Bills aimed at rescuing ailing Alaska seafood industry face tough budget challenges
Alaska’s seafood industry, squeezed by depressed fish prices and increased costs, is in a crisis. Also in a crisis is the Alaska state budget, with both investment income and oil revenues in sharp decline. That presents a dilemma for lawmakers trying to find ways to help the beleaguered seafood industry. What can they do to boost the industry’s fortunes at a time when they are staring down a big budget deficit? Some bills are pending in the Legislature that aim to aid fishers, the industry and the communities that depend on seafood harvests. Those include bills responding directly to recommendations made by a legislative task force that worked for several months prior to the session’s start. As to which bills are likely to pass this year and which might have to wait until 2026, one task force member had a succinct answer. “The ones that don’t cost money,” Sen. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka,,, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:52
Do Trawlers represent the seafood industry? Since they are so big?