As you point out, Alaska has a long relationship with the ocean, for food, fiber, and transportation, long predating European contact.  Unlike other coastal cultures, ours is a very utilitarian approach to the ocean; that is, we exploit it to improve our lives and provide for our economic and physical and emotional well being.  This is done by commercial fishing, shipping, offshore oil and gas, recreation, tourism, and even subsistence hunting and fishing.  "The ocean is our garden" is the often heard statement when discussing subsistence, recognizing that subsistence and its related practices are the very foundation of the culture.  What is largely absent, and what distinguishes Alaska from many other places, is "humanistic spiritualism" with references to the "Mother Ocean" popularized by New-Age movements and Jimmy Buffett ballads.