PORT OF SEATTLE 
MEMORANDUM 

COMMISSION AGENDA             Item No.      6a 
Date of Meeting Date of Meeting  August 10, 2010 
DATE:    August 2, 2010 
TO:      Tay Yoshitani, Chief Executive Officer 
FROM:    Michael Burke, Sr. Manager Container Leasing and Operations 

SUBJECT: Inter-Local Agreement between the Port of Seattle and the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe
relating to Treaty fishing. 
Amount of This Request: $1,260,000 estimated  Source of Funds: General Fund/Operating Budget 
ACTION REQUESTED:
Request Port Commission authorization for the Chief Executive Officer to enter into and implement a 
three-year Interlocal Agreement with the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe for services to assist with
coordination of Treaty fishing and commercial vessel access at the Port's marine terminal facilities. The
total cost to implement this agreement is an estimated range of $978,000 to $1,260,000. 
SYNOPSIS: 
The Port and the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe (Tribe) have negotiated a three-year interlocal agreement
(ILA) covering Treaty fishing activities and commercial vessel access at marine cargo facilities. The
proposed ILA is a continuation of letters of agreement that were exchanged annually between the Port
and the Tribe. The Muckleshoot Indian Tribe and the Port agree that continued successful Treaty
fishing and marine terminal operations are mutually beneficial. 
Under the proposed Agreement, during the fishing season for each year of the three-year term, the
Muckleshoot Indian Tribe would provide staff on-site at the locations of chinook, coho, pink and chum
fishing activities in Elliott Bay, the East and West Waterways, and the Duwamish Waterway to
coordinate fishing activity with vessel movements, such that vessel and fishing gear conflicts are
managed and minimized. Coordination activities would include exchange of harvest activity and vessel
arrival and departure information between the Tribe and Port, personnel tasked with alerting fishers and
Port operators concerning potential vessel/net conflicts, and coordination with fishers regarding
movement of fishing gear to allow for vessel arrivals and departures, where appropriate.
In addition, the Port would be obligated to a) provide moorage at Harbor Island Marina for two
monitoring vessels used by the Tribe to provide the coordination services; b) compile and transmit to the
Tribe information about the schedule of vessel arrivals and departures; c) compensate Treaty fishers
directly for movement of treaty fishing gear when changes in vessel arrival and/or departure may
conflict with Treaty fishing; d) replace fishing gear damaged by cargo vessel operations and compensate
Treaty fishers directly for lost fishing time. Experience during the past fifteen years indicates that 
coordination activities to avoid conflicts between Treaty fishing activities and vessels serving Port

COMMISSION AGENDA 
T. Yoshitani, Chief Executive Officer 
August 4, 2010 
Page 2 of 5 
facilities improves safety, reduces damage to fishing gear, and allows for orderly harvest, while reducing
the potential for delays in cargo vessel arrivals and departures. 
The proposed ILA includes a fixed annual coordination program cost of $256,000, adjusted annually
based on the Consumer Price Index, and an additional anticipated annual cost that will vary depending
on fishing season and vessel operating conditions, making the total estimated cost for the three-year
agreement $1,260,000. The estimated cost for each year of the ILA will be included in the Commission
approved Container Leasing and Operations' annual budget. 
LEGAL AUTHORITY: 
Under RCW 39.34.080, public agencies may contract with each other to perform any governmental
service, activity or undertaking so long as each public agency entering into the contract has legal
authority to perform said service, activity or undertaking. Both the Port and the Tribe have legal
authority to engage in coordination activities to avoid conflicts between Treaty fishing activities and
vessel access at the Port's marine terminal facilities. 
Under RCW 53.08.020, port districts are specifically authorized to operate a system of harbor
improvements and rail and water transfer and terminal facilities. The Legislature's intent in authorizing
the establishment of port districts was to attract, encourage and develop industry and promote trade. The
Port has the authority to engage the Tribe's services to coordinate Treaty fishing and vessel access
because such services and coordination activities help secure the Port's ability to maintain and grow
revenues from operation of the Port's marine terminal facilities by ensuring timely vessel access to
berths, thereby supporting and facilitating the operation of the Port's facilities. 
As a federally recognized Indian tribe, the Tribe owns property, develops and maintains facilities, and
manages programs for the benefit of Tribe members. With regard to fishing activities, the Tribe is a
successor in interest to tribes and bands that were parties to the Treaty of Point Elliott and the Treaty of
Medicine Creek in which the Indian signatories reserved the right to fish at usual and accustomed
grounds and stations. The Tribe manages and regulates the exercise of these treaty reserved fishing
rights at its usual and accustomed fishing grounds and stations which have been determined to include
the Duwamish Waterway, the East and West Waterways and portions of Elliott Bay. The Tribe has
asserted that it has authority under its laws to enter into contracts with municipalities to provide services
benefiting its interests. 
BACKGROUND: 
Beginning as an element of the Terminal 5 Redevelopment Project and as a result of more recent Port 
development projects in the East Waterway (including: Terminal 18, South and North Apron
Improvement Projects; Terminal 25/Terminal 30 connecting bridge project; and Terminal 30/Terminal 
91 cruise vessel relocation project) and in the Duwamish Waterway (Terminal 115 barge cargo pier
rehabilitation), the Port has agreed to compensate the Tribe for adverse effects on Treaty fishing due to 
physical expansion of marine cargo facilities, in-water construction, and changes in operations at port
marine terminal facilities. The Port's long-term commitment to the Tribe relates to maintenance of usual
and accustomed treaty fishing access adjacent to Port marine terminal sites throughout the East and

COMMISSION AGENDA 
T. Yoshitani, Chief Executive Officer 
August 4, 2010 
Page 3 of 5 
West Waterways and adjacent to other port marine facilities in south Elliott Bay and the Duwamish
Waterway. 
The most recent agreements with the Tribe have related to in-water construction at Terminal
30/Terminal 91, necessary to relocate cruise vessel operations to Terminal 91 and re-establish container
cargo operations at Terminal 30. In addition, the Tribe and the Port agreed to a harbor-wide Treaty 
fishing/vessel service coordination program through 2009. These recent agreements, describing the
Port's commitment to avoid and minimize the negative effects of new and redeveloped marine cargo
facilities on usual and accustomed Treaty fishing area and coordination of Treaty fishing and cargo
vessel access during harvest periods, would be continued by the proposed ILA. 
Responsibilities of Parties: 
In addition to the obligation to compensate the Tribe for coordination services as described above in the
Synopsis, the proposed agreement assigns the following responsibilities to the Port: 
1.  Moorage for two monitoring boats, used by Tribe coordination staff, at Harbor Island Marina,
Terminal 102, during the Chinook, coho, pink and chum salmon harvest periods. Moorage at
Terminal 102 allows for efficient movement to fishing areas extending from south Elliott Bay 
upstream in the Duwamish Waterway, including approximately 7.5 miles of waterway. 
2.  Compilation by the Port and transmission by Sunday noon of each week during the fishing
season, anticipated vessel activity information to Tribe fishing monitors, including detailed
vessel arrival, departure, and berth location information. 
3.  Compensation from the Port for movement of Treaty fishing gear when changes in time and
berth location information may conflict with Treaty fishing. The Port would directly compensate
affected fishers $350 for moving a set or drift-net to accommodate the arrival or departure of a
vessel at a Port facility. 
4.  Replacement of fishing gear damaged by cargo vessel operations and compensation to Treaty
fishers for lost fishing time. The Port would replace set and drift net gear and any other gear
damaged as a result of cargo vessel operations headed to or originating at Port facilities. The Port
would also directly compensate affected fishers for two lost days of fishing time. The
compensation for lost fishing time would be based on the value of the average of the three
highest catches recorded for the open fishing area during the period of concern, i.e. the day of the
net damage or loss and the following day.

COMMISSION AGENDA 
T. Yoshitani, Chief Executive Officer 
August 4, 2010 
Page 4 of 5 
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: 
Source of Funds 
Tribal mitigation costs were included in the 2010 Operating Budget in the amount of $200,000. The
estimated interlocal agreement costs for 2010 are expected to be between $326,350 and$406,350, and
will accordingly create an unfavorable operating expense variance between $126,350 and$206,350 in
2010. A portion of the $500,000 Seaport Division contingency budget will be used to offset the
increased costs of tribal mitigation in 2010. The estimated annual costs for this multi-year interlocal
agreement will be included in the Operating Expense Budgets for each applicable future year during the
term of the agreement. 
The program costs will be funded from the General Fund. 
Financial Analysis Summary:
CIP Category           N/A 
Project Type            N/A 
Risk adjusted Discount rate   N/A 
Key risk factors            The variable cost component of the interlocal agreement is
likely to be volatile and is impacted by a variety of factors
not controlled by the port, including: the length and quality
of the annual fishing season (volume of fish), market price of
fish, and the frequency of cargo vessels. 
Accurate payment of variable program costs will require
continued monitoring by port staff to ensure requests for
reimbursement are in compliance with the requirements of
the agreement. 
Project cost for analysis      N/A 
Business Unit (BU)        Container Operations

COMMISSION AGENDA 
T. Yoshitani, Chief Executive Officer 
August 4, 2010 
Page 5 of 5 
Effect    on    business Payments under the interlocal  agreement are an operating
performance           expense, and will reduce NOI before Depreciation in the year in
which they are incurred. There is no Depreciation Expense
associated with this proposed agreement. 
Annual Cost Estimate for the inter-local agreement: 
Fixed annual payment of $256,350 for fishing coordination
services, adjusted for CPI annually. 
Additional variable annual payments for net moves, net
replacements, and lost fishing time. These variable costs
will fluctuate each year based on the length of the fishing
season, quality of fishing season, market price of fish, and
the frequency of cargo vessels. Annual variable costs are
estimated to range from $70,000 to $150,000 per year. 
Total annual program costs are estimated to be between
$326,000 and $420,000 per year during the term of the
agreement. 
IRR/NPV             N/A 

DOCUMENTS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS REQUEST: 
Attached is the proposed three-year interlocal agreement. 
PREVIOUS COMMISSION ACTIONS OR BRIEFINGS: 
August 3, 2010  The Commission was briefed on this Interlocal Agreement