A new commercial fishing vessel, built in Washington, is charting new territory for sustainability and crew safety.
The F/V Blue North is a 191 foot freezer longliner owned by Seattle based Blue North Fisheries. The vessel was designed in Norway and built by Dakota Creek Industries in Anacortes.
I’m kind of pinching myself we are finally here we’ve got it, said Patrick Burns who is the co-founder of Blue North. It’s a state of the art vessel.
The $36 million fishing boat has been under construction for several years. It was delivered last week and has been receiving some final touches at Seattle’s Pier 91 as it prepares to make fishing history in Alaska’s Bering Sea.
This vessel is a game changer it’s the greenest, most sustainable and highest tech commercial fishing vessel that’s ever been built in the United State and possibly the world, said Kenny Down, President and CEO of Blue North Fisheries.
There is no other vessel like it in the Alaska hook and line cod fishery.
We see the rest of the industry all moving in this direction, said Down. It’s the first for modernization of the North Pacific fishing fleet.
In addition to the boat’s state-of-the-art quarters and endless innovations, fisherman will work safely under the deck hauling in the vessel’s longlines.
The moon pool is the internal hauling station and is a complete game changer for the fisheries in the North Pacific because the line actually comes up through the bottom of the vessel, said Down.
The cod are pulled from the moon pool in the center of the vessel then stunned in order to reduce stress. The technique is called humane harvest. It’s a process that eliminates pain and stress so the fish does not release hormones or Adrenalin.
For the consumer it’s a much higher quality product, said Down.
Down says that means the fish has better texture, less drip loss when it’s thawed, better flavor and is much more nutritious.
They have raised the bar for the standard of quality and practice that we have here in the United States, said Jessica Redmayne who is with Sea Fare, a consulting firm with more than 35 years experience in the seafood industry. What they are doing is taking something great and saying we can do even better.
Blue North Fisheries is casting safety and sustainability in a brand new direction for commercial fishing in the North Pacific and nationwide.
We are really on the cusp of a lot of people in the industry picking up these type of practices and that’s our hope that others in the industry will follow, said Down.
2016 Sinclair Broadcast Group