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Commercial fishing is an important source of employment and income in many of our communities. The communities of eastern Norton Sound from Golovin around the sound south to Stebbins fish commercially for salmon. Halibut is fished commercially on St. Lawrence Island and from Nome. The commercial red king crab fishery also operates out of Nome. However, at this time, there is no opportunity for commercial fishing in the northern communities of Brevig Mission, Teller, Wales and Diomede. This project explores the possibility of a commercial fishery in these northern villages. We are supplying fishing boats and long-line fishing gear for use in these communities. Fishing crews will use this equipment to catch halibut, cod or other fish to determine if any species exist in quantities that would allow commercial exploitation of any of these stocks in the areas around northeast Norton Sound. Through its participation in state and federal trawl surveys, NSEDC also investigates the Bering Strait sub-region to inventory and determine the abundance of potential commercial stocks. NSEDC has paid to put a crew member on a National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) vessel to access the data from its survey in 2010. Following the Alaska Department of Fish and Game's two-week trawl survey in Norton Sound to inventory crab—an event that takes place every three years—NSEDC pays for an additional week of survey time, moving the boat into the Bering Strait region. That extra week is used to inventory and estimate the population of additional fish species, which could lead to commercial opportunities for the northern communities. For more information contact:
Norton Sound Economic Development Corporation
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