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Alaska Commercial Fishing
Alaska Seafood
Alaska seafood harvests typically exceed $2 billion U.S. dollars. Catches are dominated by large factory ships and trawlers that harvest pollock and other groundfish. Other important havests include Bering Sea crabs, Alaska salmon and a variety of other species caught by fishermen.
Alaska Commercial Fishing Ports
Alaska ports typically rank among the highest in the USA in both volume and value of annual seafood catches. Among the top Alaskan ports are Dutch Habor, Unalaska, Naknek-King Salmon, Seward, and Cordova. Dutch Harbor-Unalaska, Alaska had landings of 887.6 million pounds of fish and shellfish in 2005, making it the top U.S. port for landings for 17 consecutive years.
Alaska Salmon Fishing
Alaska is known for salmon fishing. The flavor and quality of Alaska Salmon depends upon fat content and the environment in which it matured. Alaska's water quality and the abundance of food sources give the area's salmon its outstanding flavor.
There are five species of wild Alaska salmon:
* Sockeye or Red(Oncorhynchus nerka)
* Chinook or King(Oncorhynchus tshawytscha)
* Coho or Silver(Oncorhynchus kisutch)
* Keta or Chum (Oncorhynchus keta)
* Pink or Humpy (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha).
Alaska Whitefish
Other important Alaska fish are collectively referred to as whitefish. These fish have flaky white flesh that is generally mild in flavor.
Alaska whitefish include:
* Alaska Pollock
* Halibut
* Sole
* Pacific Cod
* Black Cod
Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Crabbing
Most King and Tanner crab fisheries in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI) are now managed via rationalized crab fishery programs.
As of 2008, crab rationalization programs apply to the following Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands crab fisheries:
* Bristol Bay red king crab (Paralithodes camtschaticus)
* Western Aleutian Islands (Adak) golden king crab (Lithodes aequispinus)— west of 174 West longitude
* Eastern Aleutian Islands (Dutch Harbor) golden king crab- east of 174 West longitude
* Western Aleutian Islands (Adak) red king crab— west of 179 West. longitude
* Pribilof Islands blue king crab (P. platypus) and red king crab
* St. Matthew Island blue king crab
* Bering Sea snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio)
* Bering Sea Tanner crab (C. bairdi)