Radio Script
1998

  High-Tech Fishing
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STORY: See the blob. Gobble the blob. Find another blob, and gobble that blob, too. With sophisticated sonars that locate schools of fish miles from the ship, commercial fishing is a lot like playing the video game Pacman. Bob Desautel is the captain of the fishing vessel Dona Liliana.

DESAUTEL: "We're standing in the wheelhouse. It's outfitted substantially with electronics for fishing. We've got three radars on board the boat, three plotter systems, and three sonars. We've got two down-sounders and this is our third-wire system that goes down with the net to detect fish that enter the net and how much quantity is in the net. It's pretty sophisticated stuff."

As the ship approaches a school of fish, crewmen operate huge winches that spool a long synthetic trawl net off the stern of the boat. Two large metal doors at the front of the net act as rudders to both guide the net and keep it open as it's towed through the water. And because fishermen face tough restrictions when they catch too many undersize fish, specially woven panels along the top of the net let small fish escape. Electronic sensors along the net send a signal to the bridge telling the captain that the net is getting full. Such gear doesn't come cheap.

DESAUTEL: "At any time we are fishing with gear in the water, we've got about a quarter million dollars worth of nets and gear in the water when we're towing."

Modern trawlers, with their high-tech sonars, global positioning systems, diesel engines, and motivated crews are the top predators on the sea. The nearly two million tons of pollock that once took the fleet months to harvest now take just weeks. To stay profitable amid ever-shortening fishing seasons and increased competition, fishermen like Bob Desautel must make the most out of their boats.

DESAUTEL: "It's a 165-foot vessel, 38 feet wide. It packs around 500 tons of fish. It mainly fishes out of the Bering Sea. Sometimes in the Gulf of Alaska. We primarily fish for pollock. But we also fish for cod, Atka mackerel and yellowfin sole. The rest of the time we find other revenues such as salmon and herring packing. We also have the capability to crab, and we find things to keep the boat busy at other times. We have five people on the boat when we're fishing, and one federal fisheries observer, so six people all together."

Nowhere is the adage, "time is money" more real than in the fishing industry. With millions of dollars on the line every season, fishermen can't afford to have anything go wrong when their ships are hundreds of miles from land.

DESAUTEL: "We have two autopilots and three steering systems on each of our ships. We have backups for our backups. The way the fisheries are now, you need to have backups and redundancies. You just can't miss a trip during these short seasons. You miss a trip and there goes any kind of profit. I've got spare main engines, spare generators, spare cranes, spare this, and spare that. I've even got spare sonars and computers sitting in my stateroom."

It used to be that anyone with a strong back and a yen for adventure could work his way up the ranks to become a captain of a vessel such as the Dona Liliana. While those attributes are still in demand, these days a captain also has to know a great deal about seamanship, engine mechanics, electronics and navigation, as well as be familiar with dozens of state and federal laws that regulate the commercial fishing industry.

DESAUTEL: "You can work your way up through. But you do have to have some schooling to receive a captain's license. Mainly the requirement is sea time. You have to have a solid four years' worth of time on the vessel. Then they have to go to school to get their fire-fighting and first-aid stuff. It's quite a long process."

In a good year, crew members will earn more than 100,000 dollars, the captain much more. The hours are long and working on the frigid open sea can be dangerous. But as tough as these fishermen are, it's not hard to find their soft spot. Glued to one of the sonar monitors is a pair of baby shoes.

DESAUTEL: "That was how I was told by my wife that we were going to have a baby girl. That was a couple of years ago. That's my good-luck charm, you know."

OUTRO: For Arctic Science Journeys, this is Doug Schneider reporting from aboard the fishing vessel Dona Liliana.