Alaska’s direct seafood exports rose 2.1 percent in 2014
over the previous year, to $2.26 billion in sales, according to US Census
Bureau data, and may be significantly higher when including products first
transferred to other states, and fish meal.
The export numbers released from the Census Bureau do not
reflect Alaska resources and products first transported to and warehoused in
other US states before export, nor more than $100 million in fish meal exports,
said Patricia Eckert, associate director for the state’s Office of
International Trade.
What this means in practical terms is that the Census Bureau
data underreports significantly our exports to the United Kingdom, the largest
canned salmon market in the world, Eckert said March 9.
Alaskan canned salmon may be exported to the UK via
Washington State or Canada, and UK numbers alone for seafood should probably be
around $100 million, but the Census Bureau captures only $17.7 million credit
for Alaska seafood export because of the intermediate stops of Washington or
Canada, she said.
In addition, the state compiled figures showing that the
export of fish meal for the first time topped $100 million in 2014. The
breakdown included exports to China, $53.9 million; South Korea, $33.9 million;
Japan, $7.5 million; Taiwan, $4.2 million and other countries $0.7 million, for
a total of $100.2 million.
Census Bureau data showed that overseas markets for Alaska
seafood exports in 2014 included China, $783.5 million; Japan, $525.6 million;
South Korea, $304.1 million; Germany, $253.7 million; Netherlands, $102.3
million; France, $49.0 million; Canada, $48.2 million; Thailand, $41.3 million;
Spain, $22.1 million; Lithuania, $17.8 million; United Kingdom, $17.7 million;
Ukraine, $17.0 million; Portugal, $15.6 million; Denmark, $13.3 million;
Indonesia, $9.2 million; Russia, $8.6 million, and all other countries, $35.9
million.
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