On Ship Canal Cruise, Conflicts Over Growth Surface [Photo Gallery]

To fully understand the city of Seattle's economy, character, and beauty, you sometimes have to head out on the water.

The Port of Seattle has been conducting educational tours of key Port facilities to alert community leaders and media to the importance of Seattle's maritime industry and the many issues challenging that industry.

This past Wednesday, the Port hosted Ship Canal 101, an afternoon cruise from Fishermen's Terminal to the Fremont Bridge, then to the Hiram Chittenden locks, and back to the Terminal. The tour was narrated by many of the business owners and employees of the--surprisingly--large number of businesses in this short, narrow corridor.

There's no doubt that such tours are good PR, but that aside, there's plenty to learn.

Leaving from Fisherman’s Terminal, you get a great view of the size and scope of the city's Pacific fishing fleet. For all the talk of Seattle as a biotech center, a software empire, and aviation powerhouse, a large chunk of the city's economy is still tied up to the docks at the terminal, one of the major fishing ports along the coast prized for its protected freshwater berths (salt water is murderously tough on steel hulls), access to repair facilities, and transportation to waiting markets. The Port estimates that the activity at the port annually generates 4,000 jobs, half a billion in wages, $200 million in business revenue, and $37 million in state and local taxes.

Peter Philips, editor of Pacific Maritime Magazine and one of the tour's narrators, estimated the Bridge-to-Locks route of our tour was home to more than 22,000 jobs and nearly four billion in revenue.

Fisherman's Terminal is also home to the Fishermen's Memorial, a stirring statue dedicated to the fishermen who have died in the icy Pacific waters. Nearly always surrounded by fresh flowers, it is a stark reminder of the dangers faced by men who work the seas.

On Saturday, September 25, from 11:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m., Fishermen's Terminal will host the Fishermen's Fall Festival, which celebrates the return of the North Pacific Fishing Fleet. The festival features live entertainment and demonstrations on two stages, a salmon BBQ (narrators on the tour testified that Warren Aakervik, owner of Ballard Oil, makes the best BBQ salmon on the planet), educational booths, a beer garden, and several odd games including a lutefisk-eating contest and an oyster slurp contest. Proceeds from the festival go to the Fishermen's Memorial Fund for families of lost fishermen. 

Moving east along the cut, we passed Foss Maritime, one of the nation's largest tug, tow, and barge businesses. Spokesman Ron Sykes pointed out that Foss has recently won awards for the company's commitment to environmental safety, and indeed two of the company's dry docks were covered with plastic tarps to contain the flow of particulates from sandblasting the hulls of two ships in for repairs.

Seattle often talks about its nation-leading businesses like Nordstrom, Amazon, and Boeing, but Foss is seldom mentioned as an industry leader. Part of the reason is that its corporate offices, off Nickerson Street near Seattle Pacific University, are not visible from the land--only on the water can you see the scope of their activities.

Across the cut is the Western Towboat Company, owned by Ron Shrewsbury, who pointed out a wonderful camaraderie among the businesses along the cut. "Foss often helps us launch our tugs," he explained, "and we often work on projects together."

Shrewsbury also mentioned that the wheelhouse of one of his tugs was made by his neighbor to the east, Kvichak Marine (pronounced "KWEE-jack"). Owner Brian Thomas is a genuine local entrepreneur. Working as a boat designer for another company, he and several associates struck out on their own in 1981 with a plan to build aluminum boats and aluminum ship structures. Nineteen years later, after moving from a one-car garage to a two-car garage to a small warehouse on Stone Way, he has a successful business employing more than 100 people. 

There was a nice example of his company's work docked right beside the construction facility: A strange-looking craft he build for Seattle City Light to be used on the Diablo and Ross lakes behind the North Cascades dams that supply so much of our city's power.

Thomas mentioned that his company had recently built 35 oil-skimming boats in 60 days to help clean up the Gulf after the recent spill. It's a demonstration on the importance of the businesses along the tour, not just to the local economy, but also to the national and international economy. Ron Sykes pointed out that Foss had eight tugs in the Gulf. When the country needs emergency or ongoing maritime services, they call Seattle.

Seattle has been a gateway to Alaska since the gold rush in the early 1900s, and the ties between our two states are still strong. Doug Dixon, owner of Pacific Fisherman Shipyard pointed out several Alaska-bound fishing boats were in his yard for maintenance, as was an Argosy boat that recently caught fire.

Nearby, the Wizard, a low-slung crabbing boat, well known to viewers of Discovery Channel's Deadliest Catch, which details the incredible challenges of Alaskan crab fishing, was docked. Also close by were two odd-looking cargo ships which fill an important, but niche, function: they are the total supply lifeline for several remote Aleutian islands. 

The tour was also an education in the political challenges that this particular stretch of the cut is facing. One after another, the business owners on the tour lamented the continuously narrowing of local streets. According to them, the city "road diets" interfere with ability to bring supplies in and ship products out. So far as the Burke-Gilman's "missing link" goes, "We also have to question the safety of putting bike lanes through working industrial areas," said Phillips. Maybe they are right. Perhaps establishing a separate route away from industrial operations is an idea to consider.

The ship canal is hemmed in on both sides of the cut by the approach of a growing city. Housing, shopping complexes, Seattle Pacific University, recreational boating, and bike lanes are squeezing industry into a narrower and narrower band close to the water throughout this part of the canal. There are skirmishes all along the line, and the business owners reminded tour goers that jobs and industries were at stake. They made a compelling case that maritime industries are vital to our city's economy.

But you can also see that there is a toll in making the water a highway for commerce. Oil booms surround many of the ships, most troubling on several ships in what the tour narrators called a "ship graveyard" where ships go into dock and don't come out.

At stake is the entire maritime industry of Seattle. The speakers made the point that it's a delicate business ecology--if one or two keystone businesses pulled up piers and left, we'd likely see a string of other industries move to other, less congested locations on the Sound.