As is typical of every new boat I embark, as I mentioned in
my previous post, longlining presents new and different challenges. But as always once
you do them a few times, all slips into routine, and I wonder why I allowed myself
to get so stressed out about it. I suppose I stress because of the uncertainty of each
new vessel type and their sampling methods, as well wanting to do my job right and be the best
at it. But I am noticing that the stress level diminishes a little bit with
each progressive boat, and now, having done all but one vessel type that the
North Pacific Program offers, I feel quite self-sufficient and confident about
my performance and abilities, and really no longer stress at all. It is quite a
liberating feeling.
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| J-Hook |
Despite what I have heard about longliners being one
of the most difficult vessel types to work on, I really quite enjoyed it. I
felt that my quality of data was much better than that which I was collecting on
trawlers, which seemed much more subjective. The easiest part about it was also
at times the most challenging. I would stand on the upper deck above where the
fish were being landed and tally every fish on the line for my designated
portions of the set. This in itself is very easy. However, this time of year,
it is very cold, and even the special warm mustang suits that they issue us don’t
always do the trick. Most notably when the wind picks up, it will find any
little open nook and cranny in the suit and chill you to the bone. Worse yet, the
rubber gloves and cotton glove liners are terribly un-insulating in these
conditions, which is perhaps the most uncomfortable part of the whole ordeal. Additionally
I have to concentrate below me on thousands of consecutive hooks that come up to
ensure that no organism is missed or double-tallied. This can be, literally, a
huge pain in the neck. But, I can’t complain too much about this- I am dealing
with a minimal number of fish for my weight samples so the lifting and
dirty/smelly factor is significantly decreased from what I am used to. I have
to count hooks in the gear room to get an idea of how many hooks are contained
in an average set, which is monotonous and time consuming, but easy. I have
to do more frequent gear verification to ensure that the number of segments of
line with hooks contained in a set is indeed what the vessel reports. It really
comes down to: Am I working more? Yes. Am I working harder? No.
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| At my tally station awaiting my designated segment. Disclaimer- This photo was not taken by mt nor my camera, but was sent to me by the captainand is therefore neither data, nor confidential |
Reflecting back, I had quite a few individual noteworthy happenings
that will stay with me. For one, as I mentioned previously, this is the
harshest time of year. We fished N of St. Paul Island, which is high up in the
Bering Sea, just a short ways S of the ice pack, with a consistent N wind.
Bottom line being that it was cold- all of the time- just another hurdle to
acclimate to. At times it was snowing sideways and felt like a blizzard. The
visibility would be so poor, that it was somewhat difficult to see the fish as
they came up on the line, as my eyes would be inclined to focus on all of the
blindingly white snowflakes amid me and the fish. At night this would be
amplified, as the LED light shining on the area would further illuminate the
snow.
Occasionally on such days, it would be too rough and cold to
sample, so I would sit in the wheelhouse and either talk with the captain/mate
or just sit in silence, often mesmerized by the bright white snowflakes
illuminated by the flood lamps, and violently travelling horizontally- it
seemed the cold strong winds would never allow them to settle. In contrast,
other nights it would snow, but with little to no wind. In these conditions,
the snowflakes would just float in front of the wheelhouse windows, seemingly suspended
before us and their black backdrop. One could get lost staring into this abyss
as well, as it was highly reminiscent of space with its countless bright stars.
It easily takes your mind elsewhere, this “winter wonderland” in the middle of
the ocean.
