In Bristol Bay with Slipstream Salmon

Out in Bristol Bay with Slipstream Sockeye

Meet Captain Jess Normandeau

Slipstream a commercial fisherman-owned seafood company specializing in wild and sustainably sourced fish shipped direct to your door with Jess Normandeau at the helm. This summer was Jess’s 12th season in Bristol Bay and the 5th as captain of her own boat, the Leila M.

"After college I was looking for a job where I could work hard all summer and take the winter off to ski. For some reason commercial fishing had always been in the back of my mind, so I bought a pair of Xtratufs and those classic Grundens orange rain slickers and flew to Alaska. I felt so proud to be a part of this lifestyle of working hard and playing hard while still contributing to our local food system in a really sustainable way.” - Captain Jess

Q&A with Jess

How did you get into fishing and land in Alaska?

I grew up in Vermont, a landlocked state, so the ocean wasn't anywhere near me, but organic farmland was everywhere. My mom was a craft artist and every Saturday we went to the local farmers market, where the vegetable growers, cheese makers, beekeepers and butchers all gathered to sell what they made. Eating local was just part of life. After college I was looking for a job where I could work hard all summer and take the winter off to ski. For some reason commercial fishing had always been in the back of my mind, so I bought a pair of Xtratufs and those classic Grundens orange rain slickers and flew to Alaska. I felt so proud to be a part of this lifestyle of working hard and playing hard while still contributing to our local food system in a really sustainable way. I didn't expect to fall in love with Bristol Bay, but I did, and I've gone back every summer since.

Meet the Leila M

The Leila M is a 32 foot aluminum Bristol Bay gillnetter, which is the maximum length allowed in the fishery. She was built in 1980 and named after the original owner’s wife; I bought her in 2022. We have a hydraulic reel that the net spools onto, the fish swim into the net getting their gills stuck, and as we bring the net back on with our hydraulics the crew picks every fish out by hand.

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What was this season like and how was it different from prior years?

Bay wide it was a solid, sustainable year. About 44 million sockeye salmon returned and the commercial harvest landed close to 29 million fish, right in line with what the biologists predicted. What they didn’t predict was the weather. We fished through back-to-back storms with a lot of rain, and seas that just kept building. I took my sunglasses off on June 25th and didn't put them back on until August. The highlight this season was that my boat ran well and my crew were top notch.

Meet the Crew

Deckhands are the glue that holds Bristol Bay together. They pull every fish out of the net while I drive the boat and plan where to set the net next. It's hard physical work over long days, since we fish around the tides on a schedule that can mean two openers in one day and very little sleep. I look for people with a strong work ethic, but most of all a really good attitude. When you're soaking wet, it’s the middle of the night, and you’ve been on deck for 18 hours having eaten only granola bars and a bowl of ramen, attitude is everything.

What is your favorite part of being out on the water?

Once the season starts we generally don’t go back to land until we wrap up. It’s a really surreal experience spending six or so weeks on the water, but what I love is it’s this little world you and your crew create that’s insulated from outside. Your life and work is completely dictated by the stage of the tide and the opener schedule the biologists establish to keep the run sustainably managed. There are things you can control, and things you can’t and in between you just work really hard to make to most of what you’re given. It feels like a floating city during salmon season with the whole fishing fleet on the water that’s come from all over the world for the salmon run. It’s just this really strong community of hard working people who I have come to love and respect and have just gone through the absolute ringer with, I think I that’s what I value most about Bristol Bay.

What is your favorite part of getting back to land?

Catching up on sleep! Also eating leafy greens, walking, and getting to return home to the cats and dog. And then pickup season, which is when I get to meet the people who actually eat the fish we caught in Bristol Bay. Handing someone a box of sockeye at one of our pickup locations closes the loop between the boat and the table in a really cool way. Then, true to why I started fishing in the first place, I get to ski all winter.