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Charleston Ice plant feels the heat of lost seasons
Saturday, May 27, 2006 | No comments posted.
The prospect of losing an ice plant in Charleston is giving many commercial salmon fishermen the chills.
Pat Houck, owner of Charleston Ice, is considering giving up the business that for more than two decades has provided ice for vessels.
“I don't think I'm going to be able to survive as an independent business out there (selling ice),” Houck said Thursday.
The first blow came a couple of years ago, when the groundfish trawl buyback took out one-third of the fleet coastwide. Houck said he lost about 50 percent of his business then.
Last year's reduced salmon season and lack of albacore offshore was the next blow. With most trawlers getting their ice from the plants to which they sell, it was the salmon and tuna fleets that kept him busy.
“I've been going into debt trying to keep it open the last couple years,” Houck said.
“I was expecting it (the season) to start again,” he said.
But less than two weeks before the March 15 target opening date, the Pacific Fishery Management Council voted to close the first part of the season to protect weak Chinook stocks on the Klamath River. The National Marine Fisheries Service agreed and formally closed the first part of the season. It also agreed a month later to close the entire season on the South Coast.
That was the last straw.
Houck said he made one batch of ice in April, to supply a shrimp vessel, and that ice is still there. He's sold only some of it.
“After that's gone, I'm not planning on making any more,” he said, “unless something happens.”
That something is unlikely. No funds have been made available directly for fishermen and none, either, for businesses affected by the season.
Salmon trollers are worried because even though they have the option of buying ice from processors in the area, such as Hallmark Fisheries, sometimes there is insufficient ice available. In the future, fishing boats busy with full groundfish, shrimp and salmon seasons in the summer could keep an ice machine running 24-hours a day and barely keep up with demand.
Nobody else is interested in buying the plant, either, Houck said.
He and his wife have opened a gift shop and mini-gym at Oyster Cove in Charleston, hoping to keep some kind of an income going.
But losing the ice plant is difficult.
“You have a business for 22 years,” Houck said, “and it's hard. When do you make the decision to hang on or give it up?”
- Susan Chambers, staff writer
Pat Houck, owner of Charleston Ice, is considering giving up the business that for more than two decades has provided ice for vessels.
“I don't think I'm going to be able to survive as an independent business out there (selling ice),” Houck said Thursday.
The first blow came a couple of years ago, when the groundfish trawl buyback took out one-third of the fleet coastwide. Houck said he lost about 50 percent of his business then.
Last year's reduced salmon season and lack of albacore offshore was the next blow. With most trawlers getting their ice from the plants to which they sell, it was the salmon and tuna fleets that kept him busy.
“I've been going into debt trying to keep it open the last couple years,” Houck said.
“I was expecting it (the season) to start again,” he said.
But less than two weeks before the March 15 target opening date, the Pacific Fishery Management Council voted to close the first part of the season to protect weak Chinook stocks on the Klamath River. The National Marine Fisheries Service agreed and formally closed the first part of the season. It also agreed a month later to close the entire season on the South Coast.
That was the last straw.
Houck said he made one batch of ice in April, to supply a shrimp vessel, and that ice is still there. He's sold only some of it.
“After that's gone, I'm not planning on making any more,” he said, “unless something happens.”
That something is unlikely. No funds have been made available directly for fishermen and none, either, for businesses affected by the season.
Salmon trollers are worried because even though they have the option of buying ice from processors in the area, such as Hallmark Fisheries, sometimes there is insufficient ice available. In the future, fishing boats busy with full groundfish, shrimp and salmon seasons in the summer could keep an ice machine running 24-hours a day and barely keep up with demand.
Nobody else is interested in buying the plant, either, Houck said.
He and his wife have opened a gift shop and mini-gym at Oyster Cove in Charleston, hoping to keep some kind of an income going.
But losing the ice plant is difficult.
“You have a business for 22 years,” Houck said, “and it's hard. When do you make the decision to hang on or give it up?”
- Susan Chambers, staff writer
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