Villages
Sixty-five Bering Sea villages are eligible to participate in the CDQ program. For the residents of these villages, fishing is the common thread by which their lives are woven. The CDQ program has provided eligible villages with the opportunity to participate and invest in the Bering Sea/Aleutian Island fishery while continuing the time-honored, artisanal fishing traditions that have defined and shaped their existence and quality of life.
Eligibility Criteria
Villages must meet the following eligibility criteria to participate in the CDQ program:
- Be located within 50 nautical miles of the Bering Sea coast;
- Residents conduct at least half of their commercial or subsistence activities in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Island subregions;
- Be recognized by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior as a Native village under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA - Public Law 92-203); and
- Have no previously established harvesting or processing capacity sufficient to support substantial participation in the BSAI groundfish industry.