By Arni Thompson, Alaska Fisheries Consulting

I always enjoy the Annual SWAMC Economic Summit and Membership Meeting and I have been attending it for over ten years in one capacity or another involving Alaska’s commercial fishing and seafood industry. SWAMC  represents 57 coastal communities in Southwest Alaska, most of which are heavily dependent on commercial fishing and related waterborne commerce (cargo shipments), air travel, and a growing tourism industry. The annual combined wholesale values of the shore-based and the at-sea processed seafood exceeded $3 billion annually from 2010 to 2014. (Economic Contributions of Southwest Alaska, Northern Economics, available at SWAMC).

As a contractor involved in Bering Sea crab fisheries for over twenty five years, I learned to appreciate the SWAMC voice and the friendly interaction with community  and  business representatives who belong to SWAMC’s Associate Membership program. For the last four years I have represented Southcentral commercial fishing processors and fishermen and I quickly discovered the overlap amongst seafood companies, fishermen, and service and supply companies that operate in both regions. Anchorage is recognized as an inter-regional hub for commercial interaction of the seafood and maritime transportation industries, in addition to oil, gas, construction, and tourism.

The Southcentral commercial fishing and seafood industry generated $1.2 billion in total economic output in Southcentral Alaska in 2013. This figure includes $685 million in first wholesale value of seafood products. Secondary impacts to finance, transportation and logistics, fuel, and equipment added an estimated $501 million. The industry also accounted for 8,130 “full-time equivalent" jobs (FTEs), and over $400 million in labor income in Southcentral Alaska in 2013.  A McDowell study contracted by the Alaska Salmon Alliance in 2015 (www.aksalmonalliance.org) explains the critical role that seafood plays in Cordova, Kenai, Homer, Seward, and Valdez, and provides new information on the significance of the seafood industry to Anchorage and the Mat-Su Valley. A McDowell companion report entitled “The Ties That Bind, the Economic Impact of Alaska on the Puget Sound Region” (2015) shows that Puget Sound exports $5.4 billion in goods and products to Alaska. Both the Southwest and Southcentral regions play a major role in the interstate commerce between Alaska and Washington State.
      
In a very direct keynote address on March 2^nd, Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz applauded SWAMC for its work as a regional economic organization. He noted that the only problem with SWAMC is that it is too small, and he encouraged SWAMC to reach out and grow the organization in other regions. The Mayor noted that an inter-regional economic organization is needed more than ever with the anticipated long-term shrinkage of State budget expenditures and the need for coastal communities in Alaska to be adequately represented in the Legislature.

Having traveled extensively to Southcentral and Southwestern fishing ports, I see common ground between the regions. SWAMC could test the water on inter-regional cooperation by reaching out to local Southcentral Chambers of Commerce in the identified seafood and maritime industry ports in an effort to start the conversation.