Tag Archives: aviation

With fish spotting, aviation’s relationship with fishing turned contentious

Of all the ways in which Alaska’s aviation and fishing industries have been associated over the years, the use of aircraft to spot fish for commercial fishing operators has by far been the most controversial. Fish spotting is not unique to Alaska or even the West Coast; according to Aerial Age Weekly, it was used as early as 1920 off the coast of Virginia when “….each morning at 5 o’clock a flying boat carrying a pilot, radio operator and fish spotter leaves the station to aid fishing craft.” Read the rest here 08:23

Fishing industry, aviation linked in Alaska from earliest days

After proving itself in the mid-1920s conducting surveys of Southeast Alaska, the airplane found itself unexpectedly increasingly useful to the burgeoning fishing industry in the state. This came as a surprise to many, as it was a largely untested mode of transportation and the region’s weather was so problematic. But as soon as the first flight was made across the Gulf of Alaska in 1925, the numbers were impossible for even the most nervous passengers to ignore. Read the rest here 15:27