AFSC/REFM: Community Profiles for North Pacific Fisheries, Alaska 2011

In 2005, the Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC) compiled baseline socioeconomic information about 136 Alaska communities most involved in commercial fisheries. In 2010 and 2011, AFSC went through the process of evaluating the community profiles and determining how to update them. A NOAA Technical Memorandum finalized in October 2011 documents the process we are undertaking to update the Community Profiles for North Pacific Fisheries - Alaska (NOAA-TM-AFSC-230). In addition, the communities to be included in the updated document were reevaluated to ensure that communities with significant reliance on commercial, recreational and subsistence fishing are included. A total of 196 communities have been profiled. The new profiles add a significant amount of new information to help provide a better understanding of each community's reliance on fishing. Introductory materials cover purpose, methods, and an overview of the profiled communities in the larger context of the state of Alaska and North Pacific fisheries. The community profiles comprise additional information including, but not limited to, annual population fluctuation, fisheries-related infrastructure, community finances, natural resources, educational opportunities, fisheries revenue, shore-based processing plant narratives, landings and permits by species, and subsistence and recreational fishing participation, as well as information collected from communities in the Alaska Community Survey, which was implemented during summer 2011, and the Processor Profiles Survey, which was implemented in Fall 2011.