The St. Lawrence Seaway shipping season will close December 29th. Cargo numbers were down drastically for 2009. Our Sarah Hagen spoke with officials to find out what went wrong this season and how 2010 has the potential to be stronger.

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St. Lawrence Seaway Development Associate Administrator Salvatore Pisani said, "The seaway is an economic engine. And that engine feeds an enormous manufacturing heartland in the United States and Canada."

Thirty four million metric tons of cargo was moved along the Seaway in 2008, but with many manufacturing industries struggling in this recession, that number has drastically dipped to 23 million this season.

"A challenging year to say the least. The seaway certainly is looking at a decrease in tonnage and that is directly related to the economy," said Pisani.

Seaway officials say the total tons carried was down 31 percent as of October this year. They also said there has been a shift in the type of cargo carried throughout the seaway. A change they hope is prosperous for 2010.

"Try to hone in on different niche markets. If you look back five years ago, you didn't see any windmills coming through the seaway and all of a sudden, there are many windmills coming through the seaway," said Pisani.

Officials hope they can attract more green cargo with a new marketing strategy.

They're also looking forward to investing $150 million of federal funding in 50 different lock renewal projects.

Pisani said, "None of that goes to enlarge the locks or deepening the Seaway. It is primarily to bring back the locks to their original condition, from when they were originally built and completed in 1959."

Officials are hopeful that such projects could bring job opportunities to the North Country workforce in 2010.

Seaway officials do expect their final 2009 numbers to improve slightly between now and December 29th.