Fishing Coop

Discussion area for political and legal issues affecting Alaskan salmon fisheries.
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coastaladventurer

Fishing Coop

Post by coastaladventurer »

I am wanting to know more about this coop for fishermen. Is it just for trollers or is the coop for all gear groups.
Is there a website? Tell all please,,, Aaron.
John Murray
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Re: Fishing Coop

Post by John Murray »

Try SEAFOOD PRODUCERS COOP 9077475811.The coop has help the fleet in many different ways over the years.
Jon
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Re: Fishing Coop

Post by Jon »

Aaron,

Yep, there's the SPC. The coop members produce higher quality fish than other fish companies and they pool all of the fish and all the proceeds go back to the fisherman. They buy troll and longline fish, and I'm guessing seine and gillnet fish too, but I'm not positive.


Usually you will make more money selling to the SPC than you will selling to another buyer. There's also an insurance pool. You need a recommendation by 5 current members to get into the pool. Once you're in it's $1000/year and then there's a cap at some point. Once you've reached the cap I believe you only pay if a member of the pool makes a claim. The SPC has a wandering tender too so you can sell your fish without going to town.

There's a sales site at: http://www.spcsales.com/ but they don't have a website for their members as far as i know
Carol W
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Re: Fishing Coop

Post by Carol W »

Aaron Spc has 500 members we are geared at highend hook and line fish ie troll and longline, we have a plant in Sitka with outports spread thru SE and up as far as Dutch Harbor (for long line fish). Spc is the longest active fishermans coop in the US. Jon is right in my opinion of coarse I sit on the board, that aside if you look at the longhaul the most value you receave for your hook and line fish is thru the coop.
During the season you receave an advance on your fish of 70% of dock then In Jan you receave a second advance which is 85% of "Projected Final Price" at the end of March we receave final settlement ( used to be April however we changed fiscal year last spring so now it is March). As to the Capital Fund Jon was talking about we take 10% of your gross sales with a cap of $2000 split equally between your 2nd advance and final settlement. This is not money that belongs to the coop it is returned to you at the same rate you paid in when you retire or quit the coop. The limit on the Capital fund is $15,000.
All this seems like it wouldn't pay off however I was one of the stubborn ones and didn't join until late in my career and can tell you that even though the year I joined was the year of the over advance on small coho (my first settlement was a bill), my gross income has risen dramatically since joining. However the coop is something you have to put trust and faith in when the competition is paying a higher price you almost have to turn a blind eye to it and keep delivering your pounds to the coop. Sometimes it looks as if a competitor is paying a better price and you want to take part in the upside, my philosophy is that is very risky in the fact the coop is part my company and why would I sell to my competiton, as I say that is my philosophy.
The other thing I think everybody needs to be aware of is last meeting we removed the membership cap and we are open for new members.
Anybody starting out in the trolling or longlining business between Dixon Entrance and Yakatat I would strongly encourage to join the coop and set their debt service up to coop pay schedule in the long run you will be better off ( my opinion).
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Re: Fishing Coop

Post by Salty »

One of the main reasons to choose the co-op is service. They have the best unloading facility and the best dock staff in the region. Plus, they have made significant improvements in speeding up fish deliveries just in the past year with the addition of wash down wands, to be improved even more this year, and the innovative handling of the chum deliveries. Nevertheless there are still problems. As a troll fleet our quality still has a ways to go and innovative approaches to improving quality are often stifled.
We all know we should not be delivering fresh salmon that have been in a slush tank for 5-6 days.
We should not be delivering iced fish 7-8 days after we caught them and that still happens. We should not be putting brailer bags back into slush tanks or totes until they have been thoroughly washed, disinfected with a bleach solution or approved sanitizer, and allowed to dry out. I can slush up to 11 bags at a time. I carry 33 brailer bags. Every bag goes through disinfection, dry storage, storage with ice in them, and then is put back into the fish holding tank. I do this for both round and dressed fish.
I have learned that in order to have the best quality slushed salmon from the ocean you can not have the fish rolling around in the ice. They must be in the cold water below the slush. In order to maintain that you must get your mixture right when you start adding fish and then add ice almost hourly during the trip to keep the mixture ideal. Just filling a tank with ice and water and hoping it lasts for the whole 3-5 day trip results in scaled fish and hot spots.
Actually we should not be putting dressed fish in slush ice period. Certainly not for more than 72 hours. But, since we all get paid the same for our fish whether we deliver them early, take extra precautions with quality, or not what is the incentive? The incentive is to produce as much volume as possible and to cut quality corners, because that is where the money is. Perhaps we need another thread on quality.
coastaladventurer

Re: Fishing Coop

Post by coastaladventurer »

Thanks for the info everyone.. I will be looking into the coop more ... Aaron.
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