Promotions of job opportunities in seafood processing are paying off in increasing numbers of people applying for jobs, a spokesman for the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development said May 4.

"We had over 1,000 applicants in the Anchorage seafood office last week, and the week before that, over 500," said James Harvey, assistant director of the department's employment security division, earlier this month.

The numbers correspond with recruitment activities the department has in the office, he said. While he had no figures to compare with this period a year ago, he said he had anecdotal information that the number of applicants had increased.

The state labor department is one of several avenues through which workers may find their way into seafood processing industry employment.

All job seekers at the state agency must first attend a seafood orientation session to understand what the work and the conditions will include. They watch a DVD of potential work places and meet with seafood industry representatives.

Right now, state labor officials are helping employers recruit for the herring and upcoming salmon fisheries, Harvey said.

"They are looking for about 500 people," he said.

Processors who work with herring first and then salmon will keep on those who worked the herring harvest if possible, and then comes the pollock B season, which begins in June, he said.

"We have the bodies to fill the jobs and a significant number of those folks are returning workers. But part of that returning work force we may not see because we are primarily a referral agency," Harvey said.

Pay scales vary. Average pay for one Dutch Harbor processor starts at $7.15 an hour, but employee benefits vary widely, he said.

Depending on the employer, workers may be provided with meals, housing, rain gear, boots, laundry service and transportation. Transportation to the work site is generally provided, with return transportation after completion of the worker's contract, he said.

Margaret Bauman works for the Alaska Journal of Commerce in Anchorage.