The Southern End of Alaska

The Alaska fishing industry has a southern end, and a surprising amount of it is within sight of Fidalgo Island. Catching fish and turning fish into a product someone will pay for are different problems with different geographic requirements, so the industry splits itself: speed and cold up north, form and uniformity and time down here. The most important piece is the least photogenic — a freezer isn't a building, it's the ability to wait.

Go look at: northbound traffic in spring and southbound in fall, and stop thinking of it as boats going fishing. It's a manufacturing system with two campuses 1,800 miles apart.