Tag Archives: Petersburg
Navigating Alaska’s stormy seas
Norwegian fishermen settled in Petersburg in the 1800s, drawn to its ideal location for pursuing salmon, crab and halibut. Today, hundreds of vessels dock there, selling their catch to the town’s two major processors. These processors head and gut the fish before canning or freezing them for the journey to dinner tables across the world. One of these plants, built over a century ago, is the town’s largest private employer. Few know the industry better than Glorianne Wollen, a fisherman’s daughter who operates a large crab boat and serves as harbourmaster. From her small office, she has witnessed significant change over the years. “In the good old days, the town was alive with discussion,” Wollen recalls. “Everybody had a stake, everybody knew what was going on, and things happened in real-time.” That energy faded as boats grew larger and more efficient, requiring fewer crew members and leading to a more detached industry. Last year, however, the industry faced a crisis that even seasoned veterans struggled to recall. Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 16;20
Seiner goes aground in Anita Bay; all five crew rescued
Coast Guard Sector Southeast got a call Tuesday, shortly before 10 a.m., that the Petersburg-based seiner the F/V Pamela Rae was taking on water in Anita Bay, located on Etolin Island near Wrangell. The call came from the F/V Confidence, relaying a call from their sister fishing vessel F/V Barbara which was on the scene and providing Samaritan support, said U.S. Coast Guard spokesperson Lt. Matt Naylor. The Pamela Rae was taking on water fast and was rolling over. It had five people on board. All of them safely made it off the vessel. A Wrangell Ranger District Forest Service vessel heard the radio and headed to the area right away. more, >> CLICK TO READ<< 09:50
Petersburg seiner overturns in Anita Bay; one crew member injured
A Petersburg seiner overturned just south of Wrangell in Anita Bay at about 10 a.m. this morning. Multiple entities responded – the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Forest Service, and Wrangell Search and Rescue helped evacuate all five crewmembers aboard the 58-foot F/V Pamela Rae. The crew made it out unharmed, except for one person who sustained a minor injury. Lieutenant Matt Naylor, a spokesperson for the U.S. Coast Guard, said they don’t know what caused the Pamela Rae to overturn, but it could have been a mechanical problem. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:05
Commercial Fisherman Gainhart (Bud) Samuelson Junior, 77, of Petersburg has passed away
Bud was born on February 13, 1947, to Gainhart Samuelson, Senior, and Mildred (Massey) Samuelson. A lifelong resident of Petersburg, he grew up living with his mother and siblings on Hammer Slough. Summers were spent with his father at Portage Bay, where he loved fishing and hunting and grew determined to one day run a commercial fishing vessel of his own and to be a good provider for his family. After graduating from Petersburg High School in 1965, Bud landed a job on Andy Wikan’s boat, crabbing, longlining and seining aboard the wooden fishing vessel Pacific Sea. Before long, his dream future began to clarify around the captain’s lovely daughter, Audrey Wikan. Determined to impress, Bud’s fishing career accelerated until he was crabbing, seining, tendering and longlining throughout Southeast Alaska, the Gulf of Alaska, and the Bering Sea. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 20:23
Retired Commercial Fisherman Darryl Olson of Petersburg, Alaska, has passed away
Darryl Olson was born on January 18, 1942, in Petersburg, Alaska, to Dagney Marie (Loseth) Olson and Paul “Bud” Ivar Olson. Darryl grew up fishing with his father, Paul. He attended Petersburg High School and after graduation he married his dream girl, Mary Ann Hasbrouck, on March 10, 1962. They were happily married for fifty-nine years, when she preceded him in death in 2021. He worked for J&H Logging as a choker setter until he started his career as a commercial fisherman. After leasing two boats, Darryl bought the F/V Miss Helen. In 1972, Darryl and Mary Ann began building their Petersburg home. That same year, Darryl purchased his dreamboat, the F/V Mary Ann, with the help of Robert Thorstenson and Tommy Thompson, of Petersburg Fisheries, Inc. more, >>click to read<< 10:45
Fishermen and community leaders react to Trident announcement to sell a third of its Alaska plants
Gerry Cobban Knagin is a commercial fisherman. She and her family have fished around Kodiak and sold their harvest to Trident Seafoods, one of the largest seafood processors in the country, on and off for decades. But on Dec. 12, the company announced it’s selling off about a third of its Alaska processing plants, including their year-round facility in Kodiak. She said the announcement was a huge shock for almost everyone on the island. “Speaking with [Trident] management, there wasn’t any heads up for anyone,” Knagin said. “And they decided, according to management, that they wanted full transparency so that the fleet would know.” Photos, more, >>click to read<< 20:44
Ocean Beauty accepts offer on seafood plant for sale in Petersburg
Ocean Beauty Seafoods says it has accepted an offer on the shuttered seafood processing plant on the Petersburg waterfront, but is not identifying the buyer. The former cannery and seafood plant has been on the market for over a year. Recently, the price was reduced on both that facility and a nearby bunkhouse for the plant workers. >click to read< 15:42
Optimism scarce as commercial fisheries start up in Southeast
Activity is picking up in the harbors in Petersburg this week as fishing boats and tenders prepare for the start of several commercial fishing seasons, but optimism is a little scarce on the docks. Fishermen this summer are feeling the impacts of reduced catches, low forecasts and increasing competition from marine mammals. In South Harbor, Charlie Christensen is readying the Erika Ann for some tendering work in the early summer. Then he’ll switch over to seining once pink salmon start coming in. He has a long list of bad news for his fishing season, stretching back to management decisions by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game for golden or brown king crab. He also points to whale predation on black cod,,, >click to read< 17:22
Commercial fleet highlights economic impact of Sitka Sound herring catch
Despite three days of impassioned testimony before the Board of Fisheries in January, not much has changed for the Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery, which will ramp up in about a month. Local subsistence harvesters won an increase in the size of their exclusive use area, but failed to persuade the board to reduce the commercial catch. Fishermen and processors from Petersburg joined with other commercial interests to remind the board of the economic importance of the annual springtime export. >click to read< 14:53
Ocean Beauty won’t can salmon in Petersburg in 2017
Petersburg will only have one salmon cannery operating this summer. Ocean Beauty Seafoods will not be canning fish at the company’s plant in Petersburg in 2017. Tom Sunderland, vice president of marketing, says current market conditions favor selling frozen salmon over canned. “We’re gonna make a lot more money selling frozen salmon than canned salmon this year and the Petersburg plant is essentially a cannery,” Sunderland explained. “It doesn’t have a very large or efficient freezing operation, certainly not enough that you could run it just as a freezing operation. Our plant at Excursion Inlet on the other hand does have substantial freezing capacity and we can move that production over there and take care of that. And by doing so, the hope is we can return the highest value to the fleet by putting the product into its most lucrative product form.” Read the rest here 12:40
Tonka brings shrimp back to Petersburg Local company purchased 250,000 pounds over the winter
Tonka Seafoods, Inc., announced last year that it was working to bring shrimp fisheries and processing back to Petersburg after a nearly decade-long absence. Well, it’s delivered. The fishery is closed for March and April, but Chief Financial Officer Seth Scrimsher said they purchased 250,000 pounds of pink shrimp from fisherman at a price of 40 cents per pound over the winter. “There is a lot of interest in this cold water pink shrimp right now, especially worldwide,” he noted. Read the rest here 10:43
Bringing the pink shrimp back to Petersburg
Petersburg once was host to sound enterprise of commercial shrimp fisheries and processing plants, drawing in hundreds of thousands – even millions of pounds of shrimp, ranging from the tiny pink crustaceans commonly found gracing salads to their larger brethren that are fried, grilled, battered and steamed in cuisine across the world. Read the rest here 06:55
