Salmon Catch in 2013 Propels Alaska Seafood Harvest to 5.8 Billion Pounds

Press Release

U.S. Senator Mark Begich welcomed a report that showed Alaska's seafood harvest in 2013 was the second highest on record. A record harvest of pink salmon pushed Alaska's seafood production last year to almost 5.8 billion pounds according to Fisheries of the United States 2013, an annual statistical compilation released by NOAA Fisheries today.

"Alaska seafood is delicious, high quality, sustainable, and abundant," Senator Begich said. "Last year Alaska accounted for almost 59 percent of the seafood landed in the nation. Credit our hard-working fishermen and women who brought this whopping catch back to port last year, as well as the biologists and fishery managers who oversaw this harvest while ensuring the stocks were still healthy for the long run."

The 5.8 billion pounds of seafood landed in Alaska last was up from 5.3 billion pounds in 2012, and close to the all-time record of 5.9 billion pounds landed in 1993. The value of the catch to fishermen (ex-vessel value) was close to $1.9 billion, up from $1.7 billion last year. A separate NOAA report on the status of fish stocks listed no seafood species in Alaska as being overfished.

Alaska's seafood production compared to 9.9 billion pounds of fish landed nationwide in 2013 worth $5.5 billion. The haul was led by a record catch of 273 million salmon in Alaska last year including 219 million pinks. The record salmon catch topped one billion pounds and was worth almost $700 million to fishermen.

Dutch Harbor/Unalaska again led the nation's top ports with landings of 754 million pounds of Pollock, cod and crab, followed by other Aleutian ports including Akutan, Kodiak, and ports along the Alaska Peninsula. Alaska salmon ports dominated the top-20 rankings including Cordova, Ketchikan, Sitka, Petersburg and Seward. These also dominated the nation's top value ports along with Naknek and other Bristol Bay communities.

Begich chairs the Senate Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries and Coast Guard which has jurisdiction over the National Marine Fisheries Service and has been active in reauthorization of the Magnuson Stevens Act, the nation's main fisheries law. As a member of the Senate Appropriations committee Begich supported funding, including the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund and other NOAA grants, in support of state-managed salmon and crab fisheries.

"As U.S. Senator I understand the important role fisheries play in the economy of our state, including the recreational sector, and to meet the subsistence needs of villages across Alaska," Begich said. "I am committed to supporting Alaska's fisheries by updating the applicable statutes, riding herd over regulators to make sure they are listening to the concerns of Alaska fishermen, and provide the tools and funding to allow fishermen and managers to do their jobs."

NOAA Fisheries' statistical annual also reports on marine recreational fishing activity but current year data for Alaska was not available. Nationwide, nearly 11 million anglers made 71 million trips into offshore waters and landed 430 million fish, 60 percent of which were released. The landed weight of the nation's recreational catch is put at 239 million pounds.

In 2012, anglers made 473,000 trips into the marine waters off Alaska and landed nearly 2 million pounds of fish, including salmon, halibut, cod and rockfish. Some 40 percent of the Alaska catch was released alive.

Source