For the first time in its 80-year history, many of Depoe Bay’s charter boats will not take part in the Oregon coast city’s iconic Fleet of Flowers, a maritime Memorial Day parade that typically draws hundreds of observers.

Boat owners say their boycott is meant to shine a light on new fees imposed at the city’s tiny harbor, which they say threatens the livelihoods of residents who work on the water.

Tradewinds Charters, one of the boat operators that’s declined to participate in this year’s Fleet of Flowers, said in a post on its social media page that the new fees are a “burden placed on the charter fleet” to compensate for what it characterized as the city’s “mismanagement of funds.”

City Administrator Kimberly Wollenburg did not return messages. However, the city posted a response on its website, saying “claims of mismanagement are unfounded.”

The absence of charter boats from Tradewinds and other companies may mean a smaller Fleet of Flowers.

The traditional maritime parade sets sail from the harbor to the open sea, where floral wreaths are dropped at sea in memory of those lost.

The event is put on by the nonprofit organization by the same name and is not managed or operated by the city. The city provides services such as water, electric, traffic control and clean-up, as well as financial support, according to its website.

The friction between the charter fleet — usually about 13 larger boats and several Zodiac-type rubber rafts — and the city centers around financial issues and the use of the new docks, completed in February and purchased with $4.3 million in state grants.

Tyler Turner, who captains the Surfrider and co-owns Dockside Charters’ fleet of eight boats, said the trouble started with new rules and policies instituted at the time the docks were installed.

“They’re trying to do a beautification of the harbor, shifting it from a working harbor to more of a yacht club-ish type of a feel,” Turner said. “But this is a working harbor. It always has been, and every single person involved in the harbor knows that it won’t change.”

Eva Harmon, who is Turner’s wife and co-owner of Dockside Charters was elected to the Depoe Bay City Council in November but resigned out of frustration, she said, in early May.

One of the big issues between the city and the fleet is a surcharge on fuel, at one time as much as $1.34 a gallon and now about $1 per gallon, Turner said. (Boaters call it a fuel tax; Depoe Bay City Mayor Kathy Short said it’s a fee charged by the city, which operates the harbor fuel station, to cover its expenses.)

Boat owners are also upset about fees to store crab pots — the traps used by crabbers — on the docks.

“They are adding crab pot storage fees, and they are not letting us put crab pot on the docks like before,” Turner said. “Before it was a free service.”

In a statement, the Depoe Bay City Council defended its management of the docks. Fleet of Flowers, the council said in the statement, “should not be a political venue for demanding operational changes at the harbor.

“It is the City’s fiduciary responsibility to protect and ensure our recent $4.5 million dollar investment in new docks and pilings are safe and operational,” the council said.

The Fleet of Flowers was established in 1945 in memory of fishermen Roy Bower and John Chambers, who died in 1936 while attempting to aid another boat in peril, according to the city’s website.

The event has grown to also memorialize military personnel who died in service. It traditionally takes place over Memorial Day weekend and includes a blessing of the fleet, a military flyover and rifle salute.

The Fleet of Flowers nonprofit did not respond to a request for comment but acknowledged the controversy on its website.

“We will not let the meaning of Memorial Day and our beloved event be tainted or used by anyone for political purposes, and it deeply upsets us that participation has been rescinded to make a stand against the City of Depoe Bay,” the organization posted.

Boat owners say pulling out of the event wasn’t a decision taken lightly. Chris Schaffner, captain of the Outer Limits, one of Tradewinds fleet of five fishing boats, said boat owners have attended countless City Council and harbor commission meetings to advocate for changes.

“It’s about calling attention to the troubles between the fleet and the city, because nothing else is working,” Schaffner said. “We’re using business leverage to bring light onto what’s going on with City Council. They’ve got to start answering for these things.”