From the Field: Commercial fishing off the coast of Sitka, Alaska with Robby Bruce.

National Wildlife Federation Outdoors

We are excited to launch a short form story telling series on the NWF Outdoors podcast! We invite you to enjoy the premiere of our “From the Field” series with an episode recorded on board a 90’ wooden fishing vessel off the coast of Sitka, Alaska. For this episode, Aaron and Mandela joined the crew of the “North Wind” for a beautiful morning in the harbor and open water off the coast of Southeast Alaska. For this 15 minute interview, Aaron sits down with Robby Bruce, the operator of the "North Wind" -- a 90’ boat constructed in 1944. They discuss the fishing season, climate change, Alaskan fisheries, conservation and what a typical day looks like for his crew.

Curious where the boat is right now? Check out this live tracker: https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:445614/mmsi:367448380/imo:7100316/vessel:NORTHWIND

Show notes:

0:05 – Intro to the show, the boat and Robby.

1:09 – Robby chimes in regarding what he and his crew are up to today on the fishing tender called the North Wind.

3:22 – When does the season begin?

4:35 – Fisheries conservation in Alaska is unique.

5:41 -- Commercial fishing as conservation.

7:19 -- What are fishermen concerned about? Sustainability…

8:34 -- Robby reflects on climate change and his concerns regarding ocean acidification.

9:40 -- What do fishermen think about seasons when the sockeye &/or king salmon are smaller than average?

11:46 -- Robby talks about his boat, crew and operations.

12:54 -- Robby chats about his future and the future of fisheries.

14:58 -- Robby shares some closing words.

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