Coalition President's Fall Update

By Lange Solberg, President, Whatcom Working Waterfront Coalition

I live out in the Marine Drive area, though not on the waterfront. Every so often, when wind and tide are in concert, I can stand in my backyard and smell the saltwater, which I imagine is baking in the summer sun at ankle depth on the flats out around the mouth of the Nooksack and drifting over the Marietta-Birchwood corridor. It instills a sense of joy to live in this place and reminds me of how connected to and dependent we are on our waterfront. 

Summer is drawing to a close and has been full of activity – near and far – for Whatcom County residents who make their living in water-related or water-dependent businesses. The Working Waterfront Coalition board and staff hope it has been a prosperous summer for all of our member businesses, their employees, and families. 

On a solemn note, I would like to say upfront that working on the water is inherently risky, especially in the commercial fishing industry. This summer has been particularly tragic across multiple Alaska fisheries, with one incident impacting a local Whatcom County family. Clayton Hoy, a multigenerational Bristol Bay fisherman, husband, father of two, tremendous athlete, and loving friend, fell overboard in the Egegik district of Bristol Bay during late July, in the middle of the night. Clayton did not survive. His name will be added to the Fishermen’s Memorial statue at Zuanich Point park in the near future. Our hearts go out to the Hoy family. 

Having been a fisherman for nearly 25 years, I am cognizant of how social media and marketing in general have evolved around the industry over the years in a way that brands and sometimes glorifies the profession with XtraTuf boots, Salmon Sisters, Grundéns, and other iconic and culturally-important identifiers of “who we are” as a fishing community. But sometimes, admittedly, I get a little uncomfortable with it because I am afraid that, to the layperson, all those Instagram posts with traffic-driving hashtags miss the fact that commercial fishing is hard work and extremely risky. So, when tragedy hits close to home, it is important to remember for both industry veterans and folks who just like eating seafood that these products come from people who are putting it all on the line. Sometimes, tragedy occurs out there when fishermen are doing even the simplest of tasks. Lines still come tight, weather gets bad, and Mother Nature dictates most of what unfolds – all as fishermen work to bring resources over the rail that transform into the seafood products in the grocery store and on the dinner plate. These realities are worth considering as you stroll past the memorial statue at Zuanich or watch a fishing boat headed out of, or returning to, the Squalicum Harbor breakwater.

While the summer weather in Northwest Washington has been relatively benign, the flurry of issues that impact many of our member businesses never cease to present their challenges. The Working Waterfront Coalition – namely, our one staff member, Dan Tucker – has been tirelessly keeping his finger on the pulse of many of these issues. Among the many we’ve been tracking, some updates: 

• We’re delighted to see that Tori Ayers of Dragonfly Kayak Tours is back online with her nighttime bioluminescence tours out of Larrabee State Park after park officials made a decision earlier in the summer to restrict after-hours access to the property. After much back-and-forth, Tori was able to get back underway with those tours, at least for this summer. Discussions between Tori, the Coalition, and the Park Service will continue throughout the winter months to determine how nighttime tours are permitted going forward.
  
  
• The Whatcom County Council has been dealing with high impact industrial (HII) zoning considerations, particularly for that area near Birchwood which has been under heavy scrutiny this past year. The Working Waterfront Coalition held a meeting during mid-August with business owners, port leadership, county leadership, and others to discuss how zoning and restricted uses of zoning is likely to evolve in the coming months and years. We are hoping that we’ve helped establish a collaboration between the Planning Commission and the Port to better address which uses are prohibited – or not – under existing codes, with hopes that pressure to outright down-zone zone HII areas is eased.
  
  
• Working Waterfront Coalition leadership met with Mayor Kim Lund in June to discuss pertinent waterfront issues and educate the mayor’s office on who we are as a Coalition and what our purpose is. The Coalition now has a recurring meeting with the mayor to be held every six months, and we look forward to hosting her on the Bellingham Seafeast stage in October for a panel discussion about the waterfront and its future.
  
  

This is only a small sample of activities and issues that your Coalition has been across for the past few months. Please stop by our offices at 708 Coho Way any time to chat with Dan about any of these issues or others, or email me at president@whatcomworkingwaterfront.org. 

We hope to see you this fall at Bellingham Seafeast (October 5 and 6), or Education Day at the Dockside Market (this weekend, September 7). Thank you for your support of our working waterfronts! 

Lange Solberg

President, Whatcom Working Waterfront Coalition