Alaska, shellfish industry

Second, in addition to the PSP problem, the commercialization of Alaska s shellfish industry is hampered by high labor and transportation costs along with a scarcity of readily available capital. However, these problems lend themselves to solutions through innovation, mechanization and some forms of low interest state loans. 

At a time when the available resources are decreasing due to pollution and overfishing elsewhere in the United States, a consumer demand for shellfish products has created the conditions for an expanding and profitable market. Alaska, with its relatively uninhabited and unpolluted shoreline, with its many species of commercially harvestable shellfish, has a great potential for economic growth, if a renewed shellfish industry can be established. 

In 1917 the industry produced five million pounds of shellfish products ( ). Today Alaska s commercial clam fishery is virtually nonexistent. The destruction of this fledgling clam industry in the 1940s was a direct result of product contamination by PSP. Forty years later we are still seeking a solution but, we are beginning to see a light at the end of the tunnel. 

A third concern is the industry s ability to compete with clam products harvested from the East Coast, Canada, Japan and Korea. To successfully compete, we must establish a reputation for a safe and wholesome quality product. To this end, Alaska has become a member of the National Shellfish Sanitation Program which allows us to participate in interstate marketing. In addition, the state has instituted a seafood certification program. 

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