Troy Pack, the captain of the Itasca, a Hawaiʻi-based longline fishing boat, had a different outlook on his job just a few years ago.
“I loved being a captain. I loved my job. I love fishing, but it’s like I was making good money and it was worth it. It was worth being away from my family and worth being away and being out at sea for 25 days a month,” Pack said.
After a recent fishing trip, the Itasca was docked at Oʻahu’s Pier 38. On one afternoon, Pack, some of his crew and Peter Webster, who owns the Itasca, were taking a break aboard the vessel before heading out on another fishing trip.
There, Pack said he’s been rethinking his career.
After 20 years of fishing, he said he couldn’t live on the pay anymore.
“It’s coming to the point where I’m this close to just quitting, giving up, and just (getting) a normal nine-to-five. This last trip, I came in with 20,000 pounds of fish, they sold 16,000 pounds of it, and threw away 3,500 pounds. After expenses and everything … I would make more money working at McDonald’s,” he said.
The crew just came back from weeks on the ocean fishing mostly for ahi, specifically bigeye or yellowfin tuna.
There are some 140 Hawaiʻi-based longline fishing vessels that bring in more than 20 million pounds of tuna annually.
Collectively, the state’s longline commercial fishing industry is one of the largest local food producers. But Pack said he and others might be forced to leave the industry over what they’re making.
So what happened?
One reason the pay is a problem now is because fishing trips have become significantly more expensive.
Webster, who’s been in the fishing industry for 40 years, said that fuel, bait, food and other necessities for a 20-day fishing trip never used to reach $10,000.
“When I first started down here, (we did) the whole trip for $8,000 — that was it,” he said.
Now trips can range from around $25,000 to around $35,000.
The inflated prices stem from the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic fallout that followed.
Normally longline fishers can recoup their costs and make a profit by selling their catch. Most of that is done at the Honolulu Fish Auction, also located at Pier 38.
Because of the nature of the auction and the fluctuating supply and demand for fish, the prices fishers can fetch can change from month to month and season to season.
That average price per pound of fish can range from around $2 — which would make it difficult to break even on a longline fishing trip — to a more lucrative $6 or $7.
The auction’s average daily selling price over the last week or so has been right in the middle of that range at around $4.20.
Webster said the fluctuation in prices is nothing new, although that lack of change may be part of the problem.
“We’ve been looking at a $3 to $5 market for about 30 years. That’s never changed. It’s the price of everything else that’s going up,” he said.
Additionally, the auction used to be more open to the public, but since the pandemic, it’s been more focused on working with a few vetted businesses. Some worry it makes fish prices less transparent or competitive than they could be.
The auction setup helps fishers market their catch, and it’s supposed to help keep fish prices competitive while also incentivizing fishers to keep the quality of their fish high.
The United Fishing Agency started the auction more than 70 years ago, and Webster said it’s been a profitable, though volatile, system.
But because fish prices haven’t changed significantly in decades, it hasn’t been enough to keep up with fishers’ growing expenses.
"The prices of fish have gotten better in the past 30 years. … I don’t mean to sound like a total negative entity, but they’re not to the standards of everything else,” Webster said. “Thirty years ago we were looking for a $4 average on the load, and still that’s the same deal we’re looking for now.”
Recently there appears to be an increase in low-paying months.
“If we ain’t making money, it doesn’t make any sense, right?” he said. “I can’t go three trips without making anything. I make nothing.”
International competition
There are also wider issues still hurting local fishers. One is competition from international fishing fleets, primarily from Asian countries.
Those fishing industries are often subsidized by their governments and are subject to fewer fishing regulations. That makes fishing cheaper and more accessible, and it allows catch to be sold at a lower price than what local fishers can offer.
Imported fish can also be previously frozen, thawed and treated with gas, which artificially colors the fish to make it look more fresh than it actually is.
As a result, Hawaiʻi’s markets are flooded by imported ahi and other fish. In many cases, stores and restaurants that prepare or serve fish are not required to tell customers where it came from, even if there’s a high likelihood that it didn’t come from a local fisher.
More than 60% of all seafood consumed in Hawaiʻi is imported.
Work-life imbalance
Back at Pier 38, the crew of the Itasca has a day or two before leaving on another fishing trip. They’ll likely be gone for most of the month.
Pack himself hasn’t been on vacation in a year, so recently this is what his months have looked like.
He says he just can’t afford to take a break.
“I could do three trips, make $40,000 or … $45,000 — a decent amount of money. And then I could take three months off, and I could go spend time with my family, do what I want to do, live an actual life. I could go backpacking and go do fun stuff. But now, I don’t do any of that,” Pack said.
This is part one of a two-part story. Read and listen to part two: "Do you know where your fish comes from? It's probably not Hawaiʻi."
