Alaska's commercial fishing industry recorded its largest increase in seafood harvesting employment in more than a decade in 2025, reversing five consecutive years of job losses as stronger salmon harvests, recovering crab fisheries, and increased groundfish activity helped bring more fishermen back to work.
According to the November 2026 edition of Alaska Economic Trends, published by the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, seafood harvesting employment increased 4 percent in 2025, adding an average of 216 jobs per month compared with 2024.
The increase marked a turnaround for an industry that had lost approximately 2,300 jobs since 2019, with harvesting employment reaching its lowest level on record in 2024. Despite the improvement, the state's commercial fishing workforce remains considerably smaller than it was a decade ago.
State economist Joshua Warren, who authored the report, told KUCB that the industry's prolonged decline was driven partly by the COVID-19 pandemic, along with fishery closures and reduced catch limits.
"Other industries saw some level of return once COVID measures stopped, but those trends just seemed to continue for seafood harvesting," Warren said.
Closures of major Bering Sea crab fisheries, including snow crab and red king crab, contributed to the losses. However, some fisheries reopened in 2025, and stronger salmon production helped support the industry's recovery.
"And we had a good salmon year, so there wasn't a negative pressure that would cause things to continue to decrease," Warren said.
Salmon and groundfish lead employment gains
Salmon harvesting remained the largest source of commercial fishing employment in Alaska, accounting for approximately 54 percent of all harvesting jobs in 2025.
Employment in the salmon sector increased 7 percent, adding approximately 190 jobs on an annual average basis. The growth followed the loss of roughly 1,500 salmon harvesting jobs between 2019 and 2024.
Strong pink salmon returns during the odd-year cycle contributed to the increase, while better-than-expected salmon runs in Cook Inlet supported additional fishing activity. Kodiak also experienced a boost, with 20 more active purse seine permits than the previous year.
Groundfish harvesting recorded an even larger percentage increase, with employment rising 14 percent, or approximately 93 jobs. The sector, which includes Alaska pollock and other groundfish species, accounts for the largest share of the state's commercial seafood harvest by weight.
According to the state report, groundfish harvesters landed more than 2 billion pounds in 2025. Employment gains were particularly strong during the early months of the year, with February through April reaching some of their highest employment levels in recent years.
Crab harvesting also continued its gradual recovery following major Bering Sea closures. Employment increased by approximately 20 jobs on an annual average basis, supported largely by increased red king crab fishing activity.
However, the recovery was uneven across fisheries. Halibut harvesting lost approximately 60 jobs, nearly 7 percent of its workforce, while sablefish employment declined 5 percent. Miscellaneous shellfish harvesting also recorded losses.
Aleutians continue to lose fishing jobs
Despite statewide growth, the Aleutian and Pribilof Islands region was the only major fishing region to record an employment decline in 2025.
Harvesting jobs in the region fell nearly 4 percent, marking the sixth consecutive year of losses. Groundfish harvesting employment declined approximately 7 percent, even as the sector expanded statewide.
Warren told KUCB that consolidation within the groundfish and crab fleets could be contributing to the region's continued employment losses.
"Multiple permits will be fished on the same boat, or you can have one bigger boat than two medium boats, or something like that, and generally that reduces the number of people you need to harvest the fish," Warren said.
Other regions recorded stronger results. Kodiak's seafood harvesting employment increased 7 percent, supported by gains in salmon and groundfish fishing. Southcentral Alaska recorded approximately 10 percent growth, with salmon accounting for most of the increase.
Bristol Bay experienced a more modest 1.4 percent increase, driven largely by stronger June employment, while Southeast Alaska recorded a slight gain following substantial losses in 2024.
Recovery remains well below historic levels
Although the 2025 employment gains were encouraging, the state report shows Alaska's commercial fishing workforce remains far below historical levels.
Average monthly harvesting employment reached 5,609 jobs in 2025, compared with 5,393 in 2024. In 2015, the industry averaged approximately 8,500 jobs per month.
During the July 2025 peak, seafood harvesting employment reached approximately 17,400 jobs, compared with more than 24,000 during peak summer months in the mid-2010s.
The report also highlighted the continued disappearance of commercial salmon harvesting jobs in the Yukon Delta, where employment has remained at zero since 2022 amid prolonged declines in salmon returns.
The state's employment figures are estimates based on commercial landings, fishing permits and typical crew sizes, rather than direct counts of individual fishermen. The estimates include permit holders and crew members but do not measure seafood processing employment.
Looking ahead, Warren cautioned that salmon harvesting employment could decline slightly in 2026 following the stronger odd-year pink salmon returns in 2025. However, the absence of major new fishery closures could help prevent another substantial statewide decline.
Alaska's fishing industry has begun recovering from years of workforce losses, although the gains remain uneven across species and regions, and employment is still well below pre-pandemic levels.
