Commercial fishing is gaining a foothold in the Aleutian Islands by the twentieth century.

Packing houses salted cod and herring, and salmon canneries are opened.

Another traditional occupation, whaling, continues with no regard for over-hunting, which will push  the bowhead whales to the edge of extinction for the oil in their tissue.

The Aleuts will soon suffer severe problems due to the depletion of the fur seals and sea otters, which they need  for survival.

As well as requiring the flesh for food, they also use the skins to cover their boats, without which they cannot hunt.

The Americans are also expanding into the Interior and Arctic Alaska, exploiting the furbearers, fish, and other game on which native peoples depend.