DUTCH HARBOR/UNALASKA, ALASKA-THE PLACE WITH 2 NAMES

SUNDAY, APRIL 21, 2013
About 800 miles SW of Anchorage, the "place with 2 names" is known chiefly as the heart of the area's booming fishing industry, situated between the North Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea.  The waters of Dutch Harbor are ice-free year round and provide a sheltered anchorage for vessels from the storms of the 2 seas.
Even before the Russians arrived on the Aleutian Islands in 1741, native Aleuts lived on the bounty of the sea.  The Aleuts were forced to join the Russian in their quest to trap seals and sea otters for their lucrative pelts.
The US Navy appropriated DUTCH HARBOR in 1940 and it incorporated as a city in 1942.  During WWII  area was bombed heavily and the surviving Aleuts were removed for their safety.  It wasn't until the 1960's that resurgence in the king crab industry led to a financial boom and a restoration to the previous affluence.  It is now a thriving fishing and marine port and exports millions of pounds of king crab, snow crab, salmon, halibut, cod and herring a year.  Unemployment usually hovers at about 2%, but because of the remote location, cost of living here is the highest anywhere in the US, over 200% than Anchorage and about 150% above the national average.  The 5,000 residents don't seem to mind.