Akutan is a community on the northern shore of Akutan Harbor, on Akutan Island, one of the Krenitzin Islands in the Fox Islands group of the Eastern Aleutians, about 766 miles (1,233 km) southwest of Anchorage and 35 miles (56 km) east of Unalaska, Alaska. The island’s Aleut name was first reported by Captain Pyotr K. Krenitsyn in 1768, and Captain James Cook spelled it ‘Acootan’ in 1785. The name may derive from the Aleut word ‘hakuta,’ which, according to linguist Richard H. Geoghegan, means ‘I made a mistake.’ The Aleutian Arc comprises both active and dormant volcanoes formed by plate subduction along the Aleutian Trench. Although named for the Aleutian Islands, the term refers to a geological grouping rather than a geographical one. It extends from the Alaska Peninsula along the Aleutian Range to the Aleutian Islands. Akutan Island is about 18 miles (30 km) long east to west and 10 miles (16 km) wide north to south, with a land area of 82,566 acres (33,413 ha). The island is dominated by Akutan Volcano, a stratovolcano whose summit—Akutan Peak—rises to 4,275 feet (1,303 m). It is one of the most active volcanoes in the Aleutians, with 33 known historical eruptions; the most recent occurred in 1992. Akutan features a caldera 1.2 miles (2 km) in diameter, formed during a major explosive eruption about 1,600 years ago. In 1978, a lava flow traveled through a narrow breach in the north caldera rim, coming within 1.2 miles (2 km) of the coast. The island’s coastline consists mainly of volcanic rocks, including abundant columnar basalts. Two abandoned beach deposits on the north shore of Akutan Harbor provide some of the only level ground in the bay—one occupied by the village of Akutan and the other by Trident Seafoods.

The Aleutian Islands form a chain spanning over 1,200 miles from the Alaska Peninsula to Asia, separating the Bering Sea to the north from the Pacific Ocean to the south. Indigenous peoples—known as Aleuts or Unangan (meaning ‘coastal people’)—have inhabited the archipelago for at least 8,700 years. Maritime hunters, whose culture resembled the Iñupiat, settled the islands; scholars believe the Aleut language diverged from Iñupiat about 4,000 years ago. In 1741, Russian explorers encountered an Aleut population of 12,000 to 16,000, concentrated mainly on the food-rich eastern islands. On Akutan Island, the Unangan lived in a village called Siskena at the northeast corner of Akutan Harbor. Traditionally, Unangan men hunted seals, whales, sea lions, sea otters, and sometimes walruses from baidarkas (skin-on-frame boats known as Aleutian kayaks), while women gathered fish, birds, eggs, wild plants, and shellfish. They used berries, roots, and grasses for basket weaving. The Russian maritime fur trade triggered significant displacement and cultural change. Russian traders mistreated the Unangan, forcing most men into indefinite servitude as sea otter hunters. After the 1867 Alaska Purchase, the Unangan population dwindled to about 2,000, mainly due to violent conflicts and disease. In 1878 the Western Fur & Trading Company established a fur storage and trading post at modern Akutan village. A Russian Orthodox church and school were built, prompting Siskena and settlements on nearby Akun Island to relocate to Akutan within a year. The church was replaced in 1918 by the Saint Alexander Nevsky Chapel. In June 1942, after the Japanese Imperial Navy attacked Unalaska, the US government evacuated Akutan residents to Ketchikan. The village was reestablished in 1944, though many chose not to return.

The Native Village of Akutan is a federally recognized tribe under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 and part of the Eastern Aleutian Tribes. Akutan is a fishing community that includes the historic Unangan village—with about 75 year‑round residents—and a neighboring seafood processing plant operated by Trident Seafoods. During the fishing season, most residents are transient workers living in company housing. Trident’s remote facility is entirely self‑reliant. Its proximity to Bering Sea fishing grounds makes it North America’s largest seafood production plant. With over 1,400 employees at peak, it processes more than 3 million pounds (1,360,777 kg) of raw fish daily. The plant specializes in Alaska pollock, the Bering Sea’s most abundant whitefish, and also processes significant volumes of Pacific cod, Alaska king and snow crab, and halibut. Alaska pollock is a semi-pelagic schooling fish widely distributed in the North Pacific, with its largest concentrations in the eastern Bering Sea. Although pollock is technically a cod, it is marketed internationally under its own trade name. Pollock are planktivores and mainly feed on copepods. They exhibit diel migration—vertical movement during the day—and seasonal depth changes that mirror the movement of their prey. About 3 million tons are caught annually in the North Pacific, from Alaska to northern Japan. Pollock landings are the largest for any single fish species in the US, with the average annual Eastern Bering Sea catch between 1977 and 2014 reaching 1.2 million tons. Each year’s quota is adjusted based on stock assessments by the NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center. Read more here and here. Explore more of Akutan Village and Akutan Island here: