Arctic Economics

U.S. Arctic Fisheries

Photo from August 2008 fisheries survey in the Beaufort Sea (north of Alaska). Bottom trawl catches were dominated by invertebrates; 41% of the total weight captured in the bottom trawls was Ophiura sarsi, a brittlestar (pictured here).  Photo credit is Erika Acuna, Alaska Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA.

Fisheries experts at the University of British Columbia have prepared time series estimates of total harvests in U.S. Arctic fisheries: Baseline Study of Marine Fisheries Catches from Arctic Alaska: 1950–2006. Prior to this, estimates of regional harvests, particularly for small scale subsistence fisheries, were intermittent and fragmentary.

What are they saying about the new U.S. Arctic policy?

Betsy Baker at the Vermont Law School points out that the President's policy statement only included a general reference to icebreaking capability and that the short supplementary statement by the Coast Guard Commandant, didn't mention it at all:  U.S. Coast Guard Statement on new Arctic Region Policy: Icebreakers, anyone?

The New U.S. Arctic Policy Directive

On Monday the Bush administration released a 3,800 word document serving as both a Homeland Security and a National Security Presidential Directive on U.S. Arctic Policy: Arctic Region Policy.  This is a statement of executive intent, relevant to the extent that the executive has discretion to take action.  One part is simply a recommendation to the Senate: ratify the Law of the Sea Treaty.

Much of the directive is pretty innocuous: the U.S. is an Arctic nation, the U.S. has security interests in the Arctic, it needs to increase infrastructure and security assets in the region, development should take account of environmental concerns, more scientific research is needed, international cooperation is important.  A few points stand out, although none should be surprising:

New U.S. Arctic Policy

President Bush evidently signed off on a U.S. Arctic policy on Friday.  Information is sketchy this weekend - look for many more details on Monday.  The weblog Arctic Mapping and the Law of the Sea has the story: President Bush Signs United States Arctic Policy.

What drives the Alaska economy?

The University of Alaska's Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER) has released a new report by Scott Goldsmith - an economic base analysis of Alaska's economy: Structural Analysis of the Alaska Economy: What are the Drivers?

The Federal government (direct and indirect impacts) accounts for about a third of resident employment and 40% of resident personal income.  Petroleum is next, with about 30% of resident employment and almost 30% of income.  Seafood, mining, timber, agriculture, tourism, air cargo, and other manufacturing and services account for about 30% of employment and about 20% of income.  Retirement and non-earned income accounts for the rest.

Given the importance of the Federal government, it's reasonable to ask, How Vulnerable Is Alaska’s Economy to Reduced Federal Spending?, as Goldsmith did in an ISER policy piece last July:

"In Western Alaska, 52% of all adults use smokeless tobacco."

That's 52% as opposed to 2% nationally.  "...research of medical charts shows 82 percent of pregnant women in the region use tobacco -- 61 percent chew iqmik [a type of smokeless tobacco, see below - Ben] or a commercial tobacco and 21 percent smoke. Nationally, the smokeless tobacco use rate for pregnant women is under 1 percent."

The Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta in Southwest Alaska (Source: Wikipedia)

In the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta region - the area referred to as "Western Alaska" in the title -  an area with a predominately Yupik Eskimo population - they mix tobacco leaves with "the ash of a fungus (Phellinus igniarius) that grows on birch trees."  The product, called "iqmik" is an unusually potent smokeless tobacco product.  "Researchers believe the ash raises the pH level in the mouth, which increases the dose and enhances delivery of nicotine to the brain. In effect, the user is freebasing nicotine."

The Cruise of the Queenfish

In 1970 the U.S nuclear submarine Queenfish explored the fringes of the Soviet Union's eastern Arctic Laptev, East Siberian, and Chukchi Seas.  Alfred McLaren, the Captain of the Queenfish at the time, told the story last spring in his book Unknown Waters.

Queenfish followed the route shown in the map below (taken from a New York Times story based on the book): Queenfish: A Cold War Tale.

The route of the Queenfish through the Arctic Ocean.  Source: New York Times.

The Queenfish entered the Chukchi Sea on July 30, passing submerged through the Bering Strait.  She turned east, traveled to the latitude of Barrow, and then took off for the pole, reaching it on on August 5. 

Gazprom explores Alaska

Senior Gazprom executives met with State of Alaska and energy company executives earlier this week.  They were interested in local business opportunities, including potential participation in one of the projects to build a gas pipeline from the North Slope tthrough Canada to the Lower-48.  Wesley Loy reports for the Anchorage Daily News: Russian Gas Conglomerate Visits Alaska.

Life in Eek

Rural Alaska has one foot in the modern cash economy, and the other in an older subsistence economy.  In the subsistence economy, rural residents hunt, fish, and gather foods and materials.  The economies overlap.  The subsistence economy needs cash for fuel, snowmobiles, ammunition, and other stuff, and some items coming out of the subsistence economy are sold.

Mark Constantine describes life in the remote, Yupik village of Eek in Alaska, for readers in Michigan: Remote Alaskan village hangs onto heritage.  He covers the subsistence economy well, but although the residents of Eek are obviously spending a fair amount of cash, there's not much information about where it comes from.

The 2000 census says the 280 or so residents of Eek had an aggregate income of about $2.5 million.  The article mentions one man who serves in the National Guard and another who works as a village public safety officer.  I can guess that some comes from government jobs in the school or village government, some comes from work in regional commercial fisheries, some from the Alaska Permanent Fund or Alaska Native corporation disbursements, and some from transfer payments.

Hat tip to Grassroots Science.

Showdown at the Pole

Ice Station Zebra poster.  Source: LearnAboutMovie Posters.

Mark Galeotti writes about possible Arctic conflict between Russia and the North American countries,   ("Cold Calling - Competition heats up for Arctic resources" - Jane's Intelligence Review, September 18, 2008). 

In summary: