"Bush" Alaska

Yippee!!
My employer is sending me to Dutch Harbor/Unalaska in the aleutian chain next month. We have a few buildings out there that have digital controls and are due for maintenance. To give you "flatlanders" some idea of how vast Alaska is, Dutch Harbor is about 1/2 way out the aleutian chain and is 800 miles away from Anchorage.
Anyways, I hope I can catch a monster halibut whilst there and maybe some salmon! I plan on taking lots of photos to post here when I get back. The weather out there is usually mostly sh--ty but I don't care if the fishin' & roadfood are good.
(There should be some good seafood available as Dutch Harbor is the largest tonnage yield in the world.)
I have never had FRESH king crab before and am looking forward to it!
1 month to prepare for the flight on a prop plane for 3 hours....(RRRRRRRRR,putt, putt RRRRRRR,putt,putt, RRRRRRRRR.)

Film @ eleven.

Zman, congrats! Send that Halibut and Crab to 1553 Airport Road, Carrizozo, New Mexico 88301!!!!!!
Ole Rouxdog

Yippee!! Zman is out of here for a week!!! Hopefully he'll be able to get out of Dutch Harbor on the designated day......I had a marine biologist friend from Boston that got stuck there (due to fog) for almost a week.

And rouxdog, if he lands a 300 lb. halibut, you have a share in that fish!!!!

Ole Rouxdog;
I'd gladly send you some seafood goodies IF you pay for the shipping!
Unfortunately if you consider the shipping cost, you are far ahead to just buy the stuff locally....

We paid 6.99/lb for king crab in CA, and it goes for 14.99/lb in Anchorage .... GO FIGURE THAT ONE OUT MY FRIEND!

(logistics are that most crabbers are based out of Seattle and have to make a long trip to deliver to Anchorage area.)

Why Fly, Old Buddy? Didn't they build "The Bridge to Nowhere" so folks could drive over to Siberia for the weekend???

ZMan, I heard about your trip earlier today, and I'm jealous. It sounds like an ultimate getaway.

Be sure to take your hat with you. Native girls just love a man in a dapper hat...

For anyone interested in a view of current conditions in Dutch Harbor click on http://akweathercams.faa.gov/index.php ,then click on the SouthWest quadrant. Look at the list and click on Dutch NDB.

It is AWESOME country when not in gale conditions!

P.S. If you left click once on the image it will enlarge. (for those of us with older eyes that need it.)

I watch "The deadliest catch" on TLC. They sail out of Dutch Harbor. It seems like a neat place, but boy the weather they show on the TV show sure looks bad at times.

Good luck and good fishing !

Sounds fantastic. We'll be watching for updates along with everyone else.

Jeff and Patti

Something smells fishy about this thread!!!

Dear folk,
Pleez keep in mind that this trip to da bush doesn't start for another month.
Bushie: the only hat I will probably be wearing will be rain gear...
soo, more dripper than dapper!

and PBYZXQ I don't know all the reasons for the shipping and pricing differences, but we HAVE had LIVE king crab in Anchorage for $4.99 / lb.! (once), years ago.

Zman, sounds like a fun trip, especially with the boss picking up the tab! I always enjoy trips for work more because of that. I put in my 8 hours, get to play for 8 and doesn't hardly cost me a dime.

MikeS.

Awesome! What an adventure. Looking forward to the pics and story.

DD

Zman

Seems a few places to try and find roadfood

Tony's Italian
Peking Express
Amelia's Restaurant
Airport Restaurant
Angelo's Italian
Captain's Bay Cafe

I can't vouch for any of them, but you can try them and tell us what you think!

Envy you your trip.Z-Man. I've always wanted to go out to the Aleutians.

CajunKing:
All those places in Dutch harbor? Sounds cool! I guess I have some investigating to do!

Mr Chips:
I TOO am excited about the trip, and it sounds like only the beginning. I've heard thru da grapevine that Adak and Shemya islands may be in my future!

I also received my company car and fuel credit card today. A brand new 2008 Honda Element with auto 4WD! ZOUNDS!! At first I thought the Element was an ugly "box", but it is a really cool SUV. The "basic" model that I have is pretty much loaded as is.

Damn! I work for a GREAT company!

Zman

P.S. I also found out that some of the world's biggest halibut have been caught @ Dutch!
( we are talking 300 - 500+ pounders fer christ sake!)

Zman

Yes they are all in Unalaska/Dutch Harbor

Isn't Dutch Harbor about half way to Japan? I do not know if it is that far but it is pretty far out in the Aleutians.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Sundancer:
Dutch Harbor is a long way out, but not as far as you are thinking.
Shemya is at the end of the chain ... about 1500 miles from Anchorage. Dutch is about 800 miles from AnchorTown!

Grill ON! ( J.B., Do I smell smoke?)

quote:

Originally posted by pdxyyz

I guess what I would like to know is what goes on in those processing ships. To what extent do they package the product? Where does it go from there for resale?

I am no stranger to this pricing phenomenon. I lived in SoCal and paid more for fresh veg from Mexico than I paid for the same produce when in Oregon. In that case it was the cost of doing business in California that increased the price over the cost of shipping the product an extra 1000.

So it wouldn't surprise me much if the product made the trip to the lower 48 before heading back to Alaska for retail sale. Stranger things have happened.

From what I understand {after watching PBS} the king crab are caught in Alaska put into holds on board and then make the trip south to a prossesing plant. Timeing is very important to this industry, the price can flucuate hourly. You also have to worry about weather vs the number of days and areas that you can fish.
A factory ship is different. They process the raw catch right at sea.
This is done with a number of smaller vessels that acualy catch the fish, unload to the mother or factory ship where the catch is then broken down wrapped and packaged, flash frozen and made ready for market. Chow Jim

When I spent my year in the Antarctic (courtesy US Navy), we were all given our choice of where we wanted to go next. Adak was probably the most popular choice because it gave people away from their spouses for a year the chance to have a couple of years of intense togetherness--there's just not much to do there except cuddle. In case you're wondering, I picked Florida.