City Fish

A Fish Story... 1917 As America was at war and food supplies rationed, seafood loving Seattleites were faced with a fish shortage of epic proportions. Enterprising businessmen, hoping to make a large profit on the meager supply, took advantage of the situation by inflating prices well beyond what average shoppers could afford. Citizens were outraged. Sensing a crisis, then Washington State Governor Ernest Lister stepped in, insisting on a plan to guarantee that a state controlled supply of fish be delivered by the City of Seattle to consumers at the lowest possible price. He asked that the Fisheries Commission turn over to the Seattle city government dead hatchery salmon that were killed for their eggs and sperm. On January 14, 1917, an emergency ordinance was introduced to the Seattle City Council by Washington State Fish Commissioner L.H. Darwin requesting that money be set aside from the general budget to establish, maintain and operate a city owned fish market. On January 25t...