Quality matters when it comes to seafood. Chain grocery stores offering mysterious-looking fillets and untrustworthy shrimp make the location you decide to buy your ocean creatures from an important one.
At Brandywine Fisheries, you also get a family-owned business of 15 years, full of fish wisdom that cares about their community, along with authentic Oregon-caught seafood. The company began in 2010, founded by Captain Bill Whitlock, a local Oregon fisherman, on the deck of the 42.5-foot Brandywine Fisheries vessel.
The boat was hand-built using ferrocement, an uncommon process in which a ship is made from metal wire mesh, then coated in cement plaster. The man who built it was a close friend of Bill Whitlock’s, and when the vessel was on the market in 2005, Bill was first in line.
Bill had limited experience fishing on the boat, having done so only once or twice a year. After five years of door-to-door sales to restaurants, selling the fish he caught off the docks of Coos Bay, he began Brandywine Fisheries.
The idea was to market locally caught fresh seafood to Oregonians. Most of the fish caught is exported to other parts of the world. Around 90% of the seafood consumed in Oregon does not originate in the state, according to Co-Executive Director Sara O’Neill of the Central Coast Food Web. This high margin makes the market vulnerable to inflationary prices or trade tariffs.
The object is to sell what the boat catches, but high demand for their seafood means they sell far more than one boat can catch. Buying from other fishermen on the docks allows for locally sourced seafood and offers a wider variety, like crab, halibut, tuna, rockfish and more.
“We could buy what we need from Washington or California or Alaska, but we’d rather support the state,” Billy Whitlock, Bill Whitlock’s son and coworker, said. “Our priority is Oregon.” Billy joined the team in 2023 after moving from Kansas to work full-time with his father.
Throughout the week, seafood is transported to the Springfield warehouse, where it is prepared and cleaned before it is ready to buy.
Despite the challenges small fish stores face in opening physical locations, Bill found ways around that. Farmers’ markets became Brandywine’s primary focus, with a crew of around 10 people attending up to 13 farmers’ markets a week during the busy seasons, from Roseburg to Portland.
To make it in this industry, being personable is key. “If you’re going to be a small fishing family on the coast, you’d better learn how to sell your seafood,” Bill said.
Demand soared, and with some friendly encouragement from coworkers to open a physical storefront in their Springfield warehouse, the company opened its first brick-and-mortar.
While locations change, quality never does. Brandywine prides itself on icing its fish, meaning never frozen.
“All our products are a lot fresher than anybody’s going to get anywhere else,” Bill said.
The passion for the business is not just seen, but heard, most notably in Bill’s laugh when asked whether there will be a day the family boat won’t require maintenance.
Everyone’s personality shines through, both on the menu and in the markets. Recipes like the signature salmon spread, created by Lisa Whitlock, Billy’s wife, or pickled fish inspired by fishermen at the docks, show that each idea has a place.
“Most important is relationships with your customers. The people don’t come down here to buy a piece of fish necessarily; they come down here to talk to us, what to buy and how to cook it,” Bill said. “They’re coming down here for a personal interaction and getting dinner while they’re doing it.”
