Hullwork - January 2026

Hullwork - January, 2026

Hullwork is a monthly digest from the Coalition's Executive Director on the work that goes on 'beneath the waterline'  of our programming to maintain it, and keep it all afloat.

Fresh planking along the hull of a ship in Seaview North Shipyard. Work completed by Dave Hartford. Photo: Dan Tucker

Reflecting back on 2025, we've done quite a bit!

December saw us round out an eventful year for the Coalition. We have hosted many events, including our annual fundraiser, annual member meeting, quarterly Blue Drinks, member-only Deep Blue Drinks, as well as Fish Tales & Ales, meetings for fishermen with the Fishery Friendly Climate Action campaign, and a few pint-night benefits at Zeeks Pizza & Stone’s Throw Brewery, just last week. 

In 2025, we have:

• Travelled to San Diego for the National Working Waterfront Conference
• Travelled to Olympia for Maritime Lobbying Day, where we led a delegation this year for the first time,
• Been to almost every single Port Commission meeting this year, and have the briefs available on our member page for members to read marine trades-related highlights, 
• Networked with several working waterfront coalitions in Portland, San Francisco, Maine, and Florida,
• Presented to two more Rotary Clubs this year, the Bellingham Chamber of Commerce, and the City Council,
• Travelled to Seattle to participate in:
• Pacific Marine Expo,
• the Maritime Economic Forecast Breakfast, 
• the Puget Sound Marine Exchange’s Annual Member Meeting. 
• Here in Whatcom, we’ve attended:
• Economic forecast events (x2) with Whatcom Business Alliance, as well as their membership networking cruise,
• Bellingham SeaFeast,
• Port of Bellingham work-study sessions and visioning sessions,
• Dept. of Ecology walkthroughs for waterfront sites,
• The Whatcom Derelict Vessel reclamation program's Media Day
• The Salmon Summit,
• Wild Seafood Connection,
• The LFS Summer Block Party,
• Slammin' Salmon Social with Northline Seafoods,
• Drayton Harbor & Blaine OysterFest,
• Bellingham Seafeast Blaine Beach Clean-up,
• Dockside 'vendor days',
• National, televised call with Sen. Murray on trade & tariff impacts for maritime businesses in WA.
• We hosted, and/or helped to plan: 
• Our regular Annual Meeting,
• 5 Board of Director's meetings,
• 12 Executive Committee meetings,
• Numerous regular committee meetings,
• 4 Blue Drinks events,
• 2 Deep-blue Drinks events (for members only),
• Crew Connections event - connecting Captains to crews for our commercial fishing sector
• Fish Tales & Ales - Fisher-poet Story Hour,
• Blue-Tech by the Bay Career Exploration Day (with Port of Bellingham),
• Whatcom Derelict Vessel reclamation program,
• "Collaborator" Brew launch with Menace Brewing & Seafood Producer's Cooperative,
• Sen. Cantwell Staff visit to our offices for trade/tariff impacts discussion,
• One-Ocean Week's 'Working Waterfronts' day, partnering with Port of Seattle,
• Port of Bellingham Commissioner's Election Forum,
• The Whatcom Commercial Vessel Engine Upgrade Program with Port of Bellingham (Diesel-Emissions' Reduction Act grants to offset upgrade costs),
• Online calls with federal Senators connecting local maritime businesses in Whatcom directly to federal legislators.
• We've published:
• 26 digital “Waterfront Wednesdays”,
• 3 printed “On the Waterfronts”,
• 25 episodes of “Love Your Waterfront” podcast in collaboration with Bellingham SeaFeast and KMRE 88.3,
• A Port Commissioner Candidate Voter's Guide,
• A Port Commissioner Expansion brief,
• Keeping you updated on news, events, and stories from around our waterfront, as well as exposing those stories to as many new audiences as we can.

These are all in an effort to fulfill our mission of promoting the economic vitality and benefits of our working waterfronts, and we’ve had measurable success. This year, however, marks a turning point as we lean in to engage on our lobbying abilities more than ever before.

For the first time in the Coalition’s history, we’re proposing legislation that we helped author to the State Legislature and Whatcom County Council. Following on the concerns from members of our maritime trades community, we’ve launched an effort to require Disclosure Notices for property near maritime and industrial operations at the County & State level. These are:

• Led at the county by Kaylee Galloway,
• Led at the state-level by Rep. Alicia Rule,
• Will inform developers and real property buyers of the proximity of their land to working maritime and industrial infrastructure, and the expected impacts,
• Will work the same way those notices are given for aircraft traffic when near an airport, or for farming and agriculture operations when near a working forest or farm,
• The goal is to inform those moving nearby these operations that our waterfronts are working - and buyers or developers can then make informed decisions based on that,
• This also reinforces the importance of our maritime trades to the community.

We’ve achieved broad support for this effort from several ports up and down Puget Sound, representatives from multiple districts, and other state-wide maritime organizations. In Whatcom, we’ve worked with the Whatcom Business Alliance, Bellingham Chamber of Commerce, and the Whatcom County Association of Realtors to craft language, and we have support from Port of Bellingham on top of those. We’ve also been engaged with realtor associations, RE-Sources, and others on getting feedback. We often hear, “I’m surprised this isn’t a thing already!” 

We’re excited to launch into 2026 with energy – and your membership and engagement help tremendously. One of the easiest ways to engage is to attend our upcoming

Annual Membership Meeting on January 28^th, 5:30pm (doors at 5:00pm) at the Squalicum Boathouse. 

The annual meeting is where we get direct feedback from you, our members, on what you’d like to see from the Coalition in 2026. 

It is also when we hold Board of Directors’ elections. This is vital – our Board of Directors help actively steer our engagement through the year, provide direct feedback and direction to me as our Executive Director, and dedicate their time to our mission.  Any maritime-category member may be nominated for election. This year, 3 positions will be up for election representing Seafood Processing, Commercial Fishing, and Maritime Trades sectors.

It will also feature:

• A presentation on our 2025 year and the state of the Coalition,
• A social hour afterward for you to meet and talk with other members, our board, and our staff,
• A special guest speaker,
• Membership highlights,
• Food and drink.

This is also a great opportunity for us to hear your wins, your success, and your triumphs from 2025. You can come ready to share, or send your highlights directly to me and I’ll make sure you get a shoutout during the evening if you’re unable to attend. 

The Coalition exists as a collaboration among our members – I have been privileged to be your staff this year, and with your help, input, and insight, we’re going to make 2026 another fantastic year. Thank you for your dedication, support, and enthusiasm for the collective voice you help create.

I hope your holidays were warm, and may this new year see us all promoting the economic vitality and benefits of our working waterfronts,

Dan Tucker
Executive Director
Whatcom Working Waterfront Coalition