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In an uncertain world buffeted by climate change and economic turmoil, Alaskans can take confidence in a strong and sustainable sector of our economy.

Fisheries are a major economic engine for Alaska. It is the state’s largest private sector employer and generates $5 billion in annual economic activity.

Alaska produces more than half the seafood landed in the United States. We have seven of the top fishing ports in the country and if we were our own nation, Alaska would rank among the top ten in seafood landings.

What is even more impressive is that we have accomplished this with a conservation record that is second to none.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council, which manages fisheries in federal waters, is widely recognized as a leader in ocean conservation and sustainable fisheries.

For 30 years, the council has never set harvest levels above the amount its scientists recommend. Alaska has no overfished stocks of fish. There are strict controls on harvest, and to ensure compliance, the fleet is monitored by the U.S. Coast Guard, National Marine Fisheries Service and one of the world’s largest observer programs.

The council has adopted ecosystem-based management measures such as protections for forage fish — critical for the survival of fish, marine mammals and seabirds. The council has closed more than 400,000 square nautical miles to bottom trawling or other fishing activities to protect corals and other habitats.

Nothing is perfect, of course, and there is need to continue to improve management to meet new challenges. One of those challenges is reducing bycatch — the unwanted catch of non-target species like chinook salmon by the Bering Sea pollock fishery.

Across the years, the council and pollock industry have initiated numerous measures to reduce and control bycatch, such as an in-season program to move the fleet away from high bycatch areas and gear modifications that allow salmon to escape their nets.

Despite these efforts, the chinook bycatch went from 67,000 salmon in 2005 to more than 120,000 fish last year. Could it have been due to changes in salmon migration in response changing ocean conditions or changes in the numbers of salmon in the high seas? Scientists can’t say for certain what the causes were.

Fortunately, the bycatch rate is significantly lower in 2008. Through June, the chinook bycatch stood at just 16,000, a 77 percent reduction from the previous year. But the industry recognizes that more needs to be done.

The pollock industry is redoubling efforts to reduce salmon bycatch, including additional gear modification experiments and cooperative research with NMFS scientists to determine if temperature and depth indicators could be used to avoid areas where salmon congregate.

Another concern is the effect of climate change on the Arctic and the possibility of commercial fisheries entering an area already under environmental stress.

At the urging of Alaska’s fishing industry, the council is developing a plan to close commercial fishing in the U.S. Arctic until we better understand the effects of climate change on Arctic ecosystems and the communities that depend on these marine resources.

Once the Arctic plan is in place, fishing closures off Alaska will total more than 650,000 square miles, an area five times larger than the entire U.S. national park system.

This has sparked a growing international effort for similar measures throughout the Arctic.

Last year, the Senate passed a bipartisan resolution by Sens. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, and Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, that directs the Secretary of State to initiate negotiations to achieve this goal. Meetings sponsored by the European Union next month will kick off this international effort and that’s good news for Alaska.

Fisheries are a crucial part of Alaska’s way of life and an economic base for coastal communities and the state. Our fishery management system is recognized as a model for the nation, employing ecosystem-based management principles driven by science.

In today’s changing world, we need to work together to improve the science and conservation programs so Alaska’s fisheries will continue to be the sustainable foundation upon which subsistence, personal use, recreational and commercial users can all rely.