Even in the midst of an opener, with fish running, many Russian Orthodox crews place faith over fish. The colorful boats with the distinct dark tinted windows of the orthodox fleet are easy to spot in the harbor. They are taking a rest day to celebrate a religious holiday to remember the lives and sacrifice of Saints Peter and Paul.
Dennis Hannon sports the traditionally untrimmed beard most Russian Orthodox men wear. He fishes on the F/V Cruiser. He says in the Orthodox tradition, Sundays and holy days shouldn’t be used to make money.
“There are a lot of people that could use the extra pounds or the extra money but at the same time it will all come back to you in the end if, I guess, you believe,” Hannon says.
Hannon is up from Oregon for the season. Interwoven with the religious reasons is the desire to keep the Orthodox culture strong. He says a lot of the culture is already lost; this is one way to hang on.
“Being in the states you are exposed to so much of a different lifestyle … slowly religion would be lost,” Hannon says.
Most of the Orthodox men fish for Icicle Seafoods. Angela Christensen is the office manager for Icicle in Dillingham. She says the company doesn’t treat the Russians any different then say, the Seventh Day Adventists when they take Saturdays off. She says it just takes a little extra planning.
“We just make sure our tenders are well fueled,” Christensen says. “We usually have an extra, or just have a service tender standing by for just the extra traffic for when they come in and leave.”
Hannon and the rest of the crew on the Cruiser may not fish on religious holidays, but they’ll be ready to get the nets out again at midnight.
“Start the day … catch the fish,” Hannon says.
