Slide 1Overview of Major Alaska FisheriesGunnar KnappProfessor of EconomicsInstitute of Social and Economic ResearchUniversity of Alaska AnchorageUpdated September 2009Slide 2Alaska has five major fisheries.• Salmon (Sockeye, Pink, Chum, Coho, Chinook)• Herring• Halibut• Shellfish (Tanner crab, King crab, Dungeness crab,others)• Groundfish (Pollock, Cod, Rockfish, others)* Afisheryis the industry engaged in harvesting and processing offish of a particular species or species group.Slide 3Groundfish—mostly Alaska pollock-- account for most of the volume(weight) of Alaska fish harvests. Salmon is a distant second.Note: Fish harvest volumes, prices and valuesvary significantly from year to year,.In any given year, volumes and values may differ from those shown in thispresentation.Average Volume of Alaska Fish Harvests, 2004-200805001,0001,5002,000Salmon Herring Halibut Shellfish Groundfish

thousand metric tonsSlide 4Groundfish also accounts for the largest share of total value. But salmon,halibut and crab—which command much higher prices than groundfish--also contribute significant value.The termex-vessel valuerefers to the value received by fishermenwhen they sell round (raw) fish to processors.Average Ex-Vessel Value of Alaska Fish Harvests, 2004-080100200300400500600700800Salmon Herring Halibut Shellfish Groundfish

millions of dollarsSlide 5Alaska Salmon FisheriesFive salmon species are harvested in Alaska:sockeye, pink, chum, coho and chinook.Just to make things confusing, each species has two or more other names.For example, a “sockeye salmon” is also called a “red salmon.”Different species vary widely in size, fat content and other characteristicswhich affect taste and suitability for different product forms.3.65.87.27.915.9Average weight(Alaska, 2004)HumpyPinkRedSockeyeSilverCohoKeta, DogChumKingChinookAlso calledSpeciesSlide 6Salmon are harvested in Alaska using four major types ofgear: seine, drift gill net, set net, and troll. There areimportant differences between gear types in catchvolumes, costs, species harvested, and fish handling.



# Seine Drift gill net Set gill net Troll fishing picture source: Downloaded February 3, 2005 from www.primeseafood.com/ salmon.html. Picture originally courtesy of Seafood Producers Cooperative.



# TrollSlide 7This picture shows a salmon seinerin Prince William Sound. Seinersare used mostly for high-volumepink and chum salmon fisheries.Photograph by Gunnar Knapp, August 2007Slide 8These pictures show drift gill net salmon fishing boats.The fish swim into the netand their gills get stuck.The fishermen pullthe net in on a bigroller and “pick” thefish out of the net as itcomes into the boat.Slide 9Alaska wild salmon are processed into four major primary products:canned salmon, frozen salmon, fresh salmon, and salmon roe. Cannedsalmon and frozen salmon account for most of the product volume.Alaska Salmon Production, by Product050,000100,000150,000200,000250,000300,000350,000 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006Source: ADFG CommercialOperator Annual Reports data

PoundsFreshFrozenCannedCanned salmonFrozen salmonFresh salmon boxed for shipmentSalmon roe accountsfor a small share ofthe product volume (and isn’t shown in thegraph) but it accounts for an importantshare of the total wholesale value.Slide 10The products made from Alaska salmon go to different end markets.• Canned salmon is sold mostly in the US & UK.• Frozen salmon was formerly sold mostly to Japan but in recent yearshas been sold in increasing volumes in the United States andEurope.• Fresh salmon is sold mostly in the United States.• Salmon roe is sold mostly in Japan and Russia.Slide 11Workers processing salmonroe (salmon eggs) at aBristol Bay fish processingplant. Roe is a valuableproduct on the Japanesemarket.Slide 12Alaska salmon are harvested in 27 different “limited entry” fisheries.A limited entry fishery is one in which a permit is required to fish, and only alimited number of permits are issued. The permits may be bought and sold.Alaska’s 27 salmon fisheries differ widely in value, number of permit holders,average earnings and average permit value.Area GearGrossearnings($millions)TotalpermitsResidentpermitsResidentshare ofpermitsShare ofpermitsfishedAverageearnings perpermitfished($ 000)Averagepermitvalue($ 000)Bristol Bay Drift gill net 65.5 1,896 916 48% 96% 35.9 80.5Southeast Purse seine 28.8 416 189 45% 86% 80.8 39.3PWS Drift gill net 22.2 541 393 73% 97% 42.3 59.3PWS Purse seine 19.2 268 197 74% 49% 147.8 22.0Chignik Purse seine 12.3 99 75 76% 100% 124.4 200.0Cook Inlet Drift gill net 4.2 577 384 67% 89% 8.3 32.3Kuskokwim Gill net 1.2 823 815 99% 76% 1.9 6.5Lower Yukon Gill net 0.7 704 694 99% 80% 1.3 12.1Other 19 fisheries 91.5 6,432 5,193 81% 62% 23.0Total 245.7 11,756 8,856 75% 73% 895.8 1103.1Source: Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission, Basic Information Tables.Overview of Selected Alaska Salmon Fisheries, 2000Slide 13The world salmon industry was transformed in the 1980s and 1990s by thedevelopment of salmon farming. In salmon farming, fish eggs are hatched inhatcheries. The fish are then are raised in pens until they are large enough tobe sold. Salmon farming has become a very big business in Norway, Chile,Scotland and Canada.In the 1980s, there were proposals to develop salmon farms in Alaska. Butfishermen bitterly opposed this, and in 1989 the legislature passed a ban onsalmon farming in Alaska.Alaska fishermen opposed salmon farming for two major reasons. First, theythought that salmon farming might harm wildfisheries by causing disease or byfarmed salmon escaping and mixing genetically with wild fish. Second, theywere worried about economic competition from farmed fish.Workers at a salmon farm inChileSlide 14Alaska Herring Fisheries• Herring fisheries, like salmon, aresmall- boat fisheries• The major gear types are drift gill net,and seine• The major product is frozen roundherring which is shipped to Japanwhere the herring roe is extracted foruse in making luxury herring roeproducts (kazunoko)• Herring fisheries occur in the springbeginning in Southeast and continuingwestward.KazunokoSeining for herring in SE AlaskaSlide 15Alaska Halibut Fishery• Halibut are fished by boats rangingfrom small skiffs to large boats.• Halibut are fished using “longline”gear--long lines with hundreds ofbaited fishing hooks• Both fresh and frozen halibut are soldto US markets• Fishing occurs from March throughNovemberLongline fishing gearSlide 16Alaska Shellfish Fisheries• Alaska’s major shellfish species are kingcrab, opilio and bairdi crab (also referred toas “Tanner crab” and “Snow crab”) anddungeness crab• King crab and opilio and bairdi crab fisheriesare medium-large boat fisheries in BeringSea and Gulf of Alaska; Dungeness crabfisheries are smaller-boat fisheries insoutheast Alaska• Most crab are fished using pot gear• Historically, Bering Sea crab fishing hasbeen one of the most dangerousoccupations in the United States. Becauseof recent management changes(“rationalization”) it may become safer.Ice accumulation inwinter can make boatstop-heavy, difficult tosteer, and vulnerable tocapsizing.Baited crab pots sit on the ocean bottom.Crab comein and can’t get out. Boats come by and pull up thecrab pots every so often, remove the crabs, and addmore bait.Handling heavycrab pots isdangerous work.Fishermen oftenget banged up bythe crab pots orcaught in linesand draggedoverboard.Slide 17Alaska Groundfish Fisheries• Many species of groundfish are caught inAlaska waters including Alaska pollock,Pacific cod, rockfish and sablefish.• Alaska pollock is byfar the most importantgroundfish species. It is the single largestUS fishery by volume• The largest pollock catch volumes are inthe Bering Sea.• The pollock fishery is a large boat fishery.Most of the boats are corporate-ownedfactory trawlers (which do the processingon-board) or large trawlers delivering tolarge onshore plants• The most important groundfish productsare surimi (the kind offish paste used tomake artificial crab) and pollock roe(eggs), both of whichare mostly sold toJapan, as well as pollock fillets (which aresold worldwide)A trawl net full of pollock.A large factory trawlerSlide 18Volume of Alaska Seafood Harvests05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,000 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005Source: National Marine Fisheries Service

thousand metric tons, round wGroundfishShellfishHalibutHerringSalmonUnited States fish harvests in Alaska waters increased dramatically after1976 as U.S. fleets replaced foreign fleets harvesting pollock and othergroundfish in the U.S. 200-mile exclusive economic zone. Since then, thegroundfish fishery has become Alaska’s largest fishery in volume andvalue.1976 MagnusonAct establishes200-mile U.S.exclusive economiczone and goal of“Americanization”of fisheries withinthis zoneExtensive fishingby foreign fleetsPeriod of“Americanization”Fully “Americanized”fisheriesSlide 19Groundfish accounts for the largest share of total valueof Alaska fisheries.But salmon accounts for the largest share of value to Alaska residents. This isbecause most of the groundfish are caught by non-residents, while a muchlarger share of the salmon are caught by Alaska residents.Relative Importance of Major Alaska Fisheries (share of 2001 total)100%100%100%All Fisheries12%14%7%Shellfish24%50%60%Groundfish22%13%5%Halibut1%1%2%Herring40%22%26%SalmonEx-vessel value toAlaska residentsEx-vessel valueWholesale valueSlide 20The salmon and halibut fisheries account for the largest numberof permit holders and boats. This is because these fisheries use smaller boats.[Note: To deliver fish legally in Alaska, someone on the fishing boat must holda permit for that fishery. The person holding the permit is referred to as the“permit holder.”]Number of permit holders who fished in 20019861,363Shellfish7,07710,051All Fisheries1,1551,745Groundfish2,0052,418Halibut575693Herring5,1747,306SalmonResident permitholdersTotal permitholdersSlide 21Alaska residents’ share of ex-vessel value (payments to fishermen) is highestin the salmon and halibut fisheries,and lowest in the groundfish fishery.30%Shellfish41%All Fisheries23%Groundfish64%Halibut54%Herring62%SalmonShare of Ex-Vessel ValueEarned by Alaska Residents(2001)