Bridging the Gap:
Conservation and Commercial Fishing
Fishermen's daughters work to refine oil from salmon waste into biodiesel
July 19, 2009 by Geoff Kirsch
L
ongtime gi II netter Len Peterson, of
together commercial fishing with other
Juneau, sees little difference in the Taku
stereotypically "anti-environmental"
bridge the gap between industry and
industries like logging and mining.
conservation," said Walker, who admits a
fishery between 1981, when he bought his
first boat, and today. Jev Shelton, also of
"They'd say 'fishermen aren't educated,'
Juneau, and going into his 38th year fishing
'fishermen don't care about the
the inlet, agrees.
environment,'" said Hardcastle, describing
The run sizes are essentially the same and
changing such misperceptions. "My dad has a
change, they say, has been price: lower per
master's in math. lev has a degree from
pound, higher per gallon.
Harvard - though he probably won't tell you
margins for those who continue, perhaps the
that."
"And fish are a renewable resource,"
toughest question facing Southeast Alaska's
Walker said. "If commercial fishermen didn't
largest natural producer of salmon is how to
respect the environment, there wouldn't be
keep the Taku fishery alive and profitable. A
anything to catch."
new answer might lie with Peterson's and
Receiving master's degrees in 200 I, Walker
Shelton's daughters, Heather Hardcastle and
moved to Bellingham, Wash., where she lives
Kirsten Walker, respectively, who see a unique
with her husband and 18-month-old daughter,
opportunity right under everyone's noses.
directing a community advocacy organization.
For the past several years, Hardcastle and
slightly selfish underlying motive behind
how she and Walker became committed to
the salmon quality exceptional. The only real
With fewer families fishing and shrinking
"It's a great example of how fishing can
Hardcastle spent winters as a sustainability
Kirsten Walker and Heather Hardcastle with fish oil
Fishermen's Daughters Ecofuels: It would give
her a reason to come back, too.
For Walker's father, the feeling is mutual.
"Anything that brings my granddaughter
closer," Shelton said.
Walker have been working on plans to turn
educator on Maui and summers in Juneau,
commercial salmon "waste" into renewable
splitting her time as a tour yacht naturalist
yet produce commercially. Hardcastle and
energy. They believe oil from the heads,
and gillnetting for her father.
Walker call results of preliminary feasibil ity
skeletons, skin and organs can be refined into
In 2005, while working on a sunflower-
Fishermen's Daughters Ecofuels does not
studies "sobering." Apparently, the same fatty
biodiesel, and the leftovers can be fermented
based biodiesel project with her students,
acids that give salmon oil its health benefits
to produce methane, or "biogas."
Hardcastle met Bob and Kelly King, founders
complicate its use as fuel.
Hardcastle and Walker call their project
of Pacific Biodiesellnc., one of the first
Other markets for salmon waste do exist,
Fishermen's Daughters Ecofuels, after two
commercially viable biodiesel plal]ts in the
Hardcastle explains, but primarily as food for
men who've lent more than just salmon slime
United States.
aquaculture. Harnessing that waste for energy-
to the effort.
"Being a fisherman's daughter is at the core
The Kings had just finished a pilot project
if not to power boats, then at least to heat
with Dutch Harbor pollock oil. Hardcastle
homes-would likely be an easier sell to
of my identity," says Walker, whose dad took
believed she could apply their process to an
commercial fishers, given prevalent feelings
her out for the first time at two weeks of age.
idea she and Walker discussed at Duke,
toward the farmed Atlantic salmon industry.
"Our dads taught us to respect the salmon
inspired by a childhood of salmon guts.
Still, both fathers and daughters agree that area
and honor its habitat," Hardcastle said. To her,
"I grew up here, I love it here," said
that means trying to lessen the millions of
Hardcastle, who moved back to Juneau full-
pounds of Juneau-area commercial fish waste
time with her husband.
dumped into the ocean yearly.
Raised in Juneau, both women attended
Hardcastle's parents founded Talcu River
gillnetters would gladly recycle their salmon
waste, if given the opportunity.
"Salmon are the lifeblood of that
watershed," Peterson said. "The very nature of
Reds, which places specific focus on
the gillnet fishery on the Taku River is
Duke University's Nicholas School of the
premium, sustainable salmon and the ultimate
predicated on conservation."
Environment, where classmates often lumped
goal of no-waste operations.
(GeojJis afreelance writer from Juneau, AK.)