A new report shows the number of permit holders fishing commercially in Alaska have declined steadily since 2019, which included another 443 harvesting jobs that were lost in 2024.
According to the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development’s latest issue of Alaska Economic Trends, late year growth in November 2024 and December 2024 was seen across several species’ harvests and regions – which suggests some recovery is possible in 2025, but those numbers won’t be available until next year.
Seafood harvesting has lost more than one-third of its total jobs in a decade, with fishing employment has gone down every year of the last 10 except for 2019, according to labor economist Joshua Warren. The summer peak has fallen about 30% – from 24,600 jobs in July 2014 to 17,400 in July 2024.
Factors cited by Warren include several obstacles – from international market competition to lower prices and rising costs of doing business, climate change, closure of seafood processing plants, and disrupted fisheries.
Fleet participants have gotten older over the decade, with the average age of permit holders rising by 3.6 years, to around 53 years old.
While the latest reporting doesn’t capture the U.S. tariffs that began in mid-2025, the U.S. had already been losing global fisheries market share for several years, Warren notes.
In addition, countries (such as Russia) have lowered costs and are flooding the international market with competitively priced products. China is now purchasing more fish from Vietnam than from the United States, but how tariffs will affect these relationships isn’t yet clear, according to Warren.
Salmon harvesting was for a long time Alaska’s highest value catch, but dramatically lower harvests in recent years brought its value down in 2023, where it also remained in 2024.
In 2024 salmon harvesting jobs hit a new employment low of 2,837 jobs – a decline of more than 8% from 2023. The loss from 2022-2023 was even more dramatic, at nearly 11%. Over the last decade the total salmon harvesting job count dropped 40%, and the monthly peak in July fell by 31% – from more than 21,000 jobs to under 15,000, according to the compiled data.
The number of Bristol Bay permits fished in 2024 was more than 100 below the number in 2023, with harvesters likely dissuaded by low salmon prices and declines or closures of other fisheries. In years past some harvesters who own permits in other areas fished on their way to Bristol Bay, but it appears fewer decided to make that trip last year, Warren said.
Sablefish, or black cod, harvesting jobs fell 9.3%, a loss of 41 jobs. Those decreases came mostly in the summer, with June employment down by almost one-third, although last year gains eased that loss somewhat.
While sablefish is a groundfish, it’s discussed separately from other groundfish because its workforce is so large relative to other groundfish harvests, Warren said. The other groundfish category is mainly pollock.
Groundfish harvesting reached a record low of 664 jobs in 2024, a loss of 11% from the previous year.
Halibut and herring were the two fisheries to regain jobs in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and approach normal levels in 2022, but halibut fishing employment was 4.7% lower in 2024, a loss of 45 jobs. Herring fishery employment also began to drop.
Crab fisheries, meanwhile, broke the loss trend in 2024 – adding 17 jobs over the year, just over 5% growth. The peak declined when Kodiak fisheries moved back to January and Bering Sea fisheries continued to shed jobs.
Shellfish harvests – including shrimp, clams, scallops, octopus, squid and sea cucumbers – represented about 500 jobs each in October. These fisheries accounted for 166 jobs in 2024, down 11.7% from 2023. Shellfish harvesting employment remained above 2022 levels last year, and has been comparatively stable over the long term, likely because of its variety of products and species, the report said.
