A broken ice machine has stalled commercial fishing for two villages on the Lower Yukon River. The village corporation won’t fix the machine. Fishermen have to travel 90 miles and back to get ice. And they’re calling for help. Meanwhile, the fish and the opportunity for income are swimming by.
Fishermen in Marshall and Russian Mission have missed three commercial openings since the machine’s compressor broke last week. They’re missing out on another opening Thursday and two more if the problem isn’t fixed by this weekend. And it most likely won’t be, because this problem is an expensive one: $15,000.
“Our way of life out here is in jeopardy due to a simple part for an ice machine,” Nick P. Andrew Jr., Marshall commercial fisherman, said.
There’re 48 commercial fishermen in Marshall and Russian Mission. All of them are small skiff operations, and all of them rely on Marshall’s now defunct ice machine.
The machine holds 8,000 lbs. of ice. During an opening, fishermen use about half that per day. Marshall’s village corporation, Maserculiq, owns the machine but is refusing to fix it, a situation that’s frustrating villagers.
“Basically, you know, this has angered a lot of us fisherman and shareholders,” Andrew said. “One, it’s their property. Two, they’re profiting off the fishermen.”
Profits come from buying items at the corporation’s store.
Andrew says the issue speaks to an ongoing disconnect between the shareholders and their corporation. Four of its five board members do not live in Marshall, and the CEO lives in Wyoming.
CEO Russell Weller Jr. replied to KYUK's phone call with, "No comment." Board members have not responded to emails.
In past years, Kwik'Pak Fisheries has maintained the ice machine for free. Kwik'Pak is the processor that buys the fish and is located downriver in Emmonak.
Manager Jack Schultheis says Kwik'Pak has already fixed the machine five times this year, and it’s time the owners took responsibility.
“I mean, the whole community basically fishes, but they won’t support their own fishermen. And we just feel it’s something the village corporation should address and not us,” Schultheis said.
The fishermen in Marshall and Russian Mission offered to pay for the repair on credit with Kwik'Pak. Schultheis wouldn’t take the financial risk.
“Some of them haven’t even fished this year,” he said. “And if it’s all split equally, then everybody would have to fish. So what if a portion of them don't fish?”
A new ice machine would cost about $100,000.
