Staff Writer

Editor's note: This is the first in a three-part series that examines how the West Coast's highest volume of fish - groundfish, a group of more than 80 species of rockfish, groundfish and flatfish - is marketed and how those markets affect local fishermen, local seafood buyers and processors and the consumer buying fresh fish at the store. Coming up Tuesday: Profit: To freeze or not to freeze. On Thursday: The missing supermarket link.

CHARLESTON - On a good day, one local groundfish trawl vessel can unload upwards of 60,000 pounds of flatfish and rockcod after two days' worth of work - and get a nice paycheck to cover the costs of fuel, food, insurance, crew salaries and also make a profit.

But lately, that's not happening, fishermen say.

Members of the Eureka, Calif.-based Fishermen's Marketing Association tied up March 1 and refused to fish unless processors in California, Oregon and Washington signed a market order that outlines minimum prices the trawl fleet would receive for fish. The controversy is not so much about prices, but power and control, FMA Executive Director Pete Leipzig said.

Three weeks into March and boats such as the Ms. Julie still are tied up. The Ms. Julie's owner, Rex Leach, was overseeing his crew doing maintenance and repairs to the boat at the Charleston Shipyard on Wednesday.

He agreed with Leipzig.

“It's not a pricing thing at all,” Leach said.

Rather, fishermen are counting on at least having minimum prices established with fewer or no landing limits imposed by processors, but also are hoping that a change in marketing occurs at the processor level.

Dover sole - a popular type of flatfish - is a good example, Leach said.

Seafood buyers earlier this year said they would only buy 10,000 pounds of Dover from each boat. Fishermen were receiving 38 cents a pound, for a total of only $3,800. Combined with the sales of other fish delivered on the same trip, that's still not enough income to keep a large vessel working, Leach said. Depending on the time of year and type of gear used, federal management would allow 50,000 pounds of Dover to be caught during a two-month period in 2006. Similar levels were established for 2007.

“We could deal with 38 cents a pound if we could sell it all,” Leach said, “but not just 10,000 pounds.”

Processors, too, are stuck in a bind with the markets. Seafood often follows a simple supply-and-demand rule, with minor variations. Too much fish on the market and the price drops. The price rises when there are fewer fish available.

That situation happened in January and February with petrale sole, another kind of flatfish, Hallmark Fisheries' Production Manager Scott Adams said.

Despite processors' efforts to restrict high catches of petrale, some boats did. And though seafood buyers wouldn't turn away the fish, it created problems.

“It drove the market down,” Adams said.

Fishermen, too, received less than the oft-paid $1-a-pound-or-so price paid for the valued flatfish. Petrale prices dropped to around 75 cents a pound in some instances and much of the fish had to be frozen instead of being sold into the fresh market, the market favored by West Coast retailers.

As of Monday, the whitefish market was full. Whitefish is a marketing term that covers all kinds of white-meat fish, not just groundfish. Adams said he had difficulties selling the trickle of groundfish he'd received into the marketplace due to competition.

“There are plenty of substitutes: tilapia, catfish, Alaska pollock, halibut,” Adams said. Some of the Alaska flatfish is bought from fishermen at 10 cents a pound, he added.

That leaves processors and fishermen in a quandary.

“It's a real catch-22 thing,” Adams said. “We don't know what to do.”

Leach had one suggestion: sell individual-quick-frozen groundfish right next to the farm-raised tilapia and catfish. West Coast Dover, petrale and rockfish are much better products, he said.

Local grocery stores were selling tilapia filets for $3.99 or $4.99 a pound on Thursday. Fresh Dover sole filets were selling for $6.99 a pound and more.

To Leach, public education is key, but another change has to occur.

“We need to get a change in the way our product is marketed,” Leach said.

Leipzig said that yes, a long-term solution is the answer, but fishermen don't have a lot of control over that. Furthermore, neither fishermen nor processors are happy that the boats are tied up. Both entities want to the get the vessels back out on the ocean.

In his travels up and down the coast, Leipzig said he has trouble finding West Coast groundfish on the menus. It's all farmed fish.

“Where does our fish go?” he said.

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Coming Tuesday: Profit: To freeze or not to freeze