George Wettlaufer

Milton, FL (USA)
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Location: Milton
Industry: Wholesale
Year Founded: 2010
Number Employees: 1-10 people
Description: First Id like to introduce myself and my business partner, and briefly explain our goals. (If youd rather look at the bottom line, it's at the bottom) My name is Michael English, my partner, and uncle, is George Wettlaufer. We have 15 years combined experience in the longline yellowfin industry, ending about ten years ago. Our intention is to purchase a 60-90 ft. steel-hull fishing vessel, outfit it for longlining yellowfin tuna, and fish the Gulf of Mexico, and possibly other waters, as we have done in the past. We made excellent money for years, but due to circumstances moved on to other lines of work; both of which were hobbled by the recession. We feel it would be a good time to get back on the water, since fresh yellowfin is traded on the global market, and is a globally regulated food source, we feel its as recession-proof as any line of work can be. We are asking for 150,000 dollars; investment returns depend on exactly what kind of arrangement we come to with our investor, but net will be around 300,000 a year. About Longlining Yellowfin are one of the most valuable and "sustainable" fish in the planets oceans. Their price per pound is second only to bluefin tuna and shark fins on the world market (both of which are restricted globally). They mature to 200-300 lbs, yet they have only a 7 year life span. They eat constantly, and will eat about anything. Tuna never stop swimming, so they are mostly muscle by weight, and grow very fast. They lay a massive amount of eggs as well; 1-4 million eggs up to 40 times a year after they are 3 years old. The estimated sustainable load on the global yellowfin population is at 96%, so the yellowfin market should remain profitable well into the future with continued global management. Because longlining utilizes specially made individual hooks, called circle hooks, it is porpoise safe, it is safe for other aquatic mammals, safe for the sea floor environment and coral reefs. Any accidental catches are easily and safely released using a hook removal tool and other specialized equipment. Also, the hooks used are made of metal that corrodes quickly and safely in salt water, giving a good chance for survival to escaped or cut loose fish. There is no more compassionate or ecologically sound means of harvesting tuna than the use of longline rigging. A kind of deep sea net fishing called purse seining is the only competition for longline fishing, however there are so many ecological drawbacks to netting, such as indiscriminately catching and killing porpoise, sea turtles, and all the other by-catch, including many unwanted fish; these are all killed by purse seining. Longline fishing only kills the target species, and then only the larger specimens of them; juvenile tuna, aquatic mammals, turtles, and most unwanted by-catch, do not ever get hooked in the first place due to circle hooks, and have a reasonable chance of survival even if they do since they are dealt with on a fish by fish basis. In my opinion, the opinion of a commercial tuna fisherman, purse seining is immoral and irresponsible. It would not be surprising to see purse seining banned by most nations in the coming years, which would further improve the profit margin for longline fishing. An explanation of what is involved, the process of tuna fishing as a whole. You start with a boat equipped with a large ice hold, a longline spool, several hundred floats, a couple thousand hooks, and enough bait, fuel, and supplies to last 5 men 20 days. Once underway the boat travels to a good fishing ground; usually a place where warm water meets cold water in a horizontal vortex called a 'cut'. This is where tuna graze on the smaller fish in the warm water and then return to the colder water they are most acclimated to. Many fishermen dont fish these areas because the turbulent water can tangle lines, inconveniencing them; but tuna are highly migratory pelagic fish, they travel the globe, and are impossible to locate without tracking devices or direct visual contact. Their feeding habits are the best means of locating them, if the fisherman knows what conditions to look for and how to use his equipment properly. Once a cut or similar condition is located the boat is turned to follow its path at a parallel bearing, preferably on the warm side of the cut. Then the lines are set; starting with a 'beeper buoy' a radio homing device so that there is no chance of losing the end of the line. Next is a 'high flyer' a radar reflector buoy, which shows up on all boats radar systems from at least 20 miles away, so that the line doesnt get run over and can be found at night. Then a succession of large and small floats with 5-7 hooks between each one, each hook baited with dead cigar minnows or dead squid. After 15-40 miles of line is run off the big spool and 800-3000 hooks have been put out its a 'set'. After the set is finished the boat is put in order, the crew eats and then gets some rest; while the 1st Mate drives back to the beginning of the line. Once the boat has arrived the 1st mate wakes the rest of the crew, and goes to bed himself. The crew eats and begins pulling in the set. The captain drives the boat from the deck, so that he can accurately follow the mainline. As the line reels in he removes leader clips from it, tests them for fish, and hooks them to a runner cable that transfers them to the back of the boat. Each leader and float is pulled back into the boat and coiled by hand. If there is a fish on the leader the boat is stopped and the species of catch is determined. If it is a tuna or keepable by-catch it is brought aboard, killed, cleaned, and immediately put in the ice hold, to be packed and covered with ice to keep it at its most fresh. (Fish buyers are notoriously picky about freshness, and are very good at spotting badly treated fish.) Every few hours for the entire trip the ice man climbs into the hold and 'chinks' the ice more closely around the fish as it melts away. (He gets paid more for this because its a horrible job) If the catch is not a sellable fish it is removed from the hook as carefully as possible and released. They make special tools for removing hooks safely from things like restricted sharks and turtles (turtles usually dont bite the hook, they just get snagged on thier way by, and such a thing almost never happens with the new circle hooks, which are designed to only hook into a certain size fish mouth.) Regardless, wherever the hook is stuck, it is removed and the catch is released alive and well. Once the line is reeled in, the crew eats and gets a few hours of rest before they set it out again and the whole process is repeated on less than 7 hours sleep a day for however many days it takes to fill the ice hold. When the ice hold is at full capacity, the captain radios ahead to let the administrator know the boat is full and headed in to dock. The admin notifies the fish buyers, who meet the boat at the dock with a truck full of ice and a large set of scales. The fish are brought from the hold one at a time and weighed, graded for quality, recorded, re-packed with ice, and stacked in packing crates to be flown by jet to a distribution center. The fish broker then happily writes a large check. Meanwhile, the administrator is dealing with the re-supply and maintenance of the boat, paying the crew, and taking care of the bills for things like docking fees and oil changes. If the fishing is especially good the boat will only stay at dock for a matter of hours, before pulling back out to fish, this is called a 'boomerang' trip, and they can be made in succession for months during the best times of the season, late summer and fall usually. It is exhausting, but the pay is exceptional. The work is very strenuous, with long hours, little sleep, and a very high chance of injury and even death (falling overboard at night for instance). Family separation and close quarters are also a working issue. Crews must be carefully picked from experienced people to avoid these kinds of problems. It is common knowledge among commercial fishermen that it takes a certain kind of person to be a longline tuna man. Most people prefer the lower paying, easier, safer jobs, like shrimping and day-fishing. But thats not where the money is. Insurance does not exist in any useful capacity for a tuna boat, its just not cost effective to insure a 70 foot steel-hull boat against sinking, since they hardly can do so. All crew members are considered sub-contractors, and as such are required to deal with their own insurance needs, retirement plans, and taxes. If the boat breaks the owner fixes it out of pocket. Investment costs are varied, the size of boat, number of hooks, level of vessel readiness, dock time, and transportation costs are not quantifiable without a ship and a location to start with. It is safe to say that a longline vessel for sale will need 10,000-20,000 dollars worth of work, supplies, and equipment to be truly ready to fish. It is also safe to say that such work would require 2-4 weeks at a calm dock, before fishing could commence. The best boats I found on the market were 65-75 footers (the perfect size in relation to cargo-fuel-water-ice holds, weather durability, fuel economy, comfort, and safety on heavy seas) Fully rigged for tuna fishing, and at least a few years away from needing paint or major repairs. These boats come with everything, including electronics, radios, radar, hydraulic spools, floats and buoys, gen-sets, batteries, etc. They range in price from the mid 60's to 2-3 hundred thousand. Typically around 100k. Many such boats exist on the market, since a steel-hull ships life span can be perpetuated essentially forever by good maintenance practices. Thus, with a good deal on a ship, and completed outfitting of the ship, including fuel and food, the price range for such an investment would be just over 100k. This would put us in the water as soon as the licenses clear. The safety of the investment is high since the boat can be re-sold at an equivalent price to the original purchase price; additionally, the investors and boat owners do not take the losses of a small catch the way the crew does, since the fuel and supplies are taken from the crew shares first; so even a technical loss profits the owner. The returns, however, would preclude any thought of selling. The initial startup costs would be regained within a few months, with a steady annual profit into the distant foreseeable future. The only things that could damage the tuna industry at this point would be a tuna disease of epic proportions, or a sudden change in human population. Otherwise, tuna will breed like crazy and continue to be a super-healthy food source and an ecologically safe, profitable business. One last thing is the possibility of using the tuna boat in the gulf oil spill cleanup effort. Boats over 50ft are being payed over 2,000 a day, plus 200 a day for each crew member, for pulling oil booms. These rates are paid whether the boat actually works or not, and all repairs are paid for by BP. BP is only hiring boats that are locally owned and staffed. This will continue until there is no more oil to clean up, at which point BP will pay for complete decontamination of the boat, which will essentially be a free boat detail and paint job. Given the reduced expenses this is a good short term idea, both in consideration of the profit to be made and the good that is done by cleaning the Gulf of Mexico. It also stands to reason that any unforeseen repairs to the boat will be needed within a few months of initial vessel operation, when it is covered by BP. Financial Estimates All of the following figures are based off of my own experience, lots of research, and the experience of other tuna fishermen whom I personally know, and who will help captain and crew the ship. Figures are based off of a standard sized boat, like what is in our price range and is the preference for economical commercial longline fishing. Smaller boats are dangerous, cramped, and unstable. Larger boats are fuel hogs, hard to find docking for, expensive to maintain, and less useful in the role of longliner. Figures are also based off of not working the boat to full capacity, since a flat out hard run is not sustainable for months at a time, and delays inevitably happen. These are all conservative estimates. (Numbers in brackets indicate the amount of variance for each figure) 100 [80-200] fish in a trip. Average fish size 100[50-350] lbs. 14[5-20] Days per trip, 2[1-4] trips per month, 20 [20-30] trips annually. 1 Set per day. 1200[800-3000] hooks per 20[15-40] mile set. Average 10[0-100] fish in 1 set. Plus by-catch. Average price of Yellowfin 4.50 [3.25-7.50] per lb. By-catch 2.00 [.50-8.00] lb. Gas expenses around 3.00 gal. About 4000 per long trip. Per trip profit and expense breakdown: ( Average trip = 50,000 gross ) Crew share costs - paid from crew shares at end of each trip: Food and other crew upkeep (includes things like laundry) = 1500 Ice = 500 Bait = 800 Fuel = 4,000 Tackle = 200 Administration expenses: 1500 Subtotal of standard crew expenses: 8500 Mitigated by leftovers from previous trip; probably average <6000 Boat owner expenses: (Responsible for all ship and gear maintenance, licensing.) Gear 1000 per trip. (Disposables, buoys, light bulbs, chemicals, 1st aid, etc) Maintenance 2000 per trip. (fluid changes, calibration, wheel diving, etc.) Total: 3000 per trip Percentage breakdown: Investors/Owners: 35% Crew: 65% Income per trip after expenses: Investors/Owners: 14,500 Crew: 24,000 Admin 6,000 Captain 6,000 1st Mate 4,000 Ice Man 3,000 Deck Hand 2,500 Deck Hand 2,500 Annual Gross return: 1,000,000 Annual Net return: 590,000 290,000 - Investors/Owners 120,000 - Administration 120,000 - Captain 60,000 - Crew x4 If you would like to contact us, please use an off-site method - we do not pay for this add. Phone or email: #(Phone # removed)tunafishermen at yahoo