Alaska
Opinion: The $70 million engine most Alaskans aren’t talking about
Many statewide candidates talk about putting Alaskans first, ahead of Outsiders. The problem is most of them are just putting some Alaskans ahead of others. We need more candidates in the mold of Ted Stevens and Don Young, leaders who weren’t willing to divide us, urban versus rural, just to win an election. Ironically, neither the Indiana-born Stevens nor California-native Young were originally from Alaska. It makes you wonder how our state’s most honored and beloved politicians would fare in today’s electoral environment.
This “me-first” populism dominates modern Alaska issue campaigns, too. It’s no accident that Outside groups promote “trawl bycatch” as the root of all evil when it comes to today’s fish wars: No one trusts science anymore (thanks, Joe Biden), and the pollock fleet has demonstrable ties to Seattle, making trawlers easy targets.
Of course, pollock and seafood are no different than Alaska’s other natural resource industries — all of which rely on capital and labor from Outside. If your flight back to Alaska happens during a shift change, you’ll share the plane with plenty of Lower 48-based roughnecks and miners, not just fishery workers.
But are the pollock trawlers really all that “Outside”? Stevens and Young didn’t think so. They had a clear vision for the Bering Sea’s role in Alaska’s economic future. Their legislative genius was to create mechanisms that “Alaskanized” our state’s natural resource wealth. They gave land to the regional Native corporations, which used their oil, minerals and timber to develop local economies and workforces and pay dividends to Alaskans.
Stevens and Young tackled seafood in a two-step move: First, they claimed the Bering Sea away from the Soviet and Japanese fleets and made it available for American fishermen (yes, most of them were in Seattle at the time). But the Seattle fleets delivered their catch to processors in Alaska, creating jobs on shore. Then Stevens and Young created the Western Alaska Community Development Quota program so Western Alaska villages could build wealth and eventually buy up the Seattle fleets, especially the large factory trawlers.
Today, those villages control more than a third of the Bering Sea pollock fleet and major elements of the crab, cod and flatfish fleets. Unless we let Outside groups shut it down, the Alaskanization of the Bering Sea will continue, just like Uncle Ted and Don intended.
CDQ is the rural economic engine few know about, but we should all be talking about. The program generates more than $70 million annually for economic development and social programs in 65 Bering Sea villages — including in the very poorest parts of Alaska. In many villages, the local CDQ group is the largest or the only private sector employer. And unlike government programs, CDQ doesn’t rely on federal largesse — it’s off-budget and self-sustaining, costing taxpayers nothing over the last 35 years.
CDQ groups fund a wide variety of programs, doing things government programs cannot do in places other businesses would never invest: They buy fish, creating markets for local fishermen; they give out heating oil in late winter, when other supplies run low; they provide scholarships and job training where few others do; and they operate local companies, including boat builders and mechanic/welder shops, putting local employment ahead of profits. That’s real economic activity that never leaves the state, despite what you read on social media.
Unfortunately, the attacks on trawl might just pull down CDQ, too, because most CDQ revenue comes from the pollock factory ships. Anti-development “charitable” foundations are the real outsiders in this debate. They have poured more than $30 million into Bering Sea policy fights since 2021, hoping to put another resource industry scalp on their wall. Disclosures are shady at best, but a lot of that money goes to Washington, D.C.-based New Venture Fund (aka SalmonState) and myopic Native groups that aren’t part of CDQ.
With that much chum in the water, other Alaska groups are taking up the anti-trawl crusade and pivoting from their traditional causes, like Kenai River habitat conservation or public lands access. Be sure to thank them if rural Alaska loses thousands of jobs and the cost of everything goes up because we don’t backhaul seafood out of Alaska anymore. If the outside interests and their allies win and pollock trawling gets shut down, the Stevens-Young vision for Alaska’s seafood industry dies, too, along with tens of millions spent annually across the state and hundreds of millions invested by Alaskans in the fishing industry.
Rick Whitbeck is a veteran of resource development advocacy and a 40-year Alaskan by choice. He currently serves as the director of strategic engagement for CVRF, a CDQ organization for 20 Y-K area villages. The views here are his own and not his employer’s.
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Alaska lawmakers voted Wednesday to send a public pension bill to the desk of Gov. Mike Dunleavy, calling it the culmination of years of effort to restore guaranteed income in retirement for Alaska’s teachers, public safety officers and other state employees.
The House, which passed the bill last year, voted 21-19 along caucus lines to accept changes made to it in the Senate, marking lawmakers’ final approval of the measure. It heads next to the desk of Gov. Mike Dunleavy, who has not commented publicly on whether he’ll sign it.
Supporters of the measure were jubilant on Wednesday, describing the legislation as a solution to a problem two decades in the making.
“Having employees have the option of a defined benefit pension system is a good thing for the state of Alaska. This experiment we’ve been on for the last two decades of a defined contribution system has failed us,” said Rep. Calvin Schrage, an Anchorage independent.
If signed by Dunleavy, the bill will reinstate a guaranteed pension system for employees of the state, municipalities and school districts for the first time since 2006, when lawmakers voted to close the pension system in the face of a multibillion-dollar unfunded liability. Lawmakers replaced it with a 401(k)-style plan that has left many public employees without sufficient income to retire with security, and with less incentive to commit to a full career in Alaska’s public sector.
The unfunded liability was attributed in large part to incorrect actuarial information provided to the state in the early 2000s. The state sued the actuarial firm but failed to recoup enough to fully fund its plans. Alaska has been paying back that liability ever since, with interest.
Supporters of a return to defined benefits say that the 2006 decision is the root of many of the recruitment and retention challenges in the public sector today, including high turnover rates among teachers, public safety officers, road engineers, ferry operators and administrators of critical public safety net programs, among others.
To avoid another financial crisis, crafters of the bill, who include House Majority Leader Chuck Kopp and Senate Majority Leader Cathy Giessel, added requirements for additional actuarial analyses. They also made the plan far less generous for retirees by reducing health care benefits and requiring employees to increase their contributions to the plan if it becomes underfunded. The Senate then changed the bill to provide employees with the option to remain in the current, 401(k)-style retirement system, and to provide municipalities and school districts the option to opt out of offering the new pension to their workers.
But the changes weren’t enough for the 19 House Republicans in the minority, who argued on Wednesday that the plan wasn’t sufficiently analyzed, that it would still pose an unsustainable financial risk to the state, and that it would not solve the state’s recruitment and retention crisis.
“I would consider this Alaska’s rendezvous with destiny,” said Rep. Will Stapp, a Fairbanks Republican, adding that he thinks the state may be about to “repeat the single most expensive financial mistake in the history of the state of Alaska.”
The new pension plan — which would go into effect next year — is set to cost the state tens of millions of dollars annually, depending on the number of public employees who join it. But proponents of the measure say that figure doesn’t account for the amount of money the state will save by avoiding the need to pay overtime in understaffed departments, and by eliminating the need to constantly train new teachers and police officers.
“This bill is not built on hope, but it does bring it,” said Kopp, adding that “the cost of what we’re doing now is orders of magnitude higher than what this bill introduces.”
Though majority lawmakers succeeded in shepherding the legislation through a rigorous process that included dozens of committee hearings and lengthy floor debates, its passage into law isn’t guaranteed.
“We still have one more stop, though — we have the big red pen, potentially,” said Giessel, referring to a potential veto from Dunleavy.
Dunleavy, who receives a state pension from his years as a public school educator, has previously said that younger workers are not as interested in pensions as his generation had been. His spokesperson, Jeff Turner, declined on Wednesday to share whether Dunleavy supports the bill.
“I’m very optimistic,” said Sen. Jesse Kiehl, a Juneau Democrat who has been working on pension reform since the last plan was repealed. “I’m happy to loan the governor the blue pen, the black pen — I’m sure I could find a purple one — any color but red.”
Key Aspects:
- Platinum guests will not receive key VIFP benefits on Carnival Spirit‘s May 5 departure from Seattle.
- The 7-night Alaskan sailing is the 2026 FFS Cruise with brand ambassador John Heald.
- Diamond guests are still retaining all their loyalty benefits for the very special cruise.
With the Alaska season just getting underway for Carnival Cruise Line, guests are eager to get right into the fun and enjoy their voyages in the Last Frontier. One very special voyage, however, will not be offering the loyalty benefits high level members of the cruise line’s VIFP program might expect.
Platinum guests booked on the May 5, 2026 sailing of Carnival Spirit have been notified they will not be receiving key perks typically associated with their loyalty status.
“Due to the high number of Platinum guests joining us on this voyage, we will not be able to provide the following benefits,” the email explained.
The benefits that will not be available for the 7-night cruise include priority embarkation and debarkation either in Seattle or at any ports of call, the early stateroom access to drop off luggage, or priority luggage delivery to guests’ staterooms.
Furthermore, the cruise line may not be able to offer the priority line at Guest Services portside on Deck 2 or priority phone assistance when calling Guest Services.
“These operational changes are consistent with other voyages where we have a very large number of Platinum guests,” the email continued. “We apologize for any disappointment and thank you for your understanding.”
It should be noted that Diamond guests will still receive all of their benefits for this sailing.
Carnival Cruise Line does not disclose the number of VIFP guests on different sailings. Carnival Spirit can welcome up to 2,124 guests at double occupancy.
Cruise Hive has reported frequently on different Carnival cruises losing loyalty benefits due to large numbers of loyal guests on specific sailings.
While many of those cruises-without-perks are longer voyages, such as repositioning sailings or transatlantic cruises, any sailing might be impacted depending on its overall bookings.
Carnival Spirit will depart Seattle on Tuesday, May 5, and will enjoy visits to Skagway, Juneau, Ketchikan, and Victoria before returning to the Evergreen State on May 12.
Read Also: Carnival Cruise Ships in Alaska – Which One to Choose?
The 85,920-gross-ton ship will remain in Alaska through mid-September, offering weeklong cruises throughout the summer.
At the end of the season, she will first offer a 15-night roundtrip sailing from Seattle to Hawaii before repositioning back to Mobile for the winter. Carnival Spirit will be back to Alaska for the 2027 sailing season.
A Very Special Cruise Impacted
While all Alaskan cruises are immensely popular, this particular sailing, the May 5, 2026 departure of Carnival Spirit, also happens to be the 2026 “For Fun’s Sake” (FFS) cruise with John Heald, the cruise line’s brand ambassador, hosting special events all week long.
Typically, Heald only hosts one FFS cruise per year. This is the first time the themed cruise has been in Alaska. Previous sailings were in the Caribbean, though different options are offered each year. The 2026 sailing is the eighth FFS cruise, and they all sell out remarkably quickly.
To be clear, the FFS cruise is not a full-ship charter. Instead, guests must book the sailing separately and then opt in to the FFS evens with an extra registration and nominal fee.
Depending on the ship, anywhere from 500 to 800 spaces will be available for guests to join the unique events and activities. The full itinerary of FFS events is not revealed until guests are onboard, but there are often themed activities to the itinerary.
“We will have a private viewing deck during the transit through Tracy Arm Fjord with some special food and lashings of hot soup,” Heald said when the cruise was announced. “That’s just one thing I am planning.”
Of course, in March 2026 Carnival Cruise Line removed Tracy Arm Fjord from all sailings this season due to safety concerns related to avalanche risks. There will still be scenic cruising in Endicott Arm Fjord, where such viewing can be offered.
Other exclusive events include meet-and-greets, photo ops, autographs, and more, and all FFS guests also get limited edition swag to commemorate the very special cruise.
The loss of Platinum VIFP perks will not impact the FFS activities onboard, and all guests are sure to have an exciting and very memorable cruise vacation.
Service on four new nonstop domestic routes began this month, with two more to come by the end of the summer, San Diego International Airport officials said Tuesday.
The new direct flights by Alaska and Southwest airlines include three California destinations, along with service to Dallas/Fort Worth and Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina. Flights to Boston are set to follow.
The new nonstops began on April 7, when Southwest Airlines added service to Santa Rosa. On April 22, Alaska Airlines began nonstops from San Diego to Oakland, Dallas/Fort Worth and Raleigh-Durham and also resumed nonstops to Santa Barbara after a three-year hiatus.
Southwest is set to add a direct flight to Boston on June 4 and one to Santa Barbara two months later.
Airport officials also announced the seasonal return of domestic routes and expanded availability of international routes:
The returning domestic routes, all set for May and June, are:
- May 6 – Jacksonville, Florida and Norfolk, Virginia (Breeze Airways)
- May 7 – Cincinnati and Raleigh-Durham (Breeze)
- May 8 – Pittsburgh (Breeze)
- May 16 – Anchorage (Alaska)
- June 4 – Pittsburgh (Southwest)
- June 11 – Kalispell/Glacier, Montana (Alaska), and
- June 13 – Missoula, Montana (Alaska).
The expanded international flights include two that already began. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines resumed service three times per week to Amsterdam on Feb. 21 and Lufthansa, on Saturday, began flying daily to Munich, Germany out of San Diego.
International expansions to come include:
- Friday – London-Heathrow, United Kingdom (British Airways), increasing to twice daily, and Calgary, Alberta (WestJet), increasing to nine weekly flights in July.
- Saturday – Montreal, Quebec (Air Canada), resuming daily, and Vancouver, British Columbia (Air Canada), increasing to three times daily.
- July 1: Panama City, Panama (Copa Airlines), increasing to five times per week.
The airport now offers 87 nonstop destinations, the most in its history.
“Nonstop flights offered this spring and summer are up by more than 10% over last year,” said Atif Saeed, president and CEO of the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority.
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