A Playground for Recreational Fishing

In addition to commercial fishing, the Port of Everett’s north waterfront has been a lively home to sport fishing as well, offering the largest public marina on the West Coast.  The Port boasts a long history of fishing derbies, some of the largest in the country.  An ideal location for sport fishing, Everett offers dozens of miles of shoreline along Puget Sound.  Rich in marine habitat, one can fish for sturgeon, surf perch and trout year-round.  Seasonal fishing is permitted for salmon, halibut, ling cod, rockfish as well as crab.

The Snohomish River has the most returning Coho spawning salmon between the Columbia River and Canada; comprising 25-50 percent of all Washington State Coho.   As a result, the Port, City of Everett and Snohomish County’s boat launch facilities are home to some of the Northwest’s largest salmon derbies.

Everett’s waterfront is a good example of the Puget Sound’s near-shore region that features shallow saltwater, wetlands, estuaries, beaches and bluffs.  These areas are critical habitat for juvenile salmon as they make their way from fresh water rivers to the ocean.   Salmon are known to pass through estuaries twice in their life span.   They first move as juveniles when they head to the sea and the second time as adults when they return back to the rivers to reproduce.