Commercial Fisheries in Kodiak, Alaska: Changing Relationships to Maritime Resources in Old Harbor

Abstract

"This paper will present research conducted in the summer of 1994 concerning indigenous access to natural resources. The case study documents the effects of state-directed resource management arrangements on the Native (Koniag) village of Old Harbor, on Kodiak Island, Alaska. A change in commercial salmon fisheries management policy to a 'Limited Entry Permit' system instituted in 1975 resulted in the transfer of fishing rights away from some Native fishermen, accompanied by an overall increase in gear capitalisation and efficiency of the salmon fleet. The results of interviews with vessel captains and crew members, resource managers, policy makers, processing industry managers, and other men and women who have participated in the fishery before and since the institution of the Limited Entry system will be discussed. The sustainable viability of commercial fishing, both as an occupation and as an important cultural pursuit, will be evaluated in the context of changes in commercial fishing and in the political, economic and social systems of Old Harbor."