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The Gypsy Fish Company, Santa Cruz, CA
 Chef Chris is both a personal chef and a salmon fisherman. He fishes Bristol Bay, AK during the salmon season from approximately mid-June to the end of July. It all depends on the salmon run. The rest of the year he works as a personal chef and sells the salmon he has caught through his online company, The Gypsy Fish Company.
For the past two decades Chris has worked in the maritime industry; he has gone from ocean voyaging on traditional rigged sailboats to working as a chef on million dollar yachts to plying the seas of Alaska in search of fish. As Chris says, “I have followed my heart to the sea, and in following my heart, have been rewarded beyond my dreams.”
He grew up in a family that loved food and enjoyed cooking together. This experience came in handy. Oftentimes he found himself being the cook on the boat rather than working on deck. During the off-season he worked in restaurants and then transitioned into working as a private chef. He cooks on yachts and occasionally is invited to cook for a family on their private island.
Although Chris enjoyed the team aspect of restaurant work, he really enjoys interfacing with clients and seeing them enjoy the food he cooks. He uses the food as a vehicle to educate his clients on sustainable food issues.
“I've been lucky to have found a niche traveling and working on different yachts; this has been a great way for me to travel and see the world. These experiences all create a sensibility about different cultures and cuisines that I can, literally, bring to the table,” says Chris.
We had an opportunity to do an email interview with Chris when he was enroute to Bristol Bay, Alaska for this season’s salmon fishing. He talks eloquently about the salmon fishing experience as well as the beauty of the area and his concerns about the proposed gold and copper mine, known as the Pebble Mine, slated to be built at the headwaters of Bristol Bay.
Interview with Chris Wang - Salmon Fishing on Bristol Bay, Alaska - 2011
CN: Where do you meet up with the captain/crew of the fishing boat you will be on?
Chris: I fly first to Anchorage, and then take a  small plane to Dillingham. A friend will either meet me in the airport or I will hitchhike to the boatyard and join the ship. There's pretty much two directions to go from the airport, to town or away from town. It's easy to find someone going your way and I usually run into someone I know in Seattle that's going the same way.
I'm actually on a flight from Seattle to Anchorage right now and was lucky to run into my good friend, Jessica, who is on her way to DLG as well. The fishermen in the crowd are usually easy to pick out. Jessica was actually wearing her Extratuffs because her bag was overweight. (Extratuffs are the ubiquitous boots that Alaskan fishermen wear - they're called Alaskan tennis shoes). So she was easy to spot.
CN: What is the name of the boat you will be on? Who’s the captain?
 Chris: The name of the boat is Leading Edge. Bruce is an old-time crab captain and entrepreneur from Vashon Island, WA. He’s a great guy who's lived abroad for a good chunk of his life. We share similar outlooks on spending time outside of the US. He's definitely cut from a different clothe - crazy enough to be in this industry but smart enough to be successful at it.
CN: How many on board the fishing boat?
Chris: Four on board. Nathan, a fellow from Vashon Island, outside of Seattle. Josh, a friend of mine that I met in Bali. He's a ripping surfer, a DJ, and a snowboard instructor in the winter. Indonesia has been his second home for many years and I've been lucky enough to make several trips there.
CN: What has to happen to get the boat and crew ready to go?
Chris: Because the fish arrive  when they arrive, whether we are ready or not, there's a lot of pressure on Bruce, the captain, to have everything ready to go early. The season is a short 6-8 weeks and to miss any part of it could mean a substantial financial loss.
So all the engineering on the boat needs to be ready, nets need to be either repaired or new nets hung, and groceries need to be gathered. I'm always amazed to see guys arrive at the boat yard, reconnect the batteries to their boat, and fire it up without a hitch after the boat has been sitting idle for 10 mos. through a VERY hard winter.
In January the captain starts contacting his crew and firming things up. By May, a lot of folks are already up working on their boats. By early June, a lot of people are trickling in, and by mid-June there's a lot less socializing and the level of intensity is palpable.
CN: Who gives the “go ahead” for the fishing fleet to begin fishing for salmon?
Chris: The Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game gives the "go ahead" to fish. A biologist determines where and when and how long we can fish. There is a ton of pressure from all different sides, and the biologist is left to juggle the pressure from the fishermen to be allowed to fish and to manage the reproductive needs of each salmon class to ensure biological diversity.
CN: A salmon count is done to determine the start and duration of the fishing season. How are the salmon counted?
Chris: Salmon counting towers are perched high over the river. During the season each of these stations are manned and I believe that the fish are counted for the first 10 minutes of the hour and the last 10 minutes of the hour and extrapolated to determine how many fish made it up the river that hour. Again, the goal is to not only let enough salmon get up the river, but also to ensure that enough salmon of different spawn classes make it up the river. This process maintains genetic diversity.
Not only are there salmon counters but there are also teams of biologists taking different samples of scales and weights to determine when and where each salmon was born and is returning to.
CN: What’s a day like in the life of a fisherman fishing for salmon?
Chris: It's incredibly rewarding. We're participating in a natural rhythm that has been taking place for tens of thousands of years. Because we are moving with the pulses of fish, we are also in tune with the tides, the weather and trying to follow a natural rhythm that we may not even know exists.
 We call the peak season "The Blur" because we are working non-stop. The grounds may be open for two 10-hour periods in a 24-hour cycle; this pattern repeats itself for 7 or 8 days.
That means we are oftentimes physically fishing for 20 hours a day and spending the other four hours delivering fish and stealing naps. Coupled with the physical exhaustion is the mental game of trying to figure out where the fish are going to be. Some of the fishing districts are quite large and, if you are in the wrong place, you are missing out. What's at stake here is what's going to fund you through the other 10 months. So there can be a lot of pressure.
That being said, the rewards far outweigh the hardships. Working hard together with your friends to harvest a great product and making sure that it is handled well to ensure the highest quality when it reaches the end user is rewarding. I know that I feel quite blessed to be a part of this process of being in Alaska and working in the elements, sharing the joys and hardships with my shipmates, bringing this great product home with me, and sharing the stories of how these fish came to arrive at your table.
CN: How are the fish caught, stored, and processed?
Chris: They call our fishery a drift gill net fishery. This means that the net is not fixed to the shore anywhere. THAT particular fishery is called a set net fishery. So, for us, we have a boat attached to a net and buoy on the other end. This gives us a great deal of flexibility as to where we fish and makes our fishery a very dynamic one. The fish are moving around dependent on the tides and even just whimsy and we are moving around trying to find them.
The length of the net is regulated by the Department of Fish and Game and enforced by Alaska State Troopers who patrol the fishing grounds. The individual mesh size of the net allows the head of larger salmon to pass through it, their bodies get stuck and that is how they are caught. Smaller fish pass through the net easily minimizing by-catch.
Each individual fish is picked out of the net, bled, and then slid into the fish hold, which is filled with refrigerated seawater that is kept at 37 degrees. We deliver our fish to a tender, which takes the fish to the processing facility. Here it is gutted, filleted, hermetically sealed and blast frozen. Like the fishermen who are working nonstop during the season, the processors have to keep pace in order to process all the fish in a timely manner.
Our fish are processed by Leader Creek Fisheries which focuses on processing a high quality product. All of the ships in their fleet are required to have refrigerated sea water systems on board (RSW). These RSW systems keep the fish at a very cold 37 degrees F from pretty much the moment that they are taken on board. Leader Creek has been at the forefront of turning the Bristol Bay sockeye into a premium branded product.
From the processing plant the frozen fish takes a slow barge to Seattle and waits in a warehouse for distribution.
CN: How does the fishing experience influence you as a chef?
Chris: As a fisherman, I get to see the process through from beginning to end – from the pristine spawning grounds of the salmon to the net to the processing to the storage to the table. It definitely has given me a broader view of what it takes to be a producer and get that product to the customer as efficiently as possible without sacrificing quality or safety. It makes me more committed to supporting local farms and local products because by doing so, we are ensuring that we continue to have safe and healthy food sources and communities.
CN: What got you into salmon fishing?
Chris: My first trip to Alaska was just after my freshman year of college in 1992. I forsook a summer job building computer printers in a factory and hitchhiked across Alaska in search of adventure. I ran out of money in the fishing port of Seward, Alaska. Hard pressed for food, cold and wet, pride pushed deep next to the lint in my pocket. I walked the docks several times a day asking for work. I was a long shot for sure - hailing from the landlocked countryside of New York. I was trying to gain a foothold into America’s deadliest industry, an industry where your shipmate’s ability and skills directly correlated to your safety on deck and at sea. Nobody wanted a book-smart green horn fresh off the Ivory Towered hill to watch his or her back.
Persistence wore down resistance though and I was lucky to fall into the good hands of a willing captain. When I first stepped on board the Lady Lee - catching my first unforgettable whiff of the sweet perfume of fish oil, diesel, and brine - felt the sway of the boat beneath my feet - I knew I had come home.
CN: What is Bristol Bay, Alaska like?
Chris:  Bristol Bay is a beautiful rugged place. In the pre-season, if we are lucky we'll get to go on a couple of hikes and it's breathtaking to get up in the mountains and look across the valleys and see the abundance of water - as the rivers snake through the tundra and head towards the sea. When I stand at the edge of the tundra, I can see a hundred miles or so with the mountains rising above in the distance. I think that one has to experience that sort of intensity of wildness and quiet to realize that it exists.
CN: How many seasons have you been fishing Bristol Bay?
Chris: This season (2011) will be my seventh.
CN: Please share your thoughts about the proposed Pebble Mine at the headwaters of Bristol Bay.
Chris: Boy, it's hard not to be cynical with regard to this. The value of the gold and copper deposit estimated to be $300 billion means that, even if protected, a change in administration could put it back on the docket in the coming years, decades. Our thirst for metal resources and the profits that can be derived from them is hard to ever see being quenched. We know this for sure; ANY toxic waste from this mine is going to directly threaten what is one of the greatest wild food sources in the world.
The complexity of how salmon return to their spawning grounds is still not well understood. What we do know is that shortly after laying and fertilizing the eggs the parents die and their decaying bodies become the food source for eagles, bears and bugs. The carbon and nitrogen found thousands of miles inland in Alaska originates from marine sources. The fry are born without guidance but are drawn from the rivers to the sea where they exist for 3-5 years. They return to the rivers and the exact location where they were spawned. They were not shown this by their parents because their parents died shortly after fertilization. They are hardwired and most likely driven by scent and the earth's polarity.
Changes in water temperature or inadvertent waste from the mine could alter this intricate balance and there's no denying that these systems are fragile. We just have to look at the devastated salmon stocks of the Northwest and California to realize how easily these systems are skewed and how hard it is to get them back on track.
The argument for the mine stems from the potential revenue for the state and jobs for locals. But the fishing industry already provides this and something even more important: food.
I can see a comparison in the model of the World Bank offering a third world nation a loan on the terms that they grow a commodified crop - say tobacco, rather than food that they've been subsisting on. So the farmers move from subsistence to tobacco so that they can earn money. What do they end up buying with that money? Soda pop and Twinkies - processed food - Poison.
They have moved away from their staple crops and are now growing a monoculture crop and eating unhealthy food. The soil has become depleted because they haven't been growing anything diverse enough to enrich the soil. World Bank moves on and leaves behind a devastated socio-economic community that has grown dependent on subsidies, is obese and diabetic, and no longer has the means to survive because their food source has been destroyed.
But, in the case of the loss of a spawn class of salmon, they, unlike the soil, cannot be replenished and will not be coming back. If we lose the salmon, we lose a key component to the food web of the inland areas because the decaying bodies of the spawned salmon are the food for the rest of the ecosystem. Something like 50% of the carbon and nitrogen in inland areas is marine based. Birds, bears, bugs, trees.... salmon is integrated throughout the whole system. If we lose the salmon, we lose an essential part of the ecosystem.
CN: Are the local folks for or against the proposed Pebble Mine?
Chris: I haven't come into contact with too many local folks that are for it. That being said, Pebble is holding the carrot of "jobs" for local families. However, these jobs would threaten a tradition and way of life that has been providing jobs and revenue and subsistence to the area for many, many years.
The local folks I know are against it. Subsistence is a way of life in these rural areas and salmon occupy an essential niche in this web of life - gathering berries, salmon, elk, etc. By smoking and canning these products, the locals are able to ensure that they have protein throughout the winter.
CN: How do you get the fish that you sell at your company, the Gypsy Fish Company?
Chris: The fish that I purchase to sell is through an arrangement with both the captain and the fish processing plant. Our processing is run on a profit share model - so that the boats that participate in it get a portion of the profit in the spring. To be honest, I'm not exactly sure how all the numbers get crunched. In lieu of payment from the captain, I am given the option of buying back fish.
My fish are shipped by barge to Seattle, Washington and then I arrange for a truck to pick up the palettes of fish and deliver it to cold storage in San Francisco.
CN: Whom do you sell your fish to?
Chris: I sell my fish throughout the greater Bay Area and my customers are people who are looking to add a healthy and delicious protein source to their diet. Because I'm selling in 10-pound increments, I'm able to have a very competitive price point and my clients have the added convenience of having a supply of salmon in their freezer. I also sell to some culinary institutions.
CN: What are your thoughts on the food industry in the US as a whole?
Chris: During the 1960's there was a big movement towards the industrialization and commodification of our food sources. Pesticides, genetic engineering - there was a push for efficiency. Some corporations took hold of some of these ideas and spun this desire for profit out of control at the risk of human health and the security of the food system.
Suddenly, we have food products such as tomatoes with fish genes injected into them to resist bruising or patented seeds that require chemical inputs in order to grow (which come from the owner of the patent of the seed). Corporate hegemony driven by bottom line greed has put our food systems and our health at risk. We currently do not have a policy for labeling Genetically Engineered (GE) food in America.
No one knows how our bodies metabolize these genetically engineered products. There are so many things that have been pushed to create greater profits and efficiency - growth hormones, pesticides etc.... but it's been putting our health at risk.
In the last couple of decades, more and more people have been able to recognize that this system is getting out of control. There's some sort of arrogance that humans have that they can use technology to overcome the natural systems rather than working with it.
There's a great metaphor that I learned while studying some traditional forms of navigation. Celestial navigators from Polynesia have been able to navigate thousands of miles through pure observation; watching the stars, the birds, the wavelets ... so a boat could leave Tahiti and end up in Hawaii - thousands of miles away without ever having a point of reference in between. One of the reasons for this incredible sense of direction was that there are no words for right and left in their language. Instead you would reference the location of something by its cardinal direction from another object. For example, the book is to the north of me, NOT the book is to my right.
What this means is that they are placing themselves in their natural world, NOT thinking of the natural world as something outside of themselves. I think of this as a really telling comparison of how the corporate food system has sought to impose its structure on the natural food system.
Note: All photos courtesy of Christopher Wang
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