Oral history interview with Kent O. Martin

Collection

Identifier: SR 2714

Staff Only

Transcript, digitized audio recording, and photograph

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Scope and Contents

Audio recording and transcript of an oral history interview with Kent O. Martin that was conducted by Clark Hansen on May 21, 1999, at Martin’s home in Skamokawa, Washington, as part of the Columbia River Dissenters Oral History Series. Accompanying the audio and transcript is a color photograph of Martin, taken by Hansen at the time on the interview. At Martin's request, a portion of the interview on Tape 3, Side 1, is restricted. The corresponding portions of the interview have been redacted from the transcript and a digitized version of the audio recording that is available online in OHS Digital Collections.

In this interview, Martin discusses his family background and his youth in Skamokawa, Washington, including his early experiences fishing on the Columbia River. He also talks about his experience at Central Washington State College in Ellensburg, Washington, and later at Memorial University of Newfoundland in Canada, while continuing to fish in his spare time. He discusses his reasons for leaving academia to pursue a career as a fisherman. He discusses the decline in salmon runs due to the construction of dams in the Columbia River Basin, and how conservation half-measures affected commercial fishers. He speaks about the history of salmon canning on the Columbia River, about the different methods that commercial fishers use to catch salmon, and about the ways that public perceptions of commercial fishers like himself have affected people in the industry. He talks about the cultural importance of salmon in the Pacific Northwest, discusses how increased recreational use of the Columbia River affects the people who live along the river, and describes the effects of fish conservation legislation on the fishing industry. He speaks extensively about his identity as a fisherman and the impact of fishery policy on his business. He also talks about the international salmon market. He closes the interview by sharing his thoughts about the future of salmon fishing on the Columbia River.

Dates

Creation: 1999 May 21

Creator

Martin, Kent O. (Kent Oliver), 1944- (Interviewee, Person)
Hansen, Clark (Interviewer, Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Portions of the interview on Tape 3, Side 1, have been restricted by the interviewee. Access to the tape is restricted, and the corresponding portions of the interview have been redacted from the transcript and the digitized version of the audio recording that is available online in OHS Digital Collections.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright for this interview is held by the Oregon Historical Society. Use is allowed according to the following statement: Creative Commons - BY-NC-SA, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

Biographical note

Kent Oliver Martin was born in Skamokawa, Washington, in 1944. He attended Central Washington State College (now Central Washington University) in Ellensburg, Washington, and double-majored in philosophy and anthropology. He dropped out in 1966 to serve in the U.S. Navy, then completed his bachelor’s degree in 1970. He earned a master’s degree in marine anthropology from the Memorial University of Newfoundland in Canada. While in Canada, he married Irene Elizabeth Martin. The couple moved to Skamokawa in 1973, and Martin worked as a gill-net fisherman on the Columbia River. Kent and Irene Martin were jointly awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife for their work in salmon conservation.

Sources: Vital records on Ancestry.com; information provided by Martin in his interview; “A Conversation About Life in Skamokawa with Irene Martin,” by Amber Siefer, September 1, 2023 (originally accessed October 25, 2024, archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20250912034502/https://columbiariverkayaking.com/2023/09/01/a-conversation-about-life-in-skamokawa-with-irene-martin/)

Historical note

In 1990, the Washington State Historical Society, Portland State University, and Washington State University Vancouver formed the Center for Columbia River History (CCRH) to promote research, education, and public programs about the Columbia River Basin. The center operated for more than 20 years. Among its work was the Columbia River Basin Project (CRBP), an umbrella project supported by a 1997 grant from the U.S. Department of Education. The CRBP included online exhibits, oral histories, and high school curricula about the history of the region's land, wildlife, and people.

As part of the project, CCRH partnered with the Oregon Historical Society Research Library’s oral history program, headed by Jim Strassmaier, to gather interviews. Oral Historian Michael O’Rourke spearheaded the Northwest Power Planning Council Oral History Series, while Oral Historian Clark Hansen oversaw the Columbia River Dissenters Oral History Series, with aid from two Portland State University research assistants, Dannette Rowe and Tania Hyatt. In addition, CCRH conducted oral history interviews for a third project, Columbia Communities, and later donated the interview recordings and transcripts to the OHS Research Library, where they are designated SRC 1.

The Columbia River Dissenters Oral History Series culminated in 59 interviews (approximately 184 recorded hours) conducted between 1998 and 2001. Interviewees included Native people, activists, farmers, conservationists, fishers, and others who contributed to the shaping of policies that have had, and continue to have, significant impacts on the Columbia River Basin in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and British Columbia. The interviewees opposed policies by agencies such as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Bonneville Power Administration, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and advocated for alternative visions of management and use of the Columbia River.

Sources: “Voices of the Columbia,” by Bryan White, PSU Magazine, Fall 1998, Page 17; Center for Columbia River History brochure, undated (circa 2000); Center for Columbia River History website (accessed July 10, 2025), https://columbiariverhistory.org/; email correspondence with Donna Sinclair, 2025; email correspondence with Tania Hyatt, 2025; Oregon Historical Society Research Library internal documentation.

Extent

0.1 Cubic Feet (4 audiocassettes (3 hr., 2 min., 9 sec.) + transcript (68 pages) + 1 photograph (color))

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Oral history interview with Kent O. Martin, conducted by Clark Hansen on May 21, 1999, as part of the Columbia River Dissenters Oral History Series. Martin discusses how the decline of salmon runs in the Columbia River Basin over the 20th century has affected his commercial fishing business.

Existence and Location of Copies

Audio, transcript, and photograph available online in OHS Digital Collections.

General

Forms part of the Columbia River Dissenters Oral History Series.

Processing Information

This interview was previously cataloged as part of SR 2700.1, the Center for Columbia River History Oral Histories. SR 2700.1 included oral histories gathered for two separate projects: those conducted by the Oregon Historical Society Research Library for the Columbia River Dissenters Oral History Series, and those collected by the Center for Columbia River History for its Columbia Communities Project. In 2024-2025, as part of digitization of the Dissenters interviews, the collection was reprocessed to separate the two sets of interviews for improved access. Each of the 59 Columbia River Dissenters interviews was cataloged individually under the name of the interviewee. The interviews for the Communities project were kept together as a single collection that was redesignated as SRC 1, Columbia Communities Project oral histories.