In the year 2005, Rev. Irene Martin of Skamokawa, Washington set about undertaking a social study of poverty-related issues in the four rural counties in which the majority of Columbia River gillnet permit holders reside. These same four counties consistently rank at the bottom in terms of per capita income in the states of Washington and Oregon, in part due to reduced fishing opportunity in communities long economically dependent on commercial salmon fishing.

Even though the statistics cited in A Social Snapshot of the Columbia River Gillnet Fishery are now dated, there are no other more recent studies examining the relationship between community health and reduced economic opportunity in rural fishing and logging communities. Not surprisingly, reduced opportunities have led to negative community and social health consequences, due to high poverty levels. Reduced fishing opportunity has come at great social cost.

Irene Martin is the award winning author of Legacy and Testament: The Story of the Columbia River Gillnetter (Pullman, 1994), and Beach of Heaven: A History of Wahkiakum County (Pullman, 1997). She was awarded the Washington Governor’s Heritage Award in the year 2000.

Two PDF files follow: the first a brief set of bullet points on the social study which serve as an abstract of the Social Snapshot; and second, the full study as published by Salmon For All in September 2005.

Social Study bullet points

Social Snapshot by Irene Martin

Written by SFA at 3:09 pm. Filed under Resources | Comments Off