Fish and Sticks
Meet the marine biology student who tosses salmon at Pike Place Market and keeps the beat on the Husky Marching Band drumline.
Ryan Shapero, 鈥�27, is a bit of a showoff 鈥� in the best possible way.
The second-year marine biology student spends his school days studying the physiology of sea creatures and his weekends putting this knowledge, and his magnetic showmanship, to use as one of .
鈥淭he other day I was sifting through mussels, picking out the dead ones, and I took out the stomach to see what was inside,鈥� he says, laughing. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 not a normal thing to do.鈥� Maybe not normal among his coworkers at Pike Place Fish, where Shapero鈥檚 worked since the summer of 2023, but perfectly normal for a biologist. He particularly loves when kids come up with the oddest questions. 鈥淢ultiple times I鈥檝e just been, like, explaining crustacean morphology to a 7-year-old. And they鈥檙e into it!鈥�
Shapero joined the Husky Marching Band as a bass drummer in the 2023鈥�24 season, when the band played at Husky football games across the country.
A lifelong Seattleite and a Roosevelt High School graduate, Shapero says he found his way to the 91探花 because he 鈥渨anted to go to a good school, but still eat [his] mom鈥檚 cooking on weekends.鈥� He fell in love with environmental science in high school, but an eleventh-hour application mistake led him to applying for the (which focuses more on an interdisciplinary model of humans and the environment) instead.
Though his childhood home is within walking distance, he鈥檚 found a new one on campus, thanks in no small part to the community he鈥檚 built as a member of the . The 2023鈥�24 season, his first on the drumline, was an 鈥渦nreal experience,鈥� he says 鈥� a big year for the band as they accompanied the football team to a series of playoffs and championships that took them to Las Vegas, New Orleans and Houston.
Traveling with the band may sound glamorous, but the fish market has brought him more brushes with celebrity. His second day on the job involved an intro to baseball Hall of Famer Derek Jeter and comedian Joel McHale; last summer he threw a 25-pound salmon to model and cookbook author Chrissy Teigen. Now in his second year there, he says he鈥檚 gone from working only over school breaks to picking up weekend and odd shifts here and there, just for the joy it brings him.
鈥淭here鈥檚 nothing I鈥檇 rather do than physical labor and sell fish for 10 hours on my Saturday 鈥� that鈥檚 what makes me happy.鈥�
Shapero holds the 25-pound salmon purchased by celebrity Chrissy Teigen.
A fish-throwing drummer may sound unlikely, but Shapero’s two passion projects have more in common than you would think. 鈥淭he two biggest parallels are the performance aspect and the fact that everything is motivated by pride in what we do,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e do things right here, and we鈥檙e proud of that, and we鈥檙e going to work hard and make something good. [In both roles] it makes us so tight 鈥� like a second family.鈥�
Shapero鈥檚 friends don鈥檛 seem to mind when he shows up covered in fish scales, because he tends to bring along a feast fit for royalty. 鈥淟ast month, we had black cod, swordfish, oysters, scallops, and I’m like, 鈥業 need you to appreciate that we鈥檙e a couple of broke college kids in a crummy apartment, and we鈥檙e eating, like, $250 worth of seafood right now.鈥�
Shapero is excited about wherever his future takes him, even if that鈥檚 right where he is. 鈥淚 may just end up the most over-qualified fishmonger of all time.鈥�
Story by Chelsea Lin // Photos courtesy of Ryan Shapero
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