Tag Archives: Coastal Villages Region Fund (CVRF)

CDQ Leaders, Western Alaskan communities join to buy out crab industry pioneers

Thirty communities, Coastal Villages Region Fund (CVRF), and Bristol Bay Economic Development Corporation (BBEDC)  announced significant crab industry acquisitions to bring new revenues to Western Alaskan communities. The buy-out of the Mariner Companies, a Seattle-based fishing enterprise majority-owned by Kevin Kaldestad and Gordon Kristjanson, provides participating communities with opilio and red king crab quota, equaling 3% of the total crab fishery; while CVRF and BBEDC will acquire full ownership of seven crabbing vessels. The deal enables communities to increase their revenues from the fisheries to deliver more programs and benefits to their residents and provides additional revenue for CVRF and BBEDC programs that serve those communities. >click to read< 10:53

Quinhagak commercial fishermen struggle after two years without a buyer

Several weeks ago, the financing fell through on a plan to bring the “Akutan,” a floating fish processing vessel, to Kuskokwim Bay. For the second summer in a row, fishermen in the coastal community of Quinhagak have nowhere to sell their catch; many in the village are now struggling to make ends meet. Timothy “Johnny Boy” Matthews doesn’t remember when he started fishing commercially.,, Matthews has a family of his own now. He bought his own limited entry permit a decade ago and spent his summers selling silvers to a newly opened processing plant in Platinum. It’s owned by Coastal Villages Region Fund (CVRF), a corporation that is supposed to use its Bering Sea fishing quota to support economic development in the area. But CVRF decided not to re-open its plant last year,,, Audio, read the story here 12:17

With ‘Deadliest Catch’ cameras onboard, crabbers head to Bristol Bay -an increasing presence of Alaska Natives and Alaskan-owned boats.

The Bristol Bay red king crab fishery opened Monday with a larger quota, Hollywood on board again, and an increasing presence of Alaska Natives and Alaskan-owned boats. “We call it the Yupikest catch,” said Morgen Crowe, executive director of the Coastal Villages Region Fund (CVRF), the community development quota group in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. CVRF has purchased three crabbers, the Bering Sea, Arctic Sea, and North Sea, and about a third of combined crew members are Yupik Eskimo deckhands. While none are captains yet, that’s only a matter of time and training, Crowe said, adding that the crew earned $50,000 to $80,000 during the last snow crab season, Crowe said. The Western Alaska Community Development Quota (CDQ) program allocates a percentage of,,,,,,,,,,Read More http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/deadliest-catch-cameras-onboard-crabbers-head-bristol-bay?page=full