Tag Archives: Captain Joe Malley
Part II: F/V St. Jude – A Taste for Tuna
Joe Malley has reeled in a lot of different fish in his over 40-year commercial fishing career, but tuna has a special place in his heart. And on his plate. “When I’m fishing halibut, the last thing I want to see on my plate is halibut,” he said. “If I’m fishing salmon, I don’t want even a beautiful King salmon. But when I’m fishing tuna, you can serve it to me all day, every day.” Tuna doesn’t have a big statement to make, Malley said. “It’s the perfect American fish – odorless, colorless, and tasteless. And tuna can be incorporated into dishes in so many ways; for instance, you can stir fry it just like chicken. ”For Malley, his wife Joyce, and their five-person crew, tuna is a way of life. The F/V St. Jude crew spends 12 months a year on a quest for albacore tuna — from the North Pacific in summer to the South Pacific in fall. >click to read< 12:37
The Adventure of an Unconventional Career
Joe Malley keeps a faded but well-loved copy of the December 1, 1999 edition of the Magnolia News as a reminder of his family’s commercial fishing journey over the last two-plus decades. The photo and headline above the fold features Malley, his wife Joyce, and their young son Liam (now 24) standing in front of their new (at the time) fishing vessel, moored at the Port of Seattle’s Fishermen’s Terminal, as they prepared to embark on a new journey. The St. Jude, a 95-foot-troller, still makes its home at Fishermen’s Terminal today. Some things haven’t changed in the 23 years since the Magnolia News article was written. The St. Jude crew still fishes 12 months a year, chasing Albacore tuna from the North Pacific in summer to the South Pacific in fall. In between journeys they sell their catch off the St. Jude at Fishermen’s Terminal. >Photos, Video, click to read< 09:17
‘Baboom!’ St. Jude returns with 48 tons of tuna and no restaurant market thanks to coronavirus so they are selling it at Seattle’s docks
When the tuna boat St. Jude motored out of Anacortes in November for fishing grounds 5,000 miles away in the South Pacific, few people outside of microbiology labs had ever heard the word “coronavirus.” By the time the 95-foot vessel docked in Seattle this month, the microbe had shaken the entire world and turned the seafood business upside down. “Baboom!” said owner and captain Joe Malley, who returned from the six-month voyage to find the primary market for his high-quality albacore had vanished. “Who could have anticipated this?” >click to read< 11:19
