Alaska’s fishing industry pays a high price for the war in Iran
Fishermen say the high cost of fuel may make it unprofitable to take their boats out to sea this season.
The international fishing industry is facing tighter profit margins as oil market disruptions stemming from the war in Iran drive up the price of fuel. Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association executive director Linda Behnken told Reuters that lower prices for some catches may make it unprofitable for fishermen to take their boats out this season.
Diesel costs have climbed, and it’s hitting fishing operations especially hard: Fuel can make up as much as 40% of the total operating expenses of a fishing trip, Behnken said. With profit margins already tight, many independent and small-scale operators are finding that it may be cheaper to keep their boats moored than to head out to sea.
“It went up over a dollar a gallon from one week to the next and right before everybody was filling up with full tanks to start the season,” Behnken, a fisherman in Sitka, told Reuters. “That’s a really big impact on the cost of operation.”
Behnken added that because the price of halibut and sablefish has remained high, boats that fish for those species are still able to afford the fuel increases, but that when the season for less-profitable salmon arrives in July, it may not be worth the cost for fishermen to take their boats out.
According to a May report released by the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, an organization that promotes the industry, in 2023-24 it contributed over $5 billion to Alaska’s economy each year, was the nation’s largest producer of wild seafood, and supported over 41,000 jobs, 15,000 of them in Alaska.
Between the costs of maintenance and fuel, it’s hard to make a profit, Mathew Crisafi-Lurtsema, an engineering student and commercial fisherman in Prince William Sound, told the Sun Star, a University of Alaska Fairbanks newspaper.
Many homes and even entire electrical grids in rural areas of the state are powered by diesel fuel.
Bethel city manager Lori Strickler told KYUK that she is expecting a 30% increase in fuel costs over the next year and is looking at ways of conserving energy, such as closing down some municipal buildings.
KTUU reported last month that state legislators sent a letter warning U.S. Republican Rep. Nick Begich and House Republicans, ” The state is facing an energy crisis of extraordinary and unprecedented scale.”
“Fuel prices in rural Alaska have already skyrocketed to extreme levels – this before current supply chain shocks take effect-and are exceeding $17.50 per gallon of home heating fuel in some communities,” the letter reads.
According to the Alaska Daily News, the Golden Valley Electric Association has told its customers in Fairbanks that prices for fuel will increase by 25% over the summer.
“We now have updated data, and I want to be candid: this is an extraordinarily large increase — perhaps the most significant increase our cooperative has ever faced,” said Travis Million, the company’s chief executive.
