Employment in Alaska's Seafood Industry
Alaska's fishing industry is a major economic engine, leading the nation in fish harvesting value and poundage. Harvesting and processing also help drive our state economy. In 2009, the industry directly employed at least 53,500 workers at some point during the year. This article is an overview of total workers and average monthly employment in the Alaska fishing industry. It also provides a focused look at species and regions, and reviews how we create annual size estimates using fish harvest records, wage records, and other data sources.