Report: Record Low Number Of Alaska Fishers, Seafood Workers Were Employed In 2024

The Alaska Beacon has some details on a record-low amount of those in the fishing and seafood processing industry for 2024 in the state:

In 2024, an average of 5,393 people were employed as fishers each month in Alaska, wrote analyst Joshua Warren. That’s down by 443 jobs from the same figure in 2023.

That figure does not include the thousands of people employed as fish processors statewide.

Alaska remains the No. 1 seafood producer among U.S. states, according to federal statistics, and produces more seafood than every other state combined.

The department has kept a monthly tally of seafood jobs in the state since 2001, and the number of fishers has been in a steady decline since 2019 due to a variety of factors, including a lack of available fish, competition from cheaper international sources, and high operating costs that can make fishing uneconomic. 

For perspective, the report states that in 2015 a high-water mark of over 8,500 jobs per month being utilized.