Harvest is a word that can be used as a noun or a verb. And we can and do harvest a great harvest from our Northern California coastal waters.
By Ed & Pam McGrath
Published: September, 2006
Harvest is a word that can be used as a noun or a verb. And we can and do harvest a great harvest from our Northern California coastal waters. We enjoy delectable seafood such as crab, salmon and other delicacies, only because of the intrepid fishermen who man our fleet of fishing vessels. However, some of the San Francisco Bay fishermen’s harvest is quickly exported. Herring roe is one example.
We had the very interesting experience of sharing the Liberty Ship Pier in Sausalito for three seasons with some herring fishermen. We had our beautiful yachts for sale on one side of the pier while the herring fishermen were on the other side unloading their catch and shipping it out.
Now, here’s what we know about how to tell whether herring are ready to harvest:
• If there are more than 20 sea gulls nearby (it’s never a mystery whether gulls are around),
• If there are several adult seals or sea lions around (cute until one pokes his head up and exposes some huge teeth and raunchy breath),
• If the herring jump around and bump up against boats,
• If the herring are spawning. The water gets milky with sperm and eggs are deposited on the sides of docks, rocks, ropes or on fields of kelp (oh, the joys of procreation).
After tons of herring are caught in fishing nets, the boats unload by using pumps that pull the fish from the boats and into bins. The herring are packed in ice and shipped to a turkey processing plant to be frozen (turkey of the sea?). Next, the fish are trucked to Canada and defrosted. At this stage, eggs are extracted from the females and, along with the roe harvested from the kelp, are shipped to Japan where herring roe is considered a great delicacy.
So, for the sake of these most favored delicacies, we did our best to let the gulls and the seals on the Liberty Ship Pier know that our boats were off limits, for all the good it did us -they kept our boat washers extra busy -and, all now concede that yacht sales and herring fishermen are not the greatest of combinations.
Here’s something else we know: Today, a very limited number of permits are sold for herring fishing in San Francisco Bay, and separate permits are needed for harvesting herring and the eggs. As a result, we are seeing fewer and fewer herring fishermen each year, and fortunes of local herring fishermen have declined. At the same time, the number and size of herring has diminished and the smaller herring slip though the industry’s regulation-size nets.
We hope the fishermen and the fish make a strong come back. Perhaps in the next few years, when the herring have grown and the population has increased, we will notice those distinctive herring boats on The Bay between November and March, and think of those who make their living harvesting gifts from the sea.
Ed has been selling boats in the Bay Area for over 12 years. He and his wife, Pam,opened McGrath Pacific Yacht Sales three years ago. Being at the helm of their 36’ trawler is one of Pam’s favorite activities.
