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Writer's pictureKiera Morgan

Lincoln County Leads The State For Fishing Employment


An estimated 1,212 commercial fishers (excluding tribal fishing) worked in Oregon on an annual average basis in 2023. This was a slight decrease (-15) from the number of fishers in 2022, but very similar to the annual average of fishers in Oregon since 2020. It had been about 100 to 200 higher before the COVID-19 pandemic. Estimating employment in fishing is more difficult than measuring the harvests.


Legislation in 1999 allowed most fishers to be exempt from unemployment insurance coverage – the primary source of employment data. The Oregon Employment Department now estimates the number of fishers based on a combination of survey data and the number commercial fish landings made in Oregon. This method was new for 2014 and resulted in a lower employment estimate than before. Oregon vessels or crews making landings outside of Oregon are not included in these estimates of employment in Oregon.


The estimated number of fishers in 2023 varied from a high of 1,590 in May to a low of 515 in November. Fishing employment often peaks in the summer, but the past couple years have shown a subdued summer season and a peak in the spring. Five coastal counties – Clatsop, Coos, Curry, Lincoln, and Tillamook – had 95% of the total employment, based on where landings occur. Perhaps even more surprising is that non-coastal Jefferson County had any commercial fishing employment. These jobs are sometimes based on crayfish harvests.


The most important fisheries for direct employment are crab, salmon, and pink shrimp. The estimates of employment by species represent the minimum number of people in that fishery on an annual basis. Landings are counted by only the most valuable species landed that trip. Oregon’s largest fishery by volume, Pacific whiting, was the 10th largest by direct employment. But whiting is very important for the processing industry and its employment. Commercial fishers harvested about 100 different species in 2023.




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