It is 6 a.m., well before sunrise on a mid-October morning along the northern shore of Salmon Bay. Ballard Oil and the dozen boats that line its docks are quiet.

The empty fishing vessels sit high in the water, here to be serviced and fueled up before heading north to Bering Sea where the King Crab season has begun five days before.

At the same time, business interests around the terminal and ship canal are worried the push for mixed-use and commercial development in Ballard will eventually force the fishing fleet's support services out.

Two years ago these boats would already be in Alaskan waters, racing to fill their holds with crab before the season ended.

"In the old days, it was just a derby," said Warren Aachervik Jr., owner of Ballard Oil Co. "It was dog eat dog, and a lot of the guys, I'd say, came back as animals. Now they come back as gentlemen."

"Most of them come back now," Aachervik said.

The new "rationalized" system allots each boat an individual catch quota, which it can fill at its own pace. The system is meant to improve safety and protect the fish stocks.

Seattle is the largest homeport for the North Pacific fishing fleet. Most of it moors in Lake Union or Salmon Bay. A 2004 report for the Seattle Office of Economic Development reported the fleet's annual "catch usually valued in excess of $1 billion." The report, authored by Paul Sommers and Derik Andreoli both of the University of Washington, estimated the maritime industry in Seattle directly generates $2.1 billion a year in revenue, and supports over 22,000 jobs.

The economic effects rationalization will have on the industry have yet to be determined. Many of the boats are selling their catch quotas to larger vessels, leaving crews out of work. A University of Alaska report published in March found large job losses due to rationalization, according to Anchorage Daily News.

At the same time, Pacific Fishermen Inc., a shipyard next to Ballard Oil, is busier than it was a year ago. Fishing vessels make up roughly half of the shipyard's business, said Doug Dixon, Pacific Fishermen's general manager.

"The shipyard was full up until last month getting the crabbers ready for the season," Dixon said. "Now we're getting the trawlers ready for January."

With an allotted catch, owners are more willing to reinvest in their boats, he said.

While the overall number of crews is down, they are more professional, and fishing in the stormy and icy Bering Sea is safer. The recent loss of the F/V Ocean Challenger and three of its four crew members reminded Aachervik of what it was like before rationalization when sinkings were expected each year, and rumors of ships going down would race through the fishing community.

"I've got the phone number here for the Coast Guard in Juneau and in Dutch Harbor, so whenever I get a report of a rumor like that, I try to get to it right away," said Aachervik. He's had little need for either this year.

Many in the Lake Union and Salmon Bay-based maritime industry feel they are being forced out of the area by economic pressure and shortsighted government policies.

"Nearly all maritime businesses share a high level of frustration," Sommers and Andreoli wrote in the 2004 report. "They feel that the needs of the maritime industry are not considered by the city, and they feel that the bureaucracy of the city is difficult and costly to navigate."

Four issues are pushing the industry out of Ballard, said Aachervik: replacing the Alaskan Way Viaduct, placement of the Burke-Gilman Trail, inefficient and unnecessary regulations, and loss of industrial property along the waterfront.

Several business and community groups in Ballard are worried that businesses are not being taken into account in replacing the Viaduct. ("Viaduct study ignores business" Ballard News-Tribune, Oct. 4.)

The Burke-Gilman Trail will eventually run next to Ballard Oil Co. and Pacific Fishermen's respective property. Freight trucks and bicyclists would be in close proximity. Aachervik's insurance company told him he would not be insurable if a bicyclist was seriously injured, he said. Legally, he cannot operate uninsured.

"The public has a right to have their Burke-Gilman Trail, to have their park but what is the expense of that trail?" Aachervik asked.

"I think there's been some question of whether that claim is accurate," said Marianne Bichsel, spokeswoman for Mayor Greg Nickels. The trail's final route "was reviewed over and over again by city departments and approved by city council."

Focus groups conducted for Seattle Office of Economic Development's 2004 report shared Aachervik's concerns.

"Bicycle trails and condominiums are invading industrial neighborhoods without consideration of liability and insurance issues, or the need of businesses to operate around the clock," Sommers and Andreoli wrote.

Aachervik and others are concerned that the push for mixed-use and commercial development in Ballard will eventually force the fishing fleet's support services out of business. State law requires land be taxed at the value of its highest and best use. Industrial land is worth considerably less than mixed-use or commercial land in Ballard in terms of land value.

"This canal and properties, if we're going to have a viable maritime industry, we need to ensure that it and its support services stay," Aachervik said.

"Mayor Nickels wants to preserve the land and wants to work with them," said Bichsel.

The Port of Seattle recently began a $21.6 million capital project replacing several pre-1930s wooden docks at Fishermen's Terminal, and Mayor Nickels fought to retain the land south of the terminal as industrial.

Many of the issues, Bichsel said, had not been brought to Nickels' attention.

Ballard's maritime industry has not actively lobbied local or state government, Aachervik said.

Dan Catchpole can be reached via bnteditor@robinsonnews.com

Fishing Industry Sees Uncertain Future in Ballard

Dan Catchpole