Achievement

IGERT student and faculty researchers in the Resilience and Adaptation Program integrated ecological, cultural, and institutional approaches to document the effects of declining salmon runs on indigenous communities on the upper Yukon River, Alaska. These communities depend on salmon for food and cultural connections to nature. Most of the fish harvest occurs at sea before the fish enter the river. In years when few salmon enter the Yukon River, international treaties obligate the US to supply a certain minimum escapement to Canada, often leaving very few fish to be harvested in Alaska. IGERT research demonstrates that institutional constraints associated with international treaties and Alaskan fisheries regulations constrain harvest opportunities for the most vulnerable segments of society. The research team explored institutional and management options that might reduce this vulnerability through changes in fisheries or game management and through development of village gardens.