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Seward, Kenai make Top 50 nationwide seafood ports

While Dutch Harbor, Kodiak and Bristol Bay net all the headlines for the volume and value of their yearly commercial seafood harvests, two fishing ports on the Kenai Peninsula do rank in the top 50 nationwide in both categories.

According to 2016 data released last week by NOAA Fisheries, Seward shows up at number 28 with deliveries of 27 million pounds, while Kenai saw deliveries of 22 million pounds. Both figures were down significantly from 2015 due to a downturn in salmon returns in '16. Both cities were behind other Alaska ports such as Sitka, Petersburg and Cordova, but ahead of Juneau.

The dockside value of seafood deliveries to Seward reached $42 million, which ranked it 25th nationwide. Kenai’s ex-vessel value topped out at $25 million, placing it 44th in the nation. Seward outpaced Cordova, Petersburg, Ketchikan and Juneau in the rankings. Kenai edged out the capital city by $2 million.

By comparison, Dutch Harbor took in 770-million pounds of seafood, worth $198 million, placing it first in landings for the 20th straight year, and second in value.