Gloucester's principal slime eel buyer, Yang Cho, has been losing sleep lately over the Korean vs. U.S. currency exchange rate. Local fishing vessel owner Capt. Dennis "Murph" Murphy has also been concerned about it.
Despite the worry, however, his Westward was the first Gloucester vessel to benefit from a new company in Quincy.
"The Korean currency exchange rate prior to August was 900 won to one U.S. dollar. It has since risen to 1,500 won to one U.S. dollar. Koreans used to pay 900 won for a kilo of slime eels; now they have to pay 1,500," Cho, owner of New England Marine Resources in Gloucester, explained. The end result has been less demand for the Korean eel delicacy he began buying and processing locally and exporting in 1993 and, even worse, an inventory pile-up of thousands of pounds of frozen eels in Gloucester and Korea.
Cho responded to the dilemma by cutting off his two most recent eel trappers from Maine. He has kept his own vessel, Camano, and regular suppliers Meridian and Michael & Kristin going. "They've committed to me, and I feel that it is my duty to commit to them. I've kept their boat price the same and imposed no catch limits. Now what I handle is my problem; I don't want to give that burden to the fishermen," Cho said.
"The high oil price was a big factor in June and July. The fishermen and I thought we were fine when it went down, and then this big problem hit us," he said.
"I cross my fingers every night that the exchange rate will change. It will change. The problem is until it changes, I will have to suffer, and it's been a little more painful than I expected," Cho said.
Capt. Dennis "Murph" Murphy, a veteran eel and small pelagics fisherman who emigrated to America in 1987 from Farnanes, County Cork, Ireland, and later settled in Rockport, also hopes the exchange rate will soon make eels a reasonable buy again in Korea. In 2007, he bought Peter Mullen's grand old lady, the 136-foot, all-steel Western Venture, later renamed Westward, to specifically mid-water trawl mackerel from January to April and trap eels the rest of the year.
After doing some post-purchase work on the 47-year-old vessel, which was built in Holland, including refurbishing the wheelhouse and galley, re-piping the engine room and repainting the massive vessel's exterior black and buff, "I just wasn't ready to go fishing on time," Murphy said.
His investment consequently sat idle at her Gloucester berth much of the year.
"I'm ready to go for the mackerel. Hopefully, the fish will show up. The demand for them is good," he said. His eel traps are all ready to go after the mackerel season, too.
Murphy and his Westward got a surprise job this fall thanks to a new Quincy company, The Boat Wranglers LLC, capitalizing on the growing production and popularity of reality TV shows and documentaries and their promotions on fishing, especially by the Discovery Channel. The fledgling company "... found a novel way for New England boat owners to earn income when their boats aren't out fishing or otherwise engaged," explained Pat McAleer, a co-founder and also a maritime attorney with the Boston law firm of Looney & Grossman LLP. The Boat Wranglers LLC lines up boats and crews for a production company's specific need.
"When the producers of a commercial promoting 'Whale Wars,' a new reality and documentary series on the Discovery Channel's Animal Planet Network, needed a vessel as authentic as a whaling ship, they weren't sure where to turn," said McAleer. "There are only three countries that still operate whaling ships. One is Japan — the focus of the documentary — and the others are Iceland and Norway, which still engage in some form of whaling." McAleer, tapping into his extensive maritime experience, suggested the film crew use a herring boat for the videos. In this case, The Boat Wranglers LLC worked with Murphy's law firm in town, Ouellette and Smith, to line up the Westward.
"The parties involved came down and looked at the Westward, and they liked it. I took the crew out to Middlebank one day to film whales. We saw whales, and they were extremely happy about that," said Murphy.
The film crew wasn't the only one. Murphy's four children, J.J., Cameron, Hannah and Brendan, regularly view Animal Planet as well as other Discovery Channel productions. "The kids were excited about their father and his boat being involved in this Animal Planet promotion; they thought it was pretty cool," said Murphy's wife, Tina. Murphy and his wife also appreciated the extra income. "Everything helps today," he said.
"The Westward is the first fishing vessel that The Boat Wranglers have booked," McAleer said. "It is everyone's hope that film and production companies continue to call on Massachusetts mariners for these types of endeavors."
Peter K. Prybot writes about the fishing industry and related issues for the Times.
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