PORT TOWNSEND — Five years ago, incensed about increased restrictions on recreational salmon fishing and crabbing, Gary Hulsey decided to do something.
On Saturday, the group he organized to create a voice for fishing and crabbing enthusiasts remembered his efforts by dedicating a bench on the Port Townsend waterfront to his memory.
But the real memorial was boiling in the pot.
“Gary was really involved in the ‘crab wars,'” said Dennis Broderson, referring to protests organized against decreases in limits for Dungeness crab.
“A lot of the guys also credit him with getting Area 9 open to chinook fishing.”
Broderson is president of the East Jefferson Puget Sound Anglers, which Hulsey founded and led as president, remaining active until he died of cancer last year.
Wanting to create a memorial, Broderson purchased split logs from a Sequim business, and ordered a plaque, also from a Sequim business, with Hulsey’s name and a leaping salmon.
Broderson welded on the brackets, and with the help of Puget Sound Anglers treasurer Jay Campbell and an obliging forklift operator from the Northwest Maritime Center construction site next door, the bench was set into place Friday.
On Saturday, the club invited Laura Hulsey, Gary’s wife, to the Port Townsend Salmon Club lot for the dedication of the bench, which faces the water.
“It would have meant so much to him,” Laura Hulsey said when she saw the bench.
