Alaska’s Seafood Industry Proves Vital to Economy

The Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI)  recently released its “2022 Economic Value of Alaska’s Seafood Industry” report, affirming that Alaska’s seafood industry is an essential driver of the state’s economy. The state harvests two-thirds of the nation’s seafood, more wild-caught seafood than all other states combined.

Grocery stores in the United States reported record seafood sales during the pandemic. According to the report, the national economic impact of Alaska’s seafood industry includes $6.4 billion in direct output associated with fishing, processing, distribution and retail. It also includes $8.6 billion in multiplier effects generated as the industry's direct output circulates throughout the U.S. economy.

“Alaska’s seafood industry continues to play a vital role in supporting Alaska’s economy,” said Jeremy Woodrow, executive director of Juneau-based ASMI. “The economic value of Alaska seafood stretches well beyond the docks and is spread across Alaska’s communities and throughout our nation.”

Some other key findings of the report are as follows:

• The seafood industry directly employs more than 31,300 skippers and crew and 27,100 seafood-processing employees, totaling 62,200 workers in Alaska each year.
• Alaska harvests two-thirds of the nation’s seafood, with approximately 5.7 billion pounds of product worth $2.0 billion harvested in 2019.
• Nationally, the Alaska seafood industry creates more than 100,000 full-time- equivalent jobs, $6 billion in annual labor income and $15 billion in economic output.
• Seafood is the economic foundation of many rural communities, and seafood- processing facilities are integral to many coastal economies of Alaska. 

First published in 2013, ASMI’s report details the economic importance of Alaska’s commercial seafood industry on the local, state and national level. The "2022 Economic Value of Alaska’s Seafood Industry" report was prepared for ASMI by Juneau-based McKinley Research Group. To read the complete report, click here. 

ASMI is a partnership between the state of Alaska and the Alaska seafood industry to promote the benefits of wild and sustainable Alaska seafood and offer seafood industry education. In addition to wild salmon, Alaska is known for its crab and whitefish varieties such as Pacific cod, sablefish, halibut, Alaska pollock, sole and rockfish, all available fresh or frozen year-round. Alaska has been dedicated to sustainable seafood for more than 50 years and is the only state with a constitution that mandates all seafood be managed under the sustained-yield principle.