May 12, 2021 — A raw fish tax that has pumped tens of millions of dollars into coastal communities over the past decade has survived a legal challenge before Alaska’s highest court.
The state can tax seafood caught beyond the 3-mile line in federal waters, then loaded on a bulk carrier at the dock for foreign export, without violating provisions of the U.S. Constitution.
That’s according to the Alaska Supreme Court, which released its 31-page ruling Friday.
Fishermen’s Finest, a Washington state seafood company that operates factory trawlers and exports most of its product overseas, had challenged the state’s tax in court. It argued that there are protections against state taxation on shipping in coastal state waters, and a lower state superior court agreed.
But the justices, writing in a unanimous opinion, found that the fees assessed on Fishermen’s Finest’s products are not unconstitutional
“The landing tax is not opportunistic taxation of vessels ‘merely transiting’ adjacent waters without landing or benefitting from any local services,” the justices wrote.