Mike Benbow’s nostalgic article about the Port of Everett’s and the commercial fishermen’s working agreement over the years is very touching. (Wednesday, “Fishermen object to Port of Everett storage plan.”)

The commercial fishing fleet and all the timber mills along the Everett and Snohomish River waterfront of years past have a few parallels. They both are becoming extinct due to over-harvest. Mills took the best old growth all the way down to clear cuts to second growth, and now are refitting some mills for 3- to 4-inch logs. Commercial fishers took the bulk of the strongest runs and are now down to the bottom of the barrel as far as most fish runs are concerned and are still trying to get that last fish.

Neither industry is going to quit until it’s economically infeasible, by that time it’s way too late for recovery. Any resurgence of fishing that the article suggests would have to come at the expense of another user group’s quota. There was a time and a place for these once great industries in Everett. Now it’s time for the Port of Everett to move on. It’s time for the commercial fishing fleet to fade into Everett’s history book, like the the Everett timber mills. Hopefully the city of Everett will stop harboring long lines and nets of mass destruction.

Lewis Boyd

Everett