Seafood Profits Will Aid 17 Communities in Western Alaska

Seventeen western Alaska villages within the region of the Norton Sound Economic Development Corp. will share in nearly $1 million in funds whose distribution was announced by the community development quota group in early February.

NSEDC officials said the projects funded range from new safety equipment for whalers at Savoonga to renovation of a teen center at Shaktoolik.

NSEDC has provided grants to regional entities since the mid-1990s and has formally operated its outside entity funding program for nearly a decade, providing grant funds to municipal governments, federally recognized tribal governments, non-profit organizations, and local, state and federal agencies located in NSEDC member communities. The program is currently under the jurisdiction of the Western Alaska Community Development Quota program and a coordinator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

On Feb. 6 the NSEDC board announced approval of $647,342 toward projects requested by 17 entities in its member communities. An additional $100,000 was divided between two regional projects and $213,126 was approved for two fisheries-related projects.

On the regional level, the CDQ organization funded proposals of $75,000 for the Nome Volunteer Fire Department for firefighting equipment that will be stored in flight-ready packs, and $25,000 for an elder assistance project in Unalakleet.

NSEWDC is one of six private non-profit corporations established by the state of Alaska in 1992 to promote fisheries related economic development in western Alaska. The program is a federal fisheries program that involves a total of 65 communities who are members of one of the CDQ groups. The program allocates a portion of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Island harvest amounts of Pollock, halibut, Pacific cod, crab and bycatch species to the CDQ groups.