Unalaska, AK – Thanks in part to booming seafood trade, Alaska's exports to other countries grew to a record high of $4 billion last year. The seafood exports themselves topped $2 billion for the first time.

Figures released by the U.S. Census Bureau show the state's exports growing 12.6 percent from 2005 to 2006. Seafood exports grew by 2.8 percent in 2006 and accounted for a full half of the state's exports for the year, in spite of a drop in sales to Japan.

Driving that growth is a significant increase in Alaskan seafood exports to China and Germany, which grew by a third and a quarter, respectively, last year. Although most of the seafood sent to Germany is for the consumer market, the growth in China has been fueled by the rise of the seafood processing industry there, which then re-exports Alaska's seafood elsewhere.