Coastal Villages Region Fund

711 H Street, Suite 200 Anchorage, Alaska 99501 Phone 907.278.5151 Fax 907.278.5150 For Immediate Release September 13, 2012 Contact: Dawson Hoover, Coastal Villages (907) 278-5151 Office (907) 230-7731 Cell

CVRF Seeks Changes in CDQ Allocations ANCHORAGE, AK Coastal Villages Region Fund (CVRF) vows to continue seeking changes to the allocation of valuable federal fishery resources in spite of opposition from other participants in the Western Alaska Community Development Quota (CDQ) Program. In a letter signed on September 7, 2012 by CVRFs Board of Directors, the Board asked the CDQ executives who oppose CVRF to reconsider their opposition and to take the matter to the residents who they serve. The CDQ Program is for the people, said CVRF President John O. Mark of Quinhagak, We are hopeful the residents from the other CDQ villages will be sympathetic to CVRFs concerns and join us in seeking an equitable formula that can be defended for the future. CVRF is seeking an allocation formula that is based on population and therefore ensures that CDQ benefits and opportunities are fairly distributed among the 28,000 people who reside in the 65 CDQ villages within 50 miles of the Bering Sea coast. The injustice in allocations has gone on for 20 years, said Mr. Mark, We can no longer sit back and let it continue. We can do more to improve the lives of our community members with fair CDQ allocations. All of the CDQ groups have acknowledged in the past that the allocations are flawed, said CVRF Executive Director Morgen Crow, It is time to have the strength to correct the mistakes of the past. CVRF represents 20 of the 65 CDQ villages and approximately 9,300 of the 28,000 residents who reside in CDQ villages. According to the most recent U.S. Census, CVRFs member villages have among the highest rates of unemployment and poverty, among the lowest per capita income of the 65 CDQ villages, and, according to the Denali Commission, the most distressed communities. When the CDQ Program was being developed in the early 1990s, the 20 member villages of CVRF chose to form a single CDQ group, while other villages chose to form multiple smaller, separate CDQ groups. The villages that formed smaller CDQ groups continue to receive more fish per CDQ resident than the two largest groups, which include CVRF and Norton Sound Economic Development Corporation (NSEDC). CVRF represents more people and villages than the smallest three of the six CDQ groups combined. We have effectively been penalized for working together, said CVRF Vice President Richard Jung of Napakiak, If Napakiak had joined with fewer villages, maybe we would have received as much CDQ fish per resident as St. Paul or Atka or Emmonak. We shouldn't be penalized for working well together for our people. We will not accept second-class citizenship in the CDQ Program, said James Akerelrea, CVRF Board Member from Scammon Bay, The inequities are too great, and there is no justification for the people just up

the coast in Alakanuk to receive almost three times as much CDQ crab and cod per resident as we do in Scammon Bay. There is a time when the next generation will take our place to represent our 20 member villages, said Harry Tulik, CVRF Board Member from Toksook Bay, We are pursuing to lighten their burden by correcting the imbalance in the CDQ resource allocation. Through the CDQ Program, the six CDQ groups were allocated a portion of the federal Bering Sea fisheries to use to participate and invest in fisheries in the Bering Sea...to support economic development in western Alaska...to alleviate poverty and provide social and economic benefits...and...to achieve sustainable and diversified local economics in western Alaska. (16 U.S.C. 1855(i)(1)(A)) ### CVRF is a 501(c)(4) Alaska non-profit corporation whose 20 member villages are along the west coast of Alaska from Scammon Bay to Platinum. CVRF participates in the federal Western Alaska Community Development Quota (CDQ) Program and is governed by a 20-member Board of Directors, with one director elected by the residents of each of the 20 member communities. CVRF is dedicated to providing economic development in its 20 member communities by creating sensible, tangible and long-term opportunities that generate Hope for residents who want to Fish and Work. CVRF is the largest jobs provider in its member villages and is the first CDQ group to own and control the vessels that harvest its CDQ allocations. For more information, visit www.coastalvillages.org or contact Dawson Hoover at 907-278-5151.

Aleutian Pribilof Island Community Development Association (APICDA)

Communities Total Population Unemployment Poverty Distressed Communities Income Per Capita 6 387 3.7% 12.4% 0.0% $20,508

Central Bering Sea Fishermens Association (CBSFA)

1 425 1.7% 17.8% 0.0% $26,198

Yukon Delta Fisheries Development Association

(YDFDA)
6 3,341 25.9% 22.8% 77.9% $11,931

Bristol Bay Economic Development Corporation (BBEDC)

17 5,411 15.5% 14.8% 29.9% $16,394

Norton Sound Economic Development Corporation (NSEDC)

15 9,070 19.4% 24.2% 46.3% $13,252

Coastal Villages Region Fund

(CVRF)
20 9,304 25.8% 31.6% 96.1% $11,602

CDQ Allocation Per Resident (Relative to CVRF)

Pollock Pacific Cod Opilio Crab Red King Crab Yellowfin Sole BS Sablefish 14.0 20.0 11.3 22.7 112.2 19.5 4.6 10.9 25.8 12.2 29.2 19.0 1.6 2.9 2.8 2.8 12.5 4.7 1.5 2.0 2.0 1.8 6.9 1.9 0.9 1.0 1.1 1.0 1.2 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 0.0

Halibut

42.4

39.9

0.7

1.1

0.4

1.0

This graph depicts how much fish per resident each group receives compared with CVRF

120 100 80 60 40 20 0 APICDA

Pollock

CBSFA
PacificCod OpilioCrab

YDFDA

BBEDC
YellowfinSole

NSEDC
Sablefish

CVRF
Halibut

BBRedKingCrab

Coastal Villages accounts for 33% of the total CDQ population, yet receives significantly less than 33% of CDQ Program species. From 2006-2011, Coastal Villages grew by more people than each of the populations of the APICDA and CBSFA CDQ groups, causing the allocation disparity to grow even more
10,000

CVRF serves 9,304 residents and has grown by more than 500 people from 2006-2011

8,000 6,000 4,000 2,000 APICDA CBSFA YDFDA 2006 2011 BBEDC NSEDC CVRF

Sources: CDQ Allocations: NMFS 2012 CDQ Allocation Matrix (http://www.fakr.noaa.gov/cdq/allocations/annualmatrix2012.pdf) Unemployment: U.S. Census (http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/searchresults.xhtml?refresh=t) Poverty: U.S. Census (http://censtats.census.gov/pub/Profiles.shtml, and http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/searchresults.xhtml?refresh=t) Distressed Communities: Denali Commission (http://www.denali.gov/index.php?option=com_docman&Itemid=518) Income Per Capita: U.S. Census (http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/searchresults.xhtml?refresh=t) 2006 & 2011 Alaskan PFD Annual Reports (http://pfd.alaska.gov/DivisionInfo/AnnualReports)

Community Development Quota Group:

NSEDC YDFDA CVRF BBEDC APICDA CBSFA

Norton Sound Economic Development Corporation Yukon Delta Fisheries Development Association Coastal Villages Region Fund Bristol Bay Economic Development Corporation Aleutian Pribilof Island Community Development Association Central Bering Sea Fishermens Association

Portage Creek