Since 1947, five commercial fishermen named Borovina have stored their gear in what’s called a net shed on the Everett waterfront close to where they moored their boat.
Three of them were named John Michael; the other two were Michael Johns.
“We’ve used the same names for four generations,” said Michael John Borovina. “We are people who don’t like change.”
Like it or not, change is coming to the Borovinas and to several others who were among the last fishing families still using the sheds. And it’s coming today.
“It’s a sad, sad day,” John Michael Borovina, who goes by his nickname “Jay,” told me last week.
The net sheds aren’t much. They’re just a group of metal-sided buildings, about 85 feet long and 16 feet wide. They’re two stories tall and plenty big enough to store a lot of equipment, hang long nets and refurbish battered gear during the off-season. The sheds are just a few feet from the docks, so it’s easy to tie your boat up almost right next door.
“It’s the best setup on the West Coast,” said Mike Borovina.
The buildings will be razed to make room for a $400 million development that will include include 660 waterfront condos. Instead of their own sheds, the fishermen will have outdoor storage space and the opportunity to lease space to work inside.
“They’re putting us on the street with a temporary fence around it,” said Jay Borovina.
The port has given the fishermen plenty of warning. From the agency’s perspective, there are only a few fishermen left, not enough to justify little-used storage lockers on some pretty expensive real estate.
Mike Borovina, who fishes in Alaska and on Puget Sound, and his neighbor, Jim Leese, who fishes on Puget Sound, both said the port has treated them well during the move. They both, however, wish it wasn’t happening.
“We get the impression that commercial fishermen really are not a priority for the port,” Leese said.
When you talk to these fishermen about what’s happening, you realize that it’s more than a move we’re that talking about. It’s the end of an era. Fishermen used to be an important part of the Everett economy. Now they’re an afterthought, considered less economically valuable than a condo.
“A little bit of Everett’s history is going away,” Mike Borovina said.
For Leese, the net shed was where his grandfather and his father kept their gear and where he continued in their footsteps.
“We’re gonna miss it,” he said.
Leese talked about the days of wooden fishing boats that required constant maintenance.
“We did all that here in the shed,” he said. “Now we’ll have to hire somebody else to do it.”
Leese said that as he worked on cleaning his shed last week, a couple of gawkers came and asked what was happening.
“They were surprised,” he said. “A couple asked. ‘Where are we going to go and see fishermen working on their nets?’ It’s a shame.”
Shawn McCauley, who works on the Sea Pride, Mike Bororvina’s boat, noted that there was a lot of history cleared from those sheds last week.
“There’s a lot of nostalgia here,” he said, showing off antiques such as net corks made of cedar and oar locks from the days when fishermen rowed their net skiffs.
“I’ll be here at these net sheds when they bulldoze them down,” McCauley said. “I’ll be crying.”
Mike Borovina said he’d given away some of the items from the shed to fishermen who can use it. He’s sold some of the other items that might be considered antiques.
Other items were stolen, he said, noting that during the cleanup, he had put some items together as an impromptu fishing museum.
“We had some of dad’s original steering wheels and old charts,” he said. “One day somebody came up in a car and ripped us off.
“What are you gonna do,” he said of the move. “We’re really sad about it. I guess they’re just forcing us to move more into the 21st century.”
The port has a responsibility to make money on an expensive piece of public property. But like Mike and John and the other Mikes and Johns before them, I’ll be sad to see the loss of a community tradition.
Mike Benbow: 425-339-3450; benbow@heraldnet.com.
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