Alaska Salmon Fishery Economic
In Alaska, salmon come first. Alaska has a long and successful track record of managing and conserving its abundant salmon resources. Record salmon runs with a recent average yearly catch of 165 million salmon is the explanation of this successful approach.
Nearly 95% of all commercially caught salmon in the US are harvested in Alaska. Alaska is the top producer of wild, high-value salmon, producing nearly 80 % of the world supply of king, sockeye, and coho. Alaska’s commercial salmon fishery is essential to the Alaskan economy and the Alaskan way of life.
Each year, the salmon industry provides thousands of roles and hundreds of millions of dollars to the state’s economy. Commercial fishing is imperative to communities and fishing
families across the state.
Alaska’s fishing industry leads the state in providing 47% of private sector jobs, and is 2nd only to the oil industry in providing revenue to the state. In 2002, the exvessel value for mixed fisheries totaled $955 million with $162 million from salmon.
Salmon fishing permits are issued to individuals, not corporations, through the “limited entry permit system”. The total number of available permits for each fishery is precisely limited. Fishermen may not own more than one salmon permit for a similar gear type and area. This creates a fishery made up of many people and families.
Three main gear types catch Alaska salmon: trolling, gillnetting, and purse seining. All commercial salmon fishing boats are relatively small vessels; averaging 30 to 50 feet.
Trollers use long trolling poles to pull or troll two to 4 deep weighted lines through the water, each with eight – 12 leaders attached. At the end of each leader there’s a lure or baited hook. Boat size varies from tiny skiffs to vessels of fifty feet or more with many ranging between 25 to forty feet.
Trollers primarily target king, coho, and pink salmon as they enter Alaskan waters on their way to the spawning grounds. Trollers catch a relatively low volume of top quality fish. The fish they catch are bright and powerful from fresh sea waters. They are often
sold dressed, or filleted in the fresh or fresh frozen market.
Gillnetters set curtain-like nets in the water suspended from a float line at the surface and a weighted lead line along the submerged lower edge. Nets alter in length from 900 to 1800 feet long. The net’s mesh openings are just huge sufficient to allow an adult fish head to get through and become caught at the gills.
There are two types of gillnets ; driftnets that are free floating from boats, and setnets that have one end attached to the coast. Ship size is limited to 32 feet or less in Bristol Bay ; otherwise, the average range is thirty to 40 feet. Gillnetters basically crop sockeye, chum and coho.
Purse Seiners use a huge floating net, pulled and set in circle by a power skiff, to enclose schooling salmon. The weighted “purse line” at bottom of the net is drawn closed to contain the fish. The net full of fish is then gathered to the ship thru a highpowered hydraulic block.
Purse seiners are not authorized north of the Alaska Peninsula ; ship size is limited to 58 feet. Purse Seiners crop especially pink salmon near the shoreline and close to fresh water spawning grounds where runs are highly concentrated.
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