The professional

The first part of the interview with Mr. Scott Collins was about his early years, about the start of his connections with ocean and his education in reputable American learning institutions as well about his way to the maritime law.

The first part finished with the questions: 

“How was the maritime industry in Seattle in the early years of your career?

What was changed in the meantime?”

Mr. Collins started his answer by discussing the transformation of the local fishing industry and continues below, in this second part of the interview, his answer about the evolution of the local maritime industry and of the maritime industry, as actively witnessed by him during more than 30 years of his career in maritime law . 

... 

Long proclaimed to be the pleasure boating capital of the U.S., the prosperity Seattleites are now experiencing has fuelled the city’s boating and yachting industry. During the pandemic, a boat dealer client witnessed some of its best years ever, as people were turning to the joy of boating as an outlet to get out from lock-downs with safe social distancing. Seattle has long been considered the boating capital of the U.S., as more boats per capita are owned in Seattle than any other U.S. city.

The progressive innovation that tech has brought to Seattle is now spilling over into maritime sectors. Development of green – really, “blue” – technology has accelerated over the past several years, aided in large part by the State of Washington’s “Maritime Blue” initiative that serves as an incubator for innovation and change fostering a sustainable blue economy. I foresee the innovative Seattle tech sector, with its socially and environmentally conscious bent, embracing and developing new technology as Seattle becomes not just a center for new marine technology, but as a hub as it has been in the software and biomedical fields. 

...  and Seattle remains the primary homeport for the North Pacific fishing fleet. Although the Alaska king and opilio (snow) crab fisheries have totally collapsed the past two years, the Bristol Bay, Alaska sockeye fishery this summer just set records for numbers of fish harvested. Other salmon runs have not fared as well, although there are promising indications this year that some of the primary runs in the lower 48 state are slowly making comebacks. (I hope that holds up.)  I looked out my office window one morning over the summer and saw dozens of sport fishermen just outside Seattle’s container port targeting the summer Puget Sound salmon run in Elliott Bay just before the fish enter the Duwamish Waterway for their fresh water trek up to spawning grounds. While there will be plenty of fishermen who may disagree with this, overall, the fishing commissions for the North Pacific fisheries (except king and snow crab) have been fairly successful in promoting sustainable fisheries, whereas just about every fishery in every other region in the U.S. seems to be collapsing. 

Finally, I can’t omit to mention the largest public ferry system in the U.S., the Washington State Ferries. Seattle is a primary port (actually, two ports within the city) for these ferries, with lines from Seattle that call on four other cities across Puget Sound. In fact, some of my colleagues at work commute into the office daily via ferry (both auto ferries and passenger-only ferries). I am excited that the ferry system has now embarked on an ambitious initiative to begin the transition to an emission-free fleet through a hybrid electric ferry system. The bidding process on building a new fleet is under way, and ultimately the Washington State Ferries will be free from burning the 19 million gallons of diesel fuel it consumes each year to support 24 million passengers.