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Fish and Game
Division of Commercial Fisheries

Introduction

The vast fishery resources of Alaska are of tremendous importance to the economies of the state and the nation. In 2003, commercial fishermen landed over 5 billion lb of fish and shellfish worth over $1 billion. These resources are self-renewing if properly managed, and it is the mission of both state and federal fishery management agencies to maximize the production of seafood and economic benefits for generations to come.

The first major commercial fisheries targeted salmon and herring in the late 1800s when much of the product was salted for storing and shipment. Today, commercial salmon and herring fisheries occur along most of Alaska’s coastline north to the southern Chukchi Sea, with annual harvests averaging 750 million lb and 80 million lb of salmon and herring, respectively, in the 5-year period 1998-2002. Commercial shellfish fisheries target a diverse assemblage, including 7 crab species, 5 shrimp species, scallops, at least 3 clam species, and several “miscellaneous” invertebrates, including sea urchins and sea cucumbers. Crab harvests have fluctuated widely during their history.

Peak years have seen as much as 400 million lb harvested, with a recent 5-year average of 137 million lb. Commercial shrimp harvests reached peak levels of over 120 million lb in the 1970s and declined following a climate induced regime shift to average harvests of slightly over 2.2 million pounds in the 5-year period 1998-2002. Groundfish fisheries for a variety of species dominate the harvest poundage, with nearly 4.2 billion lb harvested on average in the 5-year period 1998-2002. The majority of that total, about 2.9 billion lb, was walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma), 555 million lb was Pacific cod (Gadus macrocephalus), and 483 million lb was various flatfish.

State and Federal Management Regimes

Commercial fisheries of Alaska fall under a mix of state and federal management jurisdictions. In general, the state has management authority for all salmon, herring, and shellfish fisheries, whereas the federal government has management authority for the majority of groundfish fisheries, excepting those within 3 nautical miles of shore and a few others.

The State of Alaska took management control of its fishery resources from the federal government soon after statehood in 1959. In fact, control of its salmon fisheries was a primary incentive of the statehood movement. Enactment of the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MFCMA) of 1976 asserted federal authority over the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) from 3 to 200 miles offshore of the U.S. coasts, with the waters inshore of 3 miles under state jurisdiction. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) is the primary state fisheries management agency and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is the primary federal fisheries management agency. In general, with the exception of some groundfish fisheries in the eastern Gulf of Alaska and Prince William Sound, NMFS is primarily responsible for management of all groundfish fisheries off Alaska and ADF&G is primarily responsible for management of fisheries for salmon, herring, crabs, and other invertebrates. In many instances, fishery management has evolved into a complex of state, federal, and international advisory and regulatory bodies that affect management of the fishery resources off Alaska.

Alaska's constitution is unique in that an entire section (Article VIII) is devoted to the management of natural resources. "Maximum benefit of its people" and "Management of renewable resources on a sustained yield basis" are two primary directives given to the legislature and executive branch by the state's constitution. To provide for an open public process and to give direction to ADF&G, the Alaska State Legislature created the Alaska Board of Fisheries (BOF). The BOF is responsible for developing fishery management plans, allocating resources among users, and promulgating regulations. ADF&G, which supports and takes direction from the BOF, has unique Emergency Order authority which provides ADF&G fishery managers with the essential ability to expeditiously open and close fisheries inseason. Besides its regulatory function, ADF&G has a substantial fisheries monitoring and research program to document catches inseason, assess stock condition, and determine appropriate harvest levels. Another state agency with regulatory authority is the Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission (CFEC). CFEC has the authority to establish moratoria or limited entry systems for state-managed fisheries.

Several federal laws substantially direct the regulation of some of Alaska's fisheries and actions of NMFS. Foremost is the MFCMA, which was enacted, in large part, because of unrestricted foreign harvests off Alaska. Created under the MFCMA, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC), an 11-person committee, develops federal fishery management plans (FMPs) for fisheries occurring within the 3- to 200-mile EEZ. Five FMPs approved by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce are now in effect and include two groundfish fishery FMPs, one each for the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands area and the Gulf of Alaska; a salmon FMP; a Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands area crab FMP; and a scallop FMP. Each of these defers varying levels of management authority to the state. In each case, ADF&G still retains inseason management authority for all but the groundfish fisheries in the EEZ, and in fact, ADF&G has inseason management authority for several of those as well.

Implementation of two other federal laws, the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) and the Endangered Species Act (ESA), has been used to increasingly restrict Alaska fisheries for the protection of pinnipeds (seals and sea lions), sea birds (e.g., short-tailed albatross) and depressed salmon stocks of Oregon and Washington that migrate into Alaska waters. Two treaties between Canada and the U.S. regulate fisheries for transboundary salmon and halibut and influence management of other Alaska fisheries that impact these stocks. As a revision of the International Fisheries Convention, the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) was created in 1953 to jointly regulate harvest and to conduct research on halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis) in the North Pacific. The IPHC determines catch quotas, but within-nation catch allocations are implemented separately by each nation. In the U.S. the allocations are done through the NPFMC. The 1985 Pacific Salmon Treaty has established an international management regime designed to rebuild some salmon stocks, limit harvests in specific fisheries, and define equitable allocations between U.S. and Canadian fishermen. The treaty has been very controversial, and renegotiation of treaty annexes is a continuing process.

  For additional information pertaining to Alaska's commercial fisheries please contact: CFinfo, (907-465-6133).

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