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Some might say they are a small fish in a big pond, but Sassy Seafood owners, Libie Cain and Teresa Reeves are making a monumental splash. It’s a daunting task to enter the world of canned seafood, but that’s only spurred Sassy Seafood to be ecological, sustainable, delightful, insightful and a cut above all others.

I wondered why I had only recently heard about their albacore. “It’s Washington’s best kept secret,” said Teresa. They’ve been in business for eight years, growing primarily by word of mouth. Now they are regulars at the West Olympia Farmers Market, selling their canned tuna on Tuesdays and Saturdays. You can also shop on their website.

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Teresa Reeves and Libie Cain are the heart and soul of Sassy Seafood. ©ThurstonTalk

You’ll smile at their retro labels with sassy ladies in posing perfection. The original and no salt albacore cans feature a pair of bathing beauties, and there are more: Lil’ Lemon where inside you’ll find a hand-cut slice of fresh lemon, Deliscious Dot in her dungarees – there’s locally sourced dill inside – and Hot Haddie, fireman boots and all, with hand-cut jalapenos. Beach-ready Willie’s Girl is filled with Wild Pacific minced razor clams which are dug by hand.

Libie is an Olympia native and graduate of Capital High School. She spent her summers in Grayland at the family summer home – a perfect place for a surfer. She kept crossing paths with Chris Cain, who entered commercial fishing early in his career. Libie went on to become an architectural designer. Eventually, love prevailed, the couple married, and Libie moved to Grays Harbor.

Chris fished on big boats in Dutch Harbor, Alaska. Every season he was gone for months at a time. You can imagine the life of a commercial fisherman is sometimes a challenge for raising a family. In a dramatic move to keep Chris closer to home, Libie and a friend bought a boat for him. Since refurbished and renamed the Fishing Vessel Mistress, the boat now is integral to Sassy Seafood and the Cain family.

sassy seafood
Brianne Winkelman helps customers at the West Olympia Market. She’s an Eastside Co-Op preschool teacher during the school year.

Libie said she would do whatever it took for Chris to be around more. That statement led to 14 years (and counting) as a deckhand on his boat.

Teresa is from the Westport and grew up in a family with a father as a fisherman. “It’s a hard life,” she remembers and told herself that, “I’d never marry one.” That was before she met (and later married) Shane Reeves, fourth generation of a fishing family. His grandfather, Gilbert Krigbaum, was one of the founding stockholders of Washington Crab Producers. The boat they own and use for the business is named Betty Lee III after Shane’s grandmother.

Both of Sassy Seafood’s boats and the Pacific Albacore Fishery are certified sustainable and deemed healthy by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). As well as liking their boats, both Teresa and Libie are confident they found the best husbands (and fishermen).

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Both of Sassy Seafood’s boats and the Pacific Albacore Fishery are certified sustainable and deemed healthy by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC).

Close friends for years, Teresa and Libie have created lives that intertwine their work, families and passions. When Teresa says, “I wanted to be involved with my own life,” she meant it. Both women are involved with the Western Fish Boat Owners Association. Libie is one of the directors while Teresa holds an officer position as Secretary. They are also connected with the American Fishermen’s Research Foundation, a non-profit organization founded in 1971 which is dedicated to aiding, encouraging, promoting and supporting sound science and education linked to albacore and related fish species. AFRF is entirely funded by US, Canadian and New Zealand troll and pole albacore fishermen and their families.

Sassy Seafood provides a robust lifestyle for the Cain and Reeves families. Fishing season, whether for Albacore or Dungeness crab, is nearly year round. Their work is dictated by tides, migration and ultimately the weather. When Libie, Chris and Shane are fishing, Teresa is handling the business on land, which includes a micro processing plant nearby, managed by another talented woman. As owners and operators of their boats, they literally have their hands on every step of the fish handling.

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The tuna inside a jar of Sassy Seafood’s Lil Lemon is one big piece, not in pieces. The lemon on top melted in my mouth.

Sassy Seafood is literally a business from Boat to Bellytm. Fish are caught one at a time with hook and line instead of a net. This results in no by-catch, a term used in relation to not snagging dolphins, turtles or any other species. The fish is hand-fileted then processed in the nearby plant. “We’re it,” emphasizes Libie, stressing the importance of chain of custody. Sassy Seafood’s eyes and hands are there from the beginning to the end. “We don’t want to deplete these resources,” they stress, “It’s our life.” These bright and committed women are deeply invested to live locally and make a difference globally – one can at a time. See and taste the difference.

Keep up with their news and events at their Facebook page.

Sassy Seafood maintains an active farmers market life and sells its products at the following locations. For specific times, locations and related events, click on the name of the market.

Sassy Seafood
Libie and Teresa greet visitors at a local farmers market.

West Olympia Farmers Market
Shelton Farmers Market
Harstine Island Farmers Market
Seabrook Saturday Market

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