30 ALASKA RESOURCE REVIEW SUMMER 2024 Chinook listing under Endangered Species Act raises serious concerns BY LEILA KIMBRELL, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, RDC FISH HAVE ALWAYS BEEN PART OF THE CULTURAL FABRIC THAT DEFINES ALASKANS. Whether for personal, subsistence, recreational, or commercial use, fishing touches us all. We are proud of our world class fisheries that each year attract thousands of visitors who come for the experience and are supporting sport-guided fishing and, in turn, local lodging, restaurant, and other community businesses. Alaska’s fisheries are recognized as some of the best managed in the world, providing tens of thousands of seasonal and full-time jobs and are a vital economic engine for Alaska communities. Commercially, it is unsurprising that our seafood industry is one of our largest economic drivers. Annually, it produces over $5.6 billion in economic activity, directly employs more than 58,000 people, and supports 10,000 secondary jobs, more than any other industry in Alaska. Our largest manufacturing sector belongs to seafood processing with 70 percent of manufacturing employment. It is also our top export, comprising over half of Alaska’s annual export value and annually averages $3.3 billion. Alaska produces 60 percent of the nation’s commercial fisheries, including all five species of Pacific salmon, four species of crab, Pacific cod, groundfish, shrimp, herring, sablefish, pollock, and halibut. Internationally, these exports primarily go to Europe, Japan, and China. Several of our fisheries have faced recent challenges while others thrive. This includes impacts to the Bering Sea crab and pollock fisheries, Yukon River salmon, Chinook in Southeast, smaller markets for herring, hatcheries, bycatch concerns, and international market manipulation deflating domestic prices. The reasons are varied, but scientists are working hard to understand the causes of these issues. It is difficult to know what exactly happens below the surface or on the ocean floor, but Alaskans and others are coming together to focus on solutions. Russian seafood exports have long been a problem. In 2014, Russia imposed a one-sided ban on U.S. seafood while flooding markets with its own product. In 2022, these efforts amplified after Russia invaded Ukraine, causing Alaskan seafood prices to suffer. Supported by Alaska’s congressional delegation, two presidential executive orders were recently issued to ban Russian-origin seafood imports. These are welcome efforts to protect our seafood industry. Closer to home, policymakers are actively engaged as well. In 2021, Gov. Mike Dunleavy convened a bycatch taskforce to make recommendations for fisheries management. That work continues through the Bycatch Advisory Council. In the Legislature this past session, two resolutions supported the industry. SJR 14 encourages a stronger federal focus on ‘FOCUS ON FISH’ VITAL TO THRIVING INDUSTRY Photo Courtesy Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute More than 58,000 people work in Alaska’s seafood industry.
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