The Department of Fish and Game revealed that apart from such high catch in 2007 anglers in Alaska reported spending nearly $1.4 billion. This shows that fishing business in Alaska is thriving well. Since their methods differ, the numbers aren’t all apples-to-apples, said Dave Benton, executive director of the Marine Conservation Alliance. He also added that this gives a picture of how big Alaska is in terms of a player on the global seafood market.
It is informed that southeast was the only one of the three Alaska areas where nonresident anglers spent more money than residents in 2007: $175 million versus $99 million. Recreational anglers in Alaska, resident or non, spent $1.4 billion on fishing trips, equipment and land maintenance in 2007, according to Fish and Game.
Fish and Game has two big reasons for the study such as the department wants to figure out how to get the most economic impact out of fishing in each region, if that’s what the local areas also want. This means that the Interior Alaska might be “underutilized.” It is told that this data is supposed to help the department decide in the future how to allocate its funding, Evans said. But that can’t be done until the department can see trends over time; this is just the first study.
Southeast charter fishermen fighting for more halibut, for instance, often say the fish their clients catch is worth more because their clients spend so much money here. It is noted that the Board of Fish uses economic impacts as one of eight criteria to decide allocations. But she backed away from the charter-versus-commercial allocation fights.
