The beginning of 2009 marked the 50th anniversary of being part of the United States of America, with the proclamation being signed on the 3rd January 1959 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The Alaskan people have been celebrating their golden anniversary by looking back into history recalling what makes them such a unique and important state. Most of their sustainable industries make them unique to the United States and these include oil, tourism, mining, and commercial fishing.

The processing of seafood has been one of the leading industries in Alaska for 50 years now, and as a powerhouse in the seafood business, they produce Pollock, Salmon, Halibut, King Crab, Sablefish, and others. The success of the seafood industry is mainly due to its processing plants.

If you work in a seafood processing factory, you will get to see more of the business side of the industry and what makes it such a huge operation. The Alaskan plants are responsible for the majority of the seafood going to Europe, Asia, and the rest of the Unites States. Fish processing workers have difficult conditions to work in, and transportation jobs can be very dangerous, as travel is along ice with no actual roads.

The industry is the largest in the United States with over 5.3 billion pounds of fish being caught in 2007 – almost half of the total 9.2 billion for America. When looking at the job potential in this industry you will see that commercial fishing and seafood processing, accounts for the largest private sector business in the State. During 2007 alone, there were almost 54,000.00 people employed in various commercial fishing enterprises, with the seafood processing industry workers making up 23,600.00 of those.

The peak season for the commercial fishing industry and seafood processing is during the summer salmon fishing months. Alaska still has the largest salmon population in the world and most job seekers flood here during the season. If you want to find a job in this massive sector, you should take a look at the types of fishing jobs you can get on the Alaska Job Finder website. You can also apply online for fishing industry jobs once you are a member.