![]() ![]() In 2014 residents marked the 130th anniversary of commercial fishing in Bristol Bay. Commercial fishing and the associated canneries have been the major industries in the area for many decades. The annual payroll for fish and wildlife-related employment totals $175 million. Commercial fishing-related jobs account for nearly 75 percent of local employment. The waters of the region have long been an integral part of the state and local economies, providing thousands of sustainable jobs to Alaskans for generations. However, it does not protect against hard rock mining operations like Pebble.Īll five species of Pacific salmon return to Bristol Bay to spawn in its rivers, including pink, chum, sockeye, coho and king. This protected Bristol Bay fisheries’ longstanding and valuable commercial, subsistence, and sport fishing from oil and gas development. Bristol Bay has long been recognized as a vital contributor to Alaska’s commercial fishing economy, so much so that in 1972 the Alaska legislature determined that it was in the best interest of the state to establish the Bristol Bay Fisheries Reserve. In Bristol Bay alone, the 2018 harvest of all salmon species was approximately 43 million fish, and the value of the 2018 commercial catch topped $283 million. Salmon is the most valuable commercial fish managed by the state of Alaska and Bristol Bay is Alaska’s richest commercial fishery. ![]() Forty-two percent of the world’s harvest of wild salmon and 80 percent of the production of high-value wild salmon species such as sockeye, king, and coho salmon, come from Alaska waters. Alaska ranks ninth among seafood-producing nations in the world.
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