Economy of Juneau

million visitors to Juneau for up to 11 hours at a time, between the months of May and September. While cruise ships do provide an economic boost to segments of the economy, not all locals are appreciative. The Juneau Public Library, built atop a parking garage along South Franklin Street near the Red Dog Saloon, was designed to take advantage of the view of and across Gastineau Channel. This view is often blocked by docking cruise ships, which tower over the five-story structure. Bill Ray, who lived in Juneau from 1938 to 2000 and represented the community in the Alaska Legislature from 1965 to 1987, was rather blunt in expressing his disdain when he paid a return visit in 2003: "Juneau doesn't go forward. They've prostituted themselves to tourism. It looks like a poor man's Lahaina".

The fishing industry is still a major part of the Juneau economy, while not the dominant player back in the days of the halibut schooner fleet. Juneau was recently the 49th most lucrative U.S. fisheries port by volume and 45th by value taking in 15 million pounds of fish and shellfish valued at 21.5 million dollars in 2004 according to the National Marine Fisheries Service. While the port of Juneau does comparatively little seafood processing to towns of this size in Alaska, there are hundreds of commercial fishing boats who sell their fish to plants in nearby Sitka, Hoonah, Petersburg and Ketchikan. The largest fleets operating from Juneau are the gillnet and troll salmon fleets. Juneau is also the home to many of the commercial fishing associations in Alaska, as much of the activities of these groups involve lobbying the legislature. These associations include the Alaska Trollers Association, United Fishermen of Alaska, United Southeast Alaska Gillnetters Association and the Southeast Alaska Seiners Association.

Real estate agencies, federally funded