Zach Brunette did not grow up on the water. He had never set foot on an ocean boat before his first summer in Bristol Bay. He got the position through a recommendation from his father-in-law, showed up not knowing what to expect, and has been coming back every summer since. The 2026 season will be his eleventh.
He currently fishes aboard the F/V AVA JANE on a drift net operation. He is a father now, based in Idaho, with a career that has nothing to do with fishing for the other ten months of the year. And yet every summer he comes back. We asked him why.
What Actually Brings Him Back
The honest answer is not one thing. It is several things working together in a way that is hard to find anywhere else.
“Fishing for hard working captains has been my biggest inspiration in returning. I feel part of a team, valued, and that my hard work is critical in how successful we can be.”
That sense of direct impact — knowing that what you do on deck today changes the number at the end of the tide — is rare in most careers. Zach brings his experience from fishing back to his mainland career.
“Being in command of the deck has given me skills that I use in my everyday career back home in Idaho.”
Bristol Bay fishing is physically exhausting in a way that most work is not. Zach is clear that this is part of the appeal, not a deterrent.
“Escaping the everyday work grind back home for something much more physically exhausting is a very nice annual reset, and reminds me how lucky I am to have a warm bed and a hot shower waiting for me at the end of each day back home.”
What Peak Season Actually Looks Like
People imagine commercial fishing as dramatic. The reality is more demanding than dramatic — and the discipline is what makes it work.
A peak season day on the AVA JANE starts before the opener. Zach is on deck 15 to 20 minutes early, every time.
“The fresh air, where we are located, and noise on deck can feel very disorienting if you aren’t paying attention or rushing out at the last few minutes. This extra time on deck also gives me a moment to look over our gear and be certain that everything is where it needs to be.”
The opening sets the tone for the tide. Once gear is in the water, the rhythm is set, clean, rotate, reset.
“One mistake here can hinder the entire operations efforts thus far. Know where you need to be, do your job, do it right.”
Food on the boat is taken seriously. This is not incidental.
“Laziness when cooking has no room on board – food is fuel and our bodies demand the best so that we can perform the best when the time comes.”
The hardest part of the job, Zach says without hesitation, is being away from his son. Captain Steve put Starlink on the AVA JANE this year which has been a game changer for connecting with his family while at sea.
What the Fish Means to Him
Zach has thought about sustainability in a specific way — not as a branding concept, but as a generational obligation.
“Sustainability as a fisherman is making sure that we as a community prioritize the health and population of the fish we catch. As the younger generation steps into fishing and managing these runs, we need to be certain that we have done our part by not over harvesting, over escaping, and taking care of the waters we fish.”
When he thinks about the scale of what he has been part of, the numbers are hard to hold.
“When I add up the number of years I’ve fished with the average that we’ve caught, the number is astounding. I’ve indirectly put food on the tables of hundreds of thousands of families. That kind of effect is hard to fathom sometimes.”
Bristol Bay sockeye is remarkable to him not as a product but as an animal engaged in the natural world.
“The struggles and challenges that these fish face is a sheer show of their ability to persevere and thrive.”
He has seen orca pods up close from the deck. He knows the tow line overhead and watches for it constantly so his crew does not get hurt. Unchanged between seasons, strong black coffee is his morning deck ritual. After eleven seasons on the water, he says some of his best memories happened on that boat.
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FROM THE WATER Every case of Pride of Bristol Bay sockeye was caught by people like Zach — crew members who come back season after season, who know these waters intimately, and who understand that the quality of the fish starts on deck, in the first minutes after it comes out of the net. The RSW systems, the handling standards, the care at every step of the process: these are not abstractions. They are decisions made by people who take this work seriously. When you buy from fisherman direct, you are buying from the crew, not from a brand that hired a crew. |
Buy Wild Bristol Bay Sockeye from the Crew That Caught It
Pride of Bristol Bay ships wild-caught Bristol Bay sockeye salmon — fillets and portions — directly to customers across the country. Every fish in every case was caught by our crew in Bristol Bay, Alaska. Order your wild sockeye here.
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