Resource
Publication | Stewarding Native Lands
Protecting Bering Sea Ecosystems
The Bering Sea supports the ancestral lifeways of the Iñupiaq, Central Yup’ik, Cup’ik, St. Lawrence Island Yupik, and Unangan (Aleut) peoples across more than 70 coastal communities in Alaska. While Alaska Native tribes and communities continue to uphold their millennia-old stewardship responsibilities, the region has reached a critical tipping point. This crisis is driven by the convergence of climate acceleration, with the Arctic warming at four times the global average, and colonial management structures that favor industrial extraction over Native food security and ecosystem health.
In 2021, First Nations launched the Protecting Bering Sea Marine Resources project to provide the funding, outreach, and support necessary for Alaska Native tribes and communities to defend the waters that sustain them. With generous support from an anonymous donor, First Nations provided grants and technical assistance to Alaska Native tribes and Native-led organizations working to protect marine resources in the Bering Sea.
First Nations generated this report to share the work of the grantees and bring attention to how their work can be better supported. It identifies the primary threats to Bering Sea marine resources and examines how federal and state policies, specifically the Magnuson Stevens Act and the Alaska Limited Entry Act, have prioritized the privatization of fisheries at the expense of Native rights and stewardship.
The findings underscore an urgent need for a philanthropic shift. By funding Alaska Native tribes and communities to manage their ancestral waters, an ecologically diverse and culturally vibrant Bering Sea can be secured for generations to come.
