November 24, 2025 — Fisheries in Alaska are responsible for about 60% of the seafood in the United States, but they have faced significant challenges in recent years, including declining revenues, prices, and margins, according to speakers on “The Future of North Pacific Fisheries” panel at the 2025 Maritime Industry Economic Forecast Breakfast, held Friday during the Pacific Marine Expo in Seattle.
“My agency produced a snapshot report last year, looking at economic impacts across Alaska fisheries and confirming declining revenue and prices and increasing costs with declining margins,” said John Kurland, Regional Administrator for NOAA’s Alaska Regional Office. “Revenues dropped by about $1.8 billion in 2022 and ’23. It hasn’t gotten a whole lot better since.”
All is not doom and gloom, however. The panelists struck a more upbeat tone when speaking about the future. For many across the sector, President Trump’s Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness executive order — issued in April — has given reason for optimism.
NOAA is working with other parts of the federal government and non-government groups to meet the goals of the executive order: “Things like considering regulatory changes to simplify and streamline regulations where we can increase flexibility where possible, looking at advanced technologies to improve data collection, to try to introduce cost efficiencies and hopefully make it more timely to get data into the management process, and updating national seafood trade strategy to try to address global trade dynamics and level of playing field,” Kurland said.