Marilyn Mercer Jones (December 19, 1917 – May 22, 2002), better known as Mars Jones, was one of the first female fishermen and captains of the Pacific Northwest. At different times, Jones lived and worked in Seattle, Bainbridge Island, Neah Bay, and Port Angeles. As of 1955, Jones was the first woman in the Neah Bay area to obtain a Coast Guard license, and two years later, she became one of the few women licensed to operate a six-passenger boat. In 1972, she was one of two Port Angeles female skippers, and the only female charter skipper with a third class radio-operator's license. As of 1989, Jones was one of two or three charter skippers in Port Angeles and one of eight or nine in Neah Bay. At the time, Jones was referred to in media as the "lady skipper" or "lady captain."
Early in her career, Mars Jones worked as a singer in her husband Gaylord's jazz band. The two shared sportfishing as a hobby. Later, the couple seized the opportunity to earn more money as fishermen. They combined music and fishing for some time, but later dedicated their full attention to fishing. In 1948, they entered commercial fishing with a small boat running close to shore. As their income increased, the couple bought a larger boat and entered the charter boat business in 1952, providing services to other fishermen. Mars assisted Gaylord for three years, sometimes serving as skipper. In 1955, she started to run charter boats around Neah Bay on her own. Soon after that, she got her licenses and officially became a skipper. For about five years, Jones ran different boats for several employers, until in 1958 she bought the first boat she owned by herself. In 1969, she got her second boat, Satin Doll–the first fiberglass boat, and one of the biggest charter boats, in the Port Angeles harbor at the time.
From 1962 until at least 1989, Mars and Gaylord Jones successfully conducted businesses in Neah Bay and Port Angeles. Mars fully managed the chartering activities, occasionally operating sightseeing trips. Alongside their own business, the Joneses sometimes worked under the management of the Big Salmon Resort in Neah Bay. Among their clientele was Eddie Bauer, noted American outdoorsman, inventor, author, and businessman.
From 1958 to 1989, Jones owned and operated four different boats and sometimes ran other owners' boats. She had earned commercial and bottomfish licenses for vessels of different capacity. Jones worked until at least 1989. She endured gender discrimination, but became highly esteemed by her colleagues and clientele in the marine circles of Port Angeles and Neah Bay. Her son, son-in-law, and sometimes granddaughter also engaged occasionally in fishing, boat charters, and skin-diving charters.
Jones was a member of the Washington State Commercial Passenger Fishing Vessel Association. She helped organize the Charter Boat Association in Port Angeles, a body that helped to pass certain marine regulations. For a period of time, she served as its secretary-treasurer.
Early life and education
Jones was born on a wheat farm in Wilbur, Washington, on December 19, 1917.
She spent her pre-school years on a farm in eastern Washington and the rest of her childhood in West Seattle.
Jones graduated from West Seattle High School in 1937. Later, she learned about water vessels and fishing, including the maintenance of boat engines and fishing gear, by assisting Gaylord during sportfishing trips.
Career
After a few years of marriage, Mars and her husband, Gaylord Jones, worked as jazz musicians. Gaylord played piano and Mars played percussion and sang. Their first concert was in 1939 on the University of Washington campus followed by a larger concert in the old Metropolitan Theater in Seattle.
Entering commercial fishing and chartering
The couple went sportfishing every weekend they could, and Mars especially liked salmon fishing. They began commercial fishing in 1948. They fished from June to August; the rest of the year, they kept working as musicians.
At first, the couple got a small boat and fished as kelpers: day fishermen who fish along the beaches without going far out to sea. They used their sportfishing gear to fish, but as the laws changed, they were obliged to use only "commercial gear to catch commercial fish." Mars worked as bait boy, cleaned fish, and did other jobs under her husband's supervision. As they worked in the small "kicker boats," the couple saved money to invest in bigger vessels.