A win for the Bering Sea crab crews translates to equal treatment for the rockfish crews working out of Kodiak in the Gulf. That is a reasonable assumption, and we can make sure it happens if the Bering Sea crews get their 40 percent. Think of the fallout.

Take for instance a husky guy I knew for a while from Central America. He crewed all the rockfish openings in the Gulf in the qualifying years. He was finally able to go home with a decent bankroll. Knowing him, he’ll be back to administer his huge windfall, and I imagine he’ll establish a part of his family here to watch the pot.

He’ll be in the business of leasing quota. Like anyone else, he’ll go for the highest price. At that point I can quit writing letters and start fishing because I know that quota is worth twice as much to me as it is to any trawl boat. The price I receive for my rockfish will be three times that of the trawler. A trawler, though they do a wondrous job and my hat is off to them, cannot bring a No. 1 rockfish to market. They have to be alive when landed and they have to be handled one by one.

There you see the absurdity of the whole swindle. It’s like no other privatization scheme of the past. This time, the fish are being given to a gear group that cannot optimize their product and have lots of bycatch problems besides, while I with my hooks or this other guy with his pots, with no bycatch and doing no damage to the environment, are locked out forever.

And in one breath, they tell me the fish can’t be caught by hook and I’m also prohibited from trying. The absurdity factor works in our favor here.

The skippers and crews of Kodiak trawlers are absolutely silent. You can imagine why. Open their mouth and they get blackballed. But the Bering Sea crews’ fight is their fight, too. They should know that.