hanging tight

Area M (Sand Point) fleet, staying in port and fighting for change.

So, I should have waited to post my last blog before leaving the house... turns out that with the fuel price jumping up 65 cents the day of the opening (the fuel barge got in the day before), and sockeye only rising a few cents a pound out here in Sand Point, the fleet stayed in and called for a meeting to negotiate prices.
From what I've learned by eavesdropping around town, diesel, at $4.85 a gallon today, is over double what it was last year. The price for reds (sockeye) has barely moved in the last several. What's even more interesting is that the same processing plants in Kodiak (Trident, Peter Pan) are paying roughly $1.30 a pound for reds, which is nearly double what the fleet gets here, at the recently raised price of $0.70. I have heard that this is justified by volume--the number of reds coming in from the south Peninsula fisheries is huge compared to Kodiak, which has a higher percentage of pink harvest. Still, I think people are looking for $1 a pound before they go out.
Trident and the fleet are at a standoff, with all the cannery workers standing around waiting for fish, people that still have to be fed and housed by a plant that's not making any money right now. The fleet is in the harbor during the first opening, letting hundreds of thousands of $$ swim by. I can't even attempt to touch on the politics of it all--there's no way I think my mind could get a good handle on it without being a part of it for a long time. In the meantime, with no fish to sample, I'm hanging out waiting and watching.
With imaginary beer in hand (preferably not a $5 can of Bud Light), I'd like to make a toast to the Sand Point fleet and all involved. Everyone needs to work, everyone needs a paycheck, no matter who you are.