A new report produced by an Anchorage economics firm shows that Alaska's seafood industry remains a robust global leader in development of sustainable commercial fisheries, the Marine Conservation Alliance said Feb. 22.

The study by Northern Economics, financed by MCA, is an update of the 2009 Seafood Industry in Alaska's Economy report produced by Northern Economics.

The most significant thing about the report is that it reflects the continued overall health of the Alaska seafood industry, said Frank Kelty, MCA president, and a veteran of many years in the commercial fisheries business.

The seafood industry, including fisheries in state and federal waters, now employs more than 70,000 people, and generates more than $3.3 billion in annual wholesale value.

"The seafood industry operates in dozens of communities along Alaska's entire coastline," Kelty said. "We create family-wage jobs where no other opportunities exist, and we bring significant new money into the state."

Researchers with Northern Economics noted in the report that if it were a nation, Alaska would place 14th among seafood producing countries in 2008, and that the seafood industry, through direct, indirect and induced effects, contributed a total of $4.6 billion to Alaska's economic output in 2009.

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