"Commercial Fishing Feeds the World." That was the proclamation from the Port of Seattle, home to our North Pacific commercial fishing fleet, as the industry began to prepare for fishing in a pandemic. The port's staff has been at the forefront of the evolution of pandemic preparations for managing the summer fishing season under the specter of covid-19.

Are you making any last-minute preparations for the season? Are you en route or already fishing with questions about issues that may arise this season?

Join me Monday, June 1, at 2 p.m. Eastern/11 a.m. Pacific/10 a.m. Alaska for a panel discussion with Port of Seattle operations managers, as well as:

• Andy Wink, executive director of the Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association; and
• Chris Woodley, executive director of the Groundfish Forum.

The port will be represented by:

• Mick Shultz, a member of the port's Community Engagement Team;
• Kelli Goodwin, senior manager of Maritime Operations; and
• Delmas Whittaker, senior manager of Fishing and Commercial Vessels.

The panel will be taking your questions live. Don't miss this chance to ask those key questions as you make your final push for the summer.

This discussion evolved out of the port's focus on keeping the essential service of commercial fisheries operating during this critical time, starting with the economic impact of the port's commercial sector:

• More than 11,000 jobs representing more than half a billion dollars in payroll depend upon vessels that moor at Port of Seattle
• $1.4 billion in business output for those vessels
• 44 percent of all gross earnings from the North Pacific Fisheries is earned by vessels moored at Port facilities
• 72 percent of the biomass harvested by those boats is exported throughout the world
• Seafood is regularly among the Northwest Seaport Alliance’s top five exports by dollar value
• Our region supplies 13 percent of the total U.S. commercial fisheries harvest by value