May 11, 2020 — Alaska will receive $50 million in federal coronavirus aid for fisheries, the U.S. Department of Commerce has announced, about half what state officials had expected.
Alaska is home to large stocks of pollock, an inexpensive fish used in fast-food sandwiches and fish sticks, and landed 58% of the nation’s seafood by volume in 2018, officials said.
Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy and his administration expected the state to receive about $100 million, or one-third of the $300 million allocated to fisheries in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act because of the state’s contributions to the industry, Anchorage Daily News reported Friday.
State officials even requested in advance that the state Legislature budget and audit committee give it authority to accept the expected federal aid. It has not yet been granted authority.