Mike McCorkle
Mike McCorkle –
President, Southern California Trawlers Association; Board member, Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations; Board member, Commercial Fishermen of America; Advisor, Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission.
Click here for Mike’s Shrimp Pizza Recipe!
Tell us about the origins of the film project “Plight of the Fishermen.”
This came about when a local newspaper was writing stories about there being no more fish in the ocean. Jackie Newman, the director of “Plight of the Fishermen,” had read that and came down to the harbor to find out for herself if it was true.
There were two or three of us bringing our boats in at the same time and we were bringing in halibut for a sushi restaurant in L.A. And she said to me “Where did you get all those fish? There aren’t supposed to be fish out there anymore…” Well after hanging around a while and talking to us she told me, “People are being fed a lot of B.S.”
So this movie is supposed to alert people that maybe not everything you read is true. It may give some insight into fishermen… Maybe it’ll make people think a little bit.
For more information, see www.plightofthefishermen.com
You were involved recently in helping keep your area’s trawler grounds open by proving to the state that your fishery was sustainable. What kind of process did you go through?
They came to us and said, “We’re closing the grounds because you are fishing on a rocky bottom.”
They were saying what we were doing was like dragging a big V8 engine over the sand. And there was a concern we were smothering the baby kelp beds, stopping the kelp from growing.
We gave them four areas of our trawl grounds so they wouldn’t close the whole trawl grounds, which they tried to do anyway. We gave them four areas — three on points and one in a canyon.
They said there would be four things they would require:
- prove that the trawling operation was not adversely affecting ecosystem health
- minimize by-catch
- prove that the trawling is not likely damaging sea floor habitat
- prove that the trawling is not impeding reasonable restoration of kelp, coral or other biogenic habitats
We took the biologists out with us on the boat and showed them that we weren’t doing these things… and we had a camera attached to our nets, we had movies of the nets going about 7 inches above the bottom… We showed them our bycatch was almost zero.
The main thing is — Don’t roll over! It’s hard to find positive data on fisheries these days. But fishermen are smart. If you get some smart ones together, you can do it. Fishermen know about fishing.
How were you involved in the area’s offshore oil drilling?
I’ve been fishing around the oil platforms in the Channel since 1958.
For a period of time the oil companies just dumped things over the side, off the platforms. The channel turned into a trashcan and I was picking up a lot of debris. Then we went and started working with the state and federal agencies, we started complaining… And over the years they stopped dumping.
Then we agreed on setting up traffic lanes for the fishermen and oil companies — OCS rule 9-C says oil companies can’t get in the way of fishing. We’ve sat down with the oil companies and we’ve worked it out. If you do it right you can work together.
“What advise do you have for other fishermen?”
Get involved locally
You gotta get involved in your local harbor, get support for your local fishing community… Get to know your local harbormaster, harbor commission, your local politicians, fish and game department and commissioners.
Every time you go and talk to them, tell them the truth. Because once you lie, you’re screwed. In our harbor, we’re friends with the harbor patrol, friends with people in the city council… It all helps give the fishermen a better image.
In a city it’s harder to do, in smaller communities it’s a lot easier.
Make friends with the scientific community
Some of our best friends are biologists in fish and game because they don’t know a lot of what’s really going on out there and fishermen can teach them things they won’t learn in any book. And in return, they stick up for fishermen.
Work with people who want to do some science. A guy came to me a few weeks ago, a grad student from UCLA doing a study on sharks. He needed to do some sampling and was asking me how to go about it. He had this sample kit, and the samples needed to be collected and put in alcohol, and he was trying to figure how to go out there and do it. I said “I’ll do it, give it to me, no big deal.”
The Pacific Fishery Management Council has advisory subpanels, a groundfish advisory subpanel for example, that can be good to be involved with. Even if you’re not on there, go to the meetings. Because people are up there talking but they may not know something, and they will ask you “What’s going on with this fish right now?” And you can tell them what’s actually going on out there.
Then when you need something from them, they will help you. They all know each other, and if you go there with some problem, they can help you. If you can be in with your federal council, that can help too. The more people you know and if they know you’re coming in there with the truth, they’ll bend over backwards for you. But once you doublecross them, then it’s all over. You have to learn how to present your problems and work with them.
Direct Marketing
We have the oldest fishermen’s market around, every Saturday we sell off our boats from 7:30am-11:30am. It’s a good option. You have to be there on a regular basis and you will get a growing group of faithful customers if you treat them right.
What’s taken off better is the farmer’s markets. If you can be there every week, you can make a bunch of money. You gotta know how to deal with the public. Some people don’t want to deal with the public but I love it. They come down and learn all this stuff and come back every week.
Some people will come in and ask for a Halibut and say “I want the biggest one.” OK, that’s about a 20 or 30 pound fish, I say. Or they say, “Salmon, we want the biggest salmon you got.” That’ll be about $200, I say. And they pull out their money.
They like to look at the scales. And if they see the scale, and they see 10 pounds and you see 10 and a half, give it to them at 10, they go away happy.
If you’re a person who can’t deal with the public, hire someone else to do it for you. You can just stay on the boat and hand the fish up to them.
