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St. Paul signs marine resource management agreement with federal government

The Aleut Community of St. Paul Island signed an agreement with NOAA’s Fisheries Service, establishing a partnership for sustainable stewardship of the surrounding waters.
Theo Greenly
/
KUHB
The Aleut Community of St. Paul Island signed an agreement with NOAA’s Fisheries Service, establishing a partnership for sustainable stewardship of the surrounding waters.

Updated 01/21/2025 at 3:34 p.m.

The Aleut Community of St. Paul Island announced Friday that it has signed an agreement with the federal government aimed at jointly managing the waters surrounding the Bering Sea island.

Tribal Council President John Melovidov said the agreement with the National Marine Fisheries Service is a step towards environmental stewardship through a partnership between the tribe and the national government, and also a recognition of the Unangax̂ people’s historical connection to the region.

“It's really the start of working together on matters related to sustainable stewardship of marine resources,” Melovidov said. “Reaching this agreement is a historic achievement for our people, yet we have a great deal of work ahead of us."

He said the agreement would help the tribe collaborate with federal agencies as the island experiences “dynamic changes in our marine ecosystem."

The tribe has fought for a seat at the table in stewarding the waters around St. Paul, located in some of Alaska’s most productive fishing grounds, and was nominated as a federally designated national marine sanctuary in 2022.

More recently, the island’s tribal government has pursued a new designation as an Indigenous marine stewardship area, giving the tribal government more agency over resource decisions but ultimately less litigative power than the sanctuary designation.Federal appointees administer the National Marine Fisheries Service, which is run by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Melovidov said the agreement announced Friday protects the conservation work they’ve done under the outgoing administration of President Joe Biden, and against possible changes under President-elect Trump.

“We look forward to working with the agency, the fishing industry, and others in our community to move toward sustainable fisheries that support us, ensure the future for our fur seals, birds, and other marine resources, and help us achieve our economic development goals,” he said.

The agreement outlines a framework for managing marine resources, including the inclusion of tribal proposals and knowledge in fisheries policies. Its implementation will require coordination with other entities, including the North Pacific Fishery Management Council and the State of Alaska, to ensure compliance with federal and state laws.

Theo Greenly covers the Aleutian and Pribilof Islands for the Alaska Desk from partner stations KUCB in Unalaska, KSDP in Sand Point and KUHB in Saint Paul.
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  • St. Paul Island, in the Bering Sea, is home to vast marine ecosystems that have supported the Unangax̂ community for generations. But the island’s most iconic species — the northern fur seal — has been in steep decline for decades. Last fall, the tribe began holding listening events to hear from residents about how to protect the island’s ecosystems from threats such as climate change and overfishing. The eventual goal behind that work is designating the waters around St. Paul Island as an Indigenous marine stewardship area.
  • Trident Seafoods’ St. Paul processing plant won’t open to take snow crab deliveries this season. But the Pribilof Island community will still see some economic benefits from the harvest, thanks to a new agreement between the cities of St. Paul and Unalaska. The Unalaska City Council unanimously approved a resolution at a special meeting on Jan. 3 that will allow snow crab, or opilio, that’s normally processed by Trident in St. Paul to come to Unalaska instead. St. Paul will receive the seafood taxes and fisheries business taxes associated with that portion of the harvest, like they normally would.
  • Unangam Tunuu is taught in only a handful of classes in the public school system, and outside these sessions, the language is seldom spoken in everyday conversation. The struggle on St. Paul mirrors trends across Alaska. A 2024 report from the Alaska Native Language Preservation and Advisory Council, a legislative council that advises the governor's office, found that all of the state’s Indigenous languages are critically endangered, with some spoken by fewer than a dozen people.