New Report Says SEAK SeaBank Contributes Billions to Area Economy
A new report highlighting the value of Southeast Alaska’s terrestrial and marine environment, including its commercial fisheries, concludes annual economic dividends from fisheries and tourism to its communities are valued at $1 billion and 16,500 jobs.
The 2024 Seabank Annual Report, released Nov. 17 by the Alaska Sustainable Fisheries Trust in Sitka, notes that in 2024 the SeaBank had a value of $5.3 billion in ecosystem services such as marine nurseries and wetland buffers from 850,000 acres of estuaries and 2.7 billion metric tons of carbon sequestered in the SeaBank forest. The report also identifies as threats to that natural capital industrial logging, trawling, mining and climate change.
“This incredible bank supports over 72,000 human shareholders’ in 33 communities, alo...