Impact Analysis of Changes in Fishery Regulations in the Norton Sound Red King Crab Fishery

Abstract

In 1994, the Norton Sound summer red king crab fishery became the only federally managed Alaska king crab fishery designated as "super-exclusive." The new designation has fundamentally changed this fishery's industrial structure: previously dominated by a highly capitalized, distant-water fleet, it has become a small-scale local fishery. A regional economic input-output model was constructed to evaluate the economic impacts of this "new" fishery on the Nome region. The model results indicate that in 1994 this industry was able to contribute over half a million dollars in income to an economically depressed region of Alaska where few local industries exist and the prospects for developing new industries are dim. Furthermore, model results suggest that the regional economic impact nearly doubles when the contributions of both increased local processing and participation by other western Alaska communities are included in the estimation.