Community Development Quota Program: community sustainability and the Bering Sea

Abstract

Sustainability and resilience are worthwhile goals for western Alaskan communities. From shifting global markets to climate change, these communities face numerous novel threats to their survival that increased resilience can mitigate. This thesis examines how an innovative community management scheme, the Community Development Quota (CDQ) Program, can contribute resilience to its communities, how those resilience-lending aspects can be better utilized, and what obstacles prevent sustainability in western Alaska. Qualitative, semi-structured interviews with ten community residents from four of the six CDQ groups were conducted and CDQ relevant documents and reports were evaluated to measure eight indicators of sustainability and resilience: community demographics, job creation, education rates, per capita incomes, flexibility, monitoring and feedback mechanisms, communication, and evidence of learning. While building sustainability and resilience has not been the primary focus of the program to date, progress has been made. Much intergroup variation exists within the indicators and much work remains for sustainability and resilience. The capacity for much greater success exists within the program. An adaptive co-management approach focused on creating sustainable and resilient communities is a viable path to this success. The experience of the CDQ program can inform other Arctic communities working toward sustainability and resilience.