Nelson Lagoon

Nelson Lagoon (Niilsanam Alĝuudaa) is located on the northern coast of the Alaska Peninsula on a narrow spit of land that divides the lagoon from the Bering Sea. The village is home to the Native Village of Nelson Lagoon, a federally recognized Tribe, and has 41 residents, 38 of whom are Alaska Native.

This remote village is facing intense impacts from erosion on both sides of the spit, causing the spit to be longer and narrower, and threatening village infrastructure. This erosion, combined with sea level rise, threatens critical community infrastructure. Nelson Lagoon plans to protect-in-place but recognizes that it will need to address the advancing erosion in order to do so.

Nelson Lagoon is also facing food insecurity. The Tribe is subsistence-based meaning that the residents of the village rely on fishing and other subsistence activities to support their families for survival, and for their cultural identity. However, getting sufficient food is becoming increasingly difficult due to the impacts of climate change, which, combined with mismanagement in the fishery, have depleted the fish from the surrounding waters.