From the November 2008 Alaska Economic Trends: "Alaska is still the No. 1 fishing state in the nation, a position it’s held since 1975, based on the state’s 2007 catch. The catch was Alaska’s third-highest in value since statehood and its sixth-largest in volume. The state’s annual harvest value first exceeded the $1 billion mark in 1988 and has done so 14 times in the following 19 years. The value fell below the $1 billion mark in only five years – 1998 and from 2000 to 2003 – and each time it was mostly because of depressed salmon markets.
"Alaska’s fisheries have recovered in recent years, and 2006 and 2007 brought record harvest values – $1.3 billion and $1.5 billion, respectively. The value of Alaska’s 2007 harvest was 3.6 times the value of Massachusetts’ harvest, the nation’s No. 2 fishing state. The average monthly fish harvesting job count was 7,260 in 2007, and at the peak of summer the monthly job count rose to 20,137. Add the thousands of jobs the fisheries created in seafood processing, support service industries and government management, and the economic importance of fisheries to Alaska becomes even more clear."
Comments