Barbara Healy Stickel — Posted March 11, 2025

“Going To Gig Harbor? Fishermen ‘Harbor’ Ill Will Over Plans For Fleet,” by Mark Higgins

A plan to relocate Tacoma's fishing fleet from the Port of Tacoma to Gig Harbor is moving ahead despite opposition from Tacoma and Peninsula fishermen.

The Tacoma fleet doesn't want to go. Gig Harbor fisherman don't want any more boats crowding their small, picturesque harbor.

A new blueprint is under study by Port of Tacoma engineers, who plan to meet with Gig Harbor officials sometime next week to discuss the logistics of building a permanent Peninsula home for the area's fishing fleet. No one can say for sure exactly where the money will come from to buy the land, net sheds and related facilities.

Despite such formidable obstacles, the plan is an honest bid to try and help the county's fishing fleet survive, according to the Gig Harbor volunteers who are helping promote the idea.

“The fleet is being dangerously squeezed by soaring moorage and insurance costs and a rapidly developing shoreline,” said George Garland, president of Steelhead/Salmon Protection and Wildlife Network.

Garland and a handful of others from Gig Harbor have worked six months to develop the fisherman's wharf concept. They believe state and federal funding may help create an attractive, self-sufficient home port for the fleet, which also will enhance the community.

“The new conceptual plans for the wharf include a museum, a four-level commercial building, 75 slips, a restaurant, a fish market and a quay to allow fishermen to drive up to load and unload their boats. Net sheds, however, were not included because of space restrictions,” Garland said.

“The preliminary plan should be completed within 30 days and presented to city and Port officials for review and revision,” Garland said.

“The wharf could be built on four parcels of land known as the Blue Heron property in Gig Harbor. The 2.2-acre site, which includes two more acres of tidelands, borders Harbor View Drive and is priced at $800,000,” said Al Ross of John Ross/Harbor Tides Realty.

“However, at least one offer on the property has been tendered, and it is from a private party other than the wharf organization,” Ross said.

The Port, meanwhile, is considering spending $300,000 to relocate Tacoma's fishing fleet to new, but temporary moorage good for only four years.

“The Port wants the fleet's present float space to expand its containerized-shipping operation,” said Rod Koon, Port spokesman. The Port plans to fill the fleet's slip with dirt and concrete and then pave it over.

The Port Commission will vote tomorrow night on whether to pay a consultant $21,000 to assist in finding a permanent spot for the fishing fleet in lieu of the costly, temporary move. It also will vote on whether to spend about $20,000 on a study necessary to move the fleet to the temporary slip.

“The Port's once-thriving fleet of 250 seiners, gill netters, trollers and draggers has dwindled to 85 boats,” said Jerry Taylor, chairman of the fleet's Fish Boat Committee.

“The Port's multimillion-dollar, five-year expansion plans seem to have left out long-term provisions for the fleet,” Taylor said.

Back in the mid-1970s the Port did try to move the fleet to the Hylebos Waterway, but that was stopped by the Puyallup Indian Tribe, which objected on the basis of environmental concerns.

“Since then, the Port has seemed uninterested in finding the fleet a permanent home with decent docks, net sheds, bathrooms and a telephone,” Taylor said.

“The fleet existed before the Port was built, it's been a steady contributor to Tacoma's economy, and the fishermen are paying monthly slip fees,” Taylor said: ‘In return, we kind of feel like we're getting shuffled off.”

“Washington's fishing and aquaculture industries pumped $1.1 billion into the state's economy in 1985, according to a recent study co-sponsored by the Port of Seattle,” said Taylor, who feels not enough is being done in Pierce County to encourage its fleet's survival.

“Trying to push the fleet over to Gig Harbor is certainly not the answer, either,” said Frank Marinkovich Sr., of Tacoma, who has used the Port for 51 years. “In fact, a majority of Tacoma's fishermen have no interest in moving to Gig Harbor,” Marinkovich said.

“‘Instead of helping us, the Port is trying to get rid of us,” Marinkovich said.

“The Gig Harbor idea is unacceptable because the inlet is far too small to accommodate any more fishing boats,” he said. Apparently, some Peninsula fishermen could not agree more.

“‘No way do we want any more boats coming in here. We'll fight tooth and nail,” said Marion Stancic, of Gig Harbor.

Stancic said he favors a fisherman's wharf, but only if it were available just for Gig Harbor fisherman. “Furthermore, the Peninsula's fleet, which has roughly 28 seiners and 15 gill netters, does not need any fancy shops, restaurant or hotel,” Stancic said.

“We're not Sausalito, we're just little Gig Harbor. We just want docks and a place to moor our boats. We want our own little place,” Stancic said.

“But that may not be possible,” said Garland. “For one thing, the retail shops will help generate income, some of which may go toward upkeep of the wharf or other bills. And, if the city hopes to use federal funds, it would not be able to restrict access to the wharf from the Tacoma fleet,” he said.

“‘I can understand their desire to have it all, but basically we have to consider both fleets,” Garland said.

Gig Harbor Mayor Don McCarty, a proponent of the plan, said the city is aware of the fleet's needs and wants to help. It also has solicited and received support from U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks.

A spokesman for Dicks said yesterday the congressman is willing to seek federal funding for the wharf just as soon as it submits a formal plan and request.

“The lease costs are a sore subject among fishermen,” said Nick Tarabochia Sr., of Gig Harbor.

“In the last decade or so, Tarabochia said, “he has watched his lease fees jump from $400 to $4,800, and next year promises to be higher.”

“The long-term solution for both fleets is a knotty problem that has triggered considerable debate among Gig Harbor's fishermen,” Tarabochia said: “We can't get together with the minds. No one can decide.”

Tacoma News Tribune, March 11, 1987, p. 24, col. 2.