The Company

If you are a vessel owner or operator visiting this page, you should know that Alaskan Observers, Inc. (AOI) is a Washington-based corporation which was founded in 1988 to meet the ever increasing need for trained, professional observers in the domestic fishing industry. AOI has been a contractor in the Alaska Department of Fish and Game's Shellfish Observer Program since that program's inception in the September of 1988. With the advent of National Marine Fisheries Service Groundfish Observer Program in December of 1989, AOI also began to supply observers to the groundfish industry.

Our observers, and the quality of their work, finally determine the success of our company, and we treat them accordingly. We offer our employees a high level of technical and logistical support before, during, and after a voyage, leaving our clients in the fishing industry free to concentrate on the business of fishing.

Observers and clients both benefit from the experience of our staff. Michael Lake, AOI's president, has worked as a fisherman and as an observer aboard domestic crab boats. David Edick, AOI's general manager, first worked as an observer in 1984, and he has worked on both foreign and domestic boats, as has Pam Gale, AOI's Logistics Manager, who made her first observer trip in 1987. Elaine Herr, AOI's Field Supervisors in Dutch Harbor, began working as an observer for AOI in 1995. Rachel Moore, AOI's Recruiting Coordinator, began working for AOI as a West Coast Groundfish Observer beginning in 2006.

In the process of growing to be the largest provider of groundfish observers, AOI has developed solid business relationships with both large fishing companies and small, family-owned operations. We can be reached twenty-four hours per day, and we maintain a field supervisor in Dutch Harbor year-round, where our bunkhouse is equipped with vhf and side-band radios.

Whether you require 100% or 30% coverage, whether you are participating in an open-access fishery, a CDQ fishery, an IFQ fishery, or a West Coast Catch Share Fishery, and no matter what port you are operating out of, AOI has the staff with the experience necessary to get your observer to the right place at the right time.

Vessel owners and operators interested in more information should contact our Seattle office via phone at 800-483-7310 (or locally at 206-283-7310) or via e-mail at aoistaff@alaskanobservers.com. (Applicants should contact Rachel Moore at r-moore@alaskanobservers.com.)

If you have any questions about us or the Observer Program, please contact our Seattle office.

Alaskan Observers, Inc.