Seascapes Pro

Hop aboard an Alaskan commercial fishing vessel for a front row seat of bountiful catches, breath taking scenery and unforgettable landscapes!

Professional photographer Chis Miller captures the scenery while set net fishing in Bristol Bay, drift gill net fishing also in Bristol Bay, Trolling for salmon in the outside waters of Southeast Alaska, Prawn fishing, and Longlining halibut and black cod (Sablefish).

Chris Miller is a Freelance Photographer based in Juneau, Alaska who focuses primarily on Commercial Fishing, Backcountry Skiing, and photojournalism. His work has appeared in: Newsweek, the New York Times, Alaska Magazine, Anchorage Daily News, Juneau Empire, the Worcester Telegram and Gazette, on CNN and the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and various other international publications as well as several books. Currently he is working on a long term photo project on the commercial fishery in Bristol Bay.

If you’d like to see some more photographs visit:

www.csmphotos.com

About commercial fishing in Alaska by Wikipedia:

Alaska supports one of the most productive commercial fishing economies in the world. Fishermen typically receive well over $10 billion for their catch; while the value of Alaskan seafood sold at first wholesale easily tops $30 billion. The economic impact of the seafood industry was estimated at approximately $40.6 billion in a 2003 study. Subsistence and personal use fisheries managed by the Division of Commercial Fisheries feed thousands of Alaskans.

Commercially important species of seafood from Alaska include five species of salmon, five species of crab, walleye pollock, Pacific halibut, Pacific cod, sablefish, herring, four species of shrimp, several species of flatfish and rockfish, lingcod, geoducks, sea cucumbers, and sea urchins. Sixty-three aquatic farms also produce oysters, littleneck clams, and geoduck clams.

Salmon is the most valuable commercial fishery managed by the State of Alaska. Commercial fisheries for salmon extend from Ketchikan to Kotzebue, as well as deep into the interior of Alaska along the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers. Salmon are harvested using a variety of fishing gear and more Alaskans are employed in harvesting and processing
salmon than in any other commercial fishery.

Bristol Bay is the largest sockeye salmon fishery in the world and the most valuable single salmon fishery in Alaska. Pink salmon, the most numerous salmon species harvested in Alaska, often produce statewide harvests of over 100 million fish. Southeast Alaska, Prince William Sound, the Alaska Peninsula, and Kodiak are the major pink salmon producing areas.

Shellfish is the second most valuable fishery managed by the state of Alaska, with the largest shellfish harvests occurring in the Bering Sea. These fisheries are managed by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) on a seasonal basis using a total allowable catch. This ensures sustainable wild stocks and harvests under a fishery management plan adopted by the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council (Council) that delegates specific management authorities to the state. Smaller inshore fisheries for shellfish, managed exclusively by the state, also occur.

State-managed Groundfish and herring fisheries add to Alaska’s seafood economy. These fisheries are important because they diversify the products that Alaskan processors can market and lengthen the time fishermen and processing plants operate.