January 5, 2016 — Most of the benefit from the commercial fishing industry goes to local government, while the state overspends itself, according to a new analysis.
A study conducted by Bob Loeffler and Steve Colt of the University of Alaska Anchorage’s Institute of Social and Economic Research found that the state spends about $27.2 million more on commercial fishing than it receives in revenue from the industry.
This includes regulation, operations and capital projects. However, it does not consider federal funds, which play a role in Alaska’s fisheries as many salt-water fisheries are at least partially federally managed.
Local governments make out considerably better — they take in about 40 percent of the revenue from the commercial fishing industry, according to the analysis. And that does not include the benefits to the local economy, such as spending at local businesses.
The state also spends far more on commercial fishing than it does on other sectors of the economy, such as mining and tourism, which where also examined in the ISER report. Including operations and capital projects, the state spends approximately $78.3 million on the commercial fishing industry every year. Combined with local governments’ expenditures, the total reaches approximately $96.8 million.
Read the full story at Peninsula Clarion