We are delighted to welcome you to Astoria, Oregon from Sunday February 28th through Wednesday March 3rd for the 77th Pacific Fisheries Technologist (PFT) Conference! As the first city established west of the Rockies, Astoria’s layered history is captured in the artwork of the iconic Astoria Column. The climb up its 164 steps rewards visitors with a sweeping view of the city and the working waterfront below.
The waterfront tells its own story. Astoria has long been recognized as a fishing community and has demonstrated adaptability and resilience since its founding in 1811. During your visit, we encourage you to explore the Columbia River Maritime Museum, where the rich maritime traditions of Pacific Northwest Indigenous peoples and the region’s fishing heritage come to life.
Astoria’s connection to the seafood industry runs deep. The first industrial-scale salmon canneries on the Columbia River opened in 1866. By the 1880s Astoria was globally recognized center for fish processing. Although the last major salmon cannery closed in 1980, this era of the city’s fishing legacy remains visible along the Astoria Riverwalk.
Seafood continues to be central to Astoria’s identity. The Port of Astoria is Oregon’s leading commercial fishing port by landed volume. According to 2024 landing data, nearly 185 million pounds of seafood were landed in Astoria, representing approximately 67% of Oregon’s total commercial seafood landings. Yet more than half of this resource remains underutilized, presenting new opportunities for innovation and value creation.
As Oregon looks toward the future, we are learning from Iceland’s "100% Fish" model to full resource utilization and from Kalundborg, Denmark’s pioneering approach to industrial symbiosis. These examples demonstrate how maximizing resource use and strengthening connections among industries can create economic opportunity while reducing waste.
These concepts inspired our PFT 2027 conference theme: The Rest of the Story: Unlocking Hidden Value from Seafood Processing. Throughout the conference, we will explore innovations, partnerships, and emerging opportunities that advance full seafood resource utilization and support a more circular seafood economy. We are especially excited to share insights from Oregon’s recent delegation visits to Iceland and Denmark and to highlight the collaborative efforts of industry, academia, government, and economic development partners working to strengthen the future of the seafood sector.
From the top of the Astoria Column, one can appreciate both the path that brought us here and the horizon that lies ahead. We look forward to an engaging and memorable 77th PFT Conference as we build on our shared legacy and embrace the bright future of sustainable seafood processing.
See you in Astoria!
Angee Hunt
77th PFT President
2026-2027