North Pacific

Trolling for salmon, Gulf of 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

Unalga Island, Bering Sea, Alaska, near Dutch Harbor

Dutch Harbor, located on Unalaska Island, midway along the Aleutian chain, began as a Russian fur seal trading outpost in the 18th century and is now a principle port for the U.S. pollock and North Pacific crab fishing fleets.

In the Wheel House Aboard Auriga, a Pollock Catcher Boat on the Bering Sea

Factory trawlers and catcher boats fish the Bering Sea for pollock, a mild white fish used both for fish fillets and surimi ("imitation crab"). Fish are caught, processed and frozen at sea and delivered to Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands for global delivery

Fisherman aboard the pollock catcher boat Auriga, on the Bering Sea

Factory trawlers and catcher boats fish the Bering Sea for pollock, a mild white fish used both for fish fillets and surimi ("imitation crab"). Fish are caught, processed and frozen at sea and delivered to Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands for global delivery

Freshly Caught Alaska Bering Sea Pollock

Factory trawlers and catcher boats fish the Bering Sea for pollock, a mild white fish used both for fish fillets and surimi ("imitation crab"). Fish are caught, processed and frozen at sea and delivered to Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands for global delivery

Dutch Harbor, Unalaska Island, Alaska

Dutch Harbor, located on Unalaska Island, midway along the Aleutian chain, began as a Russian fur seal trading outpost in the 18th century and is now a principle port for the U.S. pollack and North Pacific crab fishing fleets.

Aboard the pollock catcher boat Auriga in the Bering Sea

Factory trawlers and catcher boats fish the Bering Sea for pollock, a mild white fish used both for fish fillets and surimi ("imitation crab"). Fish are caught, processed and frozen at sea and delivered to Dutch Harbor in the Alaskan Aleutian Islands for global delivery

Fisheries observer aboard factory trawler

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 trawler owned by Trident Seafoods. By-catch and sustainability are important issues to the North Pacific pollock industry and the agencies which regulate it.

Crabbing, Gulf Islands, British Columbia, Canada

A couple heads out to find a good spot to trap Dungeness Crab, a favorite seafood delicacy in Pacific Northwest waters

Salmon smolts dissected for science

Salmon smolts (recently hatched juveniles heading to sea) were caught below the Dalles Dam on the Columbia River as part of a National Marine Fisheries research project to determine the impacts of dams on the Columbia River. The juveniles' blood was tested to see if the rapid descent through the dam had caused potentially fatal nitrogen narcosis commonly known as "the bends", which can cause the fish to suffocate .

Commercial fishing vessel at Shilshole Bay Marina

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Quiet evening on Puget Sound at Shilshole Bay Marina

With 1400 slips for vessels of all sizes from dinghies to super yachts Shilshole Bay Marina in Seattle is the largest marina in the Pacific Northwest

Alaska Bering Sea commercial pollock fishing

Factory trawlers and catcher boats fish the Bering Sea for pollock, a mild white fish used both for fish fillets and surimi ("imitation crab"). Fish are caught, processed and frozen at sea and delivered to Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands for global delivery

Catch on Deck; Alaska Bering Sea commercial pollock fishing

Factory trawlers and catcher boats fish the Bering Sea for pollock, a mild white fish used both for fish fillets and surimi ("imitation crab"). Fish are caught, processed and frozen at sea and delivered to Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands for global delivery

Hauling in the net on the factory trawler Pacific Glacier (now rechristened the Phoenix)

Factory trawlers and catcher boats fish the Bering Sea for pollock, a mild white fish used both for fish fillets and surimi ("imitation crab"). Fish are caught, processed and frozen at sea and delivered to Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands for global delivery

Alaska Bering Sea pollock on Deck

Factory trawlers and catcher boats fish the Bering Sea for pollock, a mild white fish used both for fish fillets and surimi ("imitation crab"). Fish are caught, processed and frozen at sea and delivered to Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands for global delivery

Alaska Bering Sea Pollock in the Net

Factory trawlers and catcher boats fish the Bering Sea for pollock, a mild white fish used both for fish fillets and surimi ("imitation crab"). Fish are caught, processed and frozen at sea and delivered to Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands for global delivery

Alaska Bering Sea commercial pollock fishing

Factory trawlers and catcher boats fish the Bering Sea for pollock, a mild white fish used both for fish fillets and surimi ("imitation crab"). Fish are caught, processed and frozen at sea and delivered to Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands for global delivery

Unalaska Island village, Bering Sea Alaska

Unalaska Island in the Aleutian Island chain of Alaska in the Bering Sea is home to some 4000 residents, almost all involved the the Bering Sea pollock and crab commercial fisheries.

Reef net fishermen Lummi Island Washington

Reef net fishermen work to catch sockeye salmon off the shores of Lummi Island in Rosario Straight. Using a fishing technique that was invented by Coast Salish native Americans and is unique in the world, a handful of "amateur" commercial fishermen spend their free time in the summer and fall netting salmon that swim down a gauntlet of lines and into a net rigged between two boats. A spotter in a tower on the front of the boats gives the signal to haul when he sees the targeted fish species swim into the net (while letting non-targeted fish escape). In the 1950s over a hundred reef nets were rigged along this shore but now market conditions have turned this environmentally sound and picturesque fishery into a hobby business and only nine crews remain.

Purse seining skiff crosses Sitka Sound, near Sitka Alaska

A skiff used in a purse seining salmon fishing operation crosses Sitka Sound near Sitka Alaska

Fishing hooks, Kodiak Alaska

Fishing hooks coiled and ready will be used by fishermen to catch cod, halibut and other fishes in the western waters of the Gulf of Alaska.

Surfer, Kodiak Island, Alaska

Even in the frigid Gulf of Alaska hardy souls search for a good break. On Kodiak Island's Surf Beach a lonely surfer awaits. Tip: bring a wetsuit and watch out for the giant sea lions.