Video: Westport whiting fishing back in business

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WESTPORT, Wash. - A vote on Thursday put the multimillion dollar whiting fish industry in our state back on the water.

For weeks, the boats have been in port - no more fishing allowed. Some fishermen say unfair fishing rules are threatening their future.

A colorful fish is at the center of an economic tsunami that is sweeping over the Washington coast. The canary rockfish is protected and listed as "overfished." So when the coastal fishing fleet accidentally caught too many canaries while in pursuit of whiting fish, it was game over.

Ocean Gold Seafood's brand new processing facility is empty. Deer graze next to what is normally a packed parking lot. Over at the docks, the big unloading equipment sits idle. And the boats making up one of the largest fishing fleets in the region sits quietly in port.

"There's a lot at stake here. Seventy-five to 80 percent of the fisheries revenue is derived from the whiting fishery here in the summer time and without it, these communities have a tough row to hoe," said Richard Carroll, vice president of Ocean Gold Seafoods.

The big freeze came when the fleet accidentally hauled in too many Canary Rock Fish. The giant lockers have been without the plentiful whiting fish ever since. The industry fought back and this is the argument they used Thursday that changed the minds of the federal scientists.

"We're catching more canaries than we've ever caught," said Dennis Rydman, president of Ocean Gold Seafoods.

They're catching more, say fishing groups, because the canaries have made a comeback.

"The fish are everywhere. They're not on the rock slopes, they're not on the hard spots like they normally are, they're everywhere and we can't stay out of them," said John Edwards, fisherman.

Fishermen argued they were being penalized by the federal government for avoiding canary rockfish so well for so long.

"Are the fish in trouble or is the data in trouble. Myself, I think the data is in trouble," said Rydman.

On Thursday, the Pacific Fisheries Management Council reviewed that data and voted to allow the fleet back on the water. But the controversy is far from over.

Industry critics argue allowing the boats back out for whiting could stop a recovering canary population. The debate over Thursday's decision is not over, but for now Westport is back in the whiting business.

Thursday's vote does not immediately re-open the fishing season. A federal spokesman says it may take until early October to take affect.