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Abstract Arctic Indigenous food systems are essential to the survival of local communities, but face significant challenges due to environmental, economic, and social pressures. The objective of this study is to elicit values of the mixed Indigenous food system on St. Paul Island, Alaska, and understand their potential as deep leverage points for transformative change in the context of their historical co-evolution with the local food system. To achieve this objective, we engage three generational groups within the Aleut Community of St. Paul Island to obtain local food system stories. From these stories, we (i) elicit historical events that are thought to have shaped the local food system, (ii) identify factors that influence the food system in its present and future states, and (iii) delineate intrinsic, instrumental, and relational food system values. Our findings show that most identified historical events are perceived to have undermined the Indigenous food system and that most factors identified to shape present and future food system states present barriers for community members to engage in traditional practices. Yet, despite this, values that relate to traditional Indigenous livelihoods remain central in the local value system. These results suggest a value change debt, i.e., a time lag between changes in peoples’ held values following changes in the system around them. We propose that this lag provides a window of opportunity to leverage transformative change. We argue that as long as traditional food system values persist, there is potential to reconfigure the food system in a way that embraces these values, enhancing the system's relevance to the community's way of life. 

The Pribilof Islands blue king crab ( Paralithodes platypus) fishery collapsed over two decades ago, is considered overfished, and has not recovered in the absence of fishing. Red king crab ( Paralithodes camtschaticus) abundance estimates have exceeded blue king crab for over three decades. We investigated the roles of larval recruitment and habitat availability as potential mechanisms limiting blue king crab recovery. We conducted young-of-year abundance and habitat assessments near Saint Paul Island from 2017 to 2019 and compared these results to 1983–1984 historical data to assess changes in larval supply and benthic substrates. Historically abundant blue king crab settlers were rarely encountered in our surveys. Red king crab settlers, once rare in historical surveys, are now more common throughout the region in low abundance. Benthic habitats did not change over time, as 90% of resampled sites had similar substrates. We conclude that larval supply and not benthic habitat is limiting juvenile recruitment. Our results could inform future fishery rebuilding efforts for blue king crab, which could include approaches to increase larval supply and juvenile recruitment through aquaculture.