Port of Seattle - Sustainable Century Award

Kenneth Lyles, Helena Park, Annika Saltman, and Kristian Uri June 30, 2022 Port of Seattle

On Thursday, June 30, 2022, the Port of Seattle held their Sustainable Century Award ceremony at the Port of Seattle SEA Conference Center. Helena Park, CEO Fishermen’s Finest, addressed the crowd after receiving the Sustainable Century Award for Environmental Innovation:

Thank you, Director Lyles and everyone at the Port of Seattle. I am personally humbled to receive this prestigious award on my company’s behalf and also on behalf of hundreds of men and women who tirelessly worked to turn America’s Finest from a vision to a reality. I have the great team with me here and without them I could not have built the ship and my company President Dennis Moran – he was critically important in building the ship - this award also goes to him too.

I believe in the investment in people and innovation should be measured by standards that outlive our limited life on earth. Building the first green fishing vessel in the United States was very risky but totally necessary – not just for the benefit of our crew today but to make sure that the next generation of fishermen and women will continue to survive and thrive.

This award acknowledges the true spirit of modern entrepreneurship but also is very important for us to recognize the fishermen and women in the industry are the stewards of the actual resource we fish and also the environment itself.

Port of Seattle Sustainable Century Awards June 30, 2022

Sandra Kilroy, Port of Seattle Senior Director of Environment, Sustainability, and Engineering.

These awards represent our tenants, customers, non-profits, and partners for the outstanding accomplishments that you have done in the area of environment and sustainability. Today you will hear about efforts relating to energy efficiency, greenhouse gases, fish and raptor protection, noise reduction, COVID recovery, etc.

The award recipients you see here today serve as role models and demonstrate exceptional leadership in your operations involving maritime and aviation. They set an example of sustainable practices in our region. Thank you all for being leaders.

These awards enable us to recognize and promote the actions and investments and progress of others. We hope these spurs continued environmental protection and investments in our region.

Jane Dewell, Port of Seattle Maritime Environmental Sustainability.

Our first award is given to Fishermen’s Finest for environmental innovation. They showed ambitious and committed leadership in energy conservation and sustainability for fishing fleets. Their vessel America’s Finest represents the lowest carbon footprint of the Bering Sea fleet. They were the first commercial fishing fleet to achieve Green Marine Certification – a rigorous third-party environmental sustainability certification. They were the first business to purchase carbon credits through King County and City Forest Credits – resulting in the purchase of Soaring Eagle Park in King County. This helps to protect and sustain our urban forests.

Kenneth Lyles, Port of Seattle Director of Maritime Operations and Security.

After 13 years at the airport, I was assigned to maritime and managing Fishermen’s Terminal – that’s where I met Fishermen’s Finest over 20 years ago. They moored two of their vessels, American No.1 and US Intrepid at the Maritime Industrial Center.

When I took over Fishermen’s Terminal, I realized this was an underappreciated industry – it’s the ‘anchor’ industry – no pun intended – of the Port of Seattle. Commercial Fishing was the first business the Port of Seattle entered into in 1911 when it was created. Fishermen’s Terminal was the first asset commissioned by the Port of Seattle in 1914.

First of all, this is a prestigious award. The Sustainable Century award recognizes outstanding environmental accomplishments of customers, tenants, non-profits, and partners – formerly known as the Environmental Excellence Awards. Award recipients demonstrate environmental leadership and are crucial partners in helping the Port achieve its environmental stewardship, sustainability, and equity goals.

Fishermen’s Finest commissioned the newest addition to its fleet, Fishing Vessel America’s Finest trawler in January of 2019. This vessel was constructed at Dakota Creek Shipyard in Anacortes, Washington – contributing to the local Washington state economy in the form of jobs and taxes paid. Ms. Park is the owner of Fishermen’s Finest – the only Korean born women CEO in the North Pacific Fisheries.

The vessel was constructed with sustainable features such as increased onboard freezer and storage capacity that reduces the number of trips to Dutch Harbor in Alaska – which I often call the end of the earth – I’ve been there. They homeport at the Port of Seattle Terminal 91. Because of the reduction in trips, they end up saving fuel as well as achieving the lowest carbon footprint of the Bering Sea trawl fleet. The ship’s design also includes state of the art automation for processing of product, resulting in safer, more efficient work processes for its crew.

At the onset of the pandemic, Fishermen’s Finest partnered with Maritime Blue start-up Discovery Health MD to achieve 100% crew vaccination between Terminal 91 and Dutch Harbor. During the early stages of the pandemic other trawl fishing companies were returning to port with COVID outbreaks. Fishermen’s Finest was not one of them.

Fishermen’s Finest is a long-time customer in good standing, not only at Terminal 91 with the trawl vessel America’s Finest but also at the Port of Seattle’s Maritime Industrial Center with US Intrepid and American NO.1

I’d like to add that Ms. Park is quoted as saying, “Global warming is a reality for our ship captains and crews who have been fishing for more than 30 years, witness firsthand the recent warming ocean, receding Bering Sea ice and corresponding changes in fish behavior. We are the stewards of the resource, so it is incumbent upon all of us in commercial fishing to reduce commercial fishing’s carbon footprint as much as possible.”

As Jane mentioned, America’s Finest cuts its carbon footprint by 66%, it was built in the State of Washington.

Fishermen’s Finest Inc. is the first commercial fishing fleet to achieve certification under the Green Marine Environmental Certification program. The program’s participating members distinguish themselves within the maritime sector as they undertake to measure their annual environmental performance with clear goals to reduce their footprint. Fishermen’s Finest is the third Washington State fleet to achieve Green Marine Certification after the Washington State Ferries and Puget Sound Pilots.

Fishermen’s Finest also invested in King County Urban Forest Carbon Credits to preserve Soaring Eagle Regional Park in Sammamish Washington in King County to offset carbon emissions.

Ms. Park is known for putting her people, crew, and employees ahead of herself in all she does. I look forward to reading about the crew anniversaries on Linked In as Kristian is an active participant on that platform as I am as well and I learn a lot about how much they embrace and appreciate their employees, their crew members. It’s what I get the biggest kick out of reading, Ms. Park.

With that I want to introduce Ms. Park, CEO, Annika Saltman Government Affairs Manager, and Kristian Uri, General Manager.