Opinion: The 82% pollock claim leaves out what matters to Alaska

Trawl-caught pollock harvested during an Alaska research survey. (David Csepp/National Marine Fisheries Service) A claim about Alaska pollock has been circulating with increasing frequency: 82% of the value of pollock caught in Alaska waters leaves the state. It is a striking number. And on its own, it can make it sound as though Alaska gets almost nothing from one of its most important fisheries. That is why context matters. The 82% figure measures where the value associated with vessel ownership accrues. It does not measure the economic activity generated in Alaska. It does not tell us where workers are employed, wages are earned, fish are processed, businesses are paid, taxes are generated or communities benefit. When a pollock vessel fuels in Alaska, employs Alaskans, buys supplies from Alaska businesses, uses Alaska-based services or delivers fish to an Alaska processor, those activities create economic value here. That doesn't disappear because the company that owns the vessel is headquartered somewhere else. When an Alaska processor turns pollock into fillets, surimi, roe, meal or oil, that economic activity happens in Alaska, even if the finished product is ultimately sold outside the state. The numbers tell a much larger story. A 2023 economic analysis by Northern Economics found that the Alaska pollock industry generated approximately $832 million in economic output in Alaska and supported more than 6,300 Alaska jobs. It also generated hundreds of millions of dollars in Alaska labor income and approximately $21 million in state, borough and municipal taxes. ADVERTISEMENT Alaska processors produced approximately $1.7 billion in pollock products in Alaska. Those aren't hypothetical benefits. They are economic activity happening in Alaska. There is also considerably more Alaska participation in the fishery than the 82% figure suggests. More than a third of Alaska pollock fishing interests are held by Alaska-based entities, including Community Development Quota groups representing 65 Western Alaska communities and roughly 30,000 residents. CDQ organizations invest fishery revenue in jobs, training, infrastructure and economic development. That is another direct connection between the fishery and Alaska communities. None of this means every dollar generated by pollock stays in Alaska. It doesn't. Nor does it mean Alaska shouldn't look for ways to capture more value from its natural resources. We absolutely should. ADVERTISEMENT But those are different questions. If the question is who owns Alaska's fishing vessels, let's have that debate. If the question is whether Alaska could capture more economic value from pollock, let's have that debate. If the question is what does Alaska get from the pollock fishery, an ownership statistic cannot stand in for an economic-impact analysis. Doing so doesn't simplify the conversation. It distorts it. ADVERTISEMENT Alaska pollock is a globally important fishery built around an abundant Alaska resource. It supports Alaska workers, businesses, processors and communities across the state while generating billions of dollars in economic activity. We should be asking how to make that economic footprint even stronger but we cannot have that conversation if we start by pretending the economic activity already happening in Alaska doesn't count. Alaskans deserve the whole story about Alaska pollock — not just the 82% number that makes the argument convenient. Sam Murphy is vice president of communications for the Alaska Pollock Fishery Alliance, helping promote and protect the responsible, science-based management of the Alaska pollock fishery. • • • The Anchorage Daily News welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email commentary(at)adn.com. Send submissions shorter than 200 words to letters@adn.com or click here to submit via any web browser. Read our full guidelines for letters and commentaries here.