Westport’s Fresh Catch: Bring Your Cooler! The Fish Are Calling
Headed to the beach? Or maybe the mere mention of fresh fish has you rerouting your weekend plans westward? Great idea. One thing is essential if you are headed to Westport: Bring Your Cooler!
Washington’s favorite fishing town, the Westport Marina is teeming with delicious, fresh, cold, local, salty, seafood, and we happen to think it is the very best in the PNW. Only a jetty and a 5-mile waterway called “the bar” between the magnificent seafood-filled Pacific Ocean and the docks on which it is offloaded. Quite literally, it doesn’t get fresher than Westport for seafood consumers like you.
However, in all your enthusiasm to rush out to the coast, don’t make the rookie mistake that we see time and time again. Don’t forget to Bring Your Cooler. When you lay eyes on rockfish, oysters, and tuna loins by the 10’s of pounds, you’ll be kicking yourself for not planning ahead and bringing the critical tool needed to transport your seafood home safely to fill your freezer. Let us say it again: Bring Your Cooler. A shiny new YETI, or your grandpa’s IGLOO, whatever. In our opinion, it’s only the size that counts.
If you are ready to commit, we suggest you take the time to Get On A List! If you have something specific in mind, you might consider making contact ahead of time. Check out our local markets page to find contact info for local fishermen or make arrangements with a market for pick up.
Or, if you are more accustomed to fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants adventures and prefer to see what you find when you get here, that’s fine too. For daily updates on what is available, check out the Westport’s Fresh Catch Facebook page where you’ll find information posted to social media by markets and fishermen.
Right now, albacore tuna harvest is in full swing. It is the perfect time to head in our direction and stock up on local fresh albacore tuna for canning, loins, sushi, and all things tuna. With a half-dozen fishermen selling directly to consumers and 3 incredible seafood markets, why not return home with a winter’s supply of North Pacific pole-caught young albacore tuna? But, Don’t Forget Your Cooler!
Westport is a small fishing town on the coast of Washington, we are one of the largest seafood landing ports by volume in the country- 10th in the U.S.A. to be exact. While there is a long list of great things to sing about this hidden coastal gem, seafood is among the top. Year around, commercial fishermen offload their product shoreside in our harbor- dungeness crab, albacore tuna, shrimp, halibut, oysters, pacific whiting, rockfish to name a few. While much of it is shipped regionally and around the globe, we have local markets, restaurants, and fishermen proud feature and sell this harvest to you in Westport. Westport’s Fresh Catch is a local effort to promote local seafood- connecting quality seafood from Westport with those who want to enjoy it, and educating consumer about what is in season and how to access it.
Since you’re headed to the coast, why not make a day of it?
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About the Author
Molly Bold is the General Manager of the Westport Marina, home to Washington’s largest commercial fishing fleet. Wife of a commercial fisherman, and life-long harborite, she is passionate about the seafood industry in Westport and the Port of Grays Harbor.
Molly helped to found the Westport’s Fresh Catch effort, serves on various committees and boards, including the Grays Harbor Community Foundation, and is active with her children’s school, St. Mary’s, in Aberdeen.