Captain Andrei Marushev’s grandfather crossed from Russian into China with his family during the Leninist/Stalinist period of 1913. Their initial immigration was a tragic one when the grandfather lost 6 sons in a boating accident crossing the boarder into China. The family was crossing the tumultuous, wild river in a small boat ferry boat that was attached to a suspended cable. Unfortunately the waves were so strong in the river that the boat swamped and then flipped and six sons were lost. Andrei’s grandfather earned a living in China as a hunter. China is where Andrei and his father were born. In 1956 Communist China was in power and as an infant Captain Marushev’s family fled religious persecution again. Several families asked the US Embassy for help. They went first with 13 other families down to Brazil and stayed 13 years, but after some time the immigrated into the US, where some went to Oregon, while Captain Marushev’s family came to Homer where the family has lived ever since.
Andrei has a thriving family of 13 children. The eldest is 26 and the youngest is 11. There are six boys and all of them commercially fish. Captain Marushev started fishing with his father in Cook Inlet in 1976. By 1984 he had his first gill net salmon boat, and he purchased the Sea Zone some years back.