#148 Longlines and Long Family Lines - Sena Wheeler, Sena Seafood

Meaningful Marketplace Podcast

Sena Seafoods (pronounced see’ nuh) has a long, long history of fishing. As Sena Wheeler of Sena Seafoods recounts, her grandfather immigrated to the Ballard, Washington from Norway with his brothers and became a commercial fisherman in 1938. They fished using traditional Norwegian longlines, and passed the knowledge to their children, who passed it on again. Their boat logs show the family fished the waters from as far north as Alaska and as far south as Mexico. Sena's father, Art, fished for thirty years, and Sena has fond memories of making trips with him on the Alrita as a teenager. Now in their fifth generation of fishing, the family loves what they do and are contributing the dinner table as well as to the environment. Our hosts received some fishing education in this episode and want to pass it along to the listeners. Salmon are caught in smaller boats because they are found at the mouth of a river as it empties into the ocean. By contrast, a longliner is typically fishing for halibut, black cod and bottom fish out in the deep ocean. The term longline comes from using one very long line that is dropped to the ocean floor. It lays on the floor for about a mile and every three feet is attached a shorter line with a hook on it, called a ganyard. Crews are usually five fishers and the boat is large (imagine the boats in the show, “Deadliest Catch”) with hydraulics to pull in the longline. Processing is done in Sena Seafoods’ fisherman-owned custom processing facility in Cordova, AK (60 North Seafoods) where they focus on the frozen portion of their business, freezing six-ounce portions, wrapping them in parchment and individually vacuum-sealing each and every prize piece. They specialize in premium quality and traceability which means the fish never leaves their hands and they have complete control of our entire process. Selling directly to the consumer has allowed Sena Seafood to keep a high quality product by also educating their customers to the “whys” of their fish tasting better and what to look for in a quality cut of fish. Sena Wheeler is well qualified to handle the quality control aspects of the business as well as manage the environmental issues. She has a masters degree in Nutrition and Food Science with a specialty in quantifying omega 3's in fish, and determining preferred handling practices for premium quality. Go to their website to order amazing cuts of fish, spices, smoked fish and delicious recipes: https://www.senasea.com/pages/about-us. And follow them on social media at Instagram - https://instagram.com/senasea_seafoods and Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/senaseafoods/. Our hosts: Twitter - @sarahmasoni and @spicymarshall, Instagram - @masoniandmarshall.

Thank you for Listening to The Meaningful Marketplace Podcast with your hosts, Sarah Masoni of Oregon State University's Food Innovation Center and Sarah Marshall, owner of Marshall's Haute Sauce. Connect with us on Instagram @meaningfulmarketplacepodcast.

Audio engineer, mixer, and podcast editor: Haley Bowers
Show logo was designed by Anton Kimball of Kimball Design
Production Coordinator: Kayleen Veatch