Recent decades have not been kind to rural Oregon. As natural resources come under increased pressure -- and the economy becomes more globalized -- small, resource-based communities have been hit hard. Port Orford, on Oregon鈥檚 south coast, is no exception.
But now, some people in Port Orford are trying innovative approaches to adapting traditional livelihoods to the new reality so their town can survive 鈥� and even thrive 鈥� in the 21st Century.
Aaron Longton is shoveling crushed ice and tossing gutted halibut into a hot-tub-sized plastic tote.
Longton is co-founder of Port Orford Sustainable Seafood, a community-supported fishery. Based on the community-supported agriculture -- or CSA -- model, the company sells shares to members in more than a dozen southern Oregon communities. Members cash in those shares to buy the fish Longton and other Port Orford small-boat fishermen catch.
Longton fishes with hook and line, which he says eliminates much of the waste common with net fisheries.
鈥淔ish come up alive, and fish that we want to discard we can unhook right there and they swim away,鈥� he says.
Port Orford Sustainable Seafood sees its members as ethical consumers who care about where their food comes from and how it鈥檚 produced. Longton says the company takes the 鈥渟ustainable鈥� part of its name seriously.
鈥淲e value the resource,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e do our best to engage in conservation. You know, collaborating with science and agencies to make sure that we鈥檙e doing things right.鈥�
Port Orford Sustainable Seafood was started in 2009, largely to keep more of the value of the local fishery in local hands. Lyle Keeler is a retired fisherman who sits on the company鈥檚 board. Keeler says having a company operated by fishermen has helped weaken the monopoly power of the corporate fish buyers who traditionally set prices.
鈥淔or 20 years before Aaron got here, we were getting 60 cents a pound for deep water reds, which in my opinion is the best eating fish in the ocean,鈥� he says. 鈥淭wo years after Aaron was here, we were getting a dollar a pound.鈥�
The company also hires locals to process the catch and deliver it, something Keeler says is crucial.
鈥淧ort Orford really needs more jobs. Just about聽 any town in Curry County does, but Port Orford鈥檚 really bad because that鈥檚 all we have, is commercial fishing,鈥� he says. 鈥淟ogging鈥檚 pretty much out now. That used to be what 聽we did, lumbermills and logging.鈥�
For decades, timber provided hundreds of family wage jobs to this town of about 1,100 people. But Leesa Cobb says at some point it sank in that this wasn鈥檛 just another downturn; the timber jobs weren鈥檛 coming back.
鈥淎nd after a certain period of time, you鈥檙e having to figure out what you can do to survive. And survive as a community,鈥� she says.
Cobb grew up in Port Orford. Her dad was a rancher and she married a fisherman.
鈥淲e looked around. And for me, I said, 鈥榃hat is our greatest asset?鈥� I mean certainly timber was. But you just look right out your front door and see the ocean.鈥�
Fishing has long been Port Orford鈥檚 other traditional economic base. But that鈥檚 had its own challenges. Fishery closures meant to save dwindling salmon stocks forced fishermen to branch out into catching other, often less-lucrative kinds of fish. Port Orford is also limited by its geography to small boats under 40 feet, which makes it harder to achieve economies of scale.
In response, Leesa Cobb helped work with fishermen to create the Port Orford Ocean Resource Team. The non-profit group initially lobbied to make fishery management policies more responsive to the needs of fishing communities. Cobb says bureaucratic inertia rendered that effort largely unsuccessful.
Now, the group has turned its energies to creatively re-envisioning ways Port Orford can make its living from the sea. It owns Port Orford Sustainable Seafood, which is a big part of the group鈥檚 current efforts.
鈥淲ithout a doubt, when we started this project it was a triple bottom line project,鈥� Cobb says. 鈥淲e care about the ecology, the economics and the equity of our fishing community, as so we鈥檙e certainly interested in fishing, but we鈥檙e also interested in the overall economy of our community. You can benefit your economy by processing your fish in your own town and having jobs.鈥�
The Port Orford Ocean Resource Team has also gotten behind a pair of innovative projects that take a broader view of what the community鈥檚 future could look like. More on that, next 鈥�
