Petersburg
Area Description & History
Historically utilized by Tlingits as a fish camp, Petersburg is located on the northwest end of Mitkof Island. In the 1800s, Norwegian immigrants settled in the area and built a cannery, sawmill, and dock by 1900. Alaska’s first shrimp processor, Alaska Glacier Seafoods, was founded in 1916. In 2013 the City and Borough of Petersburg was incorporated.1 The community maintains a mixture of Tlingit and Scandinavian history. It is known as “Little Norway” for its history and annual Little Norway Festival during May. As in many Alaskan communities, subsistence harvest, particularly of salmon, halibut, shrimp, and crab, is important. Petersburg has participated in commercial fisheries since the late 1800s. Commercial harvest of salmon began in the late 1870s and soon after, a commercial fishery began for halibut, with sablefish targeted as a secondary fishery. Although salmon continues to be a vitally important fishery, Petersburg has a diversified fleet that participates across numerous State and Federal fisheries. The number of Petersburg City residents living in group quarters is approximately 183,2 although this is not directly associated with fisheries. Petersburg is located in Pacific Halibut Fishery Regulatory Area 2C and Federal Statistical and Reporting Area 659. Petersburg is in House District 35, Senate District R. Native Associations and Corporations active there today include the Petersburg Indian Association.
Infrastructure & Transportation
Petersburg is accessible by air and water. The community is serviced twice daily by Alaska Airlines with flights to Juneau and Seattle as well as charter services, and seaplanes. The Alaska Marine Highway provides regular ferry service. Petersburg is on the mainline route which connects Bellingham to Southeast Alaska. Harbor facilities include a petroleum wharf, barge terminals, three harbors with moorage for 700 boats, a launch, and haul-out. There is no deep-water dock for large ships such as cruise ships. Water in Petersburg is sourced from a 200-million gallon water reservoir. There are three schools; overall student enrollment has decreased by 10% in this district since 2008. Enrollment reached a historic low in 2021, which likely occurred due to the COVID pandemic.3 Since 2021, school enrollment increased year-over-year, up 10% from 2021 levels, with an additional 42 students.
Demographics
Petersburg’s population declined by 16% in 2014. Since, the population has steadily increased year-over-year to 3,023 (5% increase from 2014). With slight increases in population between 2014 and 2022, the proportion of the population over 65 has more than doubled during the same time period, suggesting that older individuals are moving to Petersburg while the proportion of younger individuals (under 5 years) is declining. Approximately 68%of the population, on average, identified as white between 2018 and 2022, down 5% from the 2010 to 2014 average, while approximately 7% of the population identifies as American Indian or Alaskan Native, down 4% from the 2010 to 2014 average.
The percentage of the population with a high school diploma (or equivalent) or higher has decreased since 2010. Between 2018 and 2022, an average of 86.7% of the population 25 and older stated that they had a high school diploma or higher, down 6% from the 2010 to 2014 average. Additionally, the median household income (in 2022 USD) has decreased from 2010 (~$82,000) to 2022 (~$78,000). Within this time period the percentage of the population that lives below the poverty line has decreased from 10% in 2010 to 8% in 2022.
| Demographics | |
| Population | 3,023 |
| Population in group housing | 183 |
| Median household income | $77,670 |
| Housing units | 1,475 |
| Percentages | |
| Male | 49.5% |
| Female | 50.5% |
| White | 57.0% |
| American Indian or Alaska Native | 8.1% |
| Black or African American | 1.2% |
| Asian | 18.1% |
| Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander | 0.5% |
| Hispanic or Latino | 5.0% |
| Below poverty line | 4.7% |
| High school diploma or higher | 86.7% |
| Population under 5 | 4.5% |
| Population over 18 | 81.7% |
| Population over 65 | 24.8% |
| 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
Historically, Petersburg’s economy was based on commercial fishing and timber. Today, Petersburg is one of the top-ranking fishing ports in the U.S. In 2021, Petersburg collected $855,021 in total fishery related taxes, a 14% increase from 2019.4 These revenues support basic city services such as education, sanitation, transportation, and other services.
In 2020, per capita income in Petersburg was estimated at $34,009 (up 2% since 2018),5 and the median household income $68,667 up 8% since 2018).6 The percentage of the population living below the poverty line has decreased (~4%) since 2018.7 These measures are important for understanding the current economic wellbeing of residents and indicate potential social and economic changes. Additionally, these factors contribute to the community’s ability to adapt to stressors such as food security and climate change.
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, can determine 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. Similar to other areas of Alaska, Southeast Alaska is already experiencing increasing temperatures and changes in precipitation patterns, including receiving less snow and more rain. Changes have also been observed in forest habitats, including declines of yellow cedar trees, and marine habitats, ocean acidification and increased prevalence of invasive species. These impacts are currently and will continue to impact human health in various ways.8
In 2018, the community of Petersburg integrated climate change as a hazard to the community within its hazard management plan, noting that “climate change has the potential to aggravate natural disasters along the coastline and rivers, particularly flooding and erosion.” The plan further details other local concerns around climate change including sea level rise, impacts on king salmon, more fog and rain, new species migrating to the community while other species leave.
Dependence on Fisheries Affected by Climate Change
Reliance on fisheries resources, impacted by climate change, influence how vulnerable a community is to climate driven disruption. Petersburg is highly engaged in harvesting and moderately to highly engaged in processing in the groundfish fishery. Petersburg fishermen also participate in diverse State fisheries including salmon and crab, making them susceptible to recent volatility in salmon returns and long-term implications of ocean acidification on crab.
Tourism for recreational fishing is also a substantial part of the local economy. The community is also highly engaged in subsistence fishing, particularly for salmon and crab species, but also for certain species of groundfish including rockfish, sablefish and cod. Given this, Petersburg is overall highly dependent on fisheries resources that will be impacted by climate change. Therefore, as this community is impacted by a changing marine environment, their ability to fish for commercial, recreational, and subsistence purposes will be affected. Residents are highly concerned about impacts to several key species, including salmon, shellfish, eulachon, herring and halibut.9 Community residents are also concerned about the potential implications of invasive European green crab on marine habitat and native crab species, as this species is now present in Southeast Alaska waters.10
Local Adaptive Capacity
Petersburg has moderate vulnerability associated with its housing and infrastructure, as well as a population which is moderately composed of higher risk individuals. FEMA’s National Risk Index also rates Petersburg as having very low community resilience,11 meaning they have a very low ability to adapt to changing conditions and withstand and recover rapidly from disruptions. Other social indicators–labor force, poverty, and personal disruption–are ranked as being of low vulnerability for the community.
| Social Indicators for Fishing Communities* | |
| Labor Force | LOW |
| Housing Characteristics | MED-HIGH |
| Poverty | LOW |
| Population Composition | MED |
| Personal Disruption | LOW |
| *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
While highly engaged in groundfish fisheries, Petersburg brings harvest revenue from a diverse range of fisheries including 41% of revenue from commercial salmon harvest, 18% from halibut, and 15% from federal crab fisheries. The volume of groundfish harvested in 2023 was 8.9 million pounds with an associated revenue of $12.7 million. When compared to 2021, the 2023 harvest shows an increase of 12% in pounds harvested and a 20% increase in associated value. Since 2008, groundfish harvested by Petersburg vessels have decreased 64% in volume and 38% in associated revenue. Pacific cod harvests decreased slightly in 2023 compared to 2022, from 6.6 million to 4.4 million; however this marks a 43% increase from a low of 3 million in 2020.
The number of fishing vessels owned by Petersburg residents decreased by 21 vessels from 2021 to 2023 (down 8%). During the same time period, the total number of groundfish vessels registered to Petersburg residents also increased from 89 to 91 (up 2%), up from a low of 87 in 2020.
Crab Harvesting Engagement - LOW
There is not a substantial amount of crab harvesting activity in Petersburg to report.
Due to confidentiality concerns, only select data are available.
City and Borough of Petersburg. (n.d.). Boundary Map and Boundary Description. Retrieved November 15, 2024 from https://www.petersburgak.gov/comdev/page/borough-map-and-boundary-description↩︎
Alaska Department of Labor. (2023). Alaska Population Estimates: Cities and Census Designated Places (CDPs), 2020 to 2023. https://live.laborstats.alaska.gov/data-pages/alaska-population-estimates↩︎
School enrollment statistics compiled from AK. Dept. of Education & Early Development. Retrieved November 14, 2024 from http://www.eed.state.ak.us/stats/↩︎
Tax data from AK. Dept. of Revenue, Annual Reports 2008 2008-2021. Retr.’ 06/30/2022 from http://tax.alaska.gov/programs/sourcebook/index.aspx aspx; Dept. of Commerce AK Taxable Database, AK Division of Community & Regional Affairs. Retr.’10/2022 https://www.commerce.alaska.gov/dcra/dcrarepoext/Pages/AlaskaTaxableDatabase.aspx↩︎
U.S. Census Bureau. (2021). Petersburg Borough. Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/ petersburgboroughalaska↩︎
U.S. Census Bureau. (2021). Petersburg Borough. Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/ petersburgboroughalaska↩︎
U.S. Census Bureau. (2021). Petersburg Borough. Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/ petersburgboroughalaska↩︎
Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska. (n.d.). Climate Change Adaptation Plan. Retrieved from https://www.ccthita.org/services/community/environmental/documents/T&HClimateChangeAdaptationPlan.pdf↩︎
Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska. (n.d.). Climate Change Adaptation Plan. Retrieved from https://www.ccthita.org/services/community/environmental/documents/T&HClimateChangeAdaptationPlan.pdf↩︎
KFSK. (2024, August 26). Petersburg mobilizes against invasive green crabs on Alaska’s shores. https://www.kfsk.org/2024/08/26/petersburg-mobilizes-against-invasive-green-crabs-on-alaskas-shores/↩︎
Federal Emergency Management Agency. (n.d.). *National Risk Index: Petersburg Borough, Alaska*. Retrieved November 13, 2024, from https://hazards.fema.gov/nri/report/viewer?dataLOD=Counties&dataIDs=C02195↩︎