History: Genesis
The Bering Sea Fishermen's Association was designed to unify a variety of people, a variety of issues and a variety of goals.
The Bering Sea Fishermen's Association began in 1979 with 150 fishermen from over 30 villages in western Alaska ranging from Bristol Bay to Kotzebue Sound. These fishermen united to become more involved in new fisheries that were developing in their backyard, and to build an organization that was concerned with helping local fishermen gain full economic benefits from existing local commercial fisheries.
The first goal of the Association was to assist herring fishermen so that they could become involved in the rapidly expanding Bering Sea Herring Fishery. The members of the board of directors which were elected at Bethel worked together throughout the fall in preparing for the Board of Fisheries meeting in December, 1979. The cooperation of these different people from different regions resulted in the closure of most of the Bering Sea north of Togiak to the use of purse seines for herring fishing. This was a major victory for local village fishermen.
In January 1980, the BSFA established an office in Anchorage and hired staff to continue working to help the Bering Sea fishermen who fish for all species of fish.
The major goals of the Bering Sea Fishermen’s Association were:
- Help Western Alaskan fishermen get started in the herring fishery.
- Help take the opinions and ideas of western Alaskan fishermen to the State Legislature and to Congress.
- Working with state and federal fisheries agencies to help local Bering Sea fishermen.
- Help locate and develop sources of financial aid for Bering Sea fishermen./li>
- Inform fishermen of new political, economic and technological developments which affect their livelihoods through weekly radio programs and through the “Bering Sea Fishermen” periodical.
The Association started a membership drive and signed up many western Alaska fishermen as BSFA members. BSFA was the first organization which could give western Alaskan fishermen’s the opportunity for real influence. BSFA also sought and received memberships from a number of organizations which supported the goals of the BSFA as an organizational member. The founding organizational members included: Bristol Bay Herring Marketing co-op, Nunam Kitlutsikti, Kawerak, Incorporated, and the NANA Regional Corporation.
In addition memberships were made available for corporations involved in the fishing industry. Any corporation which supported the involvement of western Alaskans in Bering Sea fisheries was welcome to join. The first industry member to join the Association was the Seward Fisheries Corporation.
The obstacles we’ve defeated as an agency have afforded us the opportunity to represent 192 communities and just over 114,000 members.
Today BSFA is directed by a 13 member board made up of local fishermen from Bristol Bay, the Yukon/Kuskokwim delta, Norton Sound, Kotzebue and St. Paul.