Kawerak’s Social Science Department has been expanding its work deeper into the world of fisheries and fisheries management with regard to meaningful tribal input and consultation. After developing Tribal Research Protocols and work around defining Traditional Knowledge and re-iterating its importance, the need for a stronger role in the management of fisheries became very clear as subsistence fishing has been heavily threatened with empty nets and fish racks.
With a new grant awarded by NOAA’s Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund (PCSRF) to the amount of $2.2 million Kawerak will be able to expand programs and projects that will benefit Pacific salmon and contribute to Being Strait Region Tribes’ goals related to salmon resiliency and sustainability. The newly created program activities will build capacity to participate in salmon recovery and conservation planning, and include utilization of Traditional Knowledge in these activities.
One activity is the establishment of a unique level of ecosystem monitoring in the region; a crucial step in addressing salmon population declines and subsistence harvest restrictions. The program called “Awatipta Ecosystem Monitoring Program”, will be Indigenous-led and collect data around salmon research priorities in watersheds across the Kawerak region. (‘Awatipta” means ‘around us’ in Inupiaq.) Since the monitoring will be led by Tribes and employ local observers, the areas typically understudied will be addressed which will fill in critical gaps of data.
Additionally, the creation of a ten member Traditional Knowledge Expert Group, composed of individuals nominated by the Tribal Councils, will also review data collected and help identify regional salmon priorities as well as contribute to ways to effectively monitor in ways that address local ecosystem and community concerns.
The Awatipta Ecosystem Monitoring Program and Traditional Knowledge Expert Group will inform and contribute to the final component of the grant activities which is the formation of the Salmon Futures Plan. This plan will be a foundational building document for fishery and salmon-related activity that will encourage regional salmon resilience. Leading with the policies, procedures and goals established in the Plan, we can guide fishery practices in line with the knowledge and stewardship practices of the Tribes. Work toward this will begin soon with a large regional workshop planned for January regarding regional Research Priorities.
Work towards the development of a Salmon Futures Plan is vital to federally-recognized Tribes’ ability to share their understanding of the history of salmon in our region, what is needed to work towards population restoration and sustainability, rehabilitation projects, and to direct funding, policy and management decisions that can best support salmon populations in our region.
