Wild Fish Works: Oregon Coast (Official Trailer)

Wild Fish Works: Oregon Coast (Official Trailer) from Russ Schnitzer on Vimeo.

Wild salmon and steelhead are important to more than just anglers. They represent significant social, cultural and economic ties up and down the Oregon coast. Over the past year, Alan Moore and I worked to explore a few different examples of these connections. Wild Fish Works: Oregon Coast is the result. We hope that angling and non-angling viewers will consider their own connections to wild fish where they live, and explore the unique ways these fish manifest themselves across regions, communities and landscapes.

Wild Fish Works' message is non-political and positive: Where people, businesses, communities, conservation and landowners work together, Oregon's wild salmon, steelhead and trout heritage WORKS. Notably, the specification of "wild" fish in this context is NOT an anti-hatchery statement; rather, we call for more focus on the importance and attainability of conserving the wild fish reserves we still have, and the positive returns that even small investments in wild fish conservation can bring for Oregon. This is the "how" of Wild Fish Works.

Agriculture and ranch lands, and other resource-dependent businesses don't need to change hands, alter operations dramatically, or become outdoor recreation playgrounds for the urban crowd to foster wild fish. They can stay largely the same with wild fish using them, and perhaps even enhance values and pay quality-of-life dividends for people willing to welcome the fish. The fish pretty much take care of the rest."