North Pacific Fishery

Trolling for salmon, Alaska

Offshore near Sitka Alaska, a lone fisherman tends the lines on his classic salmon troller. The technology has been essentially uncahnged for a hundred years

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Boat in inlet

Displaying frozen salmon

Fisherman & hooked salmon

Fisherman & spired salmon

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Dutch Harbor, located midway along the Aleutian chain on Unalaska Island, began as a Russian fur seal trading post in the 18th century and is now a principle port for the U.S. Pollack fishing fleet, which consists of several dozen vessels. February 2005.

Alaska Pollock Fishing

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On the Bering Sea, off the coast of Alaska's Aleutian Islands, February 2005. Views of the U.S. Pollack Fleet on the Bering Sea as well as the Aleutian Islands as seen from the fishing vessel Auriga.

Alaska Pollock Fishing

Aboard the fishing vessel Auriga, in the Bering Sea. The Auriga. was built in 1983 for use in the oil industry and converted in 1988 for the Alaska Pollack fishery. She is a catcher vessel, 198 feet long and able to carry 570 metric tons (about 1.25 million pounds) of fish. Her twin 2,300 horse power engines consume a total 4,000 gallons of diesel fuel per day. Her nets and associated gear cost about $350,000 each (she carries at least two). Auriga is manned by a crew of 7 and always accompanied by a National Marine Fisheries Service observer. Using sophisticated fish finding electronics, Auriga can fill the hold with three sets of the net. These photographs were taken on the Bering Sea in full gale to hurricane conditions -- a usual winter work environment for Alaskan fishermen.

Alaska Pollock Fishing

On the Bering Sea, off the coast of Alaska's Aleutian Islands, February 2005. Views of the U.S. Pollack Fleet on the Bering Sea as well as the Aleutian Islands as seen from the fishing vessel Auriga.

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Alaska Pollock Fishing

Aboard the fishing vessel Auriga, in the Bering Sea. The Auriga. was built in 1983 for use in the oil industry and converted in 1988 for the Alaska Pollack fishery. She is a catcher vessel, 198 feet long and able to carry 570 metric tons (about 1.25 million pounds) of fish. Her twin 2,300 horse power engines consume a total 4,000 gallons of diesel fuel per day. Her nets and associated gear cost about $350,000 each (she carries at least two). Auriga is manned by a crew of 7 and always accompanied by a National Marine Fisheries Service observer. Using sophisticated fish finding electronics, Auriga can fill the hold with three sets of the net. These photographs were taken on the Bering Sea in full gale to hurricane conditions -- a usual winter work environment for Alaskan fishermen.

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Alaska Pollock Fishing

Aboard the fishing vessel Auriga, in the Bering Sea a fisherman displays a large Alaska pollock.

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Leah Sheppard, a fisheries observer who works for Techsea, a firm contracted by the National Marine Fisheries Service to monitor compliance with federal and international fisheries regulations is photographed aboard the Seattle Enterprise, a factory troller owned by Trident Seafoods. By-catch and sustainability are important issues to the North Pacific Pollack industry and the agencies which regulate it.

Alaska Pollock Fishing

Aboard the fishing vessel Auriga, in the Bering Sea a fisherman walks through knee-deep piles of Alaska pollock.

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On the Bering Sea, Aboard the 276 foot long factory trawler Pacific Glacier a bowson's mate clowns with the catch, a mature Pacific pollack. With each pass of the net some 250 tons of fish come aboard. The mild-tasting white fish is a staple of frozen fish fillet products. The fishery is highly regulated.

Alaska Pollock Fishing

Photographs made for the Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers, a marketing association representing the major producers of Alaska Pollock. During the summer "B season" in the Bering Sea the deck crew of the trawler Pacific Glacier haul and reset their nets around the clock in search of Alaskan pollock . Below decks a full-fledged factory processes the pollock into frozen fillets, surimi and specialty products like pollock roe, which is very popular in Japan.

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Photographs made for the Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers, a marketing association representing the major producers of Alaska Pollock. During the summer "B season" in the Bering Sea the deck crew of the trawler Pacific Glacier haul and reset their nets around the clock in search of Alaskan pollock . Below decks a full-fledged factory processes the pollock into frozen fillets, surimi and specialty products like pollock roe, which is very popular in Japan.

Alaska Pollock Fishing

During the summer "B season" in the Bering Sea the deck crew of the trawler Pacific Glacier haul and reset their nets around the clock in search of Alaskan pollock . Below decks a full-fledged factory processes the pollock into frozen fillets, surimi and specialty products like pollock roe, which is very popular in Japan.

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During the summer "B season" in the Bering Sea the deck crew of the trawler Pacific Glacier haul and reset their nets around the clock in search of Alaskan pollock . Below decks a full-fledged factory processes the pollock into frozen fillets, surimi and specialty products like pollock roe, which is very popular in Japan.