Fisheries and food security in Alaska

摘要

Any discussion of food security in Alaska is incomplete without at least some attention to the current and potential role of fisheries. For thousands of years, coastal and living marine resources have provided a keystone for the cultural, economic, and environmental health and wellbeing of Alaska's people and communities. Today, Alaska's commercial fishing industry creates over $5.8 billion in direct and indirect economic outputs, and provides over 50 percent of the United States' wild landings. Fishing and fishing-related industries also employ more workers in Alaska than the oil, natural gas, and mining industries combined, and rank third for total economic value behind North Slope oil and the federal government. Likewise, noncommercial fishing activities continue to be of utmost importance to rural and urban communities across the state: "bush" communities both in Alaska's coastal zone and inland rely on salmon and other fish for much of their yearly food supply, and many urban households in the greater Fairbanks and Anchorage areas share a valued tradition of dip-netting for salmon on the Copper and Kenai rivers.