A Sitka fisherman heads to Washington’s coast in search of opportunity — navigating rough seas, new regulations, and the growing challenges facing Alaska’s small-boat fleet.
Jeff Farvour, a Sitka fisherman and Sitka Seafood Market board member, tried something new this year — he gave the Washington State spring king season a shot. The trip was no small undertaking: roughly 900 nautical miles in a boat that cruises at 7 knots in calm water. Running the Inside Passage includes a few wide-open ocean crossings where wind and current can make conditions unpredictable. South of Hecate Strait, they encountered a large following sea off the quarter stern — conditions Jeff says he wouldn’t choose to cross in again. Traveling with a fellow fisherman, they ran the boat day and night, arriving in Bellingham just a few hours shy of five full days at sea.
Fishing regulations in Washington are a bit different than in Sitka, with weekly quotas limiting how many king salmon each boat can catch. Sitka’s spring king fishery can be hit or miss, and with fewer fish around this winter, Jeff decided to try something different. There are other new challenges in Washington that trollers in Southeast Alaska don’t face, mostly the number of crab pots that can tangle and snag gear on Washington’s outer coast. He’s been pleasantly surprised by how welcoming the local troll fleet has been and is hoping to land enough fish to help cover the roughly $3,000 fuel bill it took to make the trip south.
F/V Apollo
When I asked Jeff about the issues facing small-scale fishermen in Southeast Alaska, he pointed to two major challenges. First is the ongoing threat to the king salmon troll fishery from the Wild Fish Conservancy, whose lawsuit nearly shut down the summer troll season in 2023. Although the case was unsuccessful and fishing was allowed to continue, the organization recovered $1.6 million in legal fees — resources Jeff worries could be used to pursue similar actions again. For many fishermen, the stakes are high. They are already dealing with climate pressures and rising costs, and the added threat of well-funded legal challenges creates even more uncertainty for coastal communities. Thankfully this season’s openers aren’t in question and quotas are higher with over 50,000 more kings available to the commercial fleet.
Another significant challenge to small boat Alaskan fishermen is the recent decline in halibut quotas. The spawning biomass is currently at its lowest point in 40 years, due to a combination of contributing factors. One is trawl bycatch, particularly in large-scale trawl fisheries. These large trawlers drag on the bottom and inadvertently catch millions of pounds of small halibut. This means the poundages associated with the bycatch are worse because it’s more halibut killed before they can reproduce. At the same time, unguided sport fishing, where someone rents a boat but doesn’t have a guide or captain, has increased. For years, the charter sector exceeded its quota while directed commercial fishermen absorbed steep cuts. Although the charter sector is now part of abundance-based management, a loophole allows unguided anglers to keep two halibut per person regardless of quota restrictions. This creates an uneven system where guided operators are regulated and accountable, while unguided are free to catch two fish a day regardless of abundance. Jeff believes that fair management requires all user groups to share responsibility, especially as commercial fishermen continue to face reductions. Current Alaskan politicians seem unwilling to address this as an issue, but fishermen have a voice and we will continue to make it heard that everyone needs to be part of the rebuilding of halibut stocks.
photo courtesy of ASMI
The rising costs of running a boat are another concern that rests heavily on Jeff’s mind. Fuel, parts, and gear have all increased steadily over time, while fish prices have not always kept pace — especially for trollers, who harvest fish individually by hook and line and take extra care to clean and ice their catch. Unlike high-volume fisheries such as purse seining or Bristol Bay gillnetting, trollers can’t make up for lower prices with larger harvests. In response, Jeff is working to develop a hook-and-line troll salmon marketing association, modeled in part after the success of Copper River salmon. The goal is to help people better understand the quality of troll-caught fish. It’s one of the world's best wild proteins and handled with exceptional care that deserves recognition. Troll caught coho deserve every bit of praise that Copper River sockeye get and the quality behind the product really sells the point. It’s all part of a broader effort to make small-scale fishing more viable and to attract the next generation to the industry. If people are making a decent living out here fishing, more young people will be interested in pursuing a future in fishing. It’s a challenging path, but Jeff remains committed to the work and to advocating for the future of Alaska’s fisheries. Thanks for doing what you do Jeff and fighting for what you believe in.
Marsh Skeele
Marsh is our original fisherman and helped start Sitka Seafood Market over a decade ago. He grew up fishing with his family outside of Sitka and began his own fishing journey captaining the F/V Loon in 2011. Shortly thereafter at a dinner party sharing his catch, he met friends that figured out how to get his fish to the Midwest and Sitka Seafood Market was born. He loves finding the highest quality ingredients and sharing the stories of their harvest over a dinner party. You can find him fishing with his family in Sitka and searching for the next delicious piece of seafood to share with you.
