Monthly Archives: November 2009
Wow, an Optimistic Forecast for Dungeness Crab Season 2009!
It’s not often that I read an article about the Dungeness crab season that is halfway positive. As everyone in the industry knows, the fishery is often plagued by low prices, sketchy catches, and tribal issues.
So when I opened up Pacific Fishing magazine and read the article written by Cassandra Marie Profita, I was surprised. Not only because the writer has the first two names as my own sister (amazing!) but because the news about the 2009 Dungeness crab fishery was not all bad.
Profita writes that Northwest crabbers and processors expect a better season this year after low prices and low abundance made last year’s season a struggle. She also writes that markets are hungry for fresh crab this year because the low volume of crab from last year’s fishery meant less product in the freezer. Also, test fishing in both Washington and Oregon brought in high numbers of legal-sized crab. Last but not least, Profita writes that processors are expecting strong whole cooked and live crab retail sales.
This is the best outlook for any Dungeness crab season I’ve experienced in a while, so my fingers are crossed. If the prices are decent and stable and all the fishermen stay healthy and strong, it could be a great run this year. We’ll see!
Also of interest to commercial fishermen-types in Pacific Fishing this month was a highly amusing snippet, written by Anne Hillman, about the return of TV crews from the Deadliest Catch to Unalaska. That story is located on page 21 and is a must-read.
If you’ve been following my National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) progress, you’ll be interested to know that I did complete the challenge. I wrote just over 50,000 words during the month of November and received the Winner’s badge, which is featured on the sidebar of this blog.
I actually finished NaNoWriMo two days early, thanks to Nebraska Outback, who shot ahead of me early on in the challenge and set a rigorous pace. The challenge of trying to keep up with her word count really helped keep me typin’ away!
Favorites of the Week!
Jen’s Favorites of the Week
1. Jason Aldean’s CD (Wide Open). Every song, especially “Keep the Girl.” I really hope to see this guy in concert soon!
2. Toby Keith’s CD (American Ride). Every song, including “If You’re Tryin’ You Ain’t.” A sample of the lyrics:
“Well if you’re trying’ you ain’t/There’s work to do son/If you can’t get up early/Baby you can’t get it done/Roll up your sleeves/Don’t tell me that you can’t/Make somethin’ somethin’/If you’re tryin’ you ain’t.”
3. Sugarland’s Christmas album, Gold and Green. A favorite right now is “Nuttin’ for Christmas”.
4. National Novel Writing Month. After nearly a decade of picking away and a month of solid writing, I should have a manuscript to pitch at the Pacific NW Writer’s Conference this summer.
5. Pacific Marine Expo (a.k.a Fish Expo). We can’t wait to cruise the booths, say hi to new and old commercial fishing industry friends, and fill our plastic sponsor bags with pens, candy, frisbees, and stickers!
Overhauling Dungeness Crab Pots
Here are a few pictures from the past week. George and the crew (Bryan, Brett, and Brandon) spent the days overhauling their crab pots. Specifically, they overhauled 470 pots and rigged 30 new pots for a total of 500.
Eva, Vincent and I waited until the rain and wind stopped, and then we went down for a visit. They had fun jumping in puddles and playing with sticks, and I mentioned to them that their mommy and aunties used to have a lot of fun down there, too, filling net needles and swinging on buoys at the same locker in the early 80s.
A New Commercial Fishing TV Show?
Now, this was rather interesting. Most of you know that we have a Facebook group called Commercial Fishing Families & Friends. (And by the way, if you have a Facebook account and have not already joined us, please do so! We are already up to 125 137 140 150 158 members, making us one of the biggest commercial fishing groups on Facebook!)
Anyway, members are welcome and encouraged to leave comments on our “Wall.” When I went to check in with our group a couple of days ago, the following message had just been posted:
Hi Everybody! I am casting a tv show for Country Music Television and we are looking for fishing families with teens. If you are/know anyone that would be a good fit please email me! WSPCASTINGPARENTS@GMAIL.COM Thanks!! Theresa
Now, if this is legitimate, it soundes incredibly exciting. At the moment, all of the fishing famlies I know have either babies and toddlers, or they are families I’ve known my whole life and the “kids” range in age from 25-60 years old!
If you happen to be in a fishing family, or know of a fishing family, with teenagers and you contact Theresa Horwitz at the above e-mail address regarding the television show, please let us know if it is the real deal or not!
And speaking of commercial fishing toddlers…we had a wonderful evening trick-or-treating with the family last Saturday night. If I’d known what a social event trick-or-treating with young children was in my town, I would have worn something nicer than sweats and tried to do something with my hair. Well, there’s always next year.
Eva was one head-to-toe decked out Tinkerbell, and she got countless compliments on her pink glitter gloves. At the last moment, Vincent refused to put on his dinosaur costume. We had two choices at that point: Toss a pillowcase over him and call him a ghost, or put him in his green raingear and call him a commercial fisherman. Of course, he chose the fisherman.
Vincent, Auntie Steph, and Eva.
Auntie Cass and Eva.
