The 20 Y-K Delta communities making up the Coastal Villages Region Fund are now part owners of the Bering Sea crab fishery, opening up a new revenue stream and job opportunities for these villages.
In January, the communities of the Coastal Villages Region Fund teamed up with the Bristol Bay Economic Development Corporation to acquire 3% of the snow crab and red king crab quota in the Bering Sea fishery. That licenses them to catch 3% of the crab that can be harvested there per year. This quota, which CVRF and Bristol Bay say is valued at $35 million, is split between the two organizations.
CVRF also purchased three fishing vessels from the same Seattle-based Mariner Companies that it bought the crab quota from. Soon after, CVRF began catching and selling crab on behalf of its 20 communities.
CVRF CEO Eric Deakin said that the fleet has caught more than 729,000 pounds of opilio snow crab this year, which he said is valued at almost $3 million.
Deakin said that roughly half that amount will pay CVRF’s operating costs for running the crabbing ships and paying crew members. The other half will go to CVRF communities. The ownership of and revenue from the crab quota is largely allocated by the population of each village.
“It’s going to give them a permanent revenue stream. That stream is made bigger after they pay the loan off,” Deakin said.
The coastal communities purchased the crab quota with a loan backed by CVRF. Deakin said that the Bering Sea crab quota is a solid, long-term investment, despite red king crab numbers and quotas decreasing in recent years. He said that the majority of the crab quota owned by CVRF communities is for snow crab, and that snow crab quotas have been increasing in the Bering Sea for the last few years.
“Even when the total allowable catch shrinks a little bit, the revenue, a lot of time, can stay the same because the price will go up because of consumer demand,” Deakin said.
Deakin added that this program isn’t just about the money.
“What this does is it transfers ownership of Being Sea resources to tribes, and with ownership comes a stronger voice in the management of the Bering Sea as a whole,” Deakin said.
Deakin said that CVRF wants to support its members in taking a more active role in the Northern Pacific Fishery Management Council, the body that manages fisheries off the Alaskan coast. He said that CVRF would pay to fly community members to attend those meetings, where they could discuss not only crabbing, but also how fishing in the Bering Sea affects local fisheries in Western Alaska.
Deakin said that another benefit of the CVRF crabbing program is creating job opportunities.
“This isn't going to create a huge amount of jobs. It's only three boats that we fished this year, but the jobs that are there are high-paying,” Deakin said.
There are 16 to 18 of those jobs in the new crabbing program, and at least a couple have already gone to local workers. In its first year, a pair of brothers from Hooper Bay worked on the fleet to catch crab on behalf of their community. You can apply for jobs on CVRF’s website.
The 2021-2022 Bering Sea crabbing season will begin Oct. 15.
