Impact of Alaska Seafood Studied

An updated study of Alaska’s seafood industry shows that the regional, statewide and national economic impact of Alaska’s seafood industry remains strong.

The report by the McDowell Group, a Juneau research and consulting firm, prepared for the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, is based on data compiled in 2013 and 2014, and updates a prior study published in July 2013.

Researchers concluded that the seafood industry, which provides jobs for 60,000 workers in Alaska, remains a cornerstone of the state’s economy. Including multiplier effects, the seafood industry accounts for $2.1 billion in total labor income and $5.9 billion in total economic activity in Alaska.

The workforce included some 31,580 fishermen, including skippers and crew, who operated some 8,600 vessels, earning $920 million. Some 17,600 Alaska resident commercial fishermen had total ex-vessel income of $735 million in 2014. Another 25,055 workers were employed in seafood processing, earning $460 million, and 2,904 people were employed in management, hatchery and other related seafood jobs, earning $204 million.

The workforce included a total of 34,100 residents of other US states who came north to work in Alaska in 2014.

The state’s 2014 total seafood harvest of 5.7 billion pounds had an ex-vessel value of $1.9 billion. Processors generated 2.8 billion pounds of seafood products in 2014 with a first wholesale value of $34.2 billion.

Within the state, businesses and individuals in Alaska’s seafood industry contribute roughly $138.6 million in taxes, fees and self-assessments, which help fund state, local and federal government.

Researchers found that the national economic impacts of Alaska’s seafood industry includes $6.2 billion in direct output associated with fishing, processing distribution and retail. It also includes $8.4 billion in multiplier effects generated as industry income circulates throughout the national economy.

McDowell Group worked with the Alaska Fisheries Information Network, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, and Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development to compile customized data sets for this project.