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Window on the harbor
Supply store manager is eyewitness to decline Englund Marine Supply Co. manager Chris Hegnes rings up a customer. The Daily Triplicate/Bryant Anderson In that time he has seen the store’s business steadily decline as the tightening of fishing regulations, vagaries of fish populations and gradual winnowing of the local fishing fleet drastically curtailed the number of fishermen needing supplies. “I remember when the harbor was so full that people would have to wait out on the highway for an hour and a half to get their boats in the water,” Hegnes said. He believes the marine supply store is a microcosm of how the steady decline in fishing revenue — most recently exacerbated by a completely closed ocean salmon season and poor Dungeness crab fishery yields — affects the community as a whole. Englund employee Leonard Carter agrees with Hegnes that what is happening to the supply store is a good example of what is happening in the community. “The decline in fishing doesn’t just affect this shop, it affects the whole community,” Carter said. “It affects everything from RV parks to gas stations — restaurants, even hair dressers.” Carter said that the marine supply store has had to expand its inventory to attract a more diverse customer base. “We’ve had to adjust it to recreational fishermen and anyone who might walk through the door,” Carter said. “We put things in the store other than fishing gear — more clothing, cleaning products, boating supplies even stainless steel fittings.” Englund Marine Supply Co. was started 65 years ago by Axel Englund in a small shed off his fuel dock on the Columbia River. Since then it has expanded to include seven stores in several states, as well as a number of warehouses. The Crescent City store at 201 Citizens Dock Road was originally Crescent Marina, and was purchased by Englund in 1980. “We sell all sorts of recreational and commercial fishing supplies and have recently begun selling industrial supplies as well,” Hegnes said. The single-story building sits just off Citizens Dock Road, almost guarding the entrance to the harbor. Upon entering, customers find a daunting array of gadgets, fishing poles, rolls of line, glass floats and inclement weather clothing. Narrow aisles bordered by high shelves packed with hooks, reels and cleats give the store a crowded yet comfortable nautical feel. Recreational fisherman John Nelson of Westend, Calif., spends as much time as possible in Crescent City fishing. “I always come to this store,” Nelson said as he prepared to purchase a fishing license and sinker molds. “They have anything and everything.” Despite a cornucopia of supplies, and despite being located exactly where a marine supply store should be, Hegnes said that the store has seen a “big decline in business over the last 20 years,” and what business it does have is changing from primarily commercial to recreational fishing. “A lot of fishing family kids aren’t growing up to take over the family business,” Hegnes said. “There aren’t many older people stepping into those shoes either. They’re dying off. The money just isn’t there anymore.” Hegnes also points to the lack of processing in the harbor, Hegnes said. “A large amount of boats leave this harbor in the summertime to go near ports where the processing is, like Eureka or Charleston, Ore.,” Henges said. Closures and regulations that restrict fishing seasons and catch amounts are also a big part of the problem, he said.
 Boxes of fishing lures line the packed aisles of the store. The Daily Triplicate/Bryant Anderson Added to these restrictions making it harder for recreational fishermen to catch fish is the fact that Oregon is open year-round for recreational bottom fishing. This draws a lot of fishermen north, Hegnes said. “Right now you can only catch bottom fish from the shore,” Carter said. “You can’t fish for them off shore.” The reason bottom fishing was closed is because the California Department of Fish and Game is trying to protect the endangered yellow eye rock fish, Carter said. “It has a big effect on business,” Carter said about Oregon’s bottom fishing being open. “People can go just 20 miles north and fish 365 days a year.” Hegnes said that the large number of recreational fishermen heading over the border into Oregon is having a bigger effect on his business than it would have in the past. “The trends are tending away from commercial fishing to recreational fishing,” he said. Hegnes said that with the bad crab season and more recreational fishermen going to Oregon, Englund is struggling right now. “It seems the community has kind of lost sight about how much money comes in from recreational anglers,” Hegnes said. “It’s kind of sad. There’s (only) certain things to do in this port. It’s no San Diego. It’s a fishing port.”
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