Extending Federal Crop Insurance Programs to Commercial Fisheries: The Case of Bristol Bay, Alaska, Sockeye Salmon

Abstract

This paper analyzes the feasibility of extending the U.S. Department of Agriculture's crop insurance program to the Bristol Bay, Alaska, capture fishery for sockeye salmon Oncorhynchus nerka . The impetus for this program has been a string of poor sockeye salmon fishing seasons followed by a series of disaster declarations in western Alaska. The mission of the Risk Management Agency, for whom this analysis was prepared, is to help stabilize the agricultural sector, not to provide disaster payments that offset permanent industry shifts by assuring producers some historical (but no longer attainable) production or revenue levels. Without a contemporaneous effort to restructure and rationalize the program of limited entry, the proposed crop insurance program for Bristol Bay cannot provide meaningful relief to a maladaptive industry that is beleaguered by excessive costs and increased competition.