November 2, 2020 — The Alaska Supreme Court is currently reviewing the constitutionality of a lucrative landings tax on fish caught in federal waters and brought through Alaska ports to be exported to international markets.
Every season, millions of tons of fish are scooped up by factory trawlers in the Bering Sea’s federal waters, which start three miles off the coast of Alaska. Most of those fish are processed at sea, then taken to ports like Dutch Harbor to be transferred to other ships and containers for export. Since 1994, Alaska has been collecting a three percent tax on that catch and distributing it to state and local governments.