The Road Show spent Tuesday, June 26th in Coos Bay, a fishing town on the southern Oregon coast, down at the marina talking to fisherman. It began as a foggy day, but as the sun emerged, it burned off and turned into a magnificent afternoon.
One thing that immediately became clear to us was the level of solidarity up and down the coast among the fishermen. They understand that what is good for salmon and fishermen in Washington, is likewise good for salmon and fisherman in Oregon.
We had hours of great conversations with interested people, and were able to collect dozens of signatures for our petition and postcards to Oregon Congressman Peter DeFazio. While we were saddened to hear about the economic hardship and the effects on the fishermen’s families, we were inspired by their passion and willingness to move forward to seek real and lasting solutions to the crisis.
One of the main attractions at the marina, besides the access to fishing, was a business called Fisherman's Wharf. At Fisherman's Wharf, they sell the day's catch right off the boats, and each product is marked with the name of the boat the fish came off of. We must send thanks to the Ledoux family for the delicious smoked salmon, and to the Charleston Marina and the Charleston RV park for the hospitality.
We also spent an hour with television reporters from the local CBS and ABC stations who will both run stories this evening on our visit to their community, and share our message with a far larger audience then we were able to today. We're trying to get a copy of the stories, and if we can, we'll post the videos here later this week.
That is it from the road today, be sure to check back in tomorrow when we will be in Arcata, CA.
- Jeremy and Bobby
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