May 3, 2014 — From a global perspective, Alaska, with $3.28 billion in seafood exports to 125 countries, ranked first in 2012 among all of the United States, and sixth internationally, behind Norway, Russia, Vietnam, Chile and Canada.
In value alone, these exports compared with $9.5 billion from Norway, $4.5 billion from Russia, $4.2 billion from Vietnam, $3.9 billion from Chile, and $3.7 billion from Canada, said seafood economist Andy Wink of Juneau's McDowell group.
The total 5.5 billion pounds of seafood harvested in Alaska in 2012 accounted for 56 percent of all domestic commercial fisheries production, Wink told participants at the ComFish 2014 meeting in Kodiak. The bulk of that harvest, 53 percent, was Alaska pollock, with another 30 percent being Pacific cod and other groundfish.
Salmon comprised 12 percent, followed by crab (2 percent), herring (2 percent), and halibut and black cod (1 percent), Wink said, in his presentation on Alaska seafood economics and market trends.
Based on ex-vessel value alone, McDowell Group estimated the breakdown was salmon, 29 percent; Alaska pollock, 25 percent; Pacific cod and other groundfish, 16 percent; crab, 16 percent; halibut and black cod, 13 percent, and herring, 1 percent, based on data provided by federal and state fisheries agencies.
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