The Economic Impact of the Seafood Industry in Southcentral Alaska
Read or download the report here.
(UPDATED: June 23, 2015 Please note the report has been revised with a few updated photos and text.” See page 17.)
PRESS RELEASE
For Further Information Contact: Alaska Salmon Alliance Arni Thomson, Executive Director athomsonak@gmail.com (907) 929-0388
Seafood Industry a Significant Economic Driver in Southcentral Alaska
(Anchorage, AK – 06/10/2015)
Alaska’s seafood industry has a vibrant and growing presence in Southcentral Alaska. More commercial fishermen live in Southcentral than any other region in the state. The importance of the industry extends much further, creating significant business activity for regional manufacturing, shipping, transportation, tourism, utility, and retail/wholesale trade sectors.
The Alaska Salmon Alliance (ASA) commissioned McDowell Group, an Alaska-based research and consulting firm, to study the economic impact of the seafood industry in Southcentral Alaska. This landmark study examines how Southcentral communities, and the region as a whole, benefit from Alaska’s seafood industry.
“Southcentral is a well-known hub for oil, gas, and tourism. The region also plays a critical role in maximizing the value of commercial fishery resources,” said Paul Dale, ASA Board of Directors president. “This report clearly documents the importance of the seafood industry in Southcentral Alaska’s regional and local economies.”
The seafood industry accounted for 8,130 full-time equivalent jobs and over $400 million in labor income in Southcentral Alaska during 2013, including multiplier effects. Approximately half of these jobs and income are in Anchorage, the Mat-Su Borough, and Kenai area. The study also explains the critical role seafood plays in Cordova, Homer, Seward, and Valdez. Nearly 11,000 Southcentral residents were directly employed in the industry at some point during 2013, and are supported by the work of several thousand additional Alaskans in the region.
Alaska possesses tremendous commercial seafood resources, with annual harvests on the order of five to six billion pounds and a first wholesale value exceeding four billion dollars. Most management decisions governing these fisheries take place in Anchorage. Further, CDQ groups – which own nearly a billion dollars in combined net assets – are assuming an increasing role in the industry and coordinate much of their activity from managerial offices in either Anchorage or Wasilla.
ASA is a trade organization comprised of regional seafood processors and commercial fishermen with the mission of promoting science-based salmon management and policies in order to preserve the long-term opportunities for all salmon user groups in Cook Inlet. “Our organization selected McDowell Group for this project specifically due to the firm’s expertise within the seafood industry, as well as their recent experience evaluating economic impacts of several other key Alaska sectors including oil, gas, visitor, and mining industries,” said Arni Thomson, Executive Director of the Alaska Salmon Alliance. A copy of the full report and additional information about ASA is available online: https://www.aksalmonalliance.org.