Help support small commercial fishing vessel FV Olinka!

The Short Story

Support Team F/V Olinka and get a boat shirt!

The short story is that I’m using this platform to collect enough to set up a pre-order for boat shirts. I've been meaning to design a new boat shirt for us for a long time now, and now it's art for a cause! The fish in the design are the main fisheries F/V Olinka has primarily relied on in recent years: albacore, buoy gear swordfish, and line (troll) caught California king salmon.

As of this time, the garments will be black with unisex/men’s sizes, Gildan Ultra Cotton. if there's enough interest I can try for some other items (design should fit on larger youth sizes but those don't have a pocket).

Pocket T-shirt: $35

Long sleeve shirt: $45

Hoodie: $85

Donate at least the amount shown for merchandise listed above. In your donation receipt e-mailed by GoFundMe, there will be a link to add a comment where you can specify which item(s) you want for the pre-order, and your size(s), or shipping address if needed. This comment should show up to the organizer even if you donate as anonymous. You'll need to log back in to GoFundMe to make this comment after you get the e-mail receipt.

Instagram video of the shirt at this link.

Design on back:

Design on t-shirt front pocket or similar area on long sleeve or hoodie. This is based on the design I made for a sign when we were selling salmon off the boat in 2020:

I should be able to organize pickups at the boat (G St marina near Seaport Village, where most of what's left of San Diego's commercial fishing fleet is located) or possibly elsewhere around San Diego. If you’re not around San Diego, we’ll figure something out!

The Long(er) Story

For the last two years, California has had a complete closure on fishing for king salmon. There was some disaster relief approved for the 2023 closure, but the amount that would go to commercial salmon fishermen is a fraction of what they might hope to earn if they had a season, and no one has received a way to apply for the aid yet.

Boat shirt pre-orders are part of a fundraiser to supplement the Federal Fishery Disaster Relief for my captain Doug of F/V Olinka (if/when it becomes available) for the 2023 and 2024 California King salmon closures, and to raise awareness that sustainability, good practices, and the importance of protecting fish populations often come with regulations, challenges and and a higher cost of operating in California as a small commercial fishing boat.

Proceeds from boat shirts or pure donations will be used for: Boat maintenance, permit renewals (e.g. cost of maintaining a 2023 commercial salmon vessel permit despite not being able to fish was $739.50), slip fees, insurance, fuel, oil changes and filters, storage for gear, lost income from 2 years of salmon season closures...some of what the Federal Fishery Disaster Relief is supposed to cover.

The goal amount is a long shot, but it's an example of about what the boat grossed during one season fishing California king salmon.

The following articles are just a few references on California's salmon closures and status of commercial fishing in general. They hit really close to home, especially the observations about closures like this permanently driving more boats from the fleet.

Oct 30, 2024 Cal Matters : A third straight year with no California salmon fishing? Early fish counts suggest it could happen

Mar 11, 2024 Cal Matters : ‘Simply catastrophic’: California salmon season to be restricted or shut down — again

Spring 2024 Edible Monterey : Near Death Diagnosis - Haunting reports on the fragility of remaining local fishers

Please share and help support small boat commercial fishermen - we hope to be able to keep fishing for what we can, when we can, and fish California king salmon again in the future!

About the Organizer

I started fishing with Doug on his boat F/V Olinka in 2020 as part of a California Sea Grant commercial fishing apprenticeship program which aimed to address the “graying of the fleet” - the aging and shrinking of the commercial fishing industry due to a lack of newer entrants. I wasn’t aware of this issue when I started, but now understand how difficult it can be to stay afloat as a full-time small boat commercial fisherman…even if you have owned your boat since 1987, have done well in the past, and have permits and gear for multiple fisheries to participate in. With current fishing regulations, closures, limited entry restrictions, MLPAs, competition from imports and farmed fish and the ever increasing cost of operating and coastal living where fishermen need to be, it is challenging to maintain the boat and support yourself, let alone keep crew who might continue in commercial fishing, especially in somewhere as expensive as San Diego. I'm organizing this fundraiser to try and help Doug, who is one of the hardest working and generous people I know, stay in an industry he loves and has worked in his whole life. It's also an industry whose survival I care deeply about and which has inspired a lot of my recent artwork besides the boat shirt design.