November 3, 2015 — In recent years, the Pacific Ocean’s fish and crab have been divvied out through quotas and permits — making it hard for new fishermen to start business.
Al Malchow, a fisherman based out of Ilwaco, said the papers needed aren’t only hard to find, they’re expensive.
“There was a time that all we had to do was unrope the boat, catch fish, and come back and sell it,” Malchow said.
Small-time boats could build their business by catching as much as possible each season. But the race was dangerous. Boats were on the water no matter the conditions and areas were sometimes overfished.
Quotas and permits designating how much each boat could catch made fishing safer. But now, a fishing operation has to have equipment, a boat and — for roughly the same price — the right paperwork.
The Port of Ilwaco is investigating a way to help local fishermen access quotas and permits at lower costs.
In September, the port received roughly $50,000 from the Fisheries Innovation Fund to see if the Ilwaco community would benefit from a community fishing association. The association would buy fishing permits and quotas to lease to residential boats.
Malchow said if an association were to come to Ilwaco, it could put that stack of paperwork within reach of people looking to start a business or expand.
He said the absence of local permits can drive local fishermen to offload in Oregon. Some boats have quotas that are too small, which cut them off at the beginning of the season leaving people out of work. Some quotas are too large compared to the boat’s equipment, which cuts earnings down and reduces what was available in local markets.
“If I weren’t fourth generation with a boat in the port, I couldn’t afford this job,” he said.
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