Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute

August 11, 2022 – Fresh? Local? Wild? Seafood? Yes, please! That is what many of our visitors are looking for when they come to Alaska, and the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) is here to help educate them on our great local commercial fishing fleet, pristine waters, and delicious seafood! ASMI is a public-private partnership between the State of Alaska and the Alaska seafood industry with the impressive mission of increasing awareness and economic value of Alaska seafood around the globe.

“One of the top reasons people say they visit Alaska is to taste fresh local seafood, and because the commercial fishing industry employs over 11,000 people in Southeast Alaska, it only makes sense for ASMI to work with the visitor and cruise sectors to find ways to make sure that Alaska’s visitors, A: have the best Alaska seafood experience possible and B: really build a connection, not only with the fresh wild seafood they’re sampling, but also with the people, and the industry, and the communities behind it. Our hope is that they then become ambassadors for Alaska and consumers of Alaska seafood when they return home.

"We kicked off a formal relationship with several cruise lines this last summer who were expanding and prioritizing their own policies for sourcing local wild and sustainable Alaska seafood. They understand that their customers are really interested in learning more about the destination and getting a deeper dive on the communities that they visit.

"There’s about a million visitors sailing through Southeast Alaska each year who travel past our world class commercial fisheries without even, potentially, realizing that that’s where the fish on their plate came from. We’ve really been honored and pleased to work with our partners in the visitor industry to help make that connection for visitors that come to Southeast Alaska.” - Ashley Heimbigner, ASMI Communications Director