Crab pots in storage at Gibson Cove, Kodiak during the off-season. Photo credit: Scott Smiley.
FITC History
The Fishery Industrial Technology Center (FITC) was created in 1981 by the Alaska State Legislature. The enabling legislation is codified in Alaska Statutes, Title 16: Fish and Game, Chapter 52: Fishery Industrial Technology Center AS 16.52.010-070. Briefly, the legislation creates the Fishery Industrial Technology Center, in Kodiak, Alaska, as part of the University of Alaska.
The duties of the Fish Tech Center are enumerated as follows:
- Providing training opportunities to citizens of the state on the most efficient and appropriate technologies for the harvesting, processing, and conservation of the fishery resources of the state;
- Providing information and technical assistance on the adaptation of existing and new technologies to the users of the fishery resources of the state;
- Providing research and development activities to adapt existing technologies to enhance the economic viability of the industry;
- Providing research and development activities to create new technologies that will enhance the effectiveness of the industry, and provide economic benefits to state citizens; and
- Encouraging joint projects between industry and government in order to use industrial experience and government programs to enhance the productivity of the industry.
The enabling legislation creating the Fishery Industrial Technology Center (FITC) provided for the establishment of a Fishery Industrial Technology Center Policy Council to guide and advise us on the kinds of problems facing coastal Communities and the Alaska Seafood Industry, and to review our programs. Our Policy Council meets twice yearly and reviews our Strategic Plan every 2 years, on alternate years our faculty reviews it. Goals that have been achieved are removed from the plan and new goals are discussed and then prioritized by each group in turn.
The Policy Council and the Faculty also prioritize the position descriptions for new hires. Using the opportunity of the UAF Reaccreditation Process and its Self-Assessment, our faculty just completed reviewing our strategic plan and our curriculum and our Policy Council accepted the changes.
Another important source of information for planning and appraisal of our efforts also comes from the UAF - School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences Advisory Council. The strongly applied nature and equally strong service orientation to the programs at FITC stand in contrast with many other units within SFOS. Therefore, with the assistance of the SFOS Advisory Council, FITC brings its more applied focus to the basic research orientation of most of the units within SFOS.
The combination of a dedicated FITC Policy Council and an active SFOS Advisory Council reviewing our efforts, both in terms of planning and outcomes, greatly assists us in sharpening our focus for planning and improvement. However, it is important to note that our solicitation of input dies not stop at this level. We are in frequent contact with a wide variety of enterprises across the state and the nation regarding fisheries and seafood issues.
Within Alaska we work closely with the Alaska Department of Community and Economic Development, the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, the Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation, the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council, and others to identify the research, educational and service needs of Alaskans.
The Fishery Industrial Technology Center has grown steadily since its creation by an act of the Alaska State Legislature in 1981. A unit of the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fish Tech is one of six divisions of the School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences (SFOS).