The Port of Port Townsend commissioners voted unanimously Dec. 13 to evict a commercial salmon and tuna fisherman from the port’s Boat Haven moorage facility.

The tenant is Joel Kawahara, 62, of Quilcene.

Both the commissioners and Kawahara declined to offer details about the eviction.

When asked why Kawahara is being evicted, Commissioner Peter Hanke said, “It’s a legal matter. Call our attorney.”

The port’s attorney, Seth Goodstein of Tacoma-based Goodstein Law Group PLLC, attended the meeting during which the vote took place, after an executive session.

Members of the public are not allowed to attend closed-door executive session meetings, when legal issues can be discussed but not acted upon.

Goodstein said he would not comment on the matter.

“It’s a pending litigation matter,” Goodstein said.

“I think he parks a fishing vessel at the port and goes on fishing expeditions,” Goodstein said.

Kawahara’s moorage tenancy agreement specifies a vessel name of “Karolee,” Goodstein said. According to NOAA records, the boat is a 39-foot wooden commercial fishing vessel built in 1945.

When asked, Goodstein said the matter was not related to nonpayment.

The eviction process has not been started yet, he said, adding that eviction would depend on “future events.”

“There’s no court action at this time,” he said.

TENANT FOR 15 YEARS

On Dec. 20, Kawahara was contacted while at the boat, which was still docked in a Boat Haven slip.

“They are not giving an official reason,” Kawahara said of the port commissioner’s decision. He declined to go into detail.

“It’s probably not the time to do it,” Kawahara said, indicating he did not want to talk. He said that there were lawyers and “moving parts” in play.

Kawahara said he’s been a Port of Port Townsend tenant for about 15 years. He keeps the Karolee moored in a slip there and also does his haulouts at the port.

He had a haulout scheduled for Dec. 18, but that haulout has been denied by the port, he said.

The boat is kept in the slip on a month-to-month basis, Kawahara said, and his fees are paid through the end of December. His tenancy would not be renewed in January, he said.

Kawahara has been fishing salmon and albacore tuna since 1987.

Kawahara said he thought his tenant agreement with the port gave the port the right to terminate the tenancy at any time.

Kimberly Matej, communications coordinator for the port, said Kawahara has not yet been evicted, but that the eviction was in process.

Kawahara isn’t sure where he would relocate the boat if he can’t moor it at the Port of Port Townsend facility, but he would like to keep it near Quilcene.

The Leader submitted a public records request to the port for more information. Port officials said they expected to fulfill the request in about a week.