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Most experienced commercial fishermen, setnetters and drift netters, will tell newcomers that there's a lot more to fishing than bringing in and selling your catch.

With taxes to pay and boat maintenance to perform, constantly changing fish regulations and paying a crew, more commercial fishing operations are being run as small businesses than ever before. But if you're brand new, how do you navigate through balance sheets, income and cash flow statements without going under?

New commercial fishermen will have the opportunity to learn how to wade through maritime laws, income tax returns, retirement planning and much more at a workshop geared toward professionalizing Alaska's commercial fishing operations.

"The Business of Fish", a free three-hour course, will be held from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Cook Inlet Aquaculture Building on Kalifornsky Beach Road.

Glenn Haight, fisheries business specialist with the Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program, which is run through the University of Alaska Fairbanks, said the workshop is geared primarily towards new entrants into the commercial fishing sector, but will also be open to more experienced fishermen. The program is part of a statewide focus on commercial fisheries, Haight said. He will also do a workshop in Seward on Tuesday and two workshops in Homer on Thursday. People who are interested in attending should pre-register by calling 888-788-6333 or e-mailing fnbjb1@uaf.edu. A registration form can be printed out from the program's Web site at www.marineadvisory.org and faxed to 907-277-5242.

"(I'm) offering basic information to run a fishing business," he said. "It applies to halibut, salmon or herring (fishing)."

Even though most of Haight's presentation will be geared toward salmon fishing in Kenai, he said there's a lot of activity in Seward and Homer for halibut and other gulf species. Nothing in the workshop would deal with the act of catching fish, but quality handling and the decomposition of fish will come up. The workshop will also look at the processing sector and talk about what challenges they're facing and how it ties back in to commercial fishing. Haight will also discuss vessel maintenance and insurance, labor and crews and talk about the way the government gets involved with fisheries.

"One of the biggest things is income tax," Haight said. "They'll want to know what they're going to have to file, what some of the deductions are and have a record of those things."

When Roland Maw, executive director of the United Cook Inlet Drift Association, began commercial fishing in 1974, he said fishermen just got an older boat went out fished and had a good time. Things just seemed to work out. Now with bigger boats and better fishing gear, the commercial fishing operation is much more businesslike than it was 30 years ago, he said. If someone didn't have friends and family to learn from, a workshop to teach fishermen how to keep records and keep track of receipts and who's on board as crewmembers would have helped.

And even though planning for retirement is important, Maw said, it's even more important to put aside money to replace engines. When the government changes diesel specifications, commercial fishermen are going to have to upgrade.

"For example, all of this low-sulfur diesel that came out last summer, very few boats can burn that as it is from the pump because all of our engines were designed to burn the diesel with some sulfur in it," Maw said. "Eventually in the future all these engines are going to have to replaced. Financially preparing for that is a big issue that's more immediate than retirement."

Paul Shadura, executive director of the Kenai Peninsula Fisherman's Association, said there's a lot of rules and regulations that goes along with commercial fishing. Most people don't understand how much of a small business setnetting really is, he said.

"I think the most challenging aspect of new setnetters would probably be the understanding of the complex regulatory structure that we have to abide by," Shadura said. "It's just not (about) having the resource available, it's also being able to fit your methodology and your practices within the time that's allowed for you to have access to the resource."

Much of the information available at the Business of Fish workshop is acquired through years of trial and error, Shadura said. You learn from your mistakes and you learn from your good decisions too. That experience isn't always available unless you have family members to assist you, he said.

For Karl Kircher, who's been a Cook Inlet setnetter for about 29 years, paying crew members is one of his biggest challenges. With a decline in revenue, crew members are paid a percentage of the catch, Kircher said, which means you can't guarantee a certain wage for your crew.

"Every now and then you have these big banner years," he said. "Those aren't as numerous anymore and so the chance of a crew member hitting it big one year isn't as big."

If you look at commercial fishing as strictly a business venture, Kircher said fishing probably won't be as sound. But newcomers, who bring a little too much passion to the commercial fishing industry and not enough business savvy will definitely benefit from this workshop.

"Obviously we have to be business men because we have to survive," he said. "Those people who have survived as long term fishermen are somewhat savvy at business or they wouldn't have made it through the recent downturns."

Jessica Cejnar can be reached at jessica.cejnar@peninsulaclarion.com.