Akutan

Area Description & History

Akutan is located on Akutan Island, one of the Krenitzin Islands in the Fox Island group of the eastern Aleutians, 35 miles east of Unalaska and 766 miles southwest of Anchorage, with 14 square miles of land and 4.9 square miles of water. The area has been continuously inhabited by the Unangan people for at least 8,000 years.1 Subsistence activities are essential for the year-round Unangan residents, who harvest salmon, cod, herring, and other species from local waters. Established as a fur storage and trading port in 1878 by the Western Fur & Trading Company (later acquired by the Alaska Commercial Company), Akutan gained further industry in 1912 with the Pacific Whaling Company’s whale processing station across the bay. Commercial fishing started in the late 1800s, and today, Akutan hosts one of the world’s largest shoreside processing plants. Crab fisheries began in 1930, accelerating in the 1950s as the Bering Sea king crab industry developed, peaking in the 1970s and early 1980s before declining.

While commercial fishing drives Akutan’s formal economy, the Native Village of Akutan—geographically, demographically, and historically distinct from the processing facilities—is home to the year-round Unangan residents which is socially distinct from seafood employee residents. U.S. Census numbers the Akutan’s population at 713 in 2000, 1,027 in 2010, and 1,589 in 2020; however, population fluctuates with seasonal fisheries employment. Interviews with the Traditional Council estimated permanent residents in 2000 to be only 80 individuals, and 100 in 2020. The bulk of the remaining balance of the population reside in company housing creating a divided community.2 Incorporated as a second-class city in 1979, Akutan falls under the jurisdiction of the Aleutians East Borough. In 1992, residents successfully petitioned to join the Community Development Quota (CDQ) program through the Aleutian Pribilof Islands Community Development Association, highlighting limited benefits from the local fishing facilities. The Akutan Corporation serves as the local ANCSA village corporation, with the Aleut Corporation as the regional corporation and the Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association as a central Native association. Akutan is located in Federal Reporting Area 519, International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) Regulatory Area 4B, and the Aleutian Islands Sablefish Regulatory Area.

Infrastructure & Transportation

Akutan’s airport, located seven miles away on Akun Island, opened in 2012 and serves the community by helicopter. The state ferry provides weekly service from May to September. Akutan has a 100-foot public dock with moorage for 58 vessels. Recently, the City of Akutan, the Aleutians East Borough, and the Army Corps of Engineers partnered to develop a new harbor, creating a 12-acre mooring basin for up to 57 large fishing vessels.3 The project completed public review in summer of 2023. Trident Seafoods currently owns several commercial docks and processing facilities in Akutan; however in spring 2022, they began building a new processing facility in Unalaska that will eventually replace the Akutan facilities.4 The recent Peter Pan Plan closures may temporarily increase activity at Akutan’s facilities. These changes in regional processing are likely to significantly impact Akutan. Akutan’s water comes from a stream and dam built in 1927, with sewage treated in a community septic tank.5 Electricity is primarily hydro-powered with diesel backup, and heating relies on fuel oil and kerosene. There is one school in Akutan, where enrollment rose from 17–20 students in 2022 to 24 in 2023, remaining steady in 2024. Enrollment fluctuates with fisheries employment, hitting the state minimum of 10 students in 2017. A school closure would greatly impact Akutan’s social fabric and reduce access to educational and community resources.6

Demographics

Demographics
Population 1,585
Population in group housing 1476
Median household income $28,750
Housing units 67
Percentages
Male 76.3%
Female 23.7%
White 25.9%
American Indian or Alaska Native 14.8%
Black or African American 16.4%
Asian 17.1%
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander 0.0%
Hispanic or Latino 19.0%
Below poverty line 20.2%
High school diploma or higher 76.7%
Population under 5 1.8%
Population over 18 96.6%
Population over 65 5.6%
Source: US Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (2018-2022)
Population and group housing estimates sourced from Alaska Department of Labor, 2023

Current Economy

Akutan’s economy centers on commercial fishing and subsistence harvests, which are vital for year-round residents as a source of food, social structure, and cultural identity. Trident Seafoods’ Akutan plant, the largest seafood production facility in North America, has capacity to process over three million pounds daily and houses 1,400 employees during peak seasons.7 Akutan levies a 1.5% sales tax which applies to raw seafood products and imported goods. This tax applies to all raw seafood products and imported property from outside Akutan. This generated $2,061,636 in 2022 in sales tax. During the same year, Akutan received $6,054,977 in Raw Fish Tax (at a rate of 2%).8

Additionally, the Alaska Fisheries Business Tax is collected on businesses that process or export fisheries resources from Alaska. The tax revenue is shared with the incorporated city or organized borough where the processing took place. The tax rate depends on the type of processor and the type of fishery resource being processed: Floating processors - 5% for established processors, 3% for developing fishery resources; Salmon canneries - 4.5% for established; Shore-based processors - 3% for established processors, 1% for developing fishery resources.9

In 2023, Akutan received $358,462.45 in Shared Fisheries Tax (a 25% increase from the previous year). In 2024, the amount returned to Akutan was $217,807.54 (down 65%), a substantial decline in tax revenue for the municipality.10 These revenues support basic city services such as education, sanitation, transportation, etc. and are important indicators of community health and well-being.

Climate Change Vulnerability and Adaptive Capacity

Exposure to Biophysical Effects of Climate Change

A community’s exposure to the biophysical effects of climate change, which include effects to the biological organisms and physical landscape surrounding them, aids in evaluating their vulnerability. The Aleutian islands are expected to continue experiencing increased temperatures and precipitation, and increased summer storms. In Akutan, both temperature and precipitation have increased.11 Reduced sea ice will affect ecosystem processes and ice dependent species.12

Dependence on Fisheries Affected by Climate Change

Reliance on those fisheries resources impacted by climate change can influence community vulnerability to climate-driven disruption. As a highly engaged commercial fishing community, Akutan will be directly affected by shifts in species condition and abundance, marine safety, and storm events. In addition, key subsistence fisheries (such as salmon, halibut, and cod) are affected by changing environmental conditions, leading to nutritional impacts and subsistence practices. Akutan residents may be vulnerable to climate driven disruptions which will affect livelihoods and subsistence activities.

Local Adaptive Capacity

Akutan has high limitations in its adaptive capacity due to its rural location and heavy reliance on the seafood processing sector.13 Additionally, the FEMA National Risk Index identified that the Aleutians East region has very low levels of community resilience.14 These ratings takes into account community characteristics which can hinder withstanding and recovering rapidly from climate-driven disruptions occur, specifically, limited housing, vulnerable community infrastructure, substantial numbers of people living under the poverty line, and community members who live or work in less stable conditions. Therefore, if Akutan residents are biophysically impacted by climate change, and when the fisheries resources they rely on are impacted, adaptive capacity is substantially limited.

Social Indicators for Fishing Communities*
Labor Force LOW
Housing Characteristics HIGH
Poverty HIGH
Population Composition HIGH
Personal Disruption MED-HIGH
*Source: NOAA Fisheries Office of Science and Technology. 2019. NOAA Fisheries Community Social Vulnerability Indicators (CSVIs). Version 3 (Last updated December 21, 2020). https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/socioeconomics/social-indicators-fishing-communities-0

Subsistence Harvesting Engagement

Subsistence activities are important to the Unangan community as many other residents of Akutan.15 Permits are not required for salmon subsistence harvest in Akutan, no harvest assessment programs are in place, and ADFG does not monitor salmon runs due to the absence of a commercial salmon fishery, creating uncertainty in subsistence harvest data.16 The most recent available data from the Community Subsistence Information System (CSIS) is dated (2008); however it does provide some insight into subsistence use in the community. According to CSIS data, 100% of households in Akutan use subsistence species, fish being the largest resource group (94%); of which salmon comprises 89%. Akutan harvests all five species of salmon, which together makes up the largest component of Akutan subsistence harvest (estimated to be 12,023 pounds in 2008). Other top marine species include seabirds and eggs, marine mammals, char, and halibut. The most common species of groundfish harvested are cod and rockfish.17 There is scarce data available for subsistence salmon harvests. Those data available are limited due to confidentiality guidelines. In 2020, there were 50 SHARC card holders who reported an estimated total of 157 whole fish and 6,458 pounds of halibut caught for subsistence purposes. In 2022, only one active SHARC card holder was reported.18

  1. Downs, M., & Henry, A. (2023). Baseline commercial fishing community profile updates: Akutan and Unalaska, Alaska. Prepared for the North Pacific Fishery Management Council. Wislow Research.↩︎

  2. Downs, M., & Henry, A. (2023). Baseline commercial fishing community profile updates: Akutan and Unalaska, Alaska. Prepared for the North Pacific Fishery Management Council. Wislow Research.↩︎

  3. APICDA. (n.d.). Akutan. Retrieved November 14, 20204 from https://www.apicda.com/communities/akutan/.↩︎

  4. Greenly, T. (2023, July 28). Trident’s new processing plant in Unalaska will be the largest in North America. Alaska Public Media. https://alaskapublic.org/2023/07/28/tridents-new-processing-plant-in-unalaska-will-be-the-largest-in-north-america/↩︎

  5. Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association. (n.d.). Akutan. https://www.apiai.org/tribes/akutan/↩︎

  6. School enrollment statistics compiled from AK. Dept. of Education & Early Development: http://www.eed.state.ak.us/stats/↩︎

  7. Trident Seafoods. (n.d.). Our plants. Trident Seafoods. Retrieved November 14, 2024 from https://www.tridentseafoods.com/about-us/our-facilities-and-global-reach/our-plants↩︎

  8. Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development, Office of the State Assessor. Alaska Taxable 2022. https://www.commerce.alaska.gov/web/Portals/4/pub/OSA/taxable%20reports/2022%20Alaska%20Taxable%20Report.pdf.↩︎

  9. Alaska Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development, Community and Regional Affairs. Grants & Funding Status Reports. https://www.commerce.alaska.gov/dcra/eGrantsOnline/Home↩︎

  10. Alaska Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development, Community and Regional Affairs. Grants & Funding Status Reports Database. 2023 Shared Fisheries Tax. https://www.commerce.alaska.gov/dcra/eGrantsOnline/Home↩︎

  11. Schmidt, J., & Berman, M. (2018). Adapting to Environmental and Social Change: Subsistence in Three Aleutian Communities.↩︎

  12. Aleutian & Bering Climate Vulnerability Assessment -ABCVA. Unalaska Lecture & Community Discussion Discussion-September 2014. https://legacy.aoos.org/wp wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Unalaska Unalaska-workshopworkshop-9.18.149.18.14-withwith-resultsresults-andand-notenote-3.pdf↩︎

  13. Himes-Cornell, A., & Kasperski, S. (2015). Assessing climate change vulnerability in Alaska’s fishing communities. Fisheries Research, 162, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fishres.2014.09.010↩︎

  14. Federal Emergency Management Agency. (n.d.). National Risk Index: Aleutians East Borough, Alaska. Retrieved November 13, 2024, from https://hazards.fema.gov/nri/report/viewer?dataLOD=Counties&dataIDs=C02013↩︎

  15. Downs, M., & Henry, A. (2023). Baseline commercial fishing community profile updates: Akutan and Unalaska, Alaska. Prepared for the North Pacific Fishery Management Council. Wislow Research.↩︎

  16. Downs, M., & Henry, A. (2023). Baseline commercial fishing community profile updates: Akutan and Unalaska, Alaska. Prepared for the North Pacific Fishery Management Council. Wislow Research.↩︎

  17. Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Community Subsistence Information System: CSIS. https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/sb/CSIS/↩︎

  18. Sill, L.A. and D. Koster. 2022. Subsistence Harvests of Pacific Halibut in Alaska, 2020. Alaska Department of Fish and Game Division of Subsistence, Technical Paper No. 485, Anchorage.↩︎