How COVID-19 Has Impacted Washington’s Tribal Seafood Operations | Eater Seattle

"At the new retail store off Highway 305 in Poulsbo, Washington, I witnessed a promising opening with traditional songs, blessings and a ribbon cutting as customers flooded in to buy Manila clams, geoduck, Dungeness crab, halibut and more. The company’s biggest revenue historically came from geoduck sales to China, but that market went to zero on January 23 when flights shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic after already suffering about a million dollars in lost income from tariffs in 2018–2019; the tariff was recently removed and business had been rebounding until the virus hit. Suquamish Seafoods operates a processing plant, contracts geoduck divers, grows and sells oysters, and buys salmon, crab and clams from tribal members, while also selling to area restaurants — which were badly hurt when dining rooms closed and forced retail and wholesale oyster operations to halt. Although the store was considered essential, the tribe temporarily closed it out of caution; it reopened for curbside sales at the end of April and is now back to regular hours with physical distancing encouraged. General manager Tony Forsman says he’s kept his entire staff employed, helped contractors apply for assistance, and is optimistic geoduck will rebound to pre-tariff levels, but he remains uncertain about the pace of recovery for oysters." - Megan Hill