Fishermen's Terminal gets new docks

New docks to serve the changing needs of the North Pacific fishing fleet will be built at the Port of Seattle's Fishermen's Terminal over the next three years. The $21.6 million capital investment, which was approved by the Port of Seattle Commission today, will replace pre-1930 wooden docks with concrete docks floats that will support heavier loads and allow moorage of both large and small vessels.

"The fishing industry is changing and we have to change with it," said Port of Seattle Commission President Bob Edwards. "For 15 years we seen the number of active fishing boats dwindle while their size has gradually increased. The new docks will provide a home for the fishing boats that generate jobs and business revenue in our community."

The project will replace six existing docks with five new docks that are more widely spaced for better vessel maneuverability. The new docks will offer 2,982 linear feet of side tie moorage as well as sixty 40-foot slips, thirty one 45-foot slips, twenty nine 50-foot slips, forty two 65-foot slips, one 95-foot slip and one 100-foot slip. The docks also will receive new water, electrical and communications infrastructure. About 33,000 cubic yards of underwater sediments will be dredged from the western portion of the terminal to improve navigability.

"This plan was unanimously endorsed by the Fishermen's Terminal Advisory Committee," Edwards said. "That group includes representatives of each type of fishing boat at the Terminal, from crabbers to long-liners to gill-netters, and they had a lot to do with the dock design we're implementing."

Design and permitting work for the dock replacement project will begin in early 2006. Construction will begin in late 2006 and be completed by the end of 2008.

The reconfiguration of Docks 5-10 wraps up a series of capital investments that began in 1989 with the construction of the $5.3 million Northwest Dock - home to large crabbers and catcher/processor boats. Major upgrades to the Terminal's sewer system (1998) and electrical system (2003) followed. The West Wall, which provides temporary side-tie moorage for loading and unloading of gear and direct fish sales, saw $2 million worth of improvements in 2000. Docks 3 and 4 were rebuilt in 2003 and 2004 at a cost of $3.025 million. The South Wall was replaced in 2003 to 2005 for $12.85 million.