Pacific Fishing History Project

We’re Moving!

admin — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 23:55:33 +0000

The Pacific Fishery History Project has not been very active, due to some technical problems, which are now resolved. Please join us at:

http://carmelfinley.wordpress.com/

“Living off the Pacific Ocean Floor”

admin — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 19:18:22 +0000

“In 1965, we found new fishing grounds for Ocean Perch off the Oregon Coast. We were running and I was watching the fathometer. Suddenly I saw a big black spot on the screen. I got pretty excited because I knew that meant fish. Boy, did it ever! In our first tow we got 50,000 pounds of Perch. Before the day was over, we had one hundred and fifty thousand pounds of fish on the boat. They filled hatches and were piled on the deck so the boat was nearly sinking. We ran into Astoria and pulled up to Sebastian Stuart Fish Company. The manager came out and was really upset. He asked why we had not called in told him we were coming. He said he couldn’t possibly sell that much fish. It would have to go for mink food. I hadn’t called because I knew he would tell me not to bring it in. and I figured if I was there, he have to deal with the fish. So he got on the phone and sold it all. We get five cents a pound for it. That the was the biggest catch of fish I ever made in one day.”

I’ve been reading a fascinating little book, “Living off the Pacific Ocean Floor, Memoir and Stores by Captain George Moskovita.” The book is a collective family effort; they taped his stories, then his daughter, Jo Ann Williams, transcribed them. Jo Ann’s husband compiled the text and arranged the pictures, including copies of newspaper stories from the Daily Astorian, the Chinook Observer, and Pacific Fisherman.

The cover picture shows George standing on a net full of fish; he doesn’t say if it was the 1965 catch of 150,000 pounds. The picture appears to be taken on the ocean, but the water sure looks calm.

I’m excited about this little book for several reasons. It’s a great read on the volatile days of the early fishery. George is everywhere, from fishing tuna off California to crab in Washington, in a variety of boats. He talks about the early days of trawling, fishing for the mink plant in Astoria in the 1950s. But I also really like that his family collaborated with him on the project, bringing together their family history (there were four daughters, and great pictures of them, in matching costumes, singing at annual Christmas festivals in Astoria). It’s a project that more fishing families should consider doing, especially now that software makes these sorts of projects much easier.

“Adventures in “rockfish” Cookery,” from 1951

admin — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 23:31:54 +0000

Isn’t this a marvelous drawing? I was looking for information at OSU’s Valley Library this week and I plugged “Sebastes” into the search engine. Up popped a number of interesting items, including this one, to a publication of the Oregon Experiment Station in September of 1951. It’s a collection of recipes, pulled together by the Seafoods Laboratory of the Food Technology Department in Astoria, by Margaret R. Lunning and E. W. Harvey.

This is interesting on several fronts. Oregon fishing companies were trying to sell more rockfish fillets and the Agricultural Experiment Station responded with a collection of recipes. The fish had been caught off Oregon since the 1930s, but hadn’t been generally available to the consumer. That was about to change. Pacific Ocean Perch was soon going to be “conspicuous in markets and groceries,” as the pamphlet put it.

Oregon rockfish are similar the the redfish, red perch, or ocean perch caught on the east coast of the U.S., where it is now the “most abundantly produced fish in that area of the country,” (italics in the original).

“The person who enjoys fish but resents a strong, “fishy” taste will find in this delicately flavored flesh a valuable addition to his list of seafood favorites.” The recipes all recommend combining salt with mono sodium glutamate, “a natural salt, which in itself has no flavor, but which accents and enhances the natural flavor of that with which it is used.”

The pamphlet ends with the words, “The whole family will enjoy these new Adventures in “Rockfish” Cookery.”

One of the recipes is called Baked Fillets Margo, and I’d bet a rosefish that it came from Margo Westrheim, the wife of Jergen Westrheim, who worked for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife out of Astoria. Jergen knew a lot about rockfish, and his lovely wife, Margo, must have cooked it often. Jergen and Margo live in Nanaimo these days, but I bet she makes her signature recipe.

Baked Fillets Margo

2 pounds fillets, cut into serving pieces

1 tsp each salt and glutamate

1/16 tsp pepper

2 cups milk

Butter or other fat

Brush fillets with melted butter or other fat and sprinkle with salt and glutamate. Place in baking dish and completely cover with milk. Bake covered in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.

Remove fish to warm platter, and keep warm. To serve over fish, make creat sauce as follows: 2 Tbsp butter or fat, 2 tablespoons of flour, 1 cup milk, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/8 tsp pepper. Melt butter or other fat, blend in flour until smooth.

Add milk gradually, stirring until boiling point is reached.

Reduce heat and cook 3 minutes, add seasonings. Add a bit of parsley or pimiento for color.

My article in The Solutions Journal

admin — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 19:55:05 +0000

http://www.thesolutionsjournal.com/node/854.

An appreciation for Michael Graham

admin — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 19:53:17 +0000

This is my absolute favorite quotation about fishing:

“The trail of fisheries science is strewn with the opinions of those who, while partly right, were wholly wrong.”

That’s from Michael Graham’s classic book, The Fish Gate, published in 1943.

I’ve written an article about Graham while has just been published in the online journal, Solutions. Here’s a link to my article:

http://www.thesolutionsjournal.com/node/854.