Fish Radio
December 19, 2013
This is Fish Radio. I’m Laine Welch – Fish bucks benefit all Alaskan communities. I’ll tell you more after this –
Dutch Harbor is tops for AK fish taxes
Credit: Bob King/MCA
The At Sea Processors Association donates one million fish meals each year through its Community Catch program. Learn more at www.atsea.org
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There is a misconception that money from fishing only benefits Alaska coastal communities where the fish crosses the docks. That is so wrong. Seafood landing and business taxes are split 50/50 between the port where the fish is delivered and state coffers – to be distributed at the whim of the Alaska legislature.
To help lawmakers be more aware of those fish dollars, United Fishermen of Alaska has updated a Fishing Fact sheets
for 26 communities, plus statewide tallies for Alaska and Washington.
At a glance, it shows that Kodiak, home to 690 fishing boats, received over $1.6 million in fisheries taxes in FY 2012 and the State got the same. The Kenai Peninsula Borough, which claims over 1,000 fishing boats, added another $1.8 million to the state. Sitka, Cordova and Petersburg each contributed more than $1 million in fish taxes. The big Kahuna is Unalaska – Dutch Harbor – those towns and the State of Alaska each received more than $8.5 million in fisheries taxes. Overall, the seafood industry put in $90 million to state coffers.
UFA’ s fishing fact sheets include a wealth of information on how many people catch and process fish and how much they made in each community, vessels and permits owned by region, support industries and much more.
Despite the fact that the seafood industry provides the most jobs in Alaska and seafood is the state’s top export — ‘Out of sight, out of mind’ could describe the industry when it comes to recognition by most policy makers. It can be challenging to understand the wide range of fisheries and gears, and the dual state and federal management regimes. UFA’s fishing fact sheets provide an easy way to make sense of Alaska’s oldest and largest industry.
United Fishermen of Alaska is the nation’s largest fishing trade group. Find the 2013 fishing fact sheets at UFA and our website www.alaskafishradio.com
Fish Radio is also brought to you by Ocean Beauty Seafoods. Ocean Beauty has contributed over 10 million meals to the U.S. Food Bank network, and is committed to ending hunger in America. www.oceanbeauty.com In Kodiak, I’m Laine Welch.
http://www.ufa-fish.org/cff.htm
