Economy

For more than 30 years, Unalaska’s economy has been based primarily on commercial fishing, seafood processing, fleet services, and marine transportation. The Port of Dutch Harbor is the only deep draft port from Unimak Pass, west to Adak and north to the Bering Straits that is ice-free year-round. Our Port has been designated a “Port of Refuge” and provides protection and repair for disabled or distressed vessels as well as ground and warehouse storage and transshipment opportunities for the thousands of vessels that fish or transit the waters surrounding the Aleutian Islands daily.

Unalaska is the anchor for commercial fishing activity in the Bering Sea and the Aleutian Islands.  According to NOAA’s report Fisheries of the United States 2022, Unalaska’s Port of Dutch Harbor again led the nation with the greatest quantity of fish landed, a distinction held for more than 25 years, and during those same years, our port was rated either first or second in value of the catch.  During 2022, commercial fishermen delivered 613.5 million pounds of seafood at our port, valued at $160 million.  Approximately 400 vessels fish the Aleutian Islands and the Bering Sea for various groundfish, halibut, salmon, herring, and several species of crab.  The fleet utilizes approximately 12,000 feet of City dock space with an additional 10,000 feet of commercial dock space available within the community. 

Unalaska is also the home of the westernmost container terminal in the United States and is one of the most productive ports for the transshipment of cargo in Alaska.   In addition to products shipped domestically to and from this regional hub, product is shipped to ports around the world with weekly shipments headed to Europe and Asia by container ship and freighter.  Three rail cranes are located in the community, two at the Unalaska Marine Center and one at a private commercial dock. 
  
Unalaska is unique among Alaska’s coastal communities in the support services provided.   In addition to the five seafood processing facilities in Unalaska, the business community provides a wide range of support services including accounting and bookkeeping, banking, cold storage, construction and engineering, diesel sales and service, electrical service and marine electronics, equipment (forklifts, cranes, top picks), freight forwarding, gear replacement and repair, hydraulic services, logistical support, marine pilots and tugs, maritime agencies, stevedoring, trucking, vehicle rental, vessel repair, warehousing and welding.  Because of the wide variety of services provided every day, no other community in the region has Unalaska’s capacity to support commercial fishing in the Bering Sea.