A gutted industry

Associated Press

KODIAK, Alaska — Since before the gold rush or the oil boom, Alaskans have made a living pulling fish from the water and shipping them off to feed the rest of the world.

And among all fish, salmon was king.

Now, Alaska’s salmon fishing industry is in a steep downturn, pounded by the shifting global economy and hampered, some say, by Alaska’s own efforts to regulate the fishing industry so all of its fishermen can share the wealth.

Increased competition and plunging prices for salmon have kept fishing boats tied up at docks, closed processing plants and left workers without jobs. The consequences have rippled through the state’s economy.

"What is at stake is the survival of a resource and an industry that is a fundamental foundation of our culture, our way of life, and our economic prosperity," Gov. Tony Knowles said last month at a fish summit called to discuss the crisis.

Alaska’s abundant wild fish have been a crucial part of its history. Native Indians and Eskimos relied on seafood to survive, and control of commercial fishing by absentee business interests during territorial days drove Alaskans to seek statehood.

By the early 1980s, Alaska supplied nearly half the world’s salmon. "People had to come to us to buy it," said Bob Thorstenson Jr., president of United Fishermen of Alaska, a trade association. "They lined up to buy it."

As recently as 2000, nearly one Alaskan in 12 made a living from commercial fishing — holding a fishing permit, a fishing crewman’s license or a job in a processing plant.

But demand for salmon gave rise to fish farms where salmon are raised in pens.

A strong U.S. dollar; a long recession in Japan, the state’s major overseas market; and the declining cost of other protein foods have also hurt profits.

In the past, working jobs such as the "slime line," using a spoon to clean fish carcasses of the blood that gutting machines miss, a husband and wife could earn $40,000 to $45,000 a year — enough to put down roots.

Caridad and Floro Rambac left $2-an-hour jobs in California to come to Alaska in 1975, and have worked in fish processing for most of the years since. Now, they’ve lost their jobs with the closure of Cook Inlet Processing, the second plant on Kodiak Island to close in two years.

"We’re going to try to find another cannery," Caridad said, but their prospects are slim.

Jobs at the remaining half-dozen plants are mostly filled, and officials estimate Kodiak can absorb only 10 percent to 15 percent of the plant’s laid-off workers.

At the same time, many Alaska salmon fishermen are leaving their boats at the dock. The state has issued more than 13,000 commercial salmon-fishing licenses, but industry officials expect fewer than 8,000 will be used this year.

Alaska is paying a price for a state-regulated fishing system that’s inefficient by design. Salmon harvests are set up to spread profits among fishermen who use different techniques — those who fish from boats, for example, and those who stretch nets from shore. The state bans fish traps, restricts the size of fishing boats, and takes other measures to give more fishermen a piece of the action, without regard to efficiency or profitability.

"In effect, we give away our most important competitive advantage," said University of Alaska-Anchorage economist Gunnar Knapp.

So far, though, there’s no plan for solving the fishing crisis. Suggestions include tariffs on imported farmed fish, price supports for American salmon, a flashy marketing campaign for Alaska salmon and buybacks of fishing boats or permits, leaving those who remain with less competition.

As the summer salmon season approaches, the only certainty is that fewer Alaskans will make a living from fish.

"There is no miracle cure on the horizon for this season," Knapp said.