Alaska's seafood exports to Japan the first half of last year neared the $600-million mark, and fish accounted for 63 percent of that value, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Department of Commerce.
That's an optimistic trend in comparison to 1997, when export values for the entire year totaled that much and was a vast improvement over total export values of $340 million in 1998, the year of Japan's economic crunch. At the same time, exchange rates slipped up to around 140 yen to the dollar and the sockeye salmon runs to Bristol Bay came in at less than half strength. Nearly 60 percent of Alaska's annual sockeye crop arrives in Japan via container van.
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