Commercial Fisheries
Information by Area
Alaska's fisheries are managed at a local area level. This approach was adopted at the time of statehood and was intended to remedy many of the problems that were experienced under federal management of Alaska's fisheries. Time and experience have validated the merits of this approach. Alaska's salmon fisheries have been rebuilt from the low levels that prevailed at the end of the territorial period to the highest level of sustained production recorded since commercial fishing began in 1878. Local area management puts the fishery manager, and supporting research staff, in close proximity to the resources being managed and to the people harvesting and processing those resources. It is what can best be called an information rich environment that provides for rapid decisions based on changing conditions on the fishing grounds and at stock assessment projects. The Division of Commercial Fisheries operates 23 area offices, which are organized into four regions.