Gov. Gregoire addresses the Northwest Fisheries Association meeting

September 10, 2008

AS WRITTEN

Good evening, and thank you for the introduction.

First of all, I�m very happy to spend a little time with the people who bring us the greatest seafood in the world -- bar none.

You know, my doctor says I can�t eat enough fish --cod, halibut, salmon and all the rest, and I love it.

And I�d like you to know � when you come to the Governor�s Mansion, you almost never see meat. Sometimes chicken, but otherwise it�s all seafood.

I especially love the little puffy things stuffed with crab that our cook puts out there for our guests, who come by the dozens for all kinds of events.

(To be honest, we don�t serve as much halibut as I�d like � Can you get the price down a just a little bit?)

(And just for the record, the seafood we serve our guests is purchased with donations � not tax dollars.)

Anyhow, I love seafood, my family loves seafood, and our guests love seafood.

What�s more we love Washington seafood, and we love the seafood industry of the great State of Washington.

I�ve always known your industry has a special, storied place in our state � from the earliest days of our fishing fleets along our coasts from Bellingham to Vancouver.

But I really came to feel a new appreciation two summers ago when I decided our relationship with Alaska had grown just a little frayed over the years. And I became the first Washington governor to go to Alaska in memory.

That surprised me a little. Because our history with Alaska is unique. When we were little more than a frontier ourselves, we were also the bustling gateway to the Alaska Gold Rush and the fishing and oil booms that followed.

And we�re still the gateway. Did you know that 70 percent of anything an Alaskan uses � from parkas to canned peas � comes through the Port of Tacoma alone?

In seeing the Great Land -- and in visiting with Alaska officials and regular folks -- I really came to understand just how connected our seafood industry is with Alaska.

Whole communities in Alaska � from Dutch Harbor to Kodiak � feed their families with wages paid by you folks.

In visiting Alaska, I also got an important reminder -- never, ever, take friendship for granted!


It was way past time for a Washington governor to visit Alaska and hear the concerns of the elected officials and people of that great state.

Speaking of which � they told me loud and clear that they opposed an idea kicking around at that time in the Legislature�


�A fee of $100 or more on shipping containers carrying freight in and out of Alaska.

And I made sure to tell them � It ain�t gonna happen on my watch.

We do have to make sure trucks and trains can efficiently get in and out of our ports, but not at the expense of the people of Alaska or you shippers.

On the subject of our ports...I know how vital they are not only to Alaska and to our economy as a whole -- but to your members.

In fact, frozen fish products are rank 13th in Washington exports from our ports, with a value last year of $650 million � and a year-over-year increase in value of nearly 10 percent!

And standing behind that number are 26,000 direct and indirect jobs in the seafood industry right here in Washington. Furthermore � these are good jobs, with an average wage of nearly $56,000 last year.

Which brings me to what I want to talk about for a few minutes with you tonight.

All I can say is, thank God we live in Washington and not Michigan, California or any number of other states suffering much more than we are from our nation�s economic downturn.

The reason we�re not in the shape they�re in is because of people and industries in our state just like all of you.

Innovation is in our DNA, and at our very foundation � that�s why we are still doing relatively well -- from the Palouse to the shores of the Pacific Ocean.

And as a writer for the Economist Magazine recently noted � Washington is faring better than most because of two main engines � strong international trade (and you folks are key here) and a wide diversity of industries � not just in type but in geographic distribution.

There is absolutely no question that to some extent we are feeling the effects of the slowing economy! Washingtonians are feeling the higher gas and food prices, and a weaker housing market (although we�re still in the bottom five in the nation in number of foreclosures.)

But even so, we�ve increased our export of Washington products by 30 percent in the first six months of this year alone, and that�s on top of a doubling of exports in the past nearly four years. Between January �05 and last year, we doubled Washington exports from $33 billion to $67 billion

The fact is, growers in Eastern Washington and seafood processors on the West Side are doing well, and so is aerospace right here in Puget Sound.

Our high-tech industry is going strong -- from Microsoft right here to Intel in Vancouver.

So are start-up and established companies doing incredible work in renewable energy and medical breakthroughs from Pullman and Moses Lake to Bellingham and Aberdeen.

Outside Washington, they�re taking notice. This summer Forbes Magazine, easily among the great business publications in this country, moved Washington from 5th place to 3rd place as the best state to do business.

Why? Because we have a diverse, exciting landscape of economic growth. We are cutting red tape. We have a natural environment that makes Washington a great place to live.

We are our transforming education into a world-class system focused on Washington learners from early childhood through adulthood. And we rank number two in the nation in terms of a skilled workforce.

I mention innovation. I want you to know that I very much appreciate the seafood industry and all it has done over the past decade to modernize, improve, and also do a better job of protecting the resources on which you depend.

For example, I�m well aware that you now cooperate in several innovative ways to slow down the pace of fishing while -- at the same time -- you have increased the output of fish products by nearly 50 percent on a per pound basis.

In conservation - your industry's support has been critical in the creation and maintenance of Marine Protected Areas and Sanctuaries to make sure sensitive habitats and young fish are protected.

I also want to congratulate you for your spirit of giving. I�m pleased that you have partnered with the Washington non-profit � Sea-Share -- to provide more than 23-million pounds of seafood to hungry men, women and children in America.

Congratulations for winning this year�s prestigious Evergreen Award at the Annual Washington State Nonprofit Conference in April!

As you know, this award honors the organization that best represents leadership and collaboration in serving people in need.

You�ve been here since before Washington became a state, but you�re definitely not what some like to call a �sunset industry.�

You�re a �sunrise industry,� and for that I congratulate you.

I want you to know, we�re doing a lot to keep it that way, from advocacy and work for sustainability at the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council to our Pacific Coast Collaborative with Alaska, British Columbia, Oregon and California.

We need to work more closely with the federal government to figure out what is causing the dead zones in the ocean that are killing our fish.

We�ll share information and find new and better ways to maintain a sustainable regional marine economy. And the seafood industry will be a big part of it.

You�re been here from the beginning, and you�ll be an important, vital part of Washington�s success in the future.

Thank you for having me here tonight.