Bristol Bay runs on salmon

August 7, 2006
Sitnews (AK)
By LAINE WELCH

The rivers that flow into Bristol Bay comprise some of the last great wild salmon ecosystems in North America, and they support the largest sockeye salmon fishery in the world. Bristol Bay is Alaska's most valuable salmon fishery and has the most permit holders (2,849) ­ and nearly one-third of all earnings from Alaska salmon fishing come from Bristol Bay.

The region is salmon ecosystem dependent, and accounts for nearly 64 percent of all employment with an associated payroll of about $190 million in 2005. Salmon also represent 52 percent of the region's subsistence harvests.
Those are just a few of the findings in a report titled "Economics of Wild Salmon Watersheds at Bristol Bay" unveiled by Scott Goldsmith of the University of Alaska's Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER). The report, funded by Trout Unlimited, estimates the economic values associated primarily with fisheries and wildlife in watersheds of Bristol Bay.

"The fish and the entire environment around the salmon drives not only the commercial fishery but also almost all the recreation and tourism activity. The estimated payroll associated with salmon ecosystem dependent jobs was $188.8 million in 2005. Tourism adds about another $100 million plus, mostly for fishing,but also for wildlife viewing and other activities in the region," Goldsmith told KDLG.

Next to commercial fishing and processing, sport fishing is the second most important economic engine in Bristol Bay, accounting for $122 million last year. "That comes mostly from nonresidents who come to fish at high end lodges," Goldsmith said, adding that anglers say they are attracted by the region's uncrowded, remote, and wild setting.

Last year nearly 64,409 recreational visitors came to the region, spending nearly $152.644 million on trip related expenditures. Most trips were related to sport fishing, although hunting and "passive use" trips such as wildlife viewing, kayaking, bird watching, hiking, etc. were also popular and accounted for significant spending.

Bristol Bay's population is estimated at 7,600 people in 25 communities. The share of the population that is Alaska native is 70 percent, compared to Alaska as a whole at 16 percent. Goldsmith said the extreme seasonal nature of the regional economy is startling.

"What was most interesting for me as an economist was to be able to quantify how much variation is going on out there. There are about five times as many jobs in the summer than in the winter. That is unprecedentedit's really amazing," he said. According to the report, summer employment climbs by almost 14,000 jobs to a total of 17,750 and declines in winter to 3,640 jobs.

The Bristol Bay Salmon Watershed Study includes visitor reactions to the proposed copper and gold mine and accompanying roads that would run through the heart of the region. Find the report at www.iser.uaa.alaska.edu.

Date: 8/7/2006