USA: Dire condition of Alaska’s seafood industry has many causes and no easy fixes, experts say

Published 2024년 11월 19일

Tridge summary

The Alaska seafood industry is in crisis, with a reported loss of $1.8 billion last year due to factors such as low prices, closed harvests, and climate change. The industry has also seen a decrease in direct employment and a decline in local ownership of fishing permits. Climate change, Russian fish production, and the increase in hatchery releases and pen-reared salmon are among the causes of the economic turmoil. The Alaska Legislative Task Force is working on recommendations to help the industry, including more rigorous fishery and environmental science, enhanced federal trade policies, and increased funding for the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute. The task force is also considering restructuring or expanding the authority of the agency. Other solutions include investment projects, technological innovations, and a bill to create a two-year task force to address the broader problems.

Disclaimer:The above summary was generated by Tridge's proprietary AI model for informational purposes.

Original content

State officials and industry leaders trying to rescue the ailing Alaska seafood industry are facing daunting challenges, recently released numbers show. The industry lost $1.8 billion last year, the result of low prices, closed harvests and other problems, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Direct employment of harvesters last year fell by 8% to the lowest level since 2001, when counts of harvesting jobs began, the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development said. The monthly average for seafood-harvesting jobs fell below 5,900 in 2023, down from a peak of about 8,500 in 2015, according to a newly published analysis in Alaska Economic Trends, the department’s monthly research magazine. Local ownership of fishing permits has eroded over several years. In the Bristol Bay salmon fishery, for example, from 1975 to 2023, locally owned setnet permits declined in number by 54% and locally owned driftnet permits declined by 59%, according to experts ...

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