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Fish Factor Where do most Alaska fishermen live? Which Alaska region is home to the most fishing boats?By LAINE WELCH
January 23, 2022
Many will be surprised to learn that nearly 40% (7,841) of Alaska’s more than 31,000 fishermen live in the Southcentral towns of Anchorage, Kenai, Cordova, Seward, Homer, Valdez and Whittier. They earn more than half of their paychecks from fisheries outside of the region, with the Bristol Bay driftnet fishery being the main source of income.
Southeast’s 5,316 resident fishermen in nine communities own nearly one-third (2,655) of Alaska’s fishing fleet, more than any other region. Overall, the industry includes 8,900 fishing vessels with 5,417 (61%) measuring in the 23-49 foot range. Each is a small (or big) business and if all the vessels were lined up bow to stern, they would stretch nearly 63 miles! The fishing boats harvested nearly 5.7 billion pounds of seafood in 2019, worth $2 billion. Other snapshots: Alaska’s seafood industry is the largest private sector employer and more than 62,200 workers were on the job in 2019. 63% of the active permit owners and crew (19,808) were Alaska residents. Alaska’s processing sector employed 27,100 workers at 160 shore based plants, aboard 52 catcher-processor vessels and about 30 floating processors. Seafood processing is the state’s largest manufacturing sector, accounting for 70% of manufacturing employment. Alaska produces more seafood than all other U.S. states combined and provides two-thirds of the nation’s wild-caught fish and shellfish. Alaska seafood is sold in 100 countries around the world and is the state’s top export by far, topping $3 billion annually. Alaska provides 43% of the global supply of pollock, 13% of cod, 6% of crab. Alaska salmon provides 11% to the world with farmed salmon production swamping wild fish at nearly 3:1. Bristol Bay (428 resident-owned boats/1,764 resident fishermen) accounts for over half of global sockeye salmon supply and is home to the largest red run in the world. In 2019, Alaska salmon accounted for 36% of the industry’s annual value and 15% of the volume. Pollock accounted for 24% of the value and 59% of volume. The Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands region produced 55% of total seafood value and 79% of the volume. High volume whitefish (pollock, cod), mostly harvested at that region and Kodiak, account for roughly 80% of harvest volume and nearly half of Alaska’s dockside value. Commercial fishing and processing businesses paid more than $163 million in taxes, fees, and self-assessments in FY 2019. Covid-driven impacts in 2020 caused widespread revenue declines across all species with participation by fishermen dropping 12% for permit holders and 28% for crew (down by 1,058 skippers and 6,555 crew members) and payments to fishermen dropped 27%. Peak processing employment declined 21%. The ASMI report, compiled by McKinley Research, is a great primer for anyone who wants to know more about Alaska’s fishing industry in every region. Find the January 2022 ASMI report at www.alaskaseafood.org More BOF juggles: The state Board of Fisheries (BOF) meetings are not only dealing with Covid derailments, but also by conflicts from fishery openers. Increasing Covid rates caused the board to postpone its meeting set for January 4-15 in Ketchikan, where it planned to address 157 Southeast and Yakutat fish and shellfish proposals, and move it to March 10-22 at the Egan Center in Anchorage. Those dates occur at the same time that halibut, sablefish and herring fisheries will be underway, and the busy Southeast troll fishery for winter king salmon is wrapping up. “It leaves trollers with a really no-win choice of staying in town or going to Anchorage or getting that last trip in between the 10th and the 15th of March, which last year was the most lucrative trip of the winter season,” Matt Donohoe told KFSK in Petersburg. To accommodate the tail end of the troll fishery, the BOF will take up salmon related commercial, sport, subsistence and personal use proposals from March 18 - 22. “Placing salmon-related issues at the end of the meeting also better aligns participants with the board’s Hatchery Committee which was and remains scheduled in Anchorage on a new date of March 23,” said board director Glenn Haight in announcing the changes. The tentative order to accommodate other fishing openers is March 10-13 for herring and March 14-17 for groundfish and shellfish. In recognition of the difficulties for some Southeast residents to travel to Anchorage, the board will take remote public testimony at select ADF&G Southeast offices. Locations will be announced prior to the meeting but people wishing to testify remotely must sign-up by March 3. An online registration platform will soon be posted on the BOF meeting page. The board also has rescheduled its statewide shellfish meeting to March 26-April 2 in Anchorage where it will consider 45 proposals. The meetings are open to the public and a live audio stream will be available on the BOF website. Written comments for the Southeast meeting has been extended and can be submitted by email at dfg.bof.comments@alaska.gov by Feb. 23. Fish watch: The largest harvest ever of 45,164 tons (90.3 million pounds) is set for the 2022 Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery, which typically opens in March. Likewise, a record 65,107 tons of roe herring (130.2 million pounds) can be taken at Togiak in Bristol Bay, the state’s largest herring fishery that usually begins in May. Bycatch task force update: The 11-member bycatch task force created by Gov. Dunleavy in November will hold its first two-hour online meeting on Friday, January 28 starting at 9am. An agenda and link for the public to either view or participate will be made available soon. “The first meeting will be to determine future meeting dates and introduce ourselves to each other. I’m not sure we’ll discuss any substantive issues,” said a task force member. Meanwhile … Discards ok’d: The “pre-approved” 2022 bycatch numbers for the Bering Sea trawl fleet set by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council are as follows:
Lease plan gets panned – Alaskans gave a big thumbs down to a proposed oil and gas lease sale at Lower Cook Inlet that includes nine blocks covering over one million acres of seafloor. The waters are located off the mouth of Kachemak Bay’s Critical Habitat Area created by the Alaska Legislature in the 1970s and are widely used by sport and commercial fishermen Of the 92,899 public comments made over 45-days to the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) on its draft environmental impact statement, 99.98% were opposed to the lease sale (called 258), according to Cook InletKeeper. The area includes federal waters three miles offshore that the government recently closed to Cook Inlet commercial salmon fishing. The BOEM will next issue a final EIS that responds to all substantive comments. At that time, they would adopt an action alternative (proposed action, no action, or an alternative). After a 30-day wait period, a record of decision is issued. Fish relief funds: Several Alaska fisheries occurring from 2018 - 2021 were declared disasters last week by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, making participants eligible for relief funds. The declaration came at the request of the Governor and include:
Some fishery-related businesses may also be eligible for assistance from the Small Business Administration. The amount of funds to be distributed has yet to be determined. Questions? Contact Lauren Gaches, lauren.gaches@noaa.gov, 202-740-8314. Seafood again sets sales records: Sales of frozen and fresh seafood in the U.S. hit all-time highs in 2021, primarily driven by inflation. SeafoodSource reports that retail sales surpassed 2019 and 2020 as more Americans opted for seafood due to its proven health benefits. Data from market trackers IRI and 210 Analytics showed fresh fish sales climbed 6.4% in 2021 compared to 2020 and a whopping 25.5% versus 2019, topping $7 billion. Fresh shellfish sales rose 0.5% versus 2020 and 37.6% from 2019. Frozen seafood sales rose 2.8% compared to 2020 and soared by nearly 41% from 2019, reaching $7.2 billion. Sales of canned or other “shelf-stable” seafood declined 11.4% in 2021; however, the category still produced $2.5 billion for the year. The consumer price index increased 6.8% through November 2021, the highest since June 1982, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In December 2021, the average price per unit across all food and beverage sales was up 8.3% compared to December 2020. Frozen seafood prices rose 4.2% per unit and 5.7% per volume for the year. Fresh seafood prices increased 6.8% in 2021 and dollar sales increased 1.8%. “Robust demand got fresh seafood very close to the ‘new record’ finish line and inflation pushed it to new records,” said Anne-Marie Roerink of 210 Analytics.
SitNews ©2022 Stories In The News Ketchikan, Alaska
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