Commercial Fishing
Cook Inlet hosts a bountiful commercial fishery with a recorded history dating back to 1882. Salmon are harvested by seine, drift gillnet, and set gillnet. Cook Inlet commercial salmon fisheries are fished by permit owners. A “limited entry” system was instituted by the state in 1979 to restrict the number of permits. Cook Inlet waters are managed by both the State of Alaska and, in lower Cook Inlet, by the federal government.
Cook Inlet salmon fisheries are a valuable part of local economies throughout the Kenai Peninsula and Alaska. Many Cook Inlet ports regularly rank highly in the United States for total volume and tonnage of seafood landed. Commercial fishing requires a high level of capital investment for fishers, and thus fishers aim to catch a high volume of fish in order to make their investment profitable. Fisheries managers also use the commercial fishing fleets strategically to manage the harvest of surplus salmon.
To learn more about commercial fishing in Cook Inlet, check out these links.
Recent News
Governor Dunleavy Appoints Alaskans to the Board of Fisheries and Board of Game
Monday, March 28, 2022 (Juneau) – Governor Mike Dunleavy today appointed four Alaskans to fill open seats on the Alaska Board of Game and the Alaska Board of Fisheries, and made one reappointment to the Board of Game.
Alaska fishing resources be supported equally
We are Alaskans and fishing is an Alaska resource. It is time to recognize commercial and sport as one.
Availability Of Additional H-2B Visas Welcomed By Congressman Young And Sen. Murkowski
The Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Labor announced 20,000 additional H-2B nonagriculture worker visas for the first half of fiscal year 2022.
Board of Directors
Norm Darch, Executive Director
Mike Simpson, E&E Foods, VP of Alaska Operations (President)
Erik Huebsch, Kasilof Drift boat owner (Vice-President)
Janet Carroll, OBI Foods (Board Member)
Joseph Person, Setnet Fisherman (Board Member)
Richard King, Rogue Wave Processing (Board Member)
Robert Nathanson, OBI Foods (Alternate Member)
Ryan Doktor, E&E Foods, Plant manager (Alternate Member)
The Economic Value of Alaska's Seafood Industry
The Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) is a public-private partnership between the State of Alaska and the Alaska seafood industry established to foster economic development of the state’s most valuable renewable natural resource.
Contact Information
Email: aksalmonalliance@gmail.com
Mail: PO Box 586, Kenai, AK 99611
Kenai Office
110 N. Willow St. #108
Kenai AK 99611
Phone: (907)395-7068