The Praxis of Fisheries as Culture: Successful Fishing Communities in Rural Alaska

Davin HolenPhD Student

University of Alaska Fairbanks

Subsistence Program Manager, Southern RegionDivision of Subsistence

Alaska Department of Fish and Game

Project

This in-progress project uses three rural coastal communities located in sub-Arctic Alaska to examine successful fishing communities.

This involves the intersection of commercial and subsistence fisheries in complex social-ecological systems.

Index Communities

Index Communities

Index Communities

Research Objectives and Methods

1. Understand the place of food security in the decisions families make about continuing to live in these communities.

Method: Key respondent interviews.

2. Identify socio-cultural factors such as culture change, kinship based social networks, and local-level politics that shape contemporary employment, migration, and subsistence patterns.

Method: Household surveys.

3. Identify indices that could be used to measure the long-term viability of diverse fishing communities across the north.

Method: Synthesis of both data sets.

Why is fishing so important to the local

economy?

Study Years: Kokhanok 2005 Tyonek 2006 Chenega Bay 2003

Gas Prices in Iliamna, 2007Photograph by Ted Krieg

Ethnographic and Harvest Assessment Research: Tyonek 2004–2006

Commercial fishing at Old Tyonek, 2005 Photograph by Davin Holen

Research and Regulations: TyonekSubsistence Fishery 1983 and 2004

Photograph by Ron Stanek, 1983

Photograph by Davin Holen, 2004

Research: Tyonek 2004–2006

Photograph by Davin Holen, 2004

Research: Tyonek 2004–2006

Photograph by Davin Holen, 2004

Why are jobs important?

Tyonek Subsistence Fishery, 2005Photography by Davin Holen

• James A. Fall, Davin L. Holen, Brian Davis, Theodore Krieg, and David Koster. 2006. Subsistence harvests and uses of wild resources in Iliamna, Newhalen, Nondalton, Pedro Bay, and Port Alsworth, Alaska, 2004. ADF&G Division of Subsistence, Technical Paper No. 302.

• Theodore M. Krieg, Davin Holen, and David Koster. 2009. Subsistence harvests and uses of wild resources in Igiugig, Kokhanok, Koliganek, Levelock, and New Stuyahok, Alaska, 2005. ADF&G Division of Subsistence, Technical Paper No. 322.

• Davin Holen and Terri Lemons. 2010. Subsistence harvests and uses of wild resources in Lime Village, Alaska, 2007. ADF&G Division of Subsistence, Technical Paper No. 355.

• Davin Holen, Ted Krieg, Jory Stariwat, and Terri Lemons. 2011. Subsistence harvests and uses of wild resources in King Salmon, Naknek, and South Naknek, Alaska, 2007. ADF&G Division of Subsistence, Technical Paper No. 360.

• Davin Holen, Ted Krieg, and Terri Lemons. 2012. Subsistence harvests and uses of wild resources in Aleknagik, Clark’s Point, and Manokotak, Alaska, 2008. ADF&G Division of Subsistence, Technical Paper No. 368.

• James A. Fall, Davin Holen, Theodore M. Krieg, Robbin La Vine, Karen Stickman, Michelle Ravenmoon, Jessica Hay, and Jory Stariwat. 2010. The Kvichak watershed subsistence salmon fishery: an ethnographic study. ADF&G Division of Subsistence, Technical Paper No. 352.

• Stanek, Ronald T., James A. Fall, and Davin L. Holen 2006 West Cook Inlet ethnographic overview and assessment for Lake Clark National Park & Preserve. Anchorage, Alaska: U.S. Dept. of the Interior, National Park Service.

• Stanek, Ronald T.,Davin Holen, and Crystal Wassillie 2007 Harvest and uses of wild resources in Tyonek and Beluga, Alaska, 2005-2006. Technical paper no. 321Juneau: Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game, Division of Subsistence.

Technical Papers www.adfg.alaska.gov

• Holen, Davin 2009 The dynamic context of cultural and social sustainability of communities in Southwest Alaska. Journal of Enterprising Communities 3(3):306-316.

• Holen, Davin 2009 A resilient subsistence salmon fishery in Southwest Alaska. Journal of Northern Studies 2:99-113.

• Holen, Davin. 2011. “We all drink this water:” The contemporary context of salmon fishing in Southwest Alaska. In Humanizing security in the Arctic. D. Michelle, F. Levesque, and J. Ferguson, eds. Pp. 191-208. Edmonton: Canadian Circumpolar Institute.

Other Publications

Supporting Organizations

Tyonek Fish Camp, 2005

Photograph by Davin Holen

dlholen@alaska.edudavin.holen@alaska.gov