Commercial fisherman Alan Reeves said his 10 years on the port commission helped him realize the importance to the community of the borough's share of the state fisheries tax, which is earned when the fleet's catch is processed in town.
Commercial fisherman Brennon Eagle said the loss of dependable state ferry service means more of the fleet's catch leaves town as air freight, putting fishermen and processors at a cost disadvantage to other seafood suppliers.
Some commercial fishermen prefer to sell their hauls in Wrangell. Some look for the best price, even if it's a few cents higher. Some decide where to sell based on services offered.
No matter what determines where a fisherman will sell, processors try to lure as many their way throughout the year, including buying a bevy of different species.
"What Pacific Seafood does here in Wrangell, we have our hands in a little bit of all of it," said Cody Angerman, general manager at the processor's plant at Heritage Harbor. "We start off with halibut, black cod, a little bit of rockfish. Then, as we progress, June 15 is when crab starts. The other thing going right now is troll salmon."
Angerman said his plant has traditionally been associated with just crab and salmon, but a diversified intake helps the company appeal to more sellers. "Obviously, being there for the fishermen is one of the most important things for us."
Depending on the season, Sea Level Seafoods, a subsidiary of Oregon-based Pacific Seafood, has anywhere from six to 50 boats catching for its Wrangell operation.
Alan Reeves, a commercial fishermen based in Wrangell, tries to sell only to Sea Level to support the local economy. He fishes halibut, salmon and shrimp.
"Normally, we get a good price," Reeves said. "Two years ago, we ended up getting the lowest price. If they're going to pay me a decent price, I'll go with them. Last year, I went to Petersburg for the first time since only one other time in 1980." Reeves sold last year's halibut catch to the Icicle Seafoods plant in Petersburg.
That was the exception. His 10 years serving on Wrangell's port commission helped him realize the importance to the community of the borough's share of the state fisheries tax. The tax is shared 50-50 with municipalities where the fish are processed. Not only does the money feed back into the economy, it supports jobs in the community, he said.
The borough received almost $285,000 as its share of the state tax in fiscal year 2021.
During its peak season, Angerman said his plant will have approximately 40 to 50 employees. Sea Level Seafoods last week was recruiting for about 180 job openings at its Alaska operations in Kodiak, Seward and Wrangell, with just three of the openings in Wrangell.
Brian Merritt, a fourth grade teacher who commercial fishes for salmon during summer, said he's been selling to Sea Level since it opened. Most of the time he sells exclusively to them.
"Some of the other companies have just as good of service or maybe even a little better service, but in light of Wrangell, since I live here, I'm willing to take a little bit of a pay cut in order to help out the town in what little bit I can," Merritt said. "If we have 50 fishermen who do that same kind of thing, that does add up to some pretty big bucks for Wrangell."
Merritt said some fishermen will "chase the dollar to the nth degree." If a company is paying five cents more per pound, that could land them up to an added $5,000 to $10,000 more per year depending on their haul, he said.
"Not every boat that's in Wrangell fishes out of Wrangell," Angerman said. "Some of these guys fish for Trident in Petersburg or E.C. Phillips out of Ketchikan. It's always our duty to ... get these boats to come back to Wrangell. I think we're doing a good job with that."
Angerman said the fishermen can't be faulted for seeking the highest price, but he's also grateful for the loyal ones who have stuck with Sea Level.
Wrangell's other seafood processor, Trident Seafoods, has not operated the past two years, citing poor economics of weak salmon returns. The company has not responded to Sentinel requests for its plans this year. The company has processing plants in Petersburg and Ketchikan, and runs tenders to bring fishermen's catches to those facilities.
Brennon Eagle, who participates in similar fisheries to Reeves, has been in the business for 44 years, beginning at age 14. For him, finding the best price or services helps him decide who to sell to. When Wrangell had more ferry service for sending shipments out of town, it made it easier to sell halibut here. Now that the fresh fish market is more reliant on costlier air freight deliveries, he has to weigh his options.
"Ten years ago, we were putting almost everything out on the ferry," Eagle said. "Now it almost all has to go out on the plane. That puts us at a 60-cent disadvantage in this town because you're moving things out on the plane. You just can't count on the ferry."
Commercial fishermen also rely on processors that provide ice and tender services. The more frequent the tender on the fishing grounds, the less back-and-forth travel for fishing boats burning up time and diesel.
"If I have a tender right there that's taking my fish every three or four hours, I don't lose a second of fishing time. It's so handy," Merritt said. "You're dropping off fish to a tender and your net is still fishing."
If Sea Level isn't providing one of its three tenders when he's fishing in the Juneau area, Merritt said he will go to a Juneau-based buyer or to Icicle in Petersburg. "When you have a bunch of fish on your boat and you need to get rid of it and you don't want to run back to town for five or 10 hours and a tender is going by, I'll just call them up. I haven't been refused yet."
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