Kodiak Island Borough

Area Description & History

The largest island in the Gulf of Alaska, Kodiak Island is approximately 25 miles across the Shelikof Straight from the Katmai Coast and 90 miles southwest of the Kenai Peninsula. Kodiak Island has been inhabited for the past 8,000 years by the Alutiiq peoples who traditionally harvested fish, marine invertebrates, and marine mammals on the Island. A majority of the Alaska Native population living in Kodiak today are Alutiiq. Their language is Alutiiq, which is one of the “Esk-Aleut” languages and is closely related to Central Yup’ik.1 Russians established a fur trading settlement at Chiniak Bay in the late 1700s. In 1882 a fish cannery opened in Karluk spit, sparking further commercial development. Today, Kodiak communities are highly reliant on both commercial and subsistence fishing. The majority of commercial vessels and seafood processing plants are in Kodiak City, which is Alaska’s second largest commercial fishing port in volume of seafood landed. There are two main harbors in Kodiak City: St. Paul Harbor and St. Herman Harbor which is the larger of the two. While the majority of the population of Kodiak Island live in Kodiak City, there are seven other island communities including Akhiok, Port Lions, Larsen Bay, Old Harbor, Karluk and Ouzinkie. Kodiak Island communities are administered under the Kodiak Island Borough. Native Associations active in the area include the Natives of Kodiak, Inc., Koniag, Inc., and the Kodiak Area Native Association. Kodiak is located in Federal Statistical and Reporting Area 630, Pacific Halibut Fishery Regulatory Area 3A, and Central Gulf of Alaska Sablefish Regulatory Area

Infrastructure & Transportation

Kodiak Island is accessible by air and sea, however accessibility varies drastically among communities. Kodiak City has two small airports, which have several daily flights. Air taxi services provide flights to five remote villages; however, weather conditions often restrict travel. City-owned seaplane bases at Trident Basin and Lilly Lake accommodate floatplane traffic. The state ferry operates three to four times a week between Kodiak and Homer, and in the summer months, includes other ports as far west as Dutch Harbor. The Port of Kodiak has two boat harbors with 600 boat slips. Three deep-draft piers accommodate ferries, cruise ships, container ships, military vessels, and a variety of large commercial fishing vessels. Approximately 140 miles of state roads connect island communities on the east side of the island. However, island communities have limited access to basic services, including medical services, and residents must travel to Kodiak City or Anchorage for treatment.

Demographics

Kodiak Island Borough has experienced substantial declines in population since the early 2000s.2 While this trend holds for Kodiak City itself, the population declines in Kodiak Island communities have led to concerns over school enrollment and stability. Total K-12 school enrollment for Kodiak Island communities has decreased by 15.5% since 2008. Larsen Bay School closed in 2018, and Karluk school closed in 2019 due to low enrollment.

The loss of fisheries access and participation for Kodiak City and Island communities over the last three decades has profoundly affected the economic underpinning of these communities and ways of life that existed for thousands of years.345 These losses have compounded across multiple generations, who have lost connection to these resources and knowledge of harvesting practices.678 In the face of increasing climate-driven changes and other stressors, the lack of fisheries access and diversification that these losses represent may fundamentally undermine Kodiak City and Island communities.

Akhiok Karluk Kodiak Larsen Bay Old Harbor Ouzinkie Port Lions
Demographics
Population 61 28 5,384 37 206 112 165
Population in group housing 0 0 165 0 0 0 0
Median household income $69,750 NA $76,765 $77,500 $40,156 $53,750 $50,000
Housing units 34 27 2,129 83 128 68 122
Percentages
Male 65.3% 66.7% 53.3% 58.7% 54.8% 48.9% 45.2%
Female 34.7% 33.3% 46.7% 41.3% 45.2% 51.1% 54.8%
White 0.0% 0.0% 38.4% 43.5% 18.7% 4.4% 37.9%
American Indian or Alaska Native 90.8% 81.5% 4.1% 23.9% 63.2% 46.7% 43.5%
Black or African American 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 4.3% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
Asian 0.0% 0.0% 47.9% 15.2% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 1.3% 0.0% 0.0%
Hispanic or Latino 0.0% 0.0% 6.1% 4.3% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
Below poverty line 4.1% 0.0% 9.0% 15.2% 44.5% 11.1% 4.0%
High school diploma or higher 46.2% 100.0% 86.5% 92.1% 83.7% 83.6% 93.9%
Population under 5 3.1% 0.0% 4.5% 4.3% 9.7% 1.1% 1.6%
Population over 18 91.8% 100.0% 80.8% 87.0% 76.8% 83.3% 88.7%
Population over 65 3.1% 18.5% 16.2% 26.1% 9.7% 22.2% 29.8%
Source: US Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (2018-2022)
Population and group housing estimates sourced from Alaska Department of Labor, 2023

Current Economy

Commercial fishing, seafood processing, and commercial fishing support services are the major industries contributing to the local economy in Kodiak. The U.S. Coast Guard station and hospital are also significant employers. Other industries include retail services and government. Tourism is growing, including with increasing sport fishing and hunting, hiking, and kayaking. In 2023, the Kodiak Island Borough collected $22.58 million in tax revenue, the vast majority of which ($19.35M) was from property taxes. Fisheries-related tax revenues for the Kodiak Island Borough amounted to $1.36 million in 2023. These revenues support basic city services such as education, sanitation, transportation, etc. and are important indicators of community health and wellbeing.

Climate Change Vulnerability and Adaptive Capacity

Exposure to Biophysical Effects of Climate Change

A community’s exposure to the biophysical effects of climate change, which include effects to the biological organisms and physical landscape surrounding them, aids in determining their vulnerability. Biophysical risks to the Gulf of Alaska as a whole include sea level rise, coastal erosion, extreme weather events, changes in precipitation (rates, timing, and snowpack), increasing landslides and avalanches, and increased storm severity. In its 2018 hazard management plan, the Kodiak Island Borough explicitly chose not to evaluate the potential hazards posed by climate change, noting “The Borough and City of Kodiak do not want to include climate change as a potential hazard affecting the island”. Nevertheless, the hazard management plan identifies a number of hazards that could affect the Borough–riverine erosion, landslides, wildland fire, severe weather–which could be exacerbated by increasing extreme weather events due to climate change. The Borough is currently updating its hazard management plan.9

Dependence on Fisheries Affected by Climate Change

Kodiak Island is overall highly dependent on a large variety of fisheries resources which will be impacted by climate change. Residents are highly engaged in harvesting and processing within the groundfish fishery, and moderately engaged in harvesting and highly engaged in processing within the crab fishery. Marine heatwaves, ocean acidification, species migrations, and smaller fish which are affecting the Gulf of Alaska will likely impact the ability of commercial fishers on the Island to operate as they have been.10 There are already numerous examples of climate impacts on the local fleet. The decline of Pacific cod following the 2014 to 2016 marine heatwave and the ultimate closure of the fishery had a devastating impact on the local jig fleet that is highly reliant on Pacific cod. Increased volatility across numerous salmon species and runs, mostly recently with a significantly lower than expected pink salmon return, have also greatly undermined the gillnet and seine salmon fleets on the Island. In 2024, the closure of the processing facility in Larsen Bay and the sale of the Trident processing facility in Kodiak further compounded this volatility, leaving many fishermen without a buyer for their fish and the community of Larsen Bay without an important revenue source. 

In addition, the island is highly reliant on recreational fishing and tourism related to recreational fishing for their current economy. Kodiak Island communities are also significantly engaged in subsistence fishing, particularly of crab species and certain groundfish species. They also harvest salmon and halibut for subsistence purposes. Their combined use of several fisheries for subsistence makes them reliant on these resources which likely support household food security, particularly in smaller communities where pounds harvested per capita are high. Finally, there are several subsistence and sport salmon fishing closures active around Kodiak Island including one that spans the marine waters near the outlet of the Buskin River and one in the marine waters of Afognak Bay.11 These closures are likely to impact the highly fishing-reliant population of Kodiak Island. Residents were also impacted by the 2022 closure of both the Snow crab fishery and the Bristol Bay Red King crab fisheries due to concerns over population levels which have struggled due to warming oceans.1213 Most recently, in September of 2024, NMFS closed the pollock fishery in the Central Gulf Regulatory Area due to Chinook salmon bycatch exceeding the total allowed for the fleet, which is primarily based in Kodiak. This compounded ongoing struggles for this fleet associated with impacts from tariffs, the COVID pandemic, and market issues.

Local Adaptive Capacity

Kodiak Island communities face foundational issues of social vulnerability. Multiple island communities rank medium-high to high on multiple social vulnerability indicators–labor force, housing characteristics, poverty, population composition, and personal disruption–which are intended to provide information about adaptive capacity in the face of various stressors. This is important to consider when shaping management strategies for the fisheries Kodiak Island in which residents are most engaged. Drastic shifts in policy or ones that do not account for the ability of residents to adapt to changing fishery conditions could hinder the community’s ability to stay highly engaged in a particular fishery.

Kodiak Akhiok Karluk Larsen Bay Old Harbor Ouzinkie Port Lions
Social Indicators for Fishing Communities*
Labor Force LOW MED-HIGH LOW MED-HIGH LOW LOW MED
Housing Characteristics MED-HIGH NA NA NA HIGH NA NA
Poverty MED LOW NA LOW HIGH HIGH LOW
Population Composition HIGH MED MED LOW MED-HIGH MED-HIGH MED
Personal Disruption LOW HIGH HIGH HIGH HIGH HIGH MED
*Source: NOAA Fisheries Office of Science and Technology. 2019. NOAA Fisheries Community Social Vulnerability Indicators (CSVIs). Version 3 (Last updated December 21, 2020). https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/socioeconomics/social-indicators-fishing-communities-0

Groundfish Harvesting Engagement - HIGH

Kodiak Island has a diversified fisheries profile, with groundfish making up about 37% of total fisheries harvest. In 2023, the volume of groundfish harvest was 225.3 million pounds with an associated ex-vessel value of $43 million. Compared to 2022, the harvest volume for groundfish increased by 9.4 million pounds (or 4%) but values declined by $16.5 million (down 28%). Resident ownership of fishing vessels increased by 19 vessels in 2023 from 2022, while groundfish fishing vessels owned by Kodiak Island residents decreased by 6. Smaller communities on Kodiak Island are often most severely impacted by shifts in fisheries participation since there are relatively few participants remaining in these communities and additional losses can mean the difference between a connection to commercial fisheries or the lack thereof.

Crab Harvesting Engagement - MEDIUM-HIGH

Kodiak Island’s resident vessels harvesting BSAI crab fisheries have seen drastic declines since 2012. After a slight increase in pounds harvested and values for Kodiak fishermen from 2018 to 2021, the closure of the Bering Sea snow crab fishery precipitated near zero volumes and values for Kodiak crab fishermen.

Within the BSAI crab fisheries, the number of crew living in Kodiak Island communities has declined significantly since 2015 (from a peak of 89 in 2015 to a low of 24 in 2022), with some interannual variation over the last several years.

As of 2023, there were 50 quota share holders residing in Kodiak Island communities. This number is nearly equivalent to the number of Kodiak quota shareholders in 2015 when this value started to decrease.

Subsistence Harvesting Engagement

Subsistence hunting and fishing are an important part of people’s recreation and livelihoods on Kodiak Island. All communities there are significantly reliant on groundfish and crab fisheries for subsistence purposes, with 18%-75% of households using at least one species of groundfish, and 15-90% of households using at least one species of crab. The most popular species across all communities are species of crab followed by cod, rockfish, lingcod, and sablefish.

While data on subsistence fishing from these communities were collected during different years ranging from 1991 through 2018, and therefore cannot be compared, the data offer glimpses into potential trends across and within each community. For instance, in 2018 the community of Akhiok was particularly reliant on crab resources with 90% of households using this resource and 73% receiving it from others. Similarly, in 2003, 75% of households in Ouzinkie used a variety of groundfish species including cod, 37% used lingcod, and 59% used rockfish. In 2018, residents of Akhiok harvested 7.86 pounds of crab per capita, and in 2003, the community of Port Lions harvested 7.4 pounds of cod per capita. Overall, the community of Karluk, with data from 1991, had the lowest use rates compared to other communities in different years.14

Kodiak Island communities also participate in salmon and halibut subsistence harvests. Trends across all communities from 2015-2022 indicate that harvests of halibut have decreased in recent years, while salmon harvests have declined with interannual variability.

Recreational Fishing Engagement

Kodiak is one of the four communities in Alaska that has been highly engaged in recreational fishing in all years 2004-2023 as well as highly engaged in commercial fishing (harvesting or processing), the others being Homer, Seward, and Sitka. Kodiak’s recreational fishing engagement score has been relatively constant over this period but has been increasing recently with 2023 being near its highest engagement score and a 15% increase over the prior 5-year period.

Groundfish Processing Engagement - HIGH

Overall, Kodiak facilities processed 286 million whole pounds of groundfish worth $48.8 million in 2023. When compared to 2022, the volume of groundfish landings increased by 8.61 million pounds (3%) but the value decreased by $20.6 million (30%). The disconnect between volume and value reflects the state of the seafood market.

Several multi species processors operate in Kodiak City. Over the past five years, groundfish made up an average of 42.5% of the total ex-vessel value of all species landed. In 2023, groundfish processing accounted for 71% of total fish landed. Although the bulk of processing occurs in Kodiak City, smaller Kodiak communities are involved in seafood processing as well. Salmon holds the majority share of revenue landed in Kodiak Island Borough over the last five years at 33.3%, followed by pollock at 21.9%.

Crab Processing Engagement - MEDIUM

Due to confidentiality concerns, some processing data are restricted and therefore can only be shown as general trends. In order to show the general processing trends for crab FMP, the processing regional quotient (RQ) is presented here. The RQ for pounds and revenue landed in Kodiak show a steady decline over the past two decades, indicating a decrease in participating in the crab processing sector, and in recent years the closure of the snow crab fishery.

  1. Alutiiq Museum. (n.d.). Alutiiq and other Alaskan languages. Retrieved November 19, 2024, from https://alutiiqmuseum.org/alutiiq-people/language/lessons/alutiiq-and-other-alaskan-languages/↩︎

  2. Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development. (2024). Alaska Historical Population Estimates by Place, 2000-2010 and 2010-2020. Retrieved from https://live.laborstats.alaska.gov/pop/index.cfm↩︎

  3. Carothers, C. (2010). Tragedy of commodification: Displacements in Alutiiq fishing communities in the Gulf of Alaska. Mast, 9(2), 95-120.↩︎

  4. Carothers, Courtney. “Fisheries privatization, social transitions, and well-being in Kodiak, Alaska.” Marine Policy 61 (2015): 313-322.↩︎

  5. Ringer, D., Carothers, C., Donkersloot, R., Coleman, J., & Cullenberg, P. (2018). For generations to come? The privatization paradigm and shifting social baselines in Kodiak, Alaska’s commercial fisheries. Marine Policy, 98, 97-103.↩︎

  6. Carothers, C. (2010). Tragedy of commodification: Displacements in Alutiiq fishing communities in the Gulf of Alaska. Mast, 9(2), 95-120.↩︎

  7. Carothers, Courtney. “Fisheries privatization, social transitions, and well-being in Kodiak, Alaska.” Marine Policy 61 (2015): 313-322.↩︎

  8. Ringer, D., Carothers, C., Donkersloot, R., Coleman, J., & Cullenberg, P. (2018). For generations to come? The privatization paradigm and shifting social baselines in Kodiak, Alaska’s commercial fisheries. Marine Policy, 98, 97-103.↩︎

  9. Kodiak Island Borough. (2024). 2024 Hazard Mitigation Plan update. https://www.kodiakak.us/757/2024-Hazard-Mitigation-Plan-Update↩︎

  10. Markon, C., Gray, S., Berman, M., Eerkes Eerkes-Medrano, L., Hennessy, T., Huntington, H. P., Littell, J., McCammon, M., Thoman, R., & Trainor, S. F. (2018). Chapter 26: Alaska. Impacts, Risks, and Adaptation in the United States: The Fourth National Climate Assessment, Volume II . U.S. Global Change Research. https://doi.org/10.7930/NCA4.2018.CH26↩︎

  11. U.S. Department of the Interior. (2023, June 15). SUBSISTENCE FISHING CLOSURE IN WOMANS (WOMENS) BAY TO CONSERVE BUSKIN RIVER ORIGIN SOCKEYE SALMON. Emergency Special Action No: 9-RS-01-23. https://www.doi.gov/sites/doi.gov/files/sa-9-rs-01-23-kod-508-final.pdf↩︎

  12. Szuwalski, C. S., Aydin, K. Y., Fedewa, E. J., Garber-Yonts, B., Litzow, M. A., & Palof, K. J. (2023). The collapse of eastern Bering Sea snow crab. Science, 382(6668), 306–310. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adf6035↩︎

  13. Alaska Department of Fish and Game. (2022, October 10). 2022/23 Bristol Bay red king crab season closed. Retrieved November 20, 2024, from https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/static/applications/dcfnewsrelease/1441166194.pdf↩︎

  14. Alaska Department of Fish & Game Division of Subsistence. (2024). 2018 Akhiok Harvest Data, 2003 Ouzinkie Harvest Data, 1991 Karluk Harvest Data. Community Subsistence Information System, Subsistence Community Profile Dashboard. Retrieved November 14, 2024 from https://adfg.maps.arcgis.com/apps/dashboards/c5a783dd9f9049efb6489cce9fc38319↩︎