Anthony Henry has been fishing in the Salish Sea — the water that spans Washington state’s Puget Sound — for his entire life.
“It’s my passion, it’s what I grew up doing,” he said.
A citizen of the Tulalip Nation, Henry grew up in and out of the foster care system and never knew his biological father. In his early teens, a family member who worked as a commercial fisherman took him in; Henry began fishing and quickly fell in love with the trade. He saw that the money was good and the schedule allowed for more freedom than a typical 9-to-5 career.
As a young adult, Henry continued to work on commercial fishing vessels, but he had a vision of owning a boat one day and running his own operation.
“I finally said, ‘Ok, I’m going to set this goal,'” Henry said. “I want to accomplish my dream that I always dreamed of — of owning a nice, big boat.”
Today, with support from Pacific Northwest Tribal Lending, a Native CDFI, Henry is living his dream as he takes to the sea as captain of his own commercial fishing boat, the 32-foot Juggernaut.
Anthony first came to the Native CDFI, which serves tribal members in the Pacific Northwest region with access to capital and technical assistance, through its board chairman, Rex Rhodes.
Rhodes, a lifelong fisherman who builds boats, heard through the grapevine that Anthony was looking for capital to purchase a boat. He connected Anthony with the Pacific Northwest Tribal Lending and helped him find a hull — the main body of a boat — to purchase.
Nancy Jordan, the executive director of Pacific Northwest Tribal Lending, said that connection to the community is crucial for the CDFI.
“In the community, we relay information,” Jordan said. “We know that this is about our relationships. It’s our connection to the community that makes this work. ”
Anthony was paired with a loan officer and success coach, who worked with him on creating a plan to reach his goal.
“What we started to see was that he not only had the track record and the experience in the industry, but also he was continually learning,” Jordan said.
For most small business owners, having a plan is not enough. The desire to constantly learn and the tenacity that Anthony has — the ability to weather storms and continually push forward — was a good indicator that he’d be successful.
Anthony’s first loan from Pacific Northwest Tribal Lending was financed last year for $75,000. With the funds, he purchased the hull and took out subsequent loans to purchase additional parts of the boat and pay for the build. All told, the Native CDFI financed Anthony’s Juggernaut for a total of $460,000.
Seven months out of the year, he takes the Juggernaut out, either by himself or with a small crew, fishing for crab and diving for geoduck clams, a distinctive-looking clam that fetches anywhere from $15-$30 a pound in U.S. markets.
His income, he says, has nearly quadrupled since running his own boat, allowing him to support his growing family — he and his wife have four kids and one on the way — and build wealth while doing what he loves.
“Even on bad days out there on the water, it’s always a good day out there in the water,” he said. “It’s always beautiful on the sea.”
The barrier to entry to commercial fishing was one he thought he would never clear.
“You need to have a lot of gear, spend a lot of money even to just get started,” he said. “I thought I could never accomplish the dream, but I’ve learned to set small goals (one) at a time to get to the big one. That’s really helped me a lot.”
Jordan says supporting Henry with capital and technical assistance also means supporting tribal fishing rights that protect tribal culture.
“Anthony is carrying on a tribal treaty right,” Jordan said. “Tribal fishing is very important — not just economically, but because it also just creates the opportunity to carry on and the traditions and the treaty rights for the community. He is teaching the generations to come.”