Economic status of the groundfish fisheries off Alaska, 1994

Abstract

The North Pacific groundfish fishery in the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) off Alaska has changed from primarily a foreign fishery up to 1984, to one where joint venture fisheries were dominant during 1986-88, and most recently, to one where the domestic fishery accounts for all of the catch.

Foreign fishing ended in 1987. Joint venture fisheries, in which domestic fishing vessels delivered their catch directly to foreign at-sea processors, peaked in 1987 at 1.39 million metric tons (t) and ended in 1990. The total catch in the domestic groundfish fishery in 1994 totaled 2.24 million t, up 4% from 1993. The ex-vessel value of the fishery, excluding the value added by at-sea processing, increased from $414 million in 1993 to $439 million in 1994. The value of the resulting products increased from $1.0 billion in 1993 to $1.1 billion in 1994, and the value of groundfish exports from the Pacific Northwest, which consists principally of products from the Alaska groundfish fisheries, increased from $833 million in 1993 to $862 million in 1994.

This report presents the groundfish catch and ex-vessel value by area, species, gear, residency of vessel owners, and mode of operation. The U.S. groundfish fleet in the North Pacific is also summarized by area, gear utilized, vessel length, residency of vessel owners, and mode of operation. Lastly, the trends in North Pacific groundfish exports, U.S. groundfish imports, prices of competing products, consumption, foreign exchange rates, and cold storage holdings are reviewed. With the exception of the exports, Pacific halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis) is not included in this report because for management purposes halibut is not part of the groundfish complex.


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