A total environment of change: exploring social-ecological shifts in subsistence fisheries in Noatak and Selawik, Alaska

• Main Author: Moerlein, Katie J.
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2012
• Subjects: subsistence fishing; Alaska; Noatak; Selawik; climatic changes; Inupiat; fishing; traditional ecological knowledge; Arctic; Fairbanks; Climate change; Inupiaq
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11122/10937

Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2012 Arctic ecosystems are undergoing rapid changes as a result of global climate change, with significant implications for the livelihoods of arctic peoples. In this thesis, I use ethnographic research methods to detail prominent environmental changes observed and experienced over the past few decades and to document the impact of these changes on subsistence fishing practices in the Inupiaq communities of Noatak and Selawik in northwestern Alaska. Using in-depth key informant interviews, participant observation, and cultural consensus analysis, I explore local knowledge and perceptions of climate change and other pronounced changes facing the communities of Noatak and Selawik. I find consistent agreement about a range of perceived environmental changes affecting subsistence fisheries in this region, including lower river water levels, decreasing abundances of particular fish species, increasingly unpredictable weather conditions, and increasing presence of beaver, which affect local waterways and fisheries. These observations of environmental changes are not perceived as isolated phenomena, but are experienced in the context of accompanying social changes that are continually reshaping rural Alaska communities and subsistence economies. Consequently, in order to properly assess and understand the impacts of climate change on the subsistence practices in arctic communities, we must also consider the total environment of change that is dramatically shaping the relationship between people, communities, and their surrounding environments. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of Subsistence Management, Project Number 10-152, Research Work Order number G10AC00473 from the U.S. Geological Survey, Alaska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, U.S. National Park Service, George Wright Melendenz Climate Change Fellowship, Alaska NSF EPSCoR Program Introduction : arctic climate change and research approach -- Research methods and data analysis -- Noatak and ...