Our Land and our Waters: Our Future


As Unangan (Aleut) people who have lived and survived on the Islands of the Aleutian Chain for almost 10,000 years, our survival and our foods have always come from the waters surrounding our Island villages.

The Pribilof Islands were discovered in 1786 by Russian navigator Gavriil Pribilof, ending a three-year search by Siberian merchants for the breeding site of the valuable fur seals. The roaring of seals drew Pribilof's boat through the summer fog to St. George Island. Thus the Pribilof Islands. These islands were not inhabited when discovered. Following this discovery, small bands of Unangan were enslaved to these islands from the Aleutian Chain to protect and harvest the millions of fur seals found there. Thus began a 200 year history of a people misplaced by governments eager to make money off of the vast resources found then and now in the form of fish and crab. The legacy of slavery seems to continue into twenty-first century America.

Today the descendents of the enslaved Unangan, done first by Russia and later by America, are struggling to survive on the islands in which our ancestors made a living and in which many are buried.  The once abundant northern fur seal populations, once ranging in number into the millions, are now numbered around 550,000 and steadily declining. The millions of pounds of king and tanner crab fishery are either a fraction of what they once were or are now closed due to overfishing. Today only a small percentage of fish once so abundant are now being taken by a hand full of large industrialized factory trawlers, long liners and crabbers, many coming to the Bering Sea from far away ports in the lower 48 states.

Traditional foods are moving away, or in many cases becoming so stressed due to the lack of their own foods, that the Unangan are finding it very difficult to fill their needs. With “store bought” foods so expensive and non-nutritious, the Unangan are once again facing an uncertain future. Again a group of people taken from their homes to protect and harvest fur seal may be forced to move from their homes because of poorly managed fisheries by the United States of America.  

These distressing activities are not only happening to the Unangan of the Bering Sea, but to all coastal tribal communities who depend upon the waters for survival.  For every village, it’s the water that provides and not the land.

As a result, the Alaska Federation of Natives recently passed a resolution at their 2009 convention in Anchorage to establish cultural heritage zones to help protect our foods and the habitat they depend upon in our waters. This is a major first step. Now our tribal governments must take the lead and begin to identify and designate these sites.

One such community is the Pribilof Island village of St. George. Their tribal leaders have been in discussions, workshops and research to find a solution to how the bottom trawlers can be stopped before critical benthic habitat is destroyed!

Recently both the Village Corporation and the tribal government of St. George have joined forces to seek cultural heritage zone protections for the waters immediately around their island as well as within the critical habitats of both the Pribilof and Zhemchug Canyons. What they are demanding our governments do is establish no trawl zones within twenty miles around St. George Island and no trawls deeper than 100 fathoms in both Canyons.

The leadership of our Tribes are also requesting that the State and Federal Governments responsible for the management of these resources formulate co- management agreements to ensure local input in any future decisions regarding the use of these fishery resources. This is about the survival of a people. This is about food security. This is about finally recognizing local tribal communities as valuable partners in the understanding of our nation’s ocean resources and seeking their valuable input in its management.

Greenpeace has been working for four years on trying to develop an alternative to marine reserves in Alaska, especially in the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea, and now in the vast and still somewhat pristine Arctic Ocean. It should come as no surprise that the ecosystems of these once rich and living oceans are fast becoming laboratories on how not to manage, as though man could, environments delicate and complex. Because it has been politically impossible to create the successful and ocean repairing marine reserves, we have been looking at creating marine cultural heritage zones (CHZ) in and around coastal communities as well as critical habitats within our country’s 200 mile exclusive economic zones (EEZ) here in Alaska.

And today we are another very important step closer to realizing our dreams. The Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN) is the largest statewide Native organization in Alaska. Its membership includes 178 villages (both federally-recognized tribes and village corporations), 13 regional Native corporations and 12 regional nonprofit and tribal consortiums that contract and run federal and state programs. This organization has and continues to successfully represent our people in Congress, with businesses, and the State of Alaska. Just a week ago, AFN unanimously adopted a resolution requesting the creation and establishment of CHZ’s to protect our foods and the habitats upon which they depend for survival. This task, given a birth by our State’s Alaska Natives remains a daunting task. The lobbyists, lawyers and politicians of the billion dollar a year industry, the commercial fishing industry, will be fighting the development every step of the way. However, one of the most powerful traits of our people is the strong attitude of patience. If nothing else we are a very patient people, and we will see this priority to fruition. We were here before our waters were destroyed and we will be here when the commercial fishers move on. This is home. What we envision CHZ’s will do is similar to what marine reserves do but with more local input in uses and management.

We want to find a way to move destructive fishing practices away from our homes and critical habitat and involve local and traditional knowledge to the management of these protected zones. We the Unangan (Aleut), Yupik and Inupiat Eskimo invite you to join, what most surely will be, our long vigil to protect our waters, our homes, our foods and the food upon which they depend. Offshore oil drillers, large commercial fishing conglomerates and fish stick sellers are a seemingly powerful group. If we work together to stop the slow death affecting our waters and our environments, we will succeed. We the Alaska Native people are not quitting, for we know our ancestors worked to ensure our survival with our bounty. Join our work.

Greenpeace is working tirelessly to join our peoples of Alaska, our peoples of the Arctic to ensure a healthy planet. A patient journey guided by the wisdom of our ancient peoples cannot fail. We are all necessary parts of this walk, a walk together that must realize the dreams of all our peoples; to live where plants and animals are not our enemies but rather our co-inhabitants of this beautiful planet.

It has now been almost three months since the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) took on the serious issue of chinook (king) salmon by catch in the Bering Sea pollock fishery. The result of the vote on a motion made by the State of Alaska, Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G), is misguided. As it happens, this is one of the last decisions made by our former Governor Sarah Palin before she left office. The problem is the pollock fishery in the Bering Sea is a one billion dollar a year fishery. While they are fishing for pollock, dragging huge nets behind their factory ships, they also catch other fish other than pollock.

In this case, they catch chinook salmon, many of which are heading for Western Alaska rivers and streams, as by catch. Between 1990-2001, an average of 37,819 chinook salmon and 69,332 other salmon were caught annually in the Bering Sea pollock fishery. Governor Palin's motion said the pollock industry should be allowed to catch up to 68,000 chinook which was later lowered to 60,000 fish per year. This amount is almost double the eleven year average cited above! You can get more information about this serious problem by Googling the NPFMC if you wish. What I am wondering in this short paper is given there are representatives from the States of Washington and Oregon, as well as others, on the NPFMC, and given that most of the pollock fishing companies are from Washington, why would the State of Alaska make such a motion which negatively impacts the Citizens of the State she is supposed to represent? And make a motion that would increase the chinook salmon by catch amount to almost twice the amount of what was caught in this fishery, from a eleven year average of 37,819 to 60,000 fish?

We should make no mistake that the elected government officials of our State must do all they can to represent the people, all the people of our State. And those who are appointed to important positions, representing our elected government officials, must also do the same. We are requesting a review of this motion, passed by the NPFMC unanimously, by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke, a very popular former Governor of the State of Washington, where many of these pollock fishers reside, so that the needs of the people of Alaska can be fairly represented and that a lower number of chinook salmon by catch can be put into place. We hope that the Secretary will take a serious look at this most serious problem. Just this summer alone, many of our people have been denied keeping a chinook salmon when caught for subsistence use.

Recently some of our people in Western Alaska went ahead and fished for salmon for food against an ADF&G closure in their waters. The elected officials of our State are to do all that they can to represent all the Citizens of the State of Alaska and not the interests of large fishing companies from other parts of our Country. It seems our former Governor has done exactly the opposite. No doubt the pollock fishers need to work and provide for their families. So do our people in Alaska. Now the NPFMC will be taking on the issue of Chum salmon by catch in the next few months. Lets hope our elected people will do all they can to represent Alaska and the Citizens who are dependent upon these fish to feed our families. After all we elected them to do just that!

I am attaching a story which ran in our local paper this morning to bring your attention to the plight of our brothers and sisters in Western Alaska. This serious problem was recently exascerbated by a recent vote of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) that voted to increase the chinook (king) salmon by-catch for the pollock industry to 60,000 fish. That number is almost twice the amount of by-catch than the 10 year average of chinook caught by the industry.

Our brothers and sisters in Western Alaska are crying out for support. They will go hungry, and as winter begins to show its signs of arriving, I am affraid their plight will become even worse. They are, by this action, doing what we at Greenpeace have always done: peacefully protest. However, the difference is, it seems to me, is that for them it is a matter of survival immediately and personally.

Perhaps we can help by writing the Secretary of Commerce. His email address is: TheSec@doc.gov. Simply request that he reviews the decision made by the NPFMC to increase the chinook by-catch amount and bring that number down from 60,000 fish to at least 30,000 fish. When that number is reached, which is not likely, the pollock fishery would be forced to shut down for the season.

Please share this with your friends. Our people need our support. Perhaps they are taking a page out of our action book by doing this protest.

Troopers investigate Yukon River protest fishing YUKON RIVER: AVCP president says state should crack down on pollock fleet, not subsistence.

A Six boats left the village of Marshall on Friday night -- a time when subsistence fishing was supposed to be closed -- and caught roughly 100 kings, said Nick P. Andrew Jr., one of the fishermen and director of the Marshall-based Ohogamiut Traditional Council. Andrew said the state is neglecting the subsistence needs of the region and that the protesters gave their catch to local elders, widows and other villagers. The chinooks are a key source of food and cash along the Yukon, but Fish and Game predicted poor returns this year, banning commercial fishing altogether and sharply reducing subsistence opportunities.

Andrew said he hasn't heard from the authorities yet, but troopers said Tuesday that they're on the case. "If in fact a protest fishery occurred, I am very disappointed," said Colonel Gary Folger, wildlife troopers director. "We will conduct an investigation and if it discloses criminal behavior occurred, we will present our findings to the district attorney's office for review." The violation would be a misdemeanor. The state could also seize equipment.

The Association of Village Council Presidents, which represents 56 villages in the Yukon-Kuskokwim region, supported the protest. "Other villages that need king salmon should do the same thing," AVCP President Myron Naneng said this week. If the state is so worried about the king salmon run on the Yukon, it should have pushed for tougher restrictions on the Bering Sea pollock fleet that wastes thousands of king salmon a year, Naneng said. Fish and Game Commissioner Denby Lloyd sits on the council that overseas the Bering Sea fishery and voted in April to put an unprecedented cap on the number of salmon the fleet can waste. Regional leaders say the new restrictions go too easy on the trawlers. On Tuesday, Naneng called for Gov. Sarah Palin to replace Lloyd as Fish and Game commissioner, saying the state favors the giant Bering Sea pollock industry over the interests of village residents. Calls to speak to Lloyd on Tuesday were returned by John Hilsinger, the Department's director of commercial fisheries. He said he couldn't talk in detail about why the state didn't push for tighter restrictions on the pollock fleet because he wasn't involved in that discussion. But he noted the council's vote will put the first-ever cap on wasted salmon, one that would prevent massive bycatch like the 120,000 salmon that trawlers caught in 2007. The new cap could take effect in 2011.

"I know some people on the Yukon wish it was more than that, but it is definitely a step in the right direction," Hilsinger said. Camille Boliver, 73, is a retired fisherman who grew up in Marshall, a village of about 400. "Ever since I was young I had enough king salmons to feed my family all winter long," he said. But this year, most of the kings have already passed by the village and he only has three in his freezer. The protesting fishermen gave them to him, he said. Steve Hayes, who manages the Yukon chinook run for Fish and Game, said he sympathizes with fishermen concerned about bycatch but denounced the Marshall protest. "Not only are they jeopardizing the future returns, but it's unfair to the other people around them who are actually following the rules," he said. Talk of civil disobedience over the king salmon fishery had been simmering for weeks among regional leaders. The fishermen left the village Friday night carrying copies of a resolution by the local traditional council supporting the protest, Andrew said. "We were ready to send a message to the fishery managers, to the governor and to big business -- meaning the trawl fishery. That you waste, you know, you're allowed to waste all this fish. We only take a small fraction of the runs," he said. 'I'VE NEVER SAID THAT' Palin couldn't be reached for an interview Tuesday. But she wrote short updates on the region, and her rural advisor's trip to the Lower Yukon village of Emmonak, last week among her many dispatches on Twitter.

"Good update re Rural Advisor John Moller's recnt Emmonak trip, great news he reports; we'll twitter assuming press won't pick up good news," Palin wrote on Friday. Eight minutes later, she added another tweet: "John also met w/CNN reporter while in Emmonak & shared welcomed GOOD NEWS of region...as a result, highly unlikely interview will air" So what was this good news? "At the Federal Subsistence meeting in Emmonak last week, Nick Tucker reported that 50 percent of the residents have met subsistence needs and other 50 percent are confident they will meet their needs," Palin spokeswoman Sharon Leighow wrote in an e-mail Tuesday. But Tucker, an Emmonak resident who became a spokesman for the cash-poor region when his letter describing a local fuel and food crisis made national headlines, said Tuesday he never said that. He demanded a public apology from Palin's team for saying he did. "Ten times over, I've never said that. It was from one fisherman in Alakanuk," Tucker said in a short phone interview. "I do not believe that we in Emmonak -- Emmonak never said that." The governor's response? Moller, the rural advisor, is the one who knows about that, Leighow e-mailed. But he's on personal leave. "He is fishing today out of cell range," Leighow wrote. "John also said he talked with numerous residents who reported they have taken enough king salmon for their subsistence needs or would by the end of the season." WHAT ABOUT CHUM? Under a 2001 agreement between the U.S. and Canada, Alaska must deliver 45,000 king salmon up the Yukon and into Canada this year. For the past two years, the state has fallen short of those treaty goals and it's too early to tell if that will change this summer, said Hayes, the summer area manager.

To try and make it happen, Fish and Game closed the river to commercial king fishing and cut subsistence fishing in half. The first pulse of salmon is particularly important, with roughly 60 percent of those fish headed to Canada, Hayes said. The department also is closing subsistence fishing altogether in sections of the river as that first group of salmon pass through and is temporarily restricting gillnet sizes in some areas.

The state opened the lower Yukon to short windows of commercial chum fishing on Monday, but the Board of Fisheries voted Monday night that any kings that chum fishermen catch by accident can't be sold for profit, Hayes said. Asked why fishermen can't replace kings with more abundant chum salmon as a subsistence food, Andrew said it's not that simple. "Nothing compares to king salmon nutritionally because they carry oil that's needed for calories and for our well being... We can't substitute any species for that. That's our customary and traditional food," he said.

This is a story, or part of one, written in today's Anchorage Daily News (you can read the whole story at ADN.com):

A heartsick letter describing cash-strapped families choosing between food and heating fuel in the village of Emmonak has state officials reconsidering a long-simmering request to declare a financial disaster in the region.

"I'm just now today getting information in from surrounding villages," said Tara Jollie, director of the state Division of Community and Regional Affairs.

A letter written by Nicholas Tucker of Emmonak describing parents battling to feed their families in his hometown -- plus concerns from others in the region -- prompted state department heads to plan a teleconference this morning. The topic: a crippling combination of high fuel prices, poor commercial fishing prospects and an unusual cold snap in the Yup'ik village and others like it.

I am posting this story here because I hope you focus on the problem of the people in Western Alaska not being able to care for themselves, much less their families. This can be due to the large salmon by catch the pollock industry has when they are fishing for pollock in Bristol Bay. We at Greenpeace have been working to force the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council to cut down the salmon by catch, or cut the pollock fishery down to a few days to stop the constant raping of the ocean, taking much needed food away from our people in the villages. 

One of the more serious problems facing the people, especially the children of Village Alaska, is malnutrition. When we are not able to get our foods, especially the food we have depended upon for thousands of years, many physical and spiritual problems develop. This is the main reason we have been working on the establishment of the Marine Cultural Heritage Zones. We need to bring attention to this serious problem. 

Thank you all for your continued support and attention. We are working diligently to bring environmental justice to Village Alaska.