Cruise ships come to St. Paul as the island rebuilds after the crab crash

Five cruise ships will call at St. Paul Island between Aug. 8 and Sept. 10 — a busy stretch for a Bering Sea community still reeling from the collapse of its main industry.

St. Paul, largest of the Pribilof Islands, is home to about 400 people, most of them Unangax̂. Its economy ran on snow crab: the island hosts one of North America's largest crab plants, whose taxes bankrolled much of the city. Then in 2022 the Bering Sea snow crab fishery collapsed and closed for the first time ever. St. Paul, roughly 90% dependent on the harvest, declared a cultural, economic and social emergency over a budget hole near $2.7 million.

Now the island is searching for new footing, and tourism is one avenue. The draw is the wildlife: St. Paul holds one of the world's largest northern fur seal breeding colonies — the same animals outsiders once hunted here to near extinction.