Alaska’s Seafood Future Action Agenda
Alaska’s Seafood Future - Community Resilience through Workforce Development and Research Innovation is a project of the ARC. The Action Agenda and information in this report is the culmination of an 18-month project to identify priorities and action steps to:
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Alaska’s seafood processing industry, with over 166 shore-based plants, 49 catcher-processor vessels and 10 large floating processors, accounts for 70% of Alaska’s manufacturing employment with 26,000 workers annually. Seafood harvesting and processing are often the primary source of private income in many coastal communities.
The Economic Value of Alaska’s Seafood Industry, January 2020. Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute |
Alaska’s seafood industry is critical to the resilience of coastal communities across the state. Sustaining this valuable industry in Alaska will require a skilled seafood workforce, young people who pursue seafood careers, and applied research to support innovation and solve technical questions and challenges.
Alaska’s seafood industry is the state’s largest private workforce with approximately 60,000 individuals directly employed in harvesting and processing each year. Annually, Alaska’s seafood enterprise contributes over $172M in taxes, fees and self-assessments to fund state, local and federal governments. Seafood harvesting and processing are often the primary source of private income and jobs in many coastal communities. Alaska’s seafood processing industry, with over 166 shore-based plants, 49 catcher-processor vessels and 10 large floating processors, accounts for 70% of Alaska’s manufacturing employment with 26,000 workers annually. While many of these workers are seasonal and come from outside our state, approximately 7,500 Alaskans participate in the seafood processing workforce. Over 40 occupations are supported by the processing sector. However, the seafood processing industry and its workforce are not widely understood in Alaska and are underserved and underrepresented in the three focus areas of this project: workforce training opportunities, youth career exposure and applied research. Alaska’s Seafood Future: Community Resilience through Workforce Development and Research Innovation is a project of the Alaska Research Consortium (ARC), a community/industry organization, with support from the U.S. Economic Development Administration and industry contributors and partners. The project is focused on creating a coordinated and collaborative approach among public and private entities to:
To develop this Action Agenda, ARC surveyed seafood processing leaders, receiving responses from 46 seafood plant managers and three catcher/processor companies, representing over 15,000 workers. Ongoing programs were reviewed and gaps were identified. Draft action steps were developed with our project partners and further enhanced through discussions with stakeholders from industry, government, community groups and educational institutions. The full report outlines the project and provides details on each action step.
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Alaska’s Seafood Future Action Agenda
Fundamental to all of these action steps are three overall recommendations:
- Recognize the economic value and workforce impact of Alaska’s seafood industry across the state.
- Develop relationships and build partnerships between the Alaska seafood industry, researchers, educators/trainers and governments.
- Commit time and funding to support Alaska’s seafood industry and workforce.
Action Steps
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Develop a Seafood Workforce Training Program in Alaska
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Engage Alaska’s Youth in Seafood Processing Careers
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Re-establish Seafood Applied Research in Alaska
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Develop a Seafood Workforce Training Program in Alaska
Alaska’s seafood processing industry often uses on-the-job training for its workforce, but that alone is not enough to meet its needs. As markets and products change, regulatory requirements grow, technical operations become more complex, and personnel turns over, there is a consistent demand for both basic and advanced training. However, seafood workforce training opportunities in Alaska are minimal for the approximately 26,000 seafood processing industry workers.
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Action Steps
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Engage Alaska’s Youth in Seafood Processing CareersIncreasing the employment of Alaska residents in skilled seafood processing industry careers is a primary focus of the Alaska’s Seafood Future project. Skilled occupations provide higher wages, opportunity for advancement and year-round employment. Alaskans can and should fill these positions. Creating awareness among young people about the careers available in the seafood processing industry points them to future employment opportunities and provides encouragement for them to remain in the state. This contributes to community resilience and stability.
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Action Steps
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Re-establish Seafood Applied Research in Alaska
Currently, there are no University of Alaska researchers who work on seafood quality, product development, byproduct use, full utilization and process technology. Limited partnerships between Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory faculty members and researchers from other universities have resulted in some work on seafood product development and quality control. However, much work remains undone due to a lack of capacity for seafood science research at the University of Alaska system. This is concerning since seafood processing represents over 70% of the state’s manufacturing sector. The Alaska’s Seafood Future project found that many seafood managers in Alaska recognize the need for research, but do not understand how to relay priorities to researchers and help get the research conducted.
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Action Steps
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Next Steps
The Alaska’s Seafood Future Action Agenda, designed to support Alaska’s seafood processing industry through workforce training, youth career awareness and seafood applied research, is the product of over 18 months of work by the Alaska Research
Consortium. What happens next, and when, will depend on leadership, commitment and action by the Alaska seafood processing industry; local, tribal, state and federal governments; the University of Alaska; AVTEC and other regional training centers; and local schools and communities. The Alaska Research Consortium will advocate for these steps to be enacted, recognizing the vital role of the Alaska seafood processing industry in the state’s economy and the well-being of our communities.
Consortium. What happens next, and when, will depend on leadership, commitment and action by the Alaska seafood processing industry; local, tribal, state and federal governments; the University of Alaska; AVTEC and other regional training centers; and local schools and communities. The Alaska Research Consortium will advocate for these steps to be enacted, recognizing the vital role of the Alaska seafood processing industry in the state’s economy and the well-being of our communities.
Acknowledgments
This project was conducted by the Alaska Research Consortium (ARC). Primary authors are Paula Cullenberg, acting Executive Director and con-tractor Kris Norosz. We appreciate the significant input from our project partners: Leauri Moore, North Pacific Seafoods; Michael Kohan, formerly with Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute; Nicole Kimball, Pacific Seafood Processors Association; Cari-Ann Carty, Alaska Safety Alliance; Quentin Fong, Alaska Sea Grant; and Tom Lance, Sun’aq Tribe of Kodiak. The contributions of their expertise and time greatly improved this project. Jay Stinson, ARC President, ably administered the project and provided content support. Funding support came from the U.S. Economic Development Administration, Matson Inc, and industry contributions through the ARC. We recognize and thank our partners and funders. We also thank the many people who have participated in this project. This includes the many seafood processing industry members who responded to our survey, were interviewed or otherwise participated in the project and the educators, trainers, community groups and government agency staff who attended our workshops, answered questions, provided input and reviewed our recommendations. We hope that this project will support Alaska’s economy and communities through a strong seafood industry.