Week 7 was my last full week of doing interviews, and it wasn’t exactly a climactic one. It was a week of blustery, chilly afternoons…not the best for ocean fishing and crabbing. The bay crabbers I talked to seemed to be doing well, though; most were hitting their limits of 12 crab per person. I even talked to one group of 6 crabbers in Waldport that managed to limit out with 72 crab. 72. Friends from Missouri, can you imagine having the meat of 72 freshly caught Dungeness crab sitting in your freezer right now?

Although the week was slow for private boat interviews, I did manage to talk to a few charter boats about their crabbing gear. Interestingly, even though charters are pulling ~8-10 crab pots per trip and taking ~150 crabbing trips per year, most boats only lose 1-2 pots in a given year. Those are impressive numbers, and I was happy to hear that the experience of charter boat captains and deckhands seems to be paying off by helping to limit derelict gear and marine debris.

After talking to the charter boats, Justin (my mentor) and I went to Local Ocean for lunch. I never take pictures of food (I know, I know, I’m a millennial and you probably don’t believe me, but I swear it’s true), but I just had to share a photo of this gorgeous, colorful salad topped with Albacore tuna. Medium-rare is the way to go:

I wouldn’t ordinarily be so excited about a salad, but eating at a restaurant where you know the fish is bought locally and caught sustainably makes me feel good about what I’m eating. If you haven’t already, I encourage you to read some of the other scholars’ posts about buying local products (especially seafood) and sustainable fishing practices.

The following weekend, a couple of us made the trek across the bridge to spend some time wandering through the farmer’s market. Armed with backpacks and laptops, we then headed to Nye Beach to get a change of scenery, do some work, and have a cup (or two) of coffee. One of the things I’ve missed most about IU these past eight months? My favorite local coffee shop, a bottomless mug of coffee for $3.45, and ~8 hours of studying, listening to music, and people watching. Thanks to Carl’s Coffee for helping me get my fix.