Under the surface of the marine waters off the coast and inside Grays Harbor is a wealth of seafood that sustains a way of life and fuels much of the local economy.
The bounty is varied. Dungeness crab, ground fish such as whiting, rockfish, sablefish, cod, flounder and sole, albacore tuna, sardines, pink shrimp, spot shrimp, Pacific halibut, salmon, anchovy, hagfish (a slimy creature that resembles an eel) razor clams and oysters all bring home the bacon from the sea.
When the tall ship Lady Washington was in port recently, the hidden-in-plain-sight seafood resource was the subject of a program accompanying a cruise between Westport and Aberdeen, with seafood industry insiders reporting on the importance of their industry.
“The (non-tribal) fishing industry on Grays Harbor accounts for about 30 percent of the total economy,” said Al Carter, a former county commissioner who now works for Ocean Companies in Westport. Add tribal fishing and support businesses and “it reaches almost 50 percent,” Carter said. The figures include commercial and recreational fishing, charter boats, crabbers, shellfish, clamming and beyond, he said.
In terms of the catch in Washington state, “the coastal area is by far the largest contributor to commercial fish harvesting … accounting for 85 percent of the total pounds landed,” said Dan Ayres, Coastal Shellfish Manager for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Grays Harbor County “lands more fish and shellfish than any other county,” he added, accounting for an average of more than 50 percent of the catch landed on shore, and 30 percent of the value of landings in all state fisheries.
A National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration study from 2012 notes that the business of seafood — commercial and recreational — generated $8 billion in sales value statewide and accounts for 67,000 jobs in seafood-related activities.
The value of non-tribal commercial fish landings generated an average of $109 million per season in ex-vessel value, the price received by commercial fishers for fish landed at the dock, Ayres said. “Shellfish fisheries generated the greatest share of that ex-vessel value at nearly 65 percent,” he added.
“Tribal fishers use the same unloading facilities, sell to the same markets, buy from the same gear stores, haul out at the same shipyards, bank at the same banks. Over 50 percent of the value of all coastal fisheries flows through Grays Harbor. This is a big deal for our local economy,” said commercial crabber Larry Thevik.
” … whether commercial or subsistence, the value of these fisheries goes beyond monetary. These fisheries are a part of the spiritual and cultural heritage of the Quinault people and exercising their treaty right to fish, clams and crab is essential to the Quinaults’ way of life.” Joe Schumacker, marine scientist for the Quinault Indian Nation said in an interview.
Schumacker used the occasion of the cruise to state the tribe’s objection against the proposals to develop Grays Harbor as an oil shipping port. The tribe is using legal action to try to stop it. “The greatest fear we have are what oil tank farms will do and what crude by rail will do. We are willing to lay down on the track if we have to. … Think long term, not short term profits,” he said.
“Fishing is thousands of years old—there is an ancient weir on the south bank there,” Schumacker said from the deck of the Lady Washington. A weir is a wooden or stone structure used to catch fish.
Grays Harbor as a nursery
Grays Harbor is a nursery for many species of marine life.
Brady Engvall of Brady’s Oysters, also an outspoken critic of oil infrastructure here, spoke of the need for fresh clean water so oyster larvae can grow. The harbor is also well-known as a nursery for juvenile Dungeness crab.
The estuary is key to outmigrating salmon and steelhead as the smolt transition from fresh to saltwater fish, Schumacker said. “The estuaries are extraordinarily important to their nourishment and growth,” he said.
Crab
Crab is the most valuable single species in terms of revenue, and 90 percent of Thevik’s yearly revenue comes from Dungeness. He is vice president of the state Dungeness Crab Fishing Association and serves on state and regional crab commissions.
There are 223 licensed non-tribal crab vessels and another 30 to 35 vessels in the tribal fleet, Thevik said.
“In the case of crab, you can add another $10 million in value each year” as the tribal contribution to the $34 million annual ex-vessel value of the non-tribal catch, he said. Schumacker said the $10 million average includes contributions from the Quinault, the Quileute and the Makah.
“Ex-vessel values just from tribal and non-tribal crab landings averages $44 million (in) economic impact,” Thevik said. The benefit to the coastal communities is estimated to be three times that number. So the average annual economic benefit to coastal communities from crab fishing is estimated to be $132 million a year, he said.
Westport is the largest fishing community on the state’s coast and among the top 10 largest fish landing ports in the country, fifth or seventh, depending on who you ask, said Carter. Money earned in Westport is circulated through the economy three to five times, maybe as many as seven times, Carter reports.
Tribal and non-tribal boats directly employ more than 600 fishers, Thevik estimates.
Ground Fish, Salmon and Tuna
The annual average ex-vessel revenue for ground fish caught at sea is very close to $24.5 million and ground fish brought to shore provides $11.7 million, according to a pie chart done by the state Department of Fish &Wildlife. The average is figured from the harvest in the years 2009-13.
“Groundfish landed shoreside are fish (rockfish, sablefish, whiting, various flatfish…) that are landed to shore-based processers, where groundfish at-sea are those fish (almost all whiting) that are delivered to at-sea processing ships, Ayres replied in email.
Albacore tuna usually show up off the coast in mid-July and the average commercial catch is $21.4 million, according to the chart.
Together, crab and the above-mentioned fish make up close to three quarters of the revenue taken in on average in non-tribal fishing. Pacific Halibut, which has a very short season, is reported to be close to $4 million on average, salmon is $3.2 million.
Charter fishing is managed in the category of recreational fishing, although it clearly has a commercial component. Although charter fishing is down from its heyday in the 1960s and 1970s, charter boat excursions still attract people from all over the country, the Westport Charterboat Association says.
Oysters &clams
Aboard the Lady Washington, Engvall who also heads the Willapa-Grays Harbor Oyster Growers Association, said the two estuaries account for 160 jobs and $22 million in revenue per year. The bulk of that income comes from Willapa Bay.
Razor clams are also big economic factor, contributing an estimated $22 to $40 million to the coastal economy, the crab association said as part of its presentation on what shellfish revenue means on the Harbor. Though razor clams are a staple for the Quinault, 90 percent of the harvest is sent to their commercial plant, Schumacker said.
” … On the two beaches nearest Grays Harbor that we co-manage with (the) state, Copalis and Mocrocks, Quinault has harvested an average of approximately 1.7 million clams per season over the last five seasons.” Schumacker said in email.
“Our commercial harvesters are paid by the pound on the beach and prices vary but the value of the commercial harvest to them can be conservatively estimated at $600,000 per year. This does not include the further market value of those clams once processed and sold by Quinault Pride Seafoods,” he added.
“The value of the subsistence harvest of clams, or subsistence harvest of any of our other Quinault treaty fisheries for that matter, cannot be estimated. It puts food on the table for all Quinault tribal members and is part of their heritage and culture,” Schumacker said.
Shrimp &cold storage on the rise
Commercial fisherman Mark Donovick punctuated the bus ride to Westport, where the Lady Washington cruise originated, with shout outs about the benefits of the industry. “Largest cold storage operations on the West Coast,” he said. ” … processes 30 million pounds of crab in freezing capacity,” he added.
“There are five new shrimp peelers and plans to add five more to the four existing ones. That’s 14 shrimp peelers” in Westport, Donovick called out. Big money in shrimp, big money in catch and freeze at sea: some $100 million in boats on this Harbor, he proclaimed.
Carter, who works for the parent company of four Ocean Companies, said Ocean Cold LLC is “90,000 square feet, (the) largest cold storage facility on the coast, north of San Francisco.”
In addition, Ocean Companies own a fish processing company for sardines, hake and whiting, crab and shrimp. The production facility uses the heads, guts and tails for oil and fish meal. “We waste nothing,” Carter said.
Shrimp is a growing business, Carter reported. “There are 24 shrimp boats fishing out of Westport. That is up from about eight last year.” The current season for pink shrimp, which began April 1, is on track to be “one of the best in years,” Ayres said.
On the other hand, the sardine quota is down, from 54,000 metric tons last season to 17,000 tons this season, Carter said.
People of the sea
At peak times, from June to November, Ocean Companies can employ up to 1,000 people, and have 375 full time equivalent employees, Carter said.
“One thing you should remember is that every fishing boat has from three to six crew members on them as well,” he said.
Molly Bold is married to a fifth generation fisherman and is president of WeFISH, a group formed early this year to help support the industry and families.
They are not involved in fish management or policy but aim to support the people in the industry, she said. They want to change the face of the “old salt” to more accurately reflect the faces of the small business owners, she said.
So far, WeFISH has 25 families who are working to protect and advance the legacy of fishing.
They now take care of the Fishermen’s Memorial on Neddie Rose Drive in Westport. The 50-year-old monument now sports new paint, flowers, planters and a new bench. They organized the recent blessing of the fleet and sponsored author of “Fish in Our Blood,” Michele Longo Eder, as a guest speaker at Westport Winery. Bold, who is about to give birth to a third child, says she wants the industry to be around for the sixth generation if they choose to pursue the family business. Their website is wefishwa.com.
Erin Hart, 360-537-3932, ehart@thedailyworld.com. Twitter: @DW_Erin
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