22
1996 National Public Policy Education Conference
Larry Merculieff
general manager,
Central Bering Sea
Fishermen's Association;
chairman, Indigenous Peoples
Council on Marine Animals;
chairman, Alaska chapter,
Nature Conservancy
Indigenous people are now at the table in many policy forums and
in the halls of Congress and state legislatures. Just four years ago, that
was not so.
What has happened to the Alaskan native community is a result of
recent changes in access to fisheries. We are a case study example of a
new "common pool” resource management regime.
Indigenous Alaskans have thrived in the Bering Sea for 10,000
years. It was a remarkable test of a people’s ability to survive, a
daunting physical challenge and certainly a challenge of the spirit.
Our Wisdom Keepers tell us not to talk too much. To do so is to
single ourselves out. That’s considered undignified.
Common Property
Issues and
Alaska's
Bering Sea
Communities
But they also say we must speak from the heart. And we must
leave as much as we can to posterity.
So, we hope hearing how our program got started will raise
questions, stir critical thinking on how we might improve our regime.
The Central Bering Sea Fishermen’s Association is one of six
community development quota (CDQ) organizations. It would not have
been possible without the Magnuson Act of 1976, which Americanized
the fisheries by creating a 200-mile exclusive coastal economic zone.
The Magnuson Act called for equitable distribution. We believed
that not accommodating the communities that historically and culturally
were most connected to the Bering Sea would fail the spirit and intent
of that act. Those resources were distributed to a handful of large
fishing companies based 1,500 miles out of state—ignoring residents
who were in subsistence economies. This was more than incongruous.
As usual, however, industry did not voluntarily agree to relinquish
their rights to a finite resource. Government had to coerce them.
Had industry not agreed to relinquish 7.5 percent of the allowable
pollock catch, they would have found themselves in litigation with local
communities, to interpret the Magnuson Act and native people’s rights.
Even so, we still face present and future court challenges.
Our CDQ organizations are subsistence and commercial fishers in
coastal communities within 50 miles of the Bering Sea. We are the
most regulated fishing groups in the United States, bar none.
The regulations are promulgated by the U.S. Secretary of
Commerce and implemented with interpretations by the state of Alaska.
We are run by a board of directors who must submit a community
development plan that includes resumes, a detailed annual budget, plans
for the next three years, goals and milestones, and a narrative on the
planned uses of moneys and on joint ventures with private companies.
The board must submit its plan to the local governing body, which
holds a public hearing to decide whether to support the plan. This
serves as the quota application.
Nonetheless, the state recommends the percent of quota a CDQ
group should receive and submits it to the Secretary of Commerce. To