Fish Factor

Alaska’s seafood industry worked hard this year to ramp up its message to policy makers, especially those from rail belt regions who tend to overlook the industry’s economic significance.

How important is the seafood industry to Alaska and the nation? At a glance: nearly 60% of all U.S. seafood landings come from Alaska and 96% of all wild- caught salmon. Seafood is by far Alaska’s #1 export, valued $2.4 billion last year. Alaska ranks 9th in the world in terms of global seafood production.

The seafood industry is second only to Big Oil in revenues it generates to Alaska’s general fund each ye...