Alaska Department Of Fish & Game

Alaska Department of Fish & Game, a U.S. state government entity and division of the State of Alaska, receives federal grants as the recipient (prime recipient or sub-recipient, 97% prime awards) to deliver fisheries management, wildlife conservation, and marine mammal monitoring services to federal agencies across 31 departments and administrations. The department does not hold federal contracts; all federal funding arrives through grants, cooperative agreements, and project awards from NOAA, Interior (Fish and Wildlife Service Region 7, BLM, BOEM), and the U.S. Forest Service.

Alaska DFG's federal grant footprint centers on Pacific salmon fisheries research, management, and restoration. Representative awards include a $1.57 million NOAA Marine Mammal Data Program cooperative agreement (CFDA 11.439) to conduct ice seal and Steller sea lion population monitoring in the Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort Seas through collaborative work with Alaska Native communities; a $1.2 million NOAA Congressionally Identified Awards grant (CFDA 11.469) supporting maintenance and upgrades to the division's research vessel fleet in Petersburg, Juneau, Cordova, and Kodiak; a $13.2 million DOI Fish and Wildlife Service Sport Fish Restoration program award (CFDA 15.605) funding 44 statewide research and monitoring projects for Pacific salmon, trout, char, and saltwater species; and a $348,723 NOAA Cooperative Research Program award (CFDA 11.472) to optimize and deploy a Targeted Acoustic Startle Technology system to mitigate sea lion-fisheries conflicts in Southeast Alaska and the Bering Sea. The department also administers multiple Pacific Salmon Treaty implementation grants from NOAA ($1.5 million in recent awards across CFDA 11.438 and related programs) supporting coded-wire-tag sampling, genetic stock identification, and Chinook salmon harvest monitoring across Southeast Alaska commercial and sport fisheries. Recent additions include a DOI Conservation and Rehabilitation of Natural Resources program award for wildlife management at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson and a USDA Forest Service cooperative agreement for subsistence wildlife monitoring across Alaska's national forests.

Federal funding concentration is steep but distributed across multiple mission areas. DOI Fish and Wildlife Service Region 7 leads by award count (393 awards, $1.4 million combined potential value) and NOAA dominates by combined potential value ($2.9 million across 293 awards). A smaller but high-dollar customer is DOI Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (9 awards, $7.7 million), primarily for marine environmental baseline research supporting offshore energy planning. The department serves as sub-recipient on select grants administered through Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, capturing work on crab disaster research, culvert assessments, and invasive species early detection.

Activity declined sharply over the past five years—from 84 awards in 2022 to 23 in 2026 year-to-date—reflecting either reduced federal allocations or consolidation of smaller awards into larger cooperative agreements. Within the next twenty-four months, 61 awards reach completion, creating recompete exposure. The department's NAICS mix reflects its scientific mission: All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services dominates (162 awards), followed by General Government Support (42) and Scientific and Technical Consulting (30). PSC coding emphasizes fisheries and wildlife work: Special Studies/Analysis–Animal/Fisheries (47 awards), Special Studies/Analysis–Wildlife (44), and Natural Resources/Conservation–Fisheries Resources Management (38).

Alaska DFG operates with no subcontractor footprint on the federal side; sub-awards in the portfolio are grant sub-awards flowing to tribal councils, regional nonprofits, and the University of Alaska Fairbanks as co-investigators or data collectors. Performance spans coastal Alaska locations (Juneau, Fairbanks, Petersburg, Kodiak, Anchorage) with administrative oversight at the department's Juneau headquarters.