low, different products are being tested. Vacuum-packed loins and smoked albacore are among those being tried on Americans. Some small custom canneries have also made inroads into the market.
The albacore fishery is touted as a healthy one, without a large buildup in fishing effort over the years. And the median age of albacore fishermen is 58 -- a telling sign. Heikkila doesn't see a big influx of new fishermen anytime soon.
"I would hope it remains status quo," he said.
Source: Times Standard