Cordova's fishermen are getting a new dock — and losing "the slowest crane in harbor"

Cordova's working waterfront is getting an upgrade. The city council this week cleared the way for Camtu's Alaska Wild Seafoods to build a new commercial offloading dock beside its processing plant on Harbor Loop, approving the tideland deals the project needs. For the Copper River and Prince William Sound fleets that keep Cordova running, it means a faster place to unload the catch.

And an end to a long-running headache. Fishermen have spent years waiting on what one council member bluntly called "the slowest crane in harbor." "The dock is going to be an improvement," the member said.

The one hitch was navigation. The Harbor Commission worried the dock could pinch the harbor entrance, but the company told the council that more than 500 feet of open water would remain between the dock and Spike Island — enough, it said, for experienced mariners to keep treating the entrance as safe and accessible. One council member who'd seen tighter harbors elsewhere wasn't swayed off her support. "We just need to support this business that's been supporting our community," she said.

The deal comes with a couple of public bonuses, too: the accompanying re-plat hands a tract of land back to the city and sets aside waterfront for a future park, along with the deepwater frontage the dock needs. "Working waterfront infrastructure is what built Cordova," a representative for the company and family told the council. The approval kicks off lease or purchase talks, with the final terms due back for a separate vote.