Fisheries drive the coastal economy

The state’s wildlife chief says fisheries are one of the top economic drivers on the Oregon Coast.

“One of the most key things that make the Oregon coast the Oregon coast are fisheries,” Roy Elicker, director of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife told a group gathered for an economic conference in Florence last week. “The ocean fishery and recreational fishery both ... you can look at them individually and together. In the coastal counties up to 20 percent of the total net earnings in those counties come from fisheries ... commercial fisheries, in particular.”

Elicker made his remarks during the Oregon Coast Economic Summit Wednesday and Thursday at the Three Rivers Casino Event Center in Florence.

U.S. Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden participated in panel discussions, and members of Congress Peter DeFazio, Kurt Schrader and Suzanne Bonamici spoke both days.

During a panel discussion called “Ocean and Natural Resource Policy Implementation: Challenges and Opportunities,” Elicker said that, when viewed among the top economic industries, fisheries and tourism rule on the coast.

“That’s how big (fisheries) are,” he continued. “It’s one of the top two economic drivers of this area we refer to as the Oregon coast. It provides, perhaps, 15,000 to 20,000 jobs. Now, that’s a total statewide.”

He said, as expected, most of those fishing jobs are on the Oregon coast, and there are also related industries.

“We have seafood processors in Brookings, Coos Bay, Newport, Port Orford and Astoria,” Elicker ticked off. “When you get right down to it, the Oregon coast has been successful — more so than our neighbors to the north and to the south, Washington and California — in helping to grow this commercial fishery industry.”

There are several reasons for that.

“First of all, we don’t have the population pressures on our coast that Washington and California do,” he said. “So, we have room for commercial fisheries — fleets, processing centers — those are the kind of things that have been the backbone of the Oregon coast for many decades. But, that’s really true now, thanks to the increased demand for the quality seafood that we produce off our coast.”

He credited processing facilities as the anchors of the fishing industry.

“The collaborative relationship that ODF&W, and it’s Marine Program have built with, particularly, with the commercial fishing industry, but also with the recreational and sport fishing industry, has been huge,” Elicker said. “I’m very proud of that relationship.”

Elicker said Oregon’s strong fisheries are pink shrimp, crab, tuna, groundfish trawling and whiting.

He said the top two, pink shrimp and crab, are not regulated by the federal government.

“They’re regulated by the state of Oregon,” he said.