Freezer longliner company contracts for 'green' vessel - The Cordoba Times

Posted -  05/08/2013 - by - Margaret Bauman - The Cordoba Times

A freezer longliner firm in operation in Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska fisheries for three decades announced May 7 plans for a new vessel to be completed in late 2014 that will offer key environmental and safety advantages.
The vessel, now under contract with Dakota Creek Industries in Anacortes, Wash., is being specifically developed for the Alaska cod hook-and-line fishery, and was designed by Skipsteknisk AS, a Norwegian ship design firm, said officials with Blue North Fisheries.
"One of our main objectives in designing and building this vessel is making absolutely certain that we move forward in a way that is environmentally sensitive and thoughtful," said Patrick Burns, vice president of Blue North. "We recognize, accept and embrace our responsibility as stewards of sustainability in everything we do at Blue North."
The company also holds an option to build a second large vessel like this starting in late 2013.
Burns and Kenny Down, the company's president and chief executive officer, said the Blue North would offer five key environmental and safety advantages.
First, the vessel will deploy hook-and-line gear, with one fish caught at a time, with a focus on quality rather than quantity.
Second, the vessel will have an internal haul station, a first in the United States, assuring careful release of non-targeted species, and allow all vessel personnel to do their work inside the boat.
Third, the boat will efficiently utilize proteins currently going to waste, with an ultimate goal of 100 percent utilization, in a processing system that using more of the fish that are caught. Currently many hook-and-line fleets that process onboard use only the dressed fish, or 50 percent of the entire weight, while the rest of the fish is ground up and discarded overboard, due to lack of space, refrigeration capacity or onboard labor.


Blue North, an environmentally and safety enhanced freezer-longliner for the Alaska cod fishery, is now under contract for construction with Dakota Creek Industries in Anacortes, Wash. Blue North Fisheries anticipates deliver of the vessel in late 2014. Photo courtesy of Blue North Fisheries

Fourth, the Blue North will offer lower emissions and fuel savings of an estimated 30 percent or more when compared to conventional designs. The vessel will be cleaner, in part due to unique use of diesel electric twin-bladed dual-azimuth propulsion. A contributing factor is that the vessel will have a molded or formed hull, which has a more efficient flow through the water because of decreased resistance.
Fifth, the internal haul station means crews will no longer be exposed to rough seas and freezing temperatures for hours on end, and the risk of falling overboard during hauling is negated. The vessel will also have a heavily weighted box keel design, to keep weight low, as well as an anti-roll tank, to make the work area more stable.
The new boat is designed to produce boneless cod fillets, cod loins, and a host of vacuum-packed consumer-ready cod products on board. Each fish will be individually handled, immediately processed, and frozen within minutes of processing.
"We will sell our fish to environmentally conscious consumers who know they're buying a quality product that's from a low-impact, sustainable, monitored and regulated fishery," Down said. "And we'll use nationally known grocery retailers for distribution of this product as well."
The company currently sends about 10 percent of its annual catch to domestic markets, primarily in the Boston area, according to Lance Magnuson, managing director of Blue North Trading Co. and president of the Alaska Longline Cod Commission. "We believe that this new vessel's production will open up further domestic markets, so that Americans can take pleasure in the same quality fish as foreign markets have enjoyed for many years."
The cod products will be sold in traditional global markets, including Japan, Norway, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Brazil, and China has begun to demand more of this product too, Down and Burns said.
Blue North Fisheries currently owns and operates eight head and gut freezer longliners and one crab catcher vessel. The company harvests and processes a variety of fish, mostly longlined Pacific cod, black cod, pollock and turbot as well as opilio and king crab.

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