Alaska Trends

“Here is the sea, great and wide, which teems with creatures innumerable, living things both small and great.” Verse 25 of Psalm 104 (English Standard Version) evokes the vastness of the ocean and the complexity of its eco-webs, and it articulates the challenge faced by scientists and resource managers whose job it is to number the innumerable.

This month’s article, “Hooked on Data” by Isaac Stone Simonelli, reports on how fisheries managers compile, share, and utilize all the different ways to count seafood. This includes the Commercial Operators Annual Report by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G), which tracks the tonnage of seafood harvested from ex-vessel (when the catch leaves the boat) to first wholesale to processors. Meanwhile, the Tax Division of the Alaska Department of Revenue is responsible for adding up the value of the commercial salmon harvest and recording the price per pound.

Sportfishers keep a close eye on the tally of salmon returning to rivers. The most popular of ADF&G’s daily counts, perhaps not surprisingly, are the late-run sockeye and late-run chinook to the Kenai River. The US government also has a role, with NOAA’s Fisheries agency contributing a variety of data from federally managed waters. And finally, when seafood products leave Alaska for sale in foreign markets, export data is the domain of (believe it or not) the US Census Bureau.

This edition of Alaska Trends dips into the great and wide sea to harvest a sample of the fisheries data available.

Walleye
Largest single species harvest by volume was in ’17 with 1,957,933,595 lbs of walleye pollock.
Pollock
The top ten harvest volumes in recent years have all been pollock, typically almost two-thirds of all seafood.
line drawing of three scales weighing 3 fish
digital illustration of three silhouette black fish
1/3 value of all seafood
The top ten most valuable single species harvests are all for sockeye, typically almost one-third of the value of all seafood.
$460,279,719
The ’19 season for sockeye salmon had the highest value of any single-species harvest in any year.
state Total$
Pounds & amount paid over time for all the seafood processed.
bar graph showing an increase of weight vs money from 1984 to 2020
Crab harve$t statewide
Pounds & amount paid over time for all crab species processed.
bar graph showing an the ups and downs of harvesting from 1984 to 2020
digital illustration of a snowflake with a crab cut out of the middle
Largest crab Harve$t
1997 was the largest single-species crab harvest, with 188,175,252 lbs of opilio (snow crab) processed. The wholesale value of the harvest was $400,162,786 and 81% of the total value.
line drawing of frozen fish in packaging
Frozen not Fresh
Frozen fish meat was the fifth most valuable Alaska export, after zinc, petroleum, lead, and gold.
7/12
ADF&G has tracked 12 crab species over the years: Blue King, Red King, Dungeness, Golden King, Hair, King, Scarlet King, Grooved, Bairdi, Tanneri, Snow, Triangle. Only 7 species have been harvested every year since 1984: Dungeness, Tanner, Bairdi, Snow, Golden, Hair, King crab.
digital illustration of 7 orange crabs and 5 white crabs
Seafood trivia
octopus
ADF&G has been tracking the sale of octopus since 1984. 2006 was the highest producing year with 1,087,960 lbs of octopus sold for $254,806.
Squid
1,677,315 lbs of squid were bought in ’20 for a total of $11,733.
SEA CUCUMBERS
ADF&G has been tracking the sale of sea cucumbers since 1989. ’19 was the highest grossing year with 2,170,716 lbs sold for $11,350,922.
digital illustration of a squid
digital illustration of a squid
Squid
1,677,315 lbs of squid were bought in ’20 for a total of $11,733.
SEA CUCUMBERS
ADF&G has been tracking the sale of sea cucumbers since 1989. ’19 was the highest grossing year with 2,170,716 lbs sold for $11,350,922.
Abalone “ABS”
Abalones are marine snails. Alaska Natives used abalone as a supplemental food and as decoration on their carvings. Commercial processing closed in 1996.
$14.82/lb
In 1994, ABS recorded the highest statewide average price per pound of $14.82.
digital illustration of Abalones
digital illustration of Abalones
Abalone “ABS”
Abalones are marine snails. Alaska Natives used abalone as a supplemental food and as decoration on their carvings. Commercial processing closed in 1996.
$14.82/lb
In 1994, ABS recorded the highest statewide average price per pound of $14.82.