The Aleut peoples have lived on the Aleutian Islands of Alaska in the United States and in the Russian Kamchatka Krai for millennia. In both countries the health, economic well-being, and ways of life of the Aleut has been connected to the rich resources of the Bering Sea, on which their present maritime sociocultural identity is based.^[1] It is their main objective therefore to protect the Bering Sea marine habitat.^[2] 

The Aleut community benefits from the resources of the region but also faces environmental problems caused by transboundary contaminants transport, climate change and commercial fisheries in the Bering Sea.^[3] The Aleut peoples address these challenges through their active collaboration with national governments, international decision-makers at the Arctic Council, to which the Aleut International Association was admitted as a Permanent Participant in 1998, the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, to which AIA was granted Special Consultative Status in 2004, as well as through their engagement at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF). ^[4]

The Aleutian/Pribilof Islands Association, U.S., and the Association of the Indigenous Peoples of the North of the Aleut District of the Kamchatka Region of the Russian Federation (AIPNADKR) share the following positions on tourism, shipping and resource extraction in the Arctic region:

In the Bering Sea, it is estimated that U.S. commercial fisheries are worth close to $1billion per year, and make up more than half of all annual domestic fish landings; in Russia, the fishery is worth about $600 million a year, and makes up about a third of the country’s fish harvest.^[5] In addition to the cultural relationship of the Aleut peoples with the marine ecosystems, fishing in the Bering Sea is thus a very important economic driver for the Aleut and particularly for the socioeconomic development of coastal villages along the Bering Sea. In order to conserve the Bering Sea fish the Aleut developed individual fishing quotas (IFQ) that have been hailed as the most sustainable fisheries management plans worldwide.^[6] The Aleut promote the implementation of the IFQ throughout the Arctic Region in order to protect Arctic fish. As climate change heavily impacts the living structure of this marine resource, the Aleut also believe that the limitation of fishing supports Arctic fish in their adaption to climate change impacts.^[7]

Oil and gas leasing in the North Aleutian Basin within the 1998 Lease Sale 92 area (now called Lease Sale 214) is supported by the Aleut East Borough if residents of the Aleutians East Borough benefit from employment and business opportunities, and as long as exploration and development is conducted in an environmentally safe manner. Estimates predict that the basin contain 8.6 trillion cubic feet of gas and 750 million barrels of oil or condensate - resources that may be worth $37 billion over the next 30 years.^[8]

With regard to tourism, the Aleut advocate Arctic tourism as long as tourism activities are carried out sustainably and do not endanger the Arctic environment. The Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association is working to develop eco-tourism, which can serve as an example throughout the Arctic region.^[9]

The Aleut generally support tourism, shipping and resource development in the Arctic region, however, maximum protection and priority must always be given to the fishery resources.^[10]