1999 

 OUR LIVING OCEANS 



Total productivity (t) over the entire range of stock 



Unit number and fisher/ 



13- Alaska salmon 

 14, Alaska herring 

 19, Alaska grouncifish 



Eastern Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands 



Gulf of Alaska 



Halibut (Alaska) 



20 Alaska shellfish 



21 Alaska nearshore species 



Total 



Table 7 



Productivity in metric tons 

 (t) of fisheries resources of 

 theAlaska Region. 1995-97 



Pursing a salmon seine, 

 Dutch Harbor, Alaska. 



Alaska Region 



The Ala.ska Region dominates in the tonnage of fisheries resources that eoiild he 

 obtained in the long term for the United States. Its major resources are I'acific .sahiion, 

 groundfish, I'acific hahbut, shellfish, and herring. Their combined U.S. UFPY is 4,472,638 

 t (Table 7). The resources are generally health}-, with regional CPY 22% below LTPY. The 

 U.S. RAY has been steady at about 2,5 1 0,000 t, or 44% below UTPY. Catches arc substan- 

 tially below the long-term potential because many of the resources, particularly flatfish 

 species, are undertitilized. 



Alaska's salmon stocks have generally produced bumper harvests in recent years, al- 

 though some stocks have been down. The 1\AY of" 376, 100 t is actually 21% above LTPY, 

 because returning salmon runs have been partinil.uly successful. Five species of Pacific 

 salmon (chinook, coho, sockeye, pink, and chum) contribute to the catch. 



The development of domestic groundfish fisheries off Alaska has been a great success 

 under the MSLCMA. Until its implementation in l')"7, Alaska's groundfish fisheries, ex- 

 cept for Pacific halibut, were dominated by foreign fishing. Lhen, within a few years under 

 the new management regime, the U.S. fishery largely replaced the foreign fishing fleets. 



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