Oregon high school program teaches students about the state’s ‘blue economy’

A new high school program in Oregon teaches students the ins and outs of seafood butchery and the state’s “blue economy.” One of the program’s major goals is to to bolster the seafood workforce as industry groups look to keep more Oregon-caught fish local. One way to do that is to get local seafood in the hands of students and teach them how to prepare it. The program began doing that last year at five schools. It has since grown to nine schools with a new, expanded curriculum focusing on seafood caught across the Pacific Northwest. Maggie Michaels is the program coordinator for the program. James Byrne is a science teacher at Clatskanie Middle and High School. Cora Evenson is a sophomore at the same school and took the class last year. They all join us to share more about what students are learning in the program.

Note: The following transcript was transcribed digitally and validated for accuracy, readability and formatting by an OPB volunteer.

Jenn Chávez: From the Gert Boyle studio at OPB, this is Think Out Loud. I’m Jenn Chávez. The Oregon coastline spans over 300 miles, and it’s bountiful with fish like ling cod, rockfish, Chinook salmon, and Dungeness crab. But less of that fresh Oregon seafood is showing up on your Oregon plate than you may think. In fact, a local study found most of that locally caught bounty is exported. Meanwhile, much of what we eat here comes from elsewhere.

Enter Oregon’s High School Seafood Butchery Program. The newly expanded program is teaching coastal students at 15 schools how to cut, clean, and cook seafood with the special focus on seafood caught in the Pacific Northwest.

Joining me to talk more about the program today is Maggie Michaels, its program coordinator. Also with me are James Byrne, a science teacher at Clatskanie Middle and High School, and Cora Evenson, a sophomore there who participated in the program last year. Maggie, James, and Cora, welcome to Think Out Loud.

Maggie Michaels: Thank you. Good afternoon.

James Byrne: Good to be here.

Chávez: It’s good to have you all on the line. And Maggie, I want to start with you. I mentioned a moment ago that not as much Oregon seafood is staying in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest as one might think. I was pretty surprised by that, as someone who drives up and down the coast and sees all those seafood restaurants. Where is the seafood on our plates coming from then and where is that local seafood going?

Michaels: Great question, and the Oregon Coast Visitors Association and the Oregon Ocean Cluster, who are running the program that I’m working with, we’re working with our six strategic initiatives to bring this fact to light and then to go ahead and start to solve it. So our seafood is being exported, sometimes for processing, it’s processed less expensively or it’s just sold at a greater price outside of Oregon, and oftentimes brought in, but sometimes not.

Chávez: So how did this help motivate you to launch a program like this High School Seafood Butchery Program?

Michaels: Well, we listen to people just like you and what you said. Oregonians who are surprised when they go to the Oregon coast or visitors who come to Oregon and are surprised when they walk away and find out that they didn’t just find and buy Oregon landed seafood, that fish and chips wasn’t Oregon landed. And so we listened to people, we listened to producers, the fishers, all the folks within the fishing community and heard the need and the want to ensure that Oregonians and our visitors have access to Oregon landed seafood.

Chávez: So, can you give us an overview of some of the seafood basics covered for students who have been participating in this program?

Michaels: Sure. So they most importantly get to work with nine different species of Oregon landed seafood, so groundfish, Dungeness, Oregon dulse, bivalves, and what they learn is basic fillet skills. So in James’s class, for example, they may have gotten more into the anatomy of the fish because he’s using science as his medium to relay seafood butchery, but they’re having exposure to a whole fish round, they’re learning how to fillet that and then they’re also learning how to make something delicious out of what they yield.

Chávez: Love that. James Byrne, you are on the line as well. I know you taught a class in this program last year, as Maggie just mentioned. What appealed to you about this program and made you want to participate in it?

Byrne: Well, I’m always looking for ways to get my students to engage with the subject and the best way to do that is hands-on. And so when this program was offered up, I jumped at it, because they were going to, well, they provided us seafood, different seafood for eight weeks…

Chávez: Wow.

Byrne: …and it was delivered and then we were able to fillet it and some students chose to try recipes and cook it up in class, so it was a great, full, hands-on experience for the students.

Chávez: Amazing. And so you are a science teacher. How does teaching your students about seafood tie into what you usually teach as a science teacher at Clatskanie Middle and High School?

Byrne: Well, I teach the life sciences and so this was… I utilize the Seafood Butchery and the Environmental Science Agriculture Program. And nature is a great resource, and I focus on sustainability and how well we utilize our resources, makes them sustainable or not. So teaching students about the Pacific Ocean, the species we have there, the bounty, how the fishery is working to sustainably catch them. And then the benefit of introducing those species to the students who may never have seen them before, and then they get to go through the process of experimentation, in terms of cooking. How do they want to prepare that fish that week?

Chávez: So did you have much experience with more of the seafood side of this, catching and cutting and cooking seafood before just personally as a person?

Byrne: Well, my pop taught me to fish early on, so I’ve always loved fishing, but it’s usually trout. And then when I moved to Clatskanie right here on the Columbia, I got into fishing for salmon. So I’ve had some experience with that. Out of college, I was a national marine fisheries observer up in the Bering Sea. So I did have some exposure with that. But some of the species that we got, like the Petrale sole and the tuna, I didn’t have any experience with before, so those were pretty fun to figure out the best way to filet and utilize those fish.

Chávez: Cool. And Cora, you are on the line as well. I know you’re an incoming sophomore at the school, and you took this class last year. Thank you so much for coming on to talk about it with us. What made you want to take it, this class, in the first place?

Cora Evenson: I think I wanted to take it because I heard that I was going outside a lot and being in the garden and like, I don’t know, just doing lots of stuff outside, which is nice instead of sitting inside all day.

Chávez: And what kind of stuff were you doing in the garden?

Evenson: We planted lots of vegetables and we each got an area that we got to plant our own little garden in and that was fun.

Chávez: Nice, what did you plant?

Evenson: Tomatoes, broccoli, carrots.

Chávez: That sounds amazing. I did not have the opportunity to garden in high school, so I’m so glad that that opportunity is something you have. So this class, of course, was about seafood specifically. Had you done much fishing or working with seafood ever before?

Evenson: Yeah, my dad fishes a lot, so I go with him, but I never actually filleted a fish before. I usually make him do it, so it was a time to learn how to actually do it.

Chávez: What do you like about fishing with your dad?

Evenson: I don’t know, it’s just really fun. Get to spend time with him and eating it’s probably my favorite part.

Chávez: So what were some of your favorite parts or favorite things you learned in the seafood class that you took?

Evenson: I think my favorite thing I did was, my group made a garlic cheese bread with clams on it, and it was really good.

Chávez: Oh my gosh, did that smell amazing?

Evenson: Yeah.

Chávez: And what was one of the hardest parts about the class? Was there anything that you’re like, oh, this is hard?

Evenson: One of the hardest fish to fillet, I think it was the Petrale sole. It was really challenging. I don’t know, I didn’t do very good at that one, but…

Chávez: Hey, that’s okay. Everyone’s learning together. Is there anything that you learned that surprised you? Either like, ‘oh, I didn’t know that,’ or like, ‘oh, I didn’t think I’d be into this, but it’s actually really fun.’ Like, was there anything you found surprising?

Evenson: Well, we learned a lot about like the fisheries and like the sustainability stuff. I thought that was really interesting and learning how all that worked.

Chávez: Cool. James, I want to turn back to you as the teacher of this class, you’ve been hearing Cora talk about it. What kind of interest did you see from all of your students and what they were learning in your class?

Byrne: It was pretty cool, because we got a new fish every week. Every week, I would get, hey, what are we getting this week? And, so there was already interest with that. And then the fact that they got to actually get their hands on them, learn how to fillet them, and then prepare them. Some kids aren’t necessarily into the classroom vocab and concept stuff. So they really dive into the hands-on stuff and really excel at that. So seeing them getting into the filleting and different of the different fish.

And then my favorite thing was when the groups would communicate with each other about how they’re filleting or what their plan is to cook that week. And then the best part was when they would cook something, they would share it with each other, and then, ‘oh hey, you gotta go try so and so’s, it’s delicious’ and so the whole sense of community around the cooking was my favorite part.

Chávez: Yeah, I mean, cooking and eating food together is such a community activity. That’s so right. I’m curious about what it was like kind of more logistically. Like, for example, butchering seafood inside a classroom, that sounds a little messy, perhaps. What was it like for you to have this kind of class in your classroom?

Byrne: Yeah, it was a logistical puzzle, but I work with great staff here at Clatskanie and I have a supportive administration. And so the home ec teacher let us use her classroom which allowed us a bunch of different kitchens to work in. And so we have only 50 minute classes, so to get a fish and then go through the whole process in 50 minutes is pretty quick. But the kids were prepped ahead of time and they had prepared a procedure and plan for their group and what they wanted to do with their fish, whether it’s cook it or take it home and eat it with their family.

But logistically, it worked out great. My favorite thing was venting the room. I had a fan venting the home ec room out every Thursday, and the whole school would smell like fish. And we used a lot of garlic and butter, so I heard a lot of comments from the staff and students about, ‘oh, it must be Thursday, because it’s fish smell.’ But it generated a lot of conversation and interest, which is I think the whole point of the program.

Chávez: I’m thinking of an old cartoon with like the smell lines coming off of a pie on the windowsill and it floating around and everyone being like, oh, what’s that?

Byrne: Oh, yeah.

Chávez: Thank you for sharing that. And Maggie, we’ve just been sitting here listening to the real life experience of one class in the program. What stands out to you hearing all this?

Michaels: Oh my gosh, so much. What a joy it was to collaborate with James and also to hear firsthand from Cora. There’s always a sigh of relief, of it worked. All the pieces worked right, the operational pieces of ensuring that Oregon landed seafood arrived at James’s classroom. But mostly the joy, right? It’s working.

So what we want to do is to provide students the opportunity, that exposure to working with Oregon landed seafood, in hopes that maybe like we’ll plant a seed, and they may at some point in the near or the distant future think about a career in the blue economy and be excited and feel connected to this place where they live.

Chávez: Okay, and you just use this term, the blue economy. What does that mean?

Michaels: The technical definition is that it’s any anything that touches any kind of workforce or work or job that interfaces with a body of water in some way. So it can be anything from being a fisher directly on the water, or it can be working in a lab that is adjacent to a river and is looking at the life cycles within that river.

Chávez: Got it, thank you. And I know the fishing industry is facing a problem known as ‘graying of the fleet.’ This idea where there is a lack of succession in commercial fishing. What role do you think a program like this can play in trying to fix this problem? Because it seems like this is kind of like a workforce training program as well, right?

Michaels: Yeah, it is, and it’s part of our overall goals of the Oregon Ocean Cluster to improve the economy, public health and the environment, and also retain that heritage industry, culture and knowledge. So you mentioned just that, the graying out is what we heard from the fleet. They realize that they’re getting old and they want to pass on these skills and this knowledge, and this opportunity to our youth. And we also know that youth can’t dream about being what they don’t see or what they don’t understand. And so this program is meant to be that welcome mat, that hands-on, in front of you, tactile welcome mat, that the blue economy, the seafood industry in Oregon is here, if it’s of interest.

Chávez: And this program started as a pilot program at six schools. I know now it has grown from there. How has it changed from when you first started it and what do you see as it’s growing to more places on the coast?

Michaels: Yeah, well, we actually started at five.

Chávez: Oh, sorry, my bad.

Michaels: That’s okay. Last year we were at nine and it was interesting at the start, at the top of the conversation you had mentioned 15, which is my goal for next year.

Chávez: Oh, okay. Alright.

Michaels: And so, I’m curious. Tt’s like you’re calling it in for me. Thank you so much. We’ll see what we can do.

Chávez: We’re manifesting it…

Michaels: Thank you!

Chávez: …here on Oregon Public Broadcasting.

Michaels: Well, we’ll make it happen because it is a great good fortune to be running a program that we have a 100% teacher return rate. So we had nine teachers this year, and all nine would like to participate again next year. So moving to 15 is really just a matter of ensuring that we have the funding to do so. And so if you could remind me what our question was.

Chávez: Oh, yeah, just how has the program been changing since you first started it and what is it like to watch it grow?

Michaels: It’s astonishing to watch it grow. It’s very rewarding. It started like any pilot program. The folks at the Oregon Ocean Cluster spent years and the Oregon Coast Visitors Association spent years listening to coastal communities, like ear to the ground and really listening into what people wanted. And then we had the opportunity to respond with the Seafood Butchery Program.

The first year was very, me in a car and coolers and and figuring it out week by week as we went. And the second year, we’ve had the good fortune to work with folks who worked with James. The Clatskanie Food Hub actually became one of our operational partners and did deliveries, so we had the opportunity to expand our operations network and really lean into collaboration and partnership with other community organizations that we work with to ensure that we could cover the whole coast.

Chávez: What are your hopes for the future of this program?

Michaels: My hopes are that I continue to get to hear teachers like James and students like Cora say the things that they said, to provide people that first opportunity to fillet a fish and see what unfolds from there. That’s my hope.

Chávez: And James, back to you. I mean, after your experience last year, do you think you’ll continue to do this, and why, if so?

Byrne: Oh yeah, I would love to do it again, and the reason is just to see the joy in the students as they’re learning something new, a new skill or trying a new recipe and just the community of them talking with each other and it was pretty awesome and I would love to have that opportunity to do with another group next year.

Chávez: Wonderful, and Cora, I just want to check in with you one more time. I mean, you took this class, you learned a lot. What are you gonna take from it? Do you feel like you’ll keep working with seafood and using some of the tools that you learned going forward in your life?

Evenson: Yeah, I think so. I think I’ll definitely like help my dad more fishing and in the future. Yeah.

Chávez: Cool, and James, what about you, you’re gonna be back out fishing after this?

Byrne: Oh yeah, I’m actually, I’m going clamming tomorrow, so get some more razor clams and spend some time with my beautiful daughters and my niece. So more time spent on the Pacific Ocean.

Chávez: I love that as a wonderful note to end our conversation on. Maggie, James, and Cora, thank you so much for joining us today on Think Out Loud.

Michaels: Thanks for having us.

Byrne: Thanks.

Chávez: Maggie Michaels is the program coordinator for the High School Seafood Butchery Program in Oregon. James Byrne is a science teacher at Clatskanie Middle and High School, and Cora Evanson is an incoming sophomore at the school.

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