Study Puts Economic Output Of SE Alaskan Salmon Near $1 Billion

SITKA, ALASKA (2011-01-20) In Southeast Alaska it is easy to think about the value of salmon in dollars per pound. Fish prices are as common in conversation as the weather. But most people don’t think about how the value of a salmon translates into jobs and expenditure outside the industry itself. The sport fishing and conservation advocacy group Trout Unlimited is trying to change that. The organization recently commissioned a study that attempts to measure the yearly overall economic output of the commercial, sport, and subsistence salmon fisheries for Southeast.

The final tally is huge – approaching $1-billion. Trout Unlimited’s state director Tim Bristol says he was not expecting anything close to the $986.1 million (to be exact) since the state’s most valuable salmon fisheries, based on price and volume, lay elsewhere.

“No, we were actually really surprised when we saw how high the figure was. We had done some work out in Southwest Alaska with Bristol Bay, and you always kind of think about that as the big granddaddy fishery. But it turns out Southeast Alaska is worth even more than Bristol Bay.”

Bristol Bay sockeye far outstrip the $261-million value of Southeast salmon on the docks. In fact, Southeast salmon fisheries only account for a little more than a quarter of the state’s salmon production. But the numbers start to add up for Southeast when you throw in the value of the recreational fisheries for both salmon and trout, $204-million, and the subsistence fisheries at over $1-and-a-half million.

To read the rest of the story, please go to: KCAW-FM (Sitka, AK).