Tanner Crab (click here to expand all)

When does the season typically start?

February 15 - 22 (approximately)

How is this product caught?

The fishermen use very large crab pots. These pots are set on the sea floor with bait in them and the crab crawl in them but can't crawl out.

How much crab do you expect to get?

Depending on the quota, set by Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game. Normally we receive 750,000 lbs. to 1,000,000+ lbs.

When do you typically hire people?

We usually have product delivered within two days of the opening so would need employees here about 2/16 - 17, at latest.

How many people do you hire?

Our crab crew consists of 120 employees.

What type of work would I do if hired?

Unloading boats, Butchering, Gilling, Packing, Etc. The Tanner season requires employees with lots of stamina and manual dexterity.

How long will work last?

Until the quota is met or the length of the season as set by Fish & Game. Typically 7 - 10 days

How many hours a day will I work?

If we have enough employees, we run two twelve hour shifts that overlap. Could be 12 - 14 hours per day

Will housing & meals be available? How much?

The Bunkhouse and Cookhouse will be open. Bunkhouse charges are $10 per day, a 100% refund will be provided if the employee stays until the specified release date. No refunds are allowed if the employee does not stay until the release date regardless of the reason. A damage deposit of $60.00 will also be refunded with room charges if applicable. The charge per meal is $3.50. Both charges will have city tax added at 6%

When should I apply for the season?

December & January - ASAP.

IFQ Halibut & Black Cod (click here to expand all)

About one month after the Tanner crab season is over, we start the Roe Herring, Herring roe stripping and IFQ (Individual Fishing Quota) Halibut & Black cod seasons. We are looking for employees who can stay or who are able to come back for these fisheries. Depending on the fishing, there could be steady work (no overtime) available almost up to the beginning of the Salmon season.

When does this season typically start?

This season starts about March 1st and closes November 15th. Each fisherman that fished these products during a specified time has been allocated a quota that they can harvest each year. The quota for each fisherman is adjusted each year depending on the forecast by National Marine Fisheries biologists.

How are these products caught?

These products are caught on "Long-Line" gear, which is set out and anchored on the ocean floor. The gear is hauled periodically to remove fish and then re-set.

How much do you expect to get?

There is really no way to predict how much product will be landed at this location. Price, weather, and the market all play a very big part. The processor that is able to pay the highest price will land the most product. (Typically the price is highest during the first week or so and then varies depending on how much product is on the market at any given time.)

When do you typically hire people?

We'd like to be able to count on the dependable Tanner crab crew. We only need a small crew of about 40 people (unless we get swamped!)

What type of work would I do if hired?

Halibut and Black Cod are headed and then the insides are scraped to clean out the guts and blood line. They are then shipped either fresh or frozen.

How long will work last?

Most IFQ fisherman fish early in the season and then again later in the summer to finish up their quota. (March & April and October to mid-November)

How many hours a day will I work?

That depends entirely on the amount of product we have. Black Cod are a delicate fish and need to be processed as soon as possible to keep the quality at #1.

Will there be night shift work?

No. We usually work until the product is finished, which could be 12 - 14 hours a day.

Will housing and meals be available? How much?

The Bunkhouse and Cookhouse will be open. Bunkhouse charges are $10 per day, a 100% refund will be provided if the employee stays until the specified release date. This applies to the summer season and begins sometime in June until the release date is called. No refunds are allowed if the employee does not stay until the release date regardless of the reason. A damage deposit of $60.00 will also be refunded with room charges if applicable. The charge per meal is $3.50. Both charges will have city tax added at 6%. Meals are not refunded.

Roe Herring (click here to expand all)

When does this season typically start?

The end of March of to the first of April. This is monitored very closely by Fish & Game. The fishing opens when roe percentage reaches a specified level by Fish & Game.

How is this product caught?

They are caught in gillnets and in seine nets. A gillnet is like a long fence hanging down in the water and the fish swim into it and are caught. The seine is a large net that forms a purse and closes the bottom and then hauls the fish to the boat and into the fish hold.

How much do you expect to get?

The quotas are different for every year. Petersburg Fisheries, a division of Icicle Seafoods, Inc., only wants mature roe and will not buy immature. If the percentages aren't high enough we may not buy any fish.

When do you typically hire people?

We try to keep dependable Tanner crab people or ask them to come back. We would hire the first of March.

How many people do you need?

We need 85 - 90 employees.

What type of work would I do if hired?

The herring are unloaded from the boats. They then travel on a belt through the freezer. When they come out of the freezer they are put into 50# boxes. Most of the work is making boxes, weighing, closing boxes, and stacking them onto pallets.

How long will work last?

That depends on how many tons of fish we unload. Fishing could take place over several weeks.

How many hours a day will I work?

Once again, that depends on how many tons of herring are being unloaded. Could be 12 - 14 hours a day for several days and then there could be a break in work until the next fishing area is fished.

Will there be a night shift?

No. We do not run a night shift for herring.

Will housing and meals be available? How much?

The Bunkhouse and Cookhouse will be open. Bunkhouse charges are $10 per day, a 100% refund will be provided if the employee stays until the specified release date. (This applies to the summer season and begins sometime in June until the release date is called.) No refunds are allowed if the employee does not stay until the release date regardless of the reason. A damage deposit of $60.00 will also be refunded with room charges if applicable. The charge per meal is $3.50. Both charges will have city tax added at 6%. Meals are not refunded.

When should I apply for the season?

Any time after February 1st.

Dungeness Crab (click here to expand all)

When does the season typically start?

June 15th - August 15th and October 1st – November 30th.

How is product caught?

In Dungeness crab pots. The pots are placed on the ocean floor with bait inside. The crab crawl in to eat the bait and can not get back out of the pot.

How much do expect to get?

Typically we process about 500,000 lbs.

When do you typically hire people?

People are interviewed (by telephone) starting in March. We need employees to be available for work when the season opens on June 15th.

How many people do you need?

This is a small crew of no more than 20 people. They are integrated into other processing crews when crab season is over.

What type of work would I do if hired?

Unloading boats, Butchering, Gilling, and Packing.

How long would work last?

The season ends on August 15th.

Will there be night shift work?

There is a night shift scheduled during the summer season, but not for the fall season.

Will housing and meals be available?

The Bunkhouse and Cookhouse will be open. Bunkhouse charges are $10 per day, a 100% refund will be provided if the employee stays until the specified release date. This applies to the summer season and begins sometime in June until the release date is called No refunds are allowed if the employee does not stay until the release date regardless of the reason. A damage deposit of $60.00 will also be refunded with room charges if applicable. The charge per meal is $3.50. Both charges will have city tax added at 6%.

Salmon (click here to expand all)

When does this season typically start?

The middle of June.

How is this product caught?

Salmon is caught by Trolling, Gillnetting, and Seining

How much do you expect to get?

We never know how much fish we will get. Fish are wild and unpredictable.

When do you typically hire people?

We start interviewing potential employees about the first of March and that process continues until July. Pre-Selected employees start arriving for work the middle of June and more and more employees are put on the lines until we have met our hiring goal. We continue to hire, usually locally, during August to account for turn-over.

How many people do you hire?

Our goal is to hire 460 employees for processing salmon and crab.

What type of work would I do if hired?

Processing salmon requires a variety of jobs. We process by freezing, shipping fresh, and canning. For King salmon, Sockeye salmon, and Coho salmon, the salmon belly is split and the viscera (guts) removed. They are then graded and placed in the freezer for 12 hours. The salmon are then sent through a brine that glazes them and prevents them from becoming freezer burned, packaged, loaded in refrigeration vans, and sent to our re-pack plant in Bellingham, WA. All Pink salmon (Humpies) go to the cannery and are cleaned and fed into machines that cut them into pieces and put them in cans, seal them and then they are cooked in retorts. Jobs in the cannery range from feeding fish into machines that clean them, hand processing fish, feeding lids and cans into equipment and pushing buggies loaded with canned salmon into the retorts. Hearing protection and hairnets are required (and furnished in all salmon, crab, and egg processing areas.)

How long will work last?

Until the Pink salmon run is over. The Pink salmon run, which is the biggest and provides the most work, usually starts about the first couple of weeks in July and ends the end of August to the first week in September.

How many hours a day will I work?

During salmon season, employees typically work 14 - 16 hours per day, seven days a week. The work is demanding, repetitious and requires a great deal of stamina and endurance. There is a lot overtime work and that is one reason most people apply for seafood processing jobs

Will there be night shift work?

Just for the night shift clean-up crew. Typically everyone else works 14 - 16 hours a day seven days a week, however we may have a night shift depending upon production needs.

Will housing and meals be available?

The Bunkhouse and Cookhouse will be open. Bunkhouse charges are $10 per day, a 100% refund will be provided if the employee stays until the specified release date. No refunds are allowed if the employee does not stay until the release date regardless of the reason. A damage deposit of $60.00 will also be refunded with room charges if applicable. The charge per meal is $3.50. Both charges will have city tax added at 6%

Working in the USA (click here to expand all)

Do you hire foreign students?

Yes we hire foreign students. In order to work for Petersburg Fisheries, you will need to have the appropriate work visa. Most of the foreign workers who work temporarily in the U.S.are foreign students currently enrolled in school and have a J-1 visa. The Work & Travel Visa - allows foreign students to work in the U.S. for four months in processing positions. You will need to contact an agency to obtain the proper forms.