A timeline of commercial fishing in Alaska: looking at forces that have shaped the state's giant industry.

• Author: Vick, Gale K.
• Position: Chronology

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To follow the history of fishing in Alaska is to understand Alaska itself. Fishing has been the primary or secondary economic support industry for the state for centuries. There is nothing that captures so much the very essence of Alaska's collective culture as the epic battles for the rights to fish.

It can easily be argued that the history of fishing in the Last Frontier belongs to the millennia, to the indigenous coastal and river populations who have depended on their adjacent marine resources since possibly 12,000 years ago. Many indigenous cultures are thought to have been incredibly rich by the standards of times past, with an abundance of food caught and preserved by some very ingenious methods. Fisheries in the indigenous world were harvested for the communal good and the sea was the primary source of sustenance. The name "Alaska" itself is most commonly felt derived from the Aleut word "alaxsxaq" often translated as "mainland" or "great land" but meaning literally "the object toward which the action of the sea is directed" or "where the sea breaks its back."

The concept of "ownership" of Alaska's marine resources changed dramatically with Western contact, beginning with the arrival of the Russians in the late 18th century and continuing through a roller coaster of events and actions that sought-and still seeks-to control the incredibly productive North Pacific. Control over Alaska's fisheries resource was one of the primary motivators for Alaskan Statehood in 1959 and from statehood to the present, there has been continual friction between State and federal fisheries management and beneficiaries.

The post-Russian history of Alaska's commercial fishing industry is an intricate web of international, territorial, federal and state law that has resulted in a very complex management schematic. Generally, Alaska governs fisheries within the "3-mile limit" and the federal government manages from 3 miles out to the 200 mile EEZ ("exclusive economic zone") but there are many joint and cross-jurisdictional issues and protocols. The State of Alaska governs through the Alaska Board of Fisheries and manages through the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, in coordination with other state departments. The Alaska Legislature creates the state laws. In the North Pacific, the federal government governs through the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council (NPFMC) and manages through the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS as a department of NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), in coordination with other federal agencies. Congress creates the federal laws. The International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) governs and manages migratory Pacific halibut between U.S. and Canadian waters on the Pacific coast, deciding the annual total allowable catch (TAC) working with the North Pacific Council and the Alaska Board of Fisheries. The sheer complexity of this management system requires a virtual year-round schedule of management meetings and activities and a solid...