In 2007, the latest year for which complete data was available, Alaska accounted for more than 62 percent of the volume of the commercial seafood harvested in the United States, economists with Northern Economics said. Alaska produces more than half of the nation's seafood landings, and accounts for 56,600 direct jobs and 22,000 indirect jobs within Alaska, more than the oil and gas and mining industries combined, the report said.

The sunsets over Mount Edgecumbe as the Jean C., a limit purse seiner, returns to the harbor in Sitka. Commercial fishermen generated $6 billion in 2007. AP Photo/Chris Miller

The report, released Jan. 21, came on the heels of a state of Alaska report that put the value of sport fishing in Alaska in 2007 at $1.3 billion, including licenses, trip fees, equipment and other items for sport fishing trips.

"The seafood industry will take a bit of a hit because of the U.S. and world economies, but we have the tools in place now to weather the storm, to be more efficient in terms of reducing costs," said Dave Benton, executive director of MCA.

Benton said that MCA, along with the groups At-Sea Processors Association and the Pacific Seafood Processors Association, ordered the report to get a complete picture of the economic impact of the commercial harvest of seafood on Alaska. The report does not deal with fish harvested for private consumption by sport anglers fishing independently or on charter vessels.

"We were trying to pull together all the components to get a true picture of what's going on," Benton said in an interview Jan.23.

MCA, based in Juneau, is a seafood industry trade association that represents hundreds of fishermen, vessel owners, processors and communities involved in Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska groundfish and crab fisheries. Its members include the At-Sea Processors Association and the Pacific Seafood Processors Association.

Part of the 2009 economic picture for Alaska fisheries includes reductions in harvest limits of pollock and groundfish announced in December by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council and more cuts in halibut harvests that were approved in January by the International Pacific Halibut Commission. Harvest limits are adjusted annually by both entities with the goal of keeping the fisheries sustainable.

Those changes aside, the inflation adjusted wholesale value of Alaska seafood has steadily increased over the past five years, from $1.88 billion in 2003 to $3.63 billion in 2007, an increase of 26 percent, led by a 62 percent increase in the wholesale value of salmon.

Meanwhile, because state and federal fishery managers set catch allocations at scientifically set levels to protect the resource, no stocks of groundfish are considered overfished, the report said.

In fact, National Geographic listed Alaska as one of only three well-managed fisheries in the world, the others being Iceland and New Zealand, the report said.

"Alaska's seafood industry has played a major role in the state's history and remains a major part of Alaska's economy today, with more jobs than any other private-sector spread, from the biggest cities to the smallest villages," Benton said. "With key issues affecting fisheries and fishing communities facing the Legislature and Congress, this report is a vivid reminder of the importance of fisheries throughout the entire Alaska economy."

The seafood industry is an important part of Alaska's economy because it is a major part of the basic sector, said economists with Northern Economics.

"By bringing money into the state from outside sources, the basic sector is considered the 'engine' of the economy," the report said. "The non-basic sector, which consists of firms that sell goods and services to local businesses and consumers, is dependent on the basic sector to keep the economy running."

In addition to the seafood industry, Alaska's basic sector includes the Cook Inlet and North Slope oil and gas industry, mining industry, tourism, payments from the federal government and the state's permanent fund.

In 2007, the overall value of the seafood industry in Alaska included more than $1.5 billion paid to fishermen and $3.6 billion at the wholesale level. In addition, the industry generates $71 million in state taxes and fees annually, plus an undetermined amount in local fish taxes.

The Northern Economics report notes that industry-generated jobs are spread widely across the state, with more than 10,000 jobs each in Southeast, Southcentral, the Aleutian Islands and Bristol Bay. There are 5,000 jobs in Kodiak and a total of 2,500 jobs collectively in the Northwest, Arctic, Yukon and Kuskokwim regions.

The state's community development quota program, an allocation of the Bering Sea catch for Western Alaska coastal communities, generates more than $100 million in revenue annually, employs 2,000 workers, pays $15 million in wages and invests millions more in training and infrastructure.

The port of Dutch Harbor continues to be the top fishing port in the nation in terms of volume, and second in the nation in terms of harvest payments to fishermen, while Kodiak ranks third in the nation in terms of value of fish caught, the report said.

The complete report is at www.marineconservationalliance.org.

Margaret Bauman can be reached at margie.bauman@alaska

journal.com.