F/V Pacific Challenger

The F/V Pacific Challenger is owned by Joe and Kelsey Mulkey. Joe and Kelsey were both born and raised in Reedsport, OR.

Kelsey grew up as the youngest of 4 kids in her family. A few years after high school, Kelsey decided to attend college where she earned her Bachelors Degree in Business Administration with a focus on Managerial Accounting and Criminology. 

Joe grew up in the fishing industry. From the time he was a little boy, he knew he wanted to be a commercial fishermen. Joe would spend his summers growing up going to Alaska fishing with his dad on the boat and every school break he had, he went fishing. His love for the ocean and fishing ran deep. At the age of 13, he became a full share crew member on the back deck. By the time he was 15, he was running the boat as the captain. 

In 2011, Joe & Kelsey were dating and Joe bought his first boat. It was a small 37’ wood boat, the F/V Aries. In May 2012, tragedy struck and the boat capsized while crossing the Umpqua bar.

Following the accident, Joe and Kelsey decided to rebuild, bigger, better and safer.  The F/V Pacific Challenger would become a long process of lots of ups and downs but would be built by Joe and would become a labor of love, working full time to put all of his income back into building the boat. The Pacific Challenger is a 57’x22’ Steel fishing vessel, designed by Jensen Marine and customized by Joe. The boat is scheduled to launch in late 2024. 

In 2013, Joe & Kelsey were married and in 2015 started their family with a little boy named Jensen. In 2020, they would be blessed with their second child, a little girl named Bristol.  

In 2023, given Joe and Kelsey’s backgrounds, a little dream was started. They decided to do something different and started providing the seafood they love to others and so, Pacific Challenger Seafoods was born.