Legislators issue recommendations to boost Alaska's seafood industry

The Joint Legislative Task Force Evaluating Alaska's Seafood Industry recently published a report outlining recommendations intended to help Alaska's seafood industry secure a larger market share.

The move comes after the state's seafood industry has been beset by issues, including increasing competition from Russia, losses of around US$1.8 billion in 2022-2023, and a 50 per cent decline in profitability in 2021-2023.

The draft recommendations seek to implement changes in areas such as workforce availability, financing, insurance, product development, marketing, operating costs, harvesting, processing, taxation, and fisheries research.

NOAA Fisheries had conducted an earlier analysis of Alaska's seafood industry and the issues impacting it. Among the issues identified were 1) higher costs associated with increased wages and 2) declining prices for every major species group, which then led to a decrease in revenues in 2023.

NOAA Fisheries also indicated increasing competition from Russia in its analysis. The agency said that specifically, lower labour and operating costs in production and processing abroad, as a result of lower environmental and labour standards, "hurt [Alaska's] competitive standing."

The draft recommendations can be read here.