The Use of Fish and Wildlife in Clark's Point, Alaska
THE USE OF FISH AND WILDLIFE IN CLARK’S POINT, ALASKA
by Jody Seitz
Technical Paper No. 186
Alaska Department of Fish and Game Division of Subsistence Juneau, Alaska May 1996 The Alaska Department of Fish and Game operates all of its public programs and activities free from discrimination on the basis of sex, color, race, religion, national origin, age, marital status, pregnancy, parenthood, or disability. For information on alternative formats available .for this and other department publications, please contact the department ADA Coordinator at (voice) 907- 465-4720, (TDD) l-800-478-3548 or (fax) 907-586-6595. Any person who believes she or he has been discriminated against should write to:
Alaska Department of Fish and Game PO Box 25526 Juneau, AK 99802-5526
or
O.E.O. U. S. Department of the Interior Washington, D. C. 20240 ABSTRACT
This report describes patterns of hunting, fishing, and gathering of wild resources in the community of Clark’s Point, on the northeastern shore of Nushagak Bay in the Bristol Bay region of southwest Alaska, 305 miles southwest of Anchorage. The study year was from November 1988 through October 1989. In the fall of 1989, the community of Clark’s Point and neighboring Ekuk (now used primarily as a summer fish camp) combined had 17 year-round households. The average household size was 3.3 individuals. The population of Clark’s Point was 56 (55 percent male, 45 percent female). Of all the residents, 92.9 percent were of Alaska Native descent. Over one half of the population was born in Clark’s Point (55.4 percent); 23.2 percent were born in other Bristol Bay communities, and 8.9 percent were born in other Alaska communities. Only 7.1 percent were born outside Alaska. (Place of birth information was missing for 5.4 percent.) The average amount of time all residents had lived at Clark’s Point was 19.2 years. The average length of residency for adults over I8 years of age was 26.2 years. The local cash economy was based primarily on commercial fishing. In 1989 Clark’s Point residents held a total of 6 commercial setnet and 7 commercial driftnet salmon permits. This is a decline from 1988 when the community held 12 drift and 1 I setnet permits. There were only three full-time, year- round jobs at Clark’s Point, although most adults (83.8 percent) were employed for at least part of the study year. Within any one household an average of 3.4 jobs were held. The average length of employment was 6.9 months Many individuals worked more than one job and some shared their jobs with a spouse or son or daughter. In 1989, the cost of living (based on nine standard expenditures) averaged $997 per household. The cost of food in Dillingham, the regional center, was 1.63 times higher than that of Anchorage. The 1988189 cash income at Clark’s Point averaged $9,718 per capita, compared to $17,610 for the State of Alaska in 1989. Participant observation and interviews in conjunction with harvest surveys found that subsistence activities in 1989 continued to be a vital aspect of community life in Clark’s Point. Residents followed a seasonal round of activities conditioned by transportation, equipment availability, resource availability, weather, and hunting and fishing regulations. High levels of resource use and harvest at Clark’s Point were found in 1989. The mean household harvest was I ,I 96 pounds (usable weight), while the per capita harvest was 363 pounds. One hundred percent of the households in the community used salmon and wild plants. Ninety-four percent used non-salmon fish; 77 percent used marine mammals; 82 percent used land mammals; and 88 percent used birds and eggs In addition, all households in the community harvested some wild food during the study year. For example, 88 percent of all households harvested salmon as well as birds and eggs; 82 percent of all households harvested non-salmon fish; 47 percent harvested marine mammals, big game, and small land mammals; 12 percent harvested marine invertebrates; and every household harvested berries. Clark’s Point residents used in total 64 kinds of fish, game and plant resources in 1988/89. The average number of resources used per household was 20.7 and ranged between a low of 6 and a high of 39 different wild foods. Salmon comprised about 49 percent of the overall harvest of wild resources for home use. The salmon were harvested and processed in the traditional manner by drying and smoking. The 1989 harvest of salmon was a much higher percentage of the total harvest than in 1973 (22 percent), although the per capita harvest of all resources in 1973/74 of 335 pounds (excluding plants) was very close to that of 1989. The difference in the amount of salmon harvested may be a result of a change in the regulatory structure for subsistence fishing in the commercial district. When the permit data base was compared with the salmon harvest with subsistence gear from the harvest survey, the extrapolated totals from the permits gave somewhat higher estimates than the harvest survey. However, the harvest survey also recorded salmon taken home from commercial catches. Sockeye and chinook salmon brought home from the commercial catch raised the amount of salmon used for home use considerably over the permit data base extrapolated totals. The difference may result from the harvesters not including salmon taken from their commercial catches on their subsistence permits, In the 1988189 study year, residents of Clark’s Point carried out most of their harvest activities within Game Management Units 17 and 9. They harvested moose and caribou during the regulatory open seasons, and trapped furbearers, primarily beaver, within the area between the Nushagak River and Etolin Point. Of the overall harvest, moose and caribou comprised 23.9 percent by weight. Small land mammals made up 2.1 percent and marine mammals 3.8 percent of the overall harvest by weight. Moose, caribou, and marine mammals were distributed within the community and with relatives in other villages as well. For example, 64.7 percent of the households received caribou from harvesters outside their households, 70.6 percent received moose, and 41.2 percent received seal meat or oil. There were other differences in the harvest composition between 1988189 and 1973174. Big game harvests in 1988189 represented a smaller percentage of the overall harvest than in 1973/74 (23.9 percent compared to 37.3 percent). Marine mammals were a much smaller percentage of the 1989 harvest than in 1973 (3.8 compared to 22.3 percent). In 1973 the harvest was more equally distributed by weight between salmon, non-salmon fish, big game, and marine mammals, than in 1989, when salmon and big game made up about 73 percent of the total harvest by weight. Additionally, in 1989, more households harvested salmon than in 1973, but a smaller percentage of the 1989 households harvested big game, furbearers, or marine mammals In summary, in 1988/89, Clark’s Point demonstrated the characteristics of a community with a mixed cash/subsistence economy. Subsistence activities were an integral part of daily life, in which households cooperated and shared with each other. The per capita harvest was similar to that of I7 years earlier. There were extensive networks of sharing among households at Clark’s Point and between other villages in the region and a few outside Bristol Bay. TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS ...... i
LIST OF TABLES ...... iii
LIST OF FIGURES ...... iv
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...... v
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION...... 1 Background ...... I Purpose ...... 1 Research Methods ...... 3 Limitations of the Data...... 4
CHAPTER TWO: THE COMMUNITY AND THE AREA...... 5 location and Natural Environment...... 5 History of the Area...... 7 The Historic Seasonal Round ...... IO Historic Demography...... I2 The Contemporary Community ...... 12 Demography...... 12 Services and Facilities...... 16 Employment ...... I8 Monetary Income...... 21 Cost of Living...... 21
CHAPTER THREE: GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF RESOURCE USE ...... 27 Seasonal Round...... 27 Land Use Patterns...... 30 Species Used and Levels of Participation...... 31 Harvest Quantities...... 31 Resource Sharing and Receiving...... 37 Comparison of Clark’s Point Harvests of 1973/74 and 1988/89 ...... 39
CHAPTER FOUR: SALMON ...... 45 Preferred Species and Harvest Quantities ...... 45 Comparison of the Harvest Survey and Permit Data Base...... 45 Harvest Methods ...... 50 Regulations Governing Subsistence Salmon Harvesting ...... 53 Harvesting and Processing ...... 54 Social Organization of Harvesting and Processing ...... 62
CHAPTER FIVE: NON-SALMON FISH AND MARINE INVERTEBRATES ...... 65 Herring and Herring Spawn on Kelp ...... 65 Smelt ...... i ...... 65 Freshwater Fish ...... 66 Marine Invertebrates ...... 66
CHAPTER SIX: LAND MAMMALS, MARINE MAMMALS, AND BIRDS...... 69 General Patterns of Use ...... 69 Moose ...... 69 Caribou ...... 81
I Brown Bear...... 82 Furbearers and Small Game...... 82 Birds and Eggs ...... 89 Ptarmigan...... 90 Waterfowl and Eggs ...... 90 Marine Mammals...... 92 Regulations ...... 95 Marine Mammal Harvest and Use...... 95
CHAPTER SEVEN: WILD PLANTS ...... 97 Berries ...... 97 Other Plants ...... 97 Wood ...... 97
CHAPTER EIGHT: DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS...... 99 Regulatory Issues...... 99 Conclusions...... 101
REFERENCES CITED ...... _...... _...... 103
APPENDIX A. CLARK’S POINT RESOURCE USE SURVEY INSTRUMENT ...... 107
APPENDlX B. CONVERSION FACTORS AND UNITS OF MEASURE, CLARK’S POINT, 1988/89 ...... 121
APPENDIX C. UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA COOPERATIVE EXTENSION FOOD LIST ...... 123 LIST OF TABLES
Table 1. Census Population of Nushagak Bay Region, 1880-1990 ...... 13
Table 2. Demographic Characteristics of Clark’s Point, 1989 ...... 14
Table 3. Population Profile, Clark’s Point, 1989 ...... I5
Table 4. Employment Characteristics of Clark’s Point, 1988/89 ...... I9
Table 5. Percentage of Jobs by Occupational Type, Clark’s Point, 1988/89 ...... 20
Table 6. Percentage of Employers by Employer Type, Clark’s Point, 1989 ...... 20
Table 7. Monetary Income, Clark’s Point, 1988/89 ...... 22
Table 8. Other Income Sources, Clark’s Point, 1988/89 ...... 22
Table 9. Average Estimated Monthly Expenses, Clark’s Point, 1988/89 ...... 23
Table 10. Cost of Food in Alaska Communities: Consumer Price Index ...... 25
Table 11. Resource Harvest and Use Characteristics of Clark’s Point, 1988/89 32
Table 12. Levels of Harvest and Use of Fish, Game, and Plant Resources, Clark’s Point, November 1988 - October 1989 . . .._...... __..._..._.._..__._._33
Table 13. Wild Resource Harvests, Clark’s Point, 1973/74 and 1988/89 ...... _...... 40
Table 14 Wild Resource Harvests, Clark’s Point, 1973/74 ...... _.._.._.._...... __.___.____._.___.___._.__42
Table 15. Percentage of Salmon Harvest by Resource, Gear Type, and Total Salmon Harvest, Clark’s Point, 1989 ...... _...... 47
Table 16. Comparison of Subsistence Salmon Harvest Estimates for Clark’s Point, 1989...... 49
Table 17. Estimated Subsistence Salmon Harvests for Clark’s Point. 1983 - 1989 ._..__._.._.._....49
Table 18. Salmon Harvests by Gear Type, Clark’s Point, 1989 .,_.._.__,__,..._.__.__.__.__._.__._.._.._.__._.51
Table 19. Resources Removed from Commercial Harvests, Clark’s Point, 1988/89 .._.._.._..52
Table 20. History of Regulations Regarding Subsistence Salmon Fishing in the Nushagak Watershed .._..._.___:__..._...._._._____,_...... 55
Table 21. Moose Hunting Regulations, GMU 9 (B and C), 1960 - 1989. . 70
Table 22. Moose Hunting Regulations, GMU 17, 1961 - 1989 . . . .._....____.__.______._..__.._.____._____.___.76
Table 23. Caribou Hunting Regulations, GMU 9 (B and C) and GMU 17, 1960 - 1989 85
Table 24. Subsistence Hunting Regulations for Selected Species of Birds, Game Management Units 9 and 17, 1988/l 989 . . ..___....____.....__.__._..______.___._.__._.__.__.91
III LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1. Study Setting, Southwest Alaska ...... ~.2
Figure 2. Clark’s Point, Alaska, 1989 ...... 6
Figure 3. Historical Settlements on the Nushagak River ...... 8
Figure 4. Population Profile, Clark’s Point 1989 ...... 15
Figure 5. Ekuk, 1989...... 17
Figure 6. Clark’s Point Seasonal Round of Resource Harvests ...... 28
Figure 7. Composition of Subsistence Harvest, Clark’s Point, 1988/89 ...... 38
Figure 8. Wild Resource Harvests in Clark’s Point, 1973/74 and 1988/89...... 45
Figure 9. Nushagak Commercial District...... 46
Figure 10. Areas Used to Harvest Marine Invertebrates, Moose and Salmon by Clark’s Point Residents, 1960 - 1982...... 59
Figure 11. Areas Used to Harvest Freshwater Fish, Marine Fish and Furbearers by Clark’s Point Residents, 1960 - 1982...... 67
Figure 12. Areas Used to Hunt Caribou and Waterfowl by Clark’s Point Residents, 1960 - 1982 ...... 83
Figure 13. Areas Used to Hunt Marine Mammals, and Gather Vegetation, by Clark’s Point Residents, 1960 - 1982...... ,...... 93
iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
My sincere gratitude goes to the people of Clark’s Point who invited me into their homes and answered the multitude of questions required by our research. They took the time to respond patiently with the most accurate estimates they could. I am particularly grateful for being included in hunts during the winter of 1989 and in general, for being offered the warmth and hospitality of several households. I also thank my co-worker Molly Chythlook for her assistance in carrying out the harvest surveys and for her invaluable advice during the year. Thanks also go to ADF&G employees Ken Taylor, Larry Van Daele, Jeff Skrade, and Wes Bucher for providing information on resources and resource uses. Many, many thanks to Nancy Wickstrom for her invaluable support and assistance throughout the year. In Anchorage, Sandy Skaggs and Louis Brown did innumerable data runs and tabulations. Charles Utermohle generously provided computer assistance and help with the graphics of this report. Carol Barnhill of Habitat Division made the maps and very patiently carried out revisions as they came along. Also, thanks go to Jim Fall, Lee Stratton, and Gretchen Jennings for their helpful comments and assistance with editing this report.
V
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND
This report documents contemporary subsistence uses of fish, plants, and wildlife in the village of Clark’s Point, located on the northeastern shore of Nushagak Bay in the Bristol Bay region of southwest Alaska, 305 miles southwest of Anchorage (Fig. l).’ The single year-round household in neighboring Ekuk was also included in the project. The report is part of the Division of Subsistence’s ongoing effort to compile baseline data for all communities in the state. There are more specific issues as well, which required that these data be collected and reported. First, a growing regional and state-wide population is expected to lead to increased pressure on fish and game resources in the Bristol Bay area (Alaska Department of Labor 1985). The second issue concerned subsistence salmon fishing regulations. Clark’s Point is the only year-round village located within the Nushagak commercial fishing district. For 34 years, from 1954 to 1988, fishing for home use was allowed only during open commercial fishing periods. In the mid 1980s the commercial chinook salmon runs declined to the extent that there were few open commercial fishing periods in June, resulting in a decline in time when Clark’s Point residents might fish for home use. Proposals to the Alaska Board of Fisheries evidenced the desire on the part of Clark’s Point residents to have more time for subsistence fishing in the commercial district.* Previous research includes a household harvest survey (Gasbarro and Utermohle 1974) which documented a subsistence harvest of 335.0 pounds per capita at Clark’s Point for a 12-month period beginning in spring of 1973. Preliminary data on Clark’s Point’s contemporary subsistence patterns had already been collected by the Division of Subsistence as part of its ongoing contribution to regional planning efforts. Land use patterns for all major resources were documented, and maps illustrating areas used over a 20-year period (1963 - 1983) for major resource categories were compiled (Wright, Morris, and Schroeder 1985; ADF&G 1985b). The seasonal round and species harvested in the subregion also were depicted in those reports.
PURPOSE
The primary purpose of this study was to document contemporary patterns of hunting, fishing, and gathering of wild renewable resources by Clark’s Point residents. This included information on the following topics: the variety and quantities of wild resources used from November 1988 to October 1989; the annual seasonal round of subsistence resource activities; the ways in which wild resources were used,
’ The author completed the final draft of this report in November 1992. Budget reductions and consequent program adjustments $elayed final editing and printing. We apologize for any inconvenience this delay might have caused. These included Proposal 177 in 1987 and Proposals 130, 131, 132 in 1990. See Chapter Four and Technical Paper 195 (Seitz 1990) for more discussion of this issue.
1 lewenham
BRISTOL. BAY
Commercial Fishing District including methods of harvesting, processing, and preservation for this 12 month period; the intensity of use of areas used for hunting moose and caribou as well as fishing areas; the accuracy of the subsistence salmon permit data to be sure all subsistence fish are being included in the totals; and subsistence salmon fishing patterns, particularly in the commercial district. The report also notes timing of harvest activities, methods and means of harvest, processing techniques, and sharing patterns as well as information on the history of the community, the current population, and economic information such as the cost of living, involvement in fisheries or other wage jobs, and income data.
RESEARCH METHODS
Before the study began, Division of Subsistence researchers prepared an overview of the research to be conducted and submitted it to the Village Council of Clark’s Point. On November 21, 1989, at a meeting of the Village Council, the proposal was presented and voted upon. Council members endorsed the project and discussed the survey instrument with researchers Jody Seitz and Molly Chythlook. The primary method of data collection was an interview with village households using a standardized questionnaire (Appendix A). The survey instrument was modeled after forms administered successfully during similar studies in Dillingham (Fall, Schichnes, Chythlook, and Walker 1986); Manokotak (Schichnes and Chythlook 1988); and Nushagak River communities (Schichnes and Chythlook 1991). During the previous summer (1989) the primary researcher (Se&) spent several weeks interviewing fishing households in Nushagak Bay, including Clark’s Point, as part of another project (Seitz 1990) and throughout the year continued to make trips to Clark’s Point to carry out participant observation of subsistence activities within the community. Other sources of data included lengthy interviews with active hunters and subsistence fishers. In addition, the researcher examined published and unpublished written sources for resource harvest, demographic, and other socioeconomic information. Sources included Alaska Department of Fish and Game subsistence salmon permit records for harvest data, and Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission reports for information on limited entry permit ownership. An important source for historical harvest data was Gasbarro and Utermohle (1974), which reported the results of a resource harvest survey conducted with 78 per cent of the households in Clark’s Point for 1973/74. The 1989 survey questionnaire was administered by Jody Seitz and Molly Chythlook in November 1989 and January and February of 1990. A 100 per cent sample of the community’s year round residents was achieved. The only year-round household from Ekuk was included in this survey. In order to preserve the anonymity of the Ekuk respondents, the results of that interview are included with the Clark’s Point data. Following the completion of the interviews, the survey data were coded for computer analysis using the SPSS program (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences). Resource harvests reported in
3 numbers, buckets, or gallons were converted into pounds usable weight using standard conversion factors (Appendix B). Jobs held by community residents were classified according to standard employer and occupational categories (Scott et al. 1995). The survey results are also included in the division’s Community Profile Database (Scott et al. 1995).
LIMITATIONS OF THE DATA
One potential limitation of the harvest data is that estimates are based on retrospective recall by the survey participants. Although memory may be less than precise at times, it is the view of the researchers that all the participants attempted to report their harvests as accurately as possible. It is important to mention for this small community that although a 100 per cent sample of households was achieved, some household members refused to participate in the survey. It is therefore quite possible that the total harvest reported herein may underestimate the use of some species. (see especially the discussion of marine mammals in Chapter Six.) The survey was a voluntary effort and the researchers appreciate the generosity of time and sincerity of those who chose to let us document their harvesting activities and harvest levels. However, we also appreciate the perceived risk involved in documenting traditional subsistence activities and continue to respect the decision of those who chose not to involve themselves in the project.
4 CHAPTER TWO: THE COMMUNITY AND THE AREA
LOCATION AND NATURAL ENVIRONMENT
Clark’s Point is located 15 nautical miles southeast of Dillingham on a point jutting out into Nushagak Bay. It is bordered by Clark’s (Queen’s) Slough to the northeast and a narrow gravel spit to the south. Originally the entire community of Clark’s Point as well as Ekuk lay on low marshy spits of land bordered by the ocean on the west and a line of bluffs on the east, However, periodic flooding at Clark’s Point led to a decision to move residents’ housing to the bluff. The move was accomplished in 1982. The community clinic, post office, teacher housing, and a few residences remain on the spit. From the bluff above the spit one can see Dillingham, the Wood-Tikchik mountains, and the mountains across the bay to the west. Seventy miles southeast is the Kvichak River, and to the south, Etolin Point (Fig. 2). The Nushagak River drainage is an area of approximately 14,000 miles north of Bristol Bay in southwestern Alaska (Fig. 1). The region’s varied topography extends from the coastal lowlands of Nushagak Bay north to the Kilbuck and Ahklun mountains which rise to elevations between 2,000 and 5,000 feet. From its origin in the Nushagak Hills, the Nushagak River flows 242 miles before it empties into Nushagak Bay. Its main tributaries are the Nuyakuk, which drains the Tikchik lakes, the Mulchatna River, which flows out of the Alaska Range, and the Wood River which drains the Wood River lakes system. Two other separate trunk streams also feed into Nushagak Bay from the northwestern side of the bay, the Snake and the lgushik rivers (Nelson 1987:2; Fall et al. 1986:13). Within the Wood and Nushagak river drainages, spruce-deciduous forests occur along the shore of lakes and in bottomlands along rivers. The coastal plains and the upland areas of the river basins support tundra vegetation. Proximity to the Bering Sea and the north Pacific Ocean produces a moderating effect upon the climate of the Bristol Bay area. Summers are cool and relatively wet while winters are cold and dry. Precipitation is generally greater than in interior Alaska, and temperatures are less extreme (VanStone 1967:xix; Fall et al. 1986:13). The average annual rainfall is about 26 inches while the average annual snowfall is from 65 to 81 inches. Winds are generally northerly from October to March and most frequently from the southerly directions during late spring, summer, and early fall. Lakes throughout the Nushagak watershed are frozen over from late November to early May. Nushagak Bay itself never freezes up but becomes impassable due to packed ice (Nelson 1987:2). Bristol Bay drainages are the world’s most productive area for sockeye(red) salmon. four other species of Pacific salmon also spawn in Bristol Bay drainages, including chinook (king), chum (dog), pink (humpback), and coho (silver). Marine fish present in the region include herring, smelt, halibut, and flounder. Butter and razor clams are the primary marine invertebrates present in the general study area. A variety of freshwater fish species, particularly Dolly Varden, grayling, rainbow trout, lake trout, northern
5 Figure 2 VILLAGE OF CLARKS POINT 1969
n Seasonal or Year Round
0 Vacant Building
Ed Public Facility
# Fishrack
0 Fishing Site
Cemetery c-t-.-I ’
YEAR ROUND HOUSEHOLDS3 6
SEASONAL HOUSEHOLDS
akthpk3c.e Winter Residence
Nushagak Orainaw 29 12 Other Alaskan 4 20 Other U.S. 0 1 Unknown 0 0 Subsistence Permits: 14 Personal Use Permits: 0 pike, and whitefish are common in the drainages associated with the Nushagak River. Tanner and king crab also inhabit Bristol Bay. Herds of caribou roam parts of the Bristol Bay region. Also endemic to the area are moose, brown and black bear, wolverine, red fox, beaver, muskrat, wolf, coyote, marten, hares, porcupine, and ground (parka) squirrel. Marine mammals which frequent Bristol Bay at various times of year are harbor, spotted, and ringed seal, walrus, belukha, and sea lion (Fall et al. 1986:14). Many of the resources found within Bristol Bay are within the areas commonly used by residents of Clark’s Point. An offshoot of the Mulchatna caribou herd migrates annually from New Stuyahok south to Etolin Point, where they calve in late spring and summer. Moose inhabit the study area in low densities near willow and alder-lined stream banks. Brown bear are fairly common. The area supports an abundant beaver population and numerous other furbearers such as red fox, land otter, muskrat, and mink. Infrequently, lynx, coyote, and wolf may also be found. Small mammals include snowshoe and arctic hare, porcupine, and arctic ground (parka) squirrel. Sea birds and migratory waterfowl are seasonally abundant.
HISTORY OF THE AREA
At the time of the first European contact, sometime between 1791 and 1824, three regional groups of Yup’ik Eskimo peoples lived in the area surrounding Nushagak Bay: the Alegmiut along the coast of Nushagak Bay; the Kiatagmiut of the Nushagak River; and the Tuyuryarmiut, who lived along the Togiak River. Descendants of the latter live in Togiak today. Distinctions between these groups of people were blurred with later population movements brought on by trade, the rise of the commercial fisheries, and outbreaks of disease (VanStone 1967:llO; Oswalt 1967). Numerous small communities existed around Nushagak Bay prior to European contact (Ibid.. 1971:74-101). During the early nineteenth century there were three important settlements along Nushagak Bay, Ekuk and Kanulik, on the east side, and Kanakanak, on the west side (Fig. 3). These, together with lgushik and possibly Nushagak, contained most of the population of the Nushagak Bay when the Russians first appeared and for some time thereafter (VanStone 1971:136-l 37; 1967: 115). In 1818, at the northeastern-most corner of Nushagak Bay, at the base of a high bluff known as Nushagak Point, Russian-American Company employees established the trading post called Alexandrovski Redoubt. Through this particular post, between 1818 and 1840, the entire region was opened and trading contacts were established throughout the heavily populated Yukon and Kuskokwim river systems as well as along the Nushagak (VanStone 1967:57). One reference to Ekuk in the historic literature dates back to 1822, and was made by a Russian naval officer who anchored his ship off the Ekuk bluff. Residents of Ekuk went out to the ship in baidarkas and transferred his crew and equipment by small boat to Alexandrovski Redoubt (Nushagak) (VanStone 1971:88). After that, Eskimo guides from Ekuk were used by most vessels bringing supplies to
7 Ah& .,%iAlut Nushagak
lgushik : . Bay
:’
i : . . . I Figure 3. Historical settlements on the Nushagak River. Vanstone, 1971. Alexandrovski, their captains being unwilling to risk running aground on the treacherous tidal flats of the bay (VanStone 1971:88). Although the Nushagak Post was the site of the beginning of the fur trade in the Nushagak area, it was also the place from’which Christianity was first introduced in the region.The first trader in chargeof the post baptized employees in the Russian Orthodox faith, but an actual chapel was not built there until 1932. In 1841, the establishment of the first Russian Orthodox church north of the Alaska Peninsula was authorized for Nushagak (VanStone 1971:21; VanStone 1972). Orthodox churches were present at Ekuk by 1890 and at lgushik by 1900. By 1890, most of the coastal Eskimos in the area were members and the Nushagak priest had been successful in training lay readers to conduct services in some of the outlying villages (VanStone 1967:21-42). In 1886, Moravians built the Carmel mission at Kanulik. From that point until 1906 they struggled against the Russian Orthodox Church over the allegiance of the local inhabitants, with very limited success. Finally, in 1906, the mission was closed, and the effort moved to the Kuskokwim, where prospects were considered more favorable (Ibid. !967:42-47). Two years after the Alaska purchase (1867) the Alaska Commercial Company took over the Nushagak Post. The company dominated trade in southwestern Alaska throughout the rest of the nineteenth century and well into the twentieth, although Nushagak was one of its less important posts. In 1880, John W. Clark became the principal trader at Nushagak and remained so until his death in 1897. Throughout this time the Alaska Commercial Company maintained a moderately flourishing trade with the people of the area (VanStone 196758). The commercial fishing industry has had a tremendous impact on populations living around Nushagak Bay. It began in 1883 when the schooner, Neptune, sailed into Nushagak Bay and conducted a salmon salting venture. The following year the first salmon cannery was built by the Arctic Packing Company at the Eskimo community of Kanulik, about 4 miles north of Nushagak Point. In 1888, the Nushagak Packing Company established a cannery on the Clark’s Point spit, at that time known as Stugarok or Saguyak (VanStone 1971:86). John W. Clark, of Nushagak, operated a salting station at this point prior to the establishment of the cannery. The cannery was actually operated after 1901, and produced a salmon pack for many years. In 1901, the Columbia River Packers Association, the Alaska- Portland Packers Association, and the Alaska Salmon Company built canneries on Nushagak Bay. In 1903, the North Alaska Salmon Company opened a cannery at Ekuk less than a mile below Clark’s Point. All these canneries were operated more or less continuously, at least until the early 1930s (VanStone 1967:71). The years 1908-1910 may be called a high point of the commercial salmon fishing industry in Nushagak Bay. There were approximately ten canneries along the bay at that time and it is likely that the permanent Eskimo population of the area was from 700 to 800 people, a number that was augmented during the summer months by imported Asian laborers, Eskimos from all over southwestern Alaska, and perhaps some Indians from the lliamna Lake area (VanStone 1967: 116).
9 In 1918, the Kanakanak hospital was founded on the northwestern shore of Nushagak Bay. The following year witnessed a devastating influenza epidemic which severely reduced the Native population of the entire Nushagak River region. The population of the Wood River area was virtually eliminated. VanStone (1971:22) considers the commercial salmon fishing industry to have been of greater significance in the acculturation of the people of the Nushagak River region than either Christianity or the fur trade. Commercial salmon fishing was responsible for major seasonal fluctuations of population which brought Eskimos from even the most remote villages to the area and into direct contact with many different races and nationalities. Terit settlements of indigenous people are reported to have sprung up near the canneries every summer. The peak was reached with 25 active canneries on Nushagak Bay in 1920. As a result of overfishing, commercial fishing was restricted in the 1930s and the number of processors declined. Only six were in operation in 1939 (VanStone 1967:63-72). The vast majority of the commercial fishermen came seasonally to Bristol Bay from outside the region and outside Alaska. This situation began to change when World War II created a labor shortage in the fishery. As a consequence, more employment opportunities for local residents appeared in the salmon processing industry. Nushagak Eskimo fishermen, however, did not compose a substantial portion of the commercial fishermen of Bristol Bay until the 1960s (VanStone 1967:73-81). There have been some significant pieces of federal and state legislation over the past 20 years which are pertinent to this discussion of land and resource use by residents of the Nushagak Bay area. In 1971, the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act was passed and the Bristol Bay Native Corporation formed. In 1975, limited entry to Alaska’s commercial salmon fishery was established. In 1980, the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) was passed. ANILCA established rural subsistence hunting and fishing as the priority use .of fish and wildlife resources on federal lands. In anticipation of ANILCA’s passage, the state passed its own subsistence law in 1978, which established subsistence as a priority use of Alaska’s fish and game resources. In 1984, the Bristol Bay Area Plan was adopted by the state, with a primary goal being the protection of the salmon resource (Fall et al. 1986:16- 20).
THE HISTORIC SEASONAL ROUND
Historical sources and older informants indicate that Nushagak Bay during the nineteenth century was the site of much subsistence activity (VanStone 1967). People living along the bay participated in a seasonal round of activities which included long hunting trips up the Mulchatna River for caribou in the fall; ice fishing near their villages for ling cod and blackfish; traveling to Lake Aleknagik to fish for trout; trapping; seal hunting; dipnetting for smelt and salmon fishing in the bay during the summer (Breiby 1972; VanStone 1967). Nushagak River people would occasionally come down to the coast in the late spring to hunt seals, then stay on to fish, commonly selling a few fresh fish to canneries in order to obtain money for
10 food and other supplies before returning upriver. Although some Nushagak River families stayed on the river to fish during June and July, many more migrated to the coast to fish and visit the trading post. Moravian missionaries in 1887 noted that large numbers of Eskimos were attracted to Carmel and other points on the bay during the fishing season (VanStone 1967:73). Even before commercial fishing was established the pattern seems to have been for the Nushagak River Eskimos to visit the Nushagak post in early summer with their furs, and then either remain to put up fish or return up the river. Historic sources documented indigenous people fishing for salmon with traps at the mouth of the Nushagak River, and spearing and dipnetting salmon at the rapids on the upper Nuyakuk (VanStone 1967:128). Early Bureau of Fisheries reports also contain numerous references to indigenous subsistence fishing. A 1906 Bureau of Fisheries report documents the use of gillnets for harvesting fish for home use in Lake Aleknagik (U.S. Department of Commerce 1906). Gillnets were reported in use on Lake Aleknagik in 1922, and on the Aguluwok River in 1927. During the fall of 1923, fishing for home use was observed in three villages on the Nushagak River. Fish traps and weirs made of split spruce strips were in use (U.S. Department of Commerce 1922, 1923). One report documented the importance of salmon to the Native population as follows:
Their main food supply is red salmon, although they purchase some articles of food at the trading posts, such as flour, sugar, tea, and just the bare necessities of a similar nature. Red salmon is entirely cured by the natives for winter food, as this species of salmon constitutes the bulk of the fish in this section of the country. The men and women catch the salmon in the rivers, or along the lake shores, but the work of curing the salmon is attended to by the women. The salmon is split and hung on racks under a shed where it is dried and smoked, and later tied in bundles. Forty salmon constitute a bundle. They know that so many bundles will be required to last them through the winter for ‘their own uses, and for dog feed. They will cure that amount of salmon, but if during the winter before they ran short, they will make no attempt to cure an additional amount for the coming winter. Salmon are plentiful and the natives have no trouble in taking any amount they require (US Department of Commerce 1929:9).
The 1933 Bureau of Fisheries report (US Department of Commerce 1933:7) on the run and escapement of salmon in Nushagak Bay, observed that after the commercial season was over “local stakenetters made good catches fishing for dog feed.” Although commercial fishing became quite important to the area, subsistence fishing continued as a major source of winter food (VanStone 1967:138). At summer fish camps on the bay in the 1960s women handled every aspect of the subsistence salmon fishery except the construction of drying racks. According to a woman who grew up in Clark’s Point, fishing for chinook salmon occurred before the commercial season began, from June 1 to June 15. Once the commercial’sockeye season started, about a week after chinook season, they would set out subsistence nets for sockeyes during the closed commercial periods (Breiby 1972:92). The sockeyes were used for making dryfish. The salmon were first split and cut differently depending on the species of salmon and if they were to be used for human
11 consumption or for dogs. They were then placed on drying racks. Racks were simple, often having a roof frame so that a tarp could be stretched over the top to protect the fish from rain. Residents made saltfish (salunaq), stinkheads (tepa), dryfish, half-dried fish, dogfood, and strips out of salmon. The roe was dried for use as dog food in the winter. During the first part of July the smoking of dryfish “for eating” began. This process lasted through August (Breiby 1972:93). Half-dried fish could be boiled and eaten with seal oil obtained from Togiak people or from the residents of Nushagak Bay (VanStone 1967: 138).
HISTORIC DEMOGRAPHY
A population of 7 persons was recorded for Clark’s Point as early as 1890. A permanent population was not established until 1930, when 25 residents were recorded by the census. The village grew quickly during the 194Os, from 22 to 128 year-round residents, as men who had come to work in the fishing industry married local women and settled there. From 1842 to 1931, Ekuk was mentioned in the vital statistics of the Nushagak church (VanStone 1971:88). A population of 112 was recorded for 1880, 65 in 1890, and 37 in 1930. Ekuk’s population declined ultimately during the 1970s from 51 people to 7 in 1980, consisting of the cannery watchman and his family (Table 1) (ADF&G 1985b). Several Clark’s Point residents recalled when their families lived in Ekuk or even smaller communities such as Angel Bay and Portage Creek. During the 193Os, 194Os, and 1950% a growing emphasis on education in rural Alaska led families to settle in year-round communities where there were schools. Families moved to Ekuk and later Clark’s Point from a variety of locations: Ekuk, Dillingham, Kanakanak Village, Portage Creek, Angel Bay, and the Kuskokwim areas. As the number of services there increased and as it became a center of business and trade, Dillingham also attracted residents away from these places.
THE CONTEMPORARY COMMUNITY
Demoaraphy In 1989, the year-round population of Clark’s Point and Ekuk combined was fifty-six persons in 17 households (Table 2, Table 3, Fig. 4). At least one of the household heads in each household was of Alaska Native ancestry. About 93 percent of the total population was Alaska Native. Of the 56 residents in the 17 households, 78.6 percent were born to parents who were then living in small communities around Nushagak Bay such as Ekuk, Clark’s Point, Kanakanak Village, Angel Bay, Pottage.Creek, Dillingham, and Creek Cannery; 8.9 percent were born to parents living in other Alaska communities (such as Bethel, Goodnews Bay, and Chefornak);. and 7.1 percent were born to parents living in the continental U.S. The average length of residency at Clark’s Point was 19.2 years with a maximum residency of 67.6 years . (Table 2).
12 Table 1. Census Population of Nushagak Bay Region, 1880 - 1990
:ommunity 1880 1 1890 1 1900 1 1910 1 1920 1 1930 1 1940 1 1950 1 1960 1 1970 1 1980 1 1990
ileknagik 78 153 231 128 154 185 (Alaknak) 114
Iark's Point 25 22 128 138 95 79 60 (Stugarok) 7 WwW) Gllingham 85 278 577 424 914 1,563 2,017 (Kanakanak) 53 145 (Bradford) 167 (Chogiung) 165 182
ikuk 112 37 40 51 7 3 (Yekuk) 65
:kwok 79 131 106 103 77 77 (Ekwak) 40 68 jushik (Igushek) 74 28 16 Ioliganek 114 (Kalignak) 91 90 100 142 117 181 lanokotak 120 149 214 294 385 lew Stuyahok 88 145 216 331 391 lushagak 178 268 324 74 16 43
ortage Creek 60 48 5
Sources: Alaska Department of Fish and Game 1985a:370. 384,402, from U.S. census information; Alaska Department of Labor 1991 Table 2. Demographic Characteristics of Clark’s Point, 1989 ’
lumber of Sampled Households 17 ‘otal Population 56 verage Household Size 3.29 Minimum 1 Maximum 6 ,verage Age Household Head and Spouse 43.2 years Minimum 20.2 years Maximum 68.5 years Median 36.1 years Sample Population 29.0 years Minimum 0.3 years Maximum 68.5 years Median 29.3 years iverage Length of Residency Household Head and Spouse 26.2 years Minimum 12.0 years Maximum 67.6 years Adults (18 Years or Greater) 26.2 years Minimum 6.0 years Maximum 67.6 years Population 19.2 years Minimum 0.3 years Maximum 67.6 years ‘ercent Male 55.4 percent ‘ercent Female 44.6 percent ‘ercent Alaska Native Household Head or Spouse 100.0 percent Population 92.9 percent ‘ercent Born in Clarks Point Households with Head or Spouse 52.9 percent Population 55.4 percent Percent Born in Other Bristol Bay Communities Households with Household Head or Spouse 41.2 percent Population 23.2 percent Percent Born in Other Alaskan Communities Households with Household Head or Spouse 5.9 percent Population 8.9 percent Percent Born Outside of Alaska Households with Head and Spouse 0.0 percent Population 7.1 percent Percent Birthplace Missing (Population) 5.4 percent
’ Includes one Ekuk household. Source: Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Subsistence Household Survey 1989
14 Figure 4. Population Profile, Clark’s Point 1989
70-74 T 65 - 69 60 - 64
35-39 2 30-34 4 25 - 29 > 20-24
0 MALE 0 FEMALE
SOURCE: Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Subsistence, Household Survey. 1989
Table 3. Population Profile, Clark’s Point 1989
AGE MALE FEMALE TOTAL NUMBER PERCENT CUM. NUMBER PERCENT CUM. NUMBER PERCENT CUM. PERCENT PERCENT PERCENT
o-4 3.00 9.68% 9.68% 3.00 12.00% 12.00% 6.00 10.71% 10.71% 5-9 1 .oo 3.23% 12.90% 5.00 20.00% 32.00% 6.00 10.71% 21.43% IO-14 5.00 16.13% 29.03% 0.00 0.00% 32.00% 5.00 8.93% 30.36% 15 - 19 1 .oo 3.23% 32.26% 1 .oo 4.00% 36.00% 2.00 3.57% 33.93% 20 - 24 2.00 6.45% 38.71% 3.00 12.00% 48.00% 5.00 8.93% 42.86% 25 - 29 3.00 9.68% 48.39% 0.00 0.00% 48.00% 3.00 5.36% 48.21% 30 - 34 3.00 9.68% 58.06% 3.00 12.00% 60.00% 6.00 10.71% 58.93% 35 - 39 7.00 22.58% 80.65% 2.00 8.00% 68.00% 9.00 16.07% 75.00% 40 - 44 0.00 0.00% 80.65% 1 .oo 4.00% 72.00% 1.00 1.79% 76.79% 45-49 0.00 0.00% 80.65% 0.00 0.00% 72.00% 0.00 0.00% 76 79% 50 - 54 0.00 0.00% 80.65% 0.00 0.00% 72.00% 0.00 0.00% 76.79% 55 - 59 1 .oo 3.23% 83.87% 2.00 8.00% 80.00% 3.00 5.36% 82.14% 60 - 64 0.00 0.00% 83.87% 1.00 4.00% 84.00% 1.00 1.79% 83.93% 65 - 69 2.00 6.45% 90.32% 4.00 16.00% 100.00% 6.00 10.71% 94.64% 70 - 74 0.00 0.00% 90.32% 0.00 0.00% 100.00% 0.00 0.00% 94.64% 75 -79 0.00 0.00% 90.32% 0.00 0.00% 100.00% 0.00 0.00% 94.64% 80 - 84 0.00 0.00% 90.32% 0.00 0.00% 100.00% 0.00 0.00% 94.64% 85 -. 89 0.00 0.00% 90.32% 0.00 0.00% 100.00% 0.00 0.00% 94.64% Missing 3.00 9.68% 100.00% 0.00 0.00% 100.00% 3.00 5.36% 100.00%
TOTAL 31 .oo 55.36% 25.00 43.86% 56.00 100.00% I
SOURCE: Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Subsistence, Household Survey, 1989
15 In 1989, the community was fairly young, with an average age of 29 years, and had a higher percentage of males (55.6 percent) than females (44.6 percent) in the population. The median age of household heads and spouses was 36 years (Table 2). The predominant household formation was that of two generations headed by a couple (8 households). Six households were headed by single females, four of which were two generation households and the remainder having three generations living together. There were a total of three households having at least three generations under one roof, and two single person households headed by single males.
Services and Facilities During the study period (1988/89), most of the houses which were inhabited at Clark’s Point on a year-round basis were located on the bluff south of the spit where the old village was built. Most of the households lived in HUD housing on the ocean-side of the bluff. Inland from the HUD housing was the school and a large warehouse which was being turned into a multiple use community center. On the far side of the school was another cluster of houses, built by their owners, and occupied by an extended family and one non-kin household (Fig. 2). In 1989, Clark’s Point was a second class city governed by a seven member board. Services provided by the city included electricity, water, sewage disposal and road maintenance, and a dump. All houses had electricity. HUD housing had water and sewage disposal, but the cluster of houses beyond the school did not. There was a pubtic health clinic run by the Bristol Bay Area Health Corporation. The clinic was staffed by two village residents. Villagers who have HUD housing rent from the Bristol Bay Housing Authority with the option to buy. Most arrangements were to take 21-25 years to pay off. On an individual basis, rent was $100-135 a month. The amount of rent was determined by one’s ability to pay. Clark’s Point also had a traditional tribal council composed of 5 members. Its primary function was to administer federally funded programs pertaining to tribal education, health, and subsistence activities. As of November 1989, the community had a tribal enrollment of 115 (Sharon Clark, city manager, 11189). Saguyak, Inc. is the for-profit organization created by ANCSA for the receipt of revenues from the regional corporation, Bristol Bay Native Corporation. Trident Seafoods had a boat storage facility, lockers, housing, dock, and business office at Clark’s Point. Trident performed a number of services for the fishermen. They bought supplies for them, maintained a fleet insurance policy, stored their boats, and maintained their accounts (John Thompson, Trident Superintendent 7120189).
In the summer of 1989, there was no running water, electricity, or sewage facility at Ekuk. People hauled water from Dillingham or from creeks near the bluff. Outhouses and honey buckets were the usual means of disposing of human waste. Some individuals had their own generators for electricity (Fig. 5). Columbia-Ward Fisheries bought the Ekuk cannery in 1958. In 1989, Wards-Cove Packing Company processed canned, frozen, and fresh herring and salmon. Approximately one-half of their 300
16 I ‘I a/ IO EKUK FISHCAMP I 1989 Q / 0 ! I 0 YEAR ROUND HOUSEHOLDS: 1
SEASONAL HOUSEHOLDS ‘,------BlrthptacB N p:er Residence
Nushagak Dramage 4, 50 .^ Other Alaskan 3 L 2 otnsr U.S. ? ,-; Unknown J
Subsistence Permsts: 18 employees were local to the area. Wages ranged from $6.00 to $7.50 an hour in this union shop. They had bunkhouses, a cafeteria, and storage for the fishers and workers. Laundry, steam bath and transportation were provided at no cost to the fishers. They also purchased supplies for them. The fishers would generally draw on their accounts and settle up at the end of the season (John Bisanich, Wards-Cove Packing Superintendent, 1989).
Employment Even though there were only three full-time year-round positions, most adults in Clark’s Point (83.8%) were employed at some point during the 1988/89 study year. Within any individual household an average of 3.4 jobs were held and usually more than one person was employed. Length of employment during the study year ranged from one month to 12 months, with the average length of employment at 6.9 months. The community held 57 jobs for 31 employed persons in 1988/89 (Table 4). The vast majority of these positions were short-term, seasonal, or long-term, but of only a few hours periodically. Table 4 shows that many individuals worked more than one job. Frequently jobs were shared within the family, with a spouse or son or daughter. By occupational type, almost one-half of the jobs were in fisheries (47.4 percent). About one fifth of the jobs could be classified as “structural work” and another fifth as professional, technical or managerial in nature. A few jobs were in clerical and sales and services sectors (Table 5). As with most other villages in the Nushagak drainage, commercial fishing was the mainstay of the local economy of Clark’s Point. Every household in the community had at least one member involved in commercial salmon fishing during the summer of 1989 (Table 6). However, the number of locally held commercial salmon fishing permits has declined. In 1989, Clark’s Point residents held a total of 6 setnet and 7 driftnet permits. This is a significant decline from 1988 when the community held 12 drift and 11 setnet permits. The Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission records for 1989 show 12 driftnet permits and 10 setnet permits for Clark’s Point (CFEC special report 12/5/89). Most of the difference was accounted for by out-migration from the community. In 1989, a total of eight households moved out of the community for the major part of the year, five moved to Anchorage and three to Dillingham. They were expected to return to Clark’s Point for the summer months; Division of Subsistence Harvest Survey 1989). Most of the jobs other than commercial fishing were in the public sector (Table 6). Southwest Region School District hired two substitute teachers; a bilingual teacher; a cook and a janitor. Two certified teachers were hired from outside the community. Bristol Bay Area Health Corporation hired two health aides. Bristol Bay Housing Authority employed four construction workers for a period of time in the fall of 1988. The city of Clark’s Point hired a water operator, a city manager, a heavy equipment operator, and a laborer. The Clark’s Point traditional village council employed a treasurer. The two local fish processors hired two watchmen and a laborer from the community. The federal government hired a postal worker, and two others also occasionally helped her out. There was an airport contract also awarded to a
18 Table 4. Employment Characteristics of Clark’s Point, 1988189
Number of Adults Employed During Part of Study Year 31.0 Number of Adults in Clark’s Point 37.0 Percentage of Total Adults Employed During Study Year 83.8% Number of Households 17.0 Number of Employed Households 17.0 Number of Jobs Held by Employed Adults 57.0 Average Number of Jobs Held Per Employed Adult 1.8 Minimum 1.0 Maximum 4.0 Average Number of Jobs Held Per Household 3.4 Minimum 1.0 Maximum 8.0 Average Number of Employed Adults Per Household 1.8 Minimum 1.0 Maximum 3.0 Average Number of Months Employed Adults were Employed 6.9 Minimum 1.0 Maximum 12.0 Percentage of Employed Adults That Were Employed Year-Round 35.5% Average Number of Months Employed, All Household Heads 7.5 Minimum 1.0 Maximum 12.0
Source: Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Subsistence, Household Survey, 1989
19 Table 5. Percentage of Jobs by Occupational Type, Clark’s Point, 1988/89
Percentage of: Employed Empolyed Jobs Households Adults Category (N = 57) (N = 17) (N = 31)
Professional, Technical and Managerial 17.5 47.1 25.8 Clerical and Sales 7.0 23.5 12.9 Service 10.5 29.4 19.4 Agriculture, Fisheries, and Forestry 47.4 100.0 80.6 Structural Work 17.5 41.2 29.0
Source: Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Subsistence Household Survey 1989
Table 6. Percentage of Employers by Employer Type, Clark’s Point, 1988189
Percentage of:
,,J4”;;, 1 Category
Commercial Fishing 43.9 100.0 80.6 Village Council 1.8 5.9 3.2 Construction 7.0 23.5. 12.9 Manufacturing 5.3 17.6 9.7 Retail Trade 1.8 5.9 3.2 Services 1.8 5.9 3.2 Federal Government 5.3 17.6 9.7 State Government 1.8 5.9 3.2 Local Government 8.8 17.6 12.9 School District 8.8 23.5 12.9 Trapping 3.5 11.8 6.5 Native Non Profit 5.3 17.6 9.7 5.3 17.6 9.7
Source: Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Subsistence Household Survey 1989
20 local person by the Alaska Department of Transportation to maintain the landing strip. Three individuals made crafts and sold them for additional income and two others trapped for supplemental income. One woman rented videos out of her home to make a extra money to supplement her transportation costs. Another woman traveled to Dillingham to work for a few weeks during late fall and winter.
Monetary Income Table 7 shows that the average household income from commercial fishing in 1988189 in Clark’s Point was $14,453. This was the highest contributor toward household income and more than half of the average total earned income. Income from crafts was quite low, at $52 per household. Trapping income averaged $119 per household per year. Other earned income averaged $12,493 per household annually. Income sources other than jobs consisted of social security, longevity bonus, and energy assistance. While most Clark’s Point households received corporation dividends and the permanent fund dividend, less than one half of all households received social security, a longevity bonus, energy assistance, or a pension. Two households received energy assistance and only one household received unemployment compensation in Clark’s Point. No households reported income from public assistance, disability, food stamps, child support, or “other sources.” For Clark’s Point, the number of other income sources per household averaged 2.6 (Table 8). Based upon household survey responses, total household income in Clark’s Point in 1988/89 averaged $32,012 per household and $9,718 per person (Table 7). The per capita estimate is very similar to the $9,064 per capita reported for Clark’s Point by the U.S. Census for 1989. This income was substantially lower than cash incomes reported by the U.S. Census for the State of Alaska overall for 1989: a median household income of $41,408 and a per capita income of $17,610 (U.S. Department of Commerce 1992:53,54).
Cost of Livinq The monthly cost of living (based on a set of common expenditure.s) for all Clark’s Point households ranged from $114.00 to $2,758 during 1988/89. Standard costs for most households were those of heating fuel, transportation fuel, water, electricity, food, propane and housing. Only one household purchased a grubstake. The only cost common to all households was that of food, which ranged from $100 per month to $1600 per month per household, and averaged $465. The average total monthly expenses for all households was $997 per month (Table 9). Dillingham, the regional center, and Anchorage were the primary places where supplies could be purchased. Clark’s Point was linked to Dillingham by air, water and, during the winter months, land and ice. A store at Trident Seafoods operated two and one-half to three months of the year. After the Trident store closed the only means of purchasing was by mail order, barge order, or by traveling to Dillingham or to Anchorage.
21 Table 7. Monetary Income, Clark’s Point, 1988/89
Mean Household Per Capita Income Income rotal Earned Income $27,118.47 $8,232.39 Commercial Fishing $14,452.94 $4,387.50 Crafts $52.35 $15.89 Other Earned Income $12,493.76 $3,792.75 Trapping $119.41 $36.25
Xher Income .$4,893.82 $1,485.62
Total, All Income $32,012.29 $9,718.02
Source: Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Subsistence, Household Survey, 1989
Table 8. Other Income Sources, Clark’s Point, 1988189
Percentage of Number of Mean Household Category” Households Households Income
Social Security 23.5 4 $992 Longevity Bonus 11.8 2 b Energy Assistance 11.8 2 b
Pension 5.9 1 b Corporation Dividend 100.0 17 $195 Unemployment 5.9 1’ b Permanent Fund Dividend 100.0 17 $2,758
Mean Number Other Income Sources oer Household = 2.59 a No households reported income from public assistance, disability, food stamps, child support or “other sources.” b Less than three households reported income from this source. In order to maintain confidentiality, data are not I sported in the category row.
Source: Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Subsistence, Household Survey, 1989..
22 Table 9. Average Estimated Monthly Expenses, Clark’s Point, 1988189
1 Mean’ 1 Minimum 1 Maximum
Heating Fuel $129.35 $0.00 $400.00
Tr&sportation Fuel $68.46 $0.00 $317.00
Housing $69.53 $0.00 $303.00
Food $464.71 $100.00 $1,600.00
Water $15.88 $0.00 $30.00
Electricity $72.65 $0.00 $230.00
Telephone $78.35 $0.00 $300.00
Propane $24.82 $0.00 $100.00
Grubstake $73.53 $0.00 $833.00
Total $997.28 $114.00 $2,758.00
’ N = 17 households
Source: Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Subsistence Household Survey 1989
23 According to quarterly surveys by the University of Alaska Cooperative Extension program, the cost of food (105 standard items) for one week was much higher in Dillingham than in Anchorage during 1988-89 (Table 10; Appendix C). In March of 1989, the cost of 105 food items which could provide a nutritious diet for a family of four for a week in Dillingham was $150.40. This was 1.65 times higher than Anchorage prices and 1.59 times the Anchorage prices of the year before. The cost of food in Dillingham for a family of four with elementary school children has continued to rise. In March of 1990, Dillingham prices were 166 percent those of Anchorage, at $167.50 per week. An important factor in the cost of living in this area is that of transportation of supplies. During the study period, most supplies that came into Clark’s Point arrived either by air or by boat, from Dillingham or from Anchorage. MarkAir Cargo and Northern Air Cargo are the two main freight carriers to Dillingham from Anchorage. In October of 1990 MarkAir charged $0.41 per pound for freight totaling 100 to 1000 pounds; $0.35 per pound for freight totaling between 1000 and 5000 pounds; and $0.30 per pound for freight over 5000 pounds. There was a tariff of 50 percent for household items and a tariff of 200 percent for automobiles in addition to the 5 percent Federal Aviation Tax. Snowmachines had a different rate structure. The 100 pound rate was $0.62 per pound and the 1000 pound rate was $0.53 per pound. Northern Air Cargo charged $0.52 per pound for 100 to 1,000 pounds; $0.494 per pound for 1,000 to 5,000 pounds and $0.429 for everything over 5,000 pounds. In addition there was a 130 percent tariff for household items, and a 150 percent tariff for automobiles, depending on their weight and size. To transport a 3,500 pound automobile from Anchorage to Dillingham one could expect to spend $2,000. Once the freight arrived in Dillingham it was shipped to Clark’s Point. One example of the cost of freight is that of bringing in all-terrain-vehicles. A major source of land transportation throughout most of the year, they are a common item for people to purchase and bring to Clark’s Point. Of the two airlines which would transport them, MarkAir charged $300 to transport one from Dillingham to Clark’s Point. Peninsula Airlines would transport them at their convenience. In June of 1989, PennAir charged $35 for a small Honda 110, a three-wheeler weighing about 250 pounds. A common practice among residents was to try to arrange for someone returning to Clark’s Point by boat to bring large items such as all-terrain- vehicles. Supplies were also brought into the village in spring by the processors when they arrived at the beginning of the salmon season. During 1989, the cost of air transportation from Dillingham to Clark’s Point ranged from $30 round- trip, the lowest special fare, to $120 round-trip, if one had to charter a plane. Several carriers flew to Clark’s Point throughout the year and had regularly scheduled flights, though in winter the number of flights was reduced dramatically from summer. However, most of the airllnes also operated on a charter- like basis, arranging for flights when there were at least three passengers going in the same direction between Clark’s Point and Dillingham, and for individuals as needed, for the full charter fare. Wren Air, Peninsula Airways, MarkAir Express, Manokotak Air, and Tucker Aviation flew to villages within the Nushagak Region, including Clark’s Point. Regular seat fares ranged from $20 to $30 one way.
24 Table 10. Cost of Food in Alaska Communities: Consumer Prince Index
:ommunity Index’
nchorage 1.00 Iillingham 1.63
ielected Smaller Communities McGrath 1.52 Tok 1.34
Ither Regional Centers Bethel 1.54 Nome 1.61
.arger Alaska Communities ~ Cordova 1.46 Fairbanks 1.05 Homer 1.22 Juneau 1.02 Kenai 1.10 Ketchikan 0.99 Kodiak 0.93 Petersburg 0.92 Sitka 1.12
’ These numbers represent the average consumer prince index infromation from March 1989 through March 1990, based on the cost of food for use at home for one week. Anchorage is the based adjusted at 100.
Source: Cooperative Extension Service, University of Alaska, Anchorage.
25 Once the Nushagak River froze over in winter, there was a trail from Clark’s Point to Dillingham which crossed the river near Black Point. Travel by snowmachine to Dillingham occurred throughout the winter and spring as long as the ice was good. Supplies and equipment such as all-terrain vehicles could be brought by land then. The trip lasted approximately six hours one way.
26 CHAPTER THREE: GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF RESOURCE USE
SEASONAL ROUND
It is appropriate to begin the seasonal round in spring, for that is the season Clark’s Point residents anticipate perhaps more than any other. Breakup began in 1990 during the latter part of March. Everyone watched for the first signs of returning ducks and geese and the annual migration of the seals into Nushagak Bay. While watching, waiting, and anticipating calm weather, residents dug out their boats from under the snow cover and began to ready their gear for seal hunting (Fig. 6). Usually seals began arriving in late March and stayed as late as April 20th. Normally, eider ducks and geese also began arriving during this time. In the spring of 1990 residents found few seals or waterfowl in the bay when the weather was calm enough to go out. Residents preferred to wait to hunt marine mammals until Nushagak Bay was “like a glass” because seals were too difficult to spot otherwise. In a normal year, while out hunting seals and, infrequently, belukhas, hunters would also harvest ducks and geese. In spring of 1990, due to the windy weather hunters did not have many opportunities to harvest seals from early to mid-April. They also reported seeing fewer ducks in Nushagak Bay. During April, preparations for herring fishing took place. Residents repaired and readied boats, skiffs, motors, and nets for the subsistence. and commercial herring fisheries in Kulukak and Metervik bays. A few residents who traveled to the Togiak area for herring also harvested some spawn on kelp for their own use. There was some hunting of ducks and geese for immediate consumption while fishers were awaiting the beginning of commercial fishing. Some hunters harvested larger quantities of waterfowl to bring back to friends and family for later use. When the tides and weather permitted, a few residents went claming on the mud flats. During ‘herring season, walrus were hunted in the Togiak area and at Protection Point. Seasonal residents had already begun to arrive in Clark’s Point when the herring fishers returned. Preparations began for subsistence fishing in June. In 1988 and 1989, residents of the Nushagak watershed were allowed to fish for subsistence within the commercial district by emergency order only. Unlike 1988, when only a few subsistence emergency openings of 24-hour duration were called, in 1989, the subsistence emergency order lasted most of the month of June. Seasonal and year- round residents set out nets on the beach near their fish racks and smokehouses, in front of the old village of Clark’s Point. June generally has the best weather for drying salmon. In June, chinook were the targeted species but sockeyes and chums caught incidentally were also split and dried to be smoked later. Sockeyes were most commonly taken from the commercial catches, as the entire month of July was open to commercial fishing. Throughout the month of July those who had commercial salmon permits dedicated most of their energy toward earning their cash for the rest of the year. Those without
27 Figure 6. Clark’s Point Seasonal Round of Resource Harvests.
King Salmon
Red Salmon
Silver Salmon
Chum Salmon
Pink Salmon
Dolly Varden
White Fish
Pike
Herring
Herring Roe
Smelt
Moose
Caribou
E Eeluga
Seal
Walnrs
Porcupine
Hare Beaver
Land Otter
Ducks 8 Geese
Ptarmigan
Bird Eggs
Clams
Berries
Firewood
Solid = Usual Harvest Dots = Occasional Harvest commercial salmon permits continued drying and smoking salmon they had caught earlier or which had been brought to them out of another’s commercial catch. In July, wild plants and the first berries were also harvested. After the commercial sockeye season closed, residents subsistence fished for cohos off the Clark’s Point beach during closed periods and during the emergency opening for subsistence. August of 1989 was the first year since statehood that subsistence fishing was allowed within the Nushagak commercial district after all commercial fishing there had ceased. Previously, Clark’s Point residents had to travel above the district to fish for cohos, even though commercial fishing usually came to a halt in Nushagak Bay after July. This involved calculating the timing of fish movements, good weather, and having access to transportation and the ability to use it. Unfortunately, although the bay was open to subsistence fishing, August and September of 1989 were very rainy and thus it was still difficult to dry fish. In August, berry picking began in earnest and continued well into the fall until snowfall or frost finished the season’s crop. During this time women also gathered beach grass for making baskets. Moose hunting in August and September was also a combination of hunting and gathering activities. Groups of hunters and occasionally whole families went up the Nushagak River for moose hunting and berry picking, also hunting ducks and geese as they became available. During August and September, families occasionall) traveled up the Nushagak River or the Wood River to the lakes to fish for spawned-out sockeye salmon and freshwater fish. Residents also enjoyed dipnetting smelt off the beach at Clark’s Point in August, since there ,was an early run. According to residents, the main run of smelt occurs later in the fall, around late September and October. Caribou season also opened in August, and lasted until March 31. However, during August hunting effort appeared to be concentrated primarily on moose, since the season was only from August 20 through September 15 and again during December. Caribou were harvested during moose season only if convenient to the hunting party. Both moose and caribou have been taken opportunistically year-round, though the primary effort in recent years occurred during hunting seasons established by the state. During late August and September of previous years women have flown to the Goodnews Bay and Platinum areas to pick blackberries and grass for making baskets. Walrus hunting also has taken place during August and September, though it did not during the study year. As the weather turned cooler and the snow cover deepened, transportation changed to snowmobiles. Trapping season began again in November for coyote, fox, lynx, marten, mink, weasel, land otter, wolf, squirrel, marmot, and wolverine. Clark’s Point trappers attempted to harvest coyote, weasel, land otter, and wolf primarily in the area between the community and Halfmoon Bay to the southeast, on the Kvichak River, and Portage Creek to the north, on the Nushagak River. Porcupines and other furbearers might be taken incidentally, as well as those which were targeted. Trappers attempted to check their trap lines daily, but weather and equipment failure sometimes prevented them from going out.
29 In December, the moose season opened again and hunters tried to get their last moose for the year at that time. Beaver season opened in January and brought on the most concentrated effort by local trappers. Hunters checked their trap lines when weather and machinery permitted during the months of January and February. Occasionally there were shorter forays for wood or ptarmigan when they were locally abundant. Beaver Roundup, usually held around March 1 in Dillingham, marked the end of trapping season and the final days of winter. The festivities generally lasted several days and attracted trappers and their family and friends from villages throughout the region. Clark’s Point residents brought furs and crafts for sale, and gifts of wild food were exchanged among relatives and friends in Dillingham. Beaver were trapped through March and sometimes through April. Residents generally stopped taking hares by the end of April. In March the days lengthened and temperatures rose. Occasional thaws and freezing, in combination with light rain, condensed the snow and left its surface hard enough to travel on with all-terrain vehicles. These vehicles offered faster, more fuel efficient means of transportation than snow machines and residents enjoyed being able to travel farther and easier overland. Once freed from their daily routine of checking their trap lines, trappers enjoyed a greater variety of activities and the opportunity to catch up on household chores. Those who had not yet taken their limit of caribou tried to take advantage of optimal weather and snow conditions to hunt. Caribou hunting was interspersed with gathering wood for steam baths; hunting ptarmigan; and taking day trips and camping trips to Portage Creek in order to ice fish for Dolly Varden, northern pike, and smelt.
LAND USE PA-I-TERNS
As has been documented for other rural Alaskan communities in the Bristol Bay region, Clark’s Point residents exploited a relatively large area for their subsistence activities from 1963 to 1983 (Wright et al. 1985:47). (Maps appear in the chapters on specific resource categories which follow.) In 1989, salmon were harvested in Nushagak, Egegik, and Naknek districts, the Wood River, and the Nushagak River. Herring and marine invertebrates were harvested in Kulukak and Metervik bays. Smelt were harvested in front of Clark’s Point village. Freshwater fishing took place in the Wood River lakes, the Nushagak River, and Portage Creek. Moose hunting occurred in the area around Portage Creek and further up the Nushagak River. Caribou were hunted from Picnic Point south to the Etolin Point area. Furbearer trapping occurred from the Nushagak Point area over to Angel Bay and south to Halfmoon Bay on the Kvichak side of the peninsula. Ptarmigan hunting occurred primarily on the peninsula behind Clark’s Point north to Picnic Point. Waterfowl harvesting occurred in conjunction with marine mammal hunting on Nushagak Bay, around the Snake River, the lgushik Lake and down the Nushagak Peninsula to Protection Point; along
30 the coast from Nushagak Beach to Etolin Point; around Grass Island, and in Togiak, Kulukak, and Metervik Bays during the herring fishery. Ducks and geese were also harvested while hunters sought moose and caribou along the tributaries and main rivers of the Nushagak/Mulchatna drainage. Plants and berries were harvested in the Clark’s PointlEkuk area, the Dillingham area, the Wood River Lakes system and along the Nushagak and Mulchatna Rivers.
SPECIES USED AND LEVELS OF PARTICIPATION
According to the results of the survey of 17 households (a 100 percent sample of all households), Clark’s Point and Ekuk residents used 62 kinds of fish, game, and plant resources in 1988/89. The mean number of resources used per household was 20.7 and the range of resources used was a low of 6 to a high of 39. The mean number of resources harvested per household was 14.2 (Table 11). Table 12 depicts levels of use and harvest for each species and its resource category: salmon, other fish, marine invertebrates, land mammals, marine mammals, furbearers, birds, eggs, and plants. All households reported using salmon and berries. Most (94.1 percent) households used other species of fish as well, especially smelt, pike, Dolly Varden, and herring spawn on kelp. A large percentage (88.2 percent) of households used birds and bird eggs in 1988/89. Ptarmigan, pintail ducks, mallard ducks, and gull eggs were the most heavily utilized. Eighty-two percent of all households reported using land mammals (moose and caribou). Most households (76.5 percent) used caribou, while an identical percentage used moose (76.5 percent). Furbearers were used by 64.7 percent of all households, with beaver being the most important species used. Marine mammals were also used by a high percent of the population (76.5 percent). Harbor seals’ were used by 70.6 percent of Clark’s Point households. Belukha were used by 52.9 percent and walrus by 41.2 percent of the population. Table 12 also reports the percentage of the sample that attempted to harvest each resource during 1988/89. In total, respondents attempted to harvest 68 kinds of resources. The most commonly sought resources by Clark’s Point households were berries (100 percent) and salmon (88.2 percent); smelt (76.5 percent); ptarmigan and gull eggs (58.8 percent each); harbor seal and caribou (52.9 percent each).
HARVEST QUANTITIES
The mean household harvest of wild resources at Clark’s Point in 1988/89 was 1,195.6 pounds usable weight. The per capita harvest was 363.0 pounds. The entire community produced an estimated total of 20,325 pounds of wild foods in 1988/89. For comparison, about 220 pounds of meat, fish, and
’ The range of harbor seals and the closely related spotted seals overlap in Nushagak Bay. The survey instrument did not distinguish behiveen the two species. See Chapter Six.
31 Table 11. Resource Harvest and Use Characteristics of Clark’s Point, 1988/89 ’
Mean Number Of Resources Used Per Household 20.7 Minimum 6.0 Maximum 39.0 Median 20.0 Mean Number Of Resources Attempted To Harvest Per Household 19.4 Minimum 7.0 Maximum 49.0 Median 18.0 Mean Number Of Resources Harvested Per Household 14.2 Minimum 2.0 Maximum 30.0 Median 13.0 Mean Number Of Resources Received Per Household 10.9 Minimum 2.0 Maximum 39.0 Median 9.0 Mean Number Of Resources Given Away Per Household 11.1 Minimum 0.0 Maximum 29.0 Median 11.0 Mean Household Harvest, Pounds 1,195.6 Minimum 22.8 Maximum 5,531.7 Total Pounds Harvested 20,325.2 Community Per Capita Harvest, Pounds 363.0 Percentage of Households: Using Any Resource 100.0% Attempting To Harvest Any Resource 100.0% Harvesting Any Resource 100.0% Receiving Any Resource 100.0% Giving Away Any Resource 94.1%
’ Includes one Ekuk household.
Source: Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Subsistence Household Survey, 1989
32 Table 12. Levels of Harvest and Use of Fish, Game, and Plant Resources, Clark’s Point, November 1988 through October 1989
Percentage of Households Estimated Estimated Estimated Pounds Attempting Number Pounds Lbs. per per esource Using A Harvest Harvesting Receiving Giving Harvesteda Harvested Household Capita II Resources 100.0 ‘100.0 loo:o 100.0 94.1 20,325 1,195.6 363.0 Fish 100.0 94.1 94.1 100.0 88.2 11,839 696.4 211.4 Salmon 100.0 88.2 88.2 76.5 76.5 1,639 9,901 582.4 176.8 Chum Salmon 70.6 58.8 58.8 29.4 41.2 130 549 32.3 9.8 Coho Salmon 76.5 64.7 52.9 47.1 47.1 337 1,577 92.8 28.2 Chinook Salmon 94.1 70.6 70.6 52.9 58.8 331 4,422 260.1 79.0 Pink Salmon 35.3 23.5 23.5 17.6 23.5 57 132 7.8 2.4 Sockeye Salmon 100.0 70.6 70.6 58.8 52.9 745 3,144 184.9 56.1 Salmon, Spawnouts 47.1 11.8 11.8 35.3 17.6 39 78 4.6 1.4 Non-Salmon Fish 94.1 82.4 82.4 82.4 70.6 1,627 95.7 29.0 Herring 11.8 0.0 0.0 11.8 11.8 0 0 0.0 0.0 Smelt 94.1 76.5 76.5 52.9 70.6 178 g 1,068 62.8 19.1 Pacific Cod (gray) 5.9 0.0 0.0 5.9 5.9 0 0 0.0 0.0 Pacific Tom Cod 23.5 17.6 17.6 5.9 5.9 36 180 10.6 3.2 Flounder 11.8 11.8 11.8 5.9 5.9 12 12 0.7 0.2 Halibut 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 0 0.0 0.0 Blackfish 5.9 5.9 5.9 0.0 5.9 59 30 1.8 0.5 Burbot 5.9 0.0 0.0 5.9 5.9 0 0 0.0 0.0 Dolly Varden 41.2 17.6 17.6 29.4 5.9 30 42 2.5 0.8 Lake Trout 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 0 0.0 0.0 Grayling 11.8 5.9 5.9 11.8 11.8 7 5 0.3 0.1 Pike 41.2 29.4 29.4 23.5 29.4 86 241 14.2 4.3 Sucker 5.9 5.9 5.9 0.0 5.9 5 7 0.4 0.1 Rainbow Trout 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 0 0.0 0.0 Alaska Whitefish 17.6 5.9 5.9 11.8 11.8 12 12 0.7 0.2 Cisco 11.8 5.9 5.9 11.8 11.8 20 30 1.8 0.5 Salmon Roe 11.8 5.9 5.9 5.9 0.0 10 P 10 0.6 0.2 Herring Roe 11.8 0.0 0.0 11.8 11.8 0 0 0.0 0.0 Table 12. Levels of Harvest and Use of Fish, Game, and Plant Resources, Clark’s Point, November 1988 through October 1989 (continued)
Percentage of Households Estimated Estimated Estimated Pounds Attempting Number Pounds Lbs. per per Xesource Using A Harvest Harvesting Receiving Giving Harvesteda Harvested Household Capita
Herring Spawn on Kelp 29.4 11.8 11.8 17.6 17.6 8b 300 17.6 5.4 Land Mammals 82.4 58.8 58.8 82.4 64.7 5,279 310.5 94.3 Large Land Mammals 82.4 58.8 47.1 82.4 58.8 4,860 285.9 86.8 Black Bear 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 0 0.0 0.0 Brown Bear 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 0 0.0 0.0 Caribou 76.5 52.9 41.2 64.7 47.1 18 2,700 158.8 48.2 Moose 76.5 47.1 23.5 70.6 47.1 4 2,160 127.1 38.6 Small Land Mammals 64.7 52.9 47.1 29.4 29.4 419 24.6 7.5 Beaverb 41.2 23.5 23.5 17.6 11.8 50 200 11.8 3.6 Coyote 5.9 5.9 5.9 0.0 0.0 1 0 0.0 0.0 Fox 11.8 17.6 11.8 0.0 0.0 17 0 0.0 0.0 Red Fox 11.8 17.6 11.8 0.0 0.0 17 0 0.0 0.0 Hare 35.3 35.3 23.5 11.8 17.6 50 104 6.1 1.9 Arctic HareC 17.6 23.5 11.8 5.9 11.8 26 56 3.3 1.0 Snowshoe Hare 17.6 23.5 17.6 0.0 11.8 24 48 2.8 Oil Land Otte? 23.5 23.5 23.5 0.0 0.0 13 3 0.2 0.1 Lynx 0.0 5.9 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 0 0.0 0.0 Marten 0.0 5.9 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 0 0.0 0.0 Mink 0.0 11.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 0 0.0 0.0 Muskrat 0.0 5.9 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 0 0.0 0.0 Porcupine 52.9 47.1 35.3 17.6 23.5 14 112 6.6 2.0 Parka Squirrel (ground) 0.0 5.9 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 0 0.0 0.0 Wolf 0.0 11.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 0 0.0 0.0 Wolverine 0.0 11.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 0 0.0 0.0 Marine Mammals 76.5 52.9 47.1 70.6 64.7 24 772 45.4 13.8 Seal 70.6 52.9 47.1 41.2 58.8 23 747 43.9 13.3 Bearded Seal 5.9 0.0 0.0 5.9 0.0 0 0 0.0 0.0 Harbor Seal e 7.0.6 52.9 47.1 41.2 58.8 13 450 26.5 8.0 Table 12. Levels of Harvest and Use of Fish, Game, and Plant Resources, Clark’s Point, November 1988 through October 1989 (continued)
Percentage of Households Estimated Estimated Estimated Pounds Attempting Number Pounds Lbs. per per iesource Using A Harvest Harvesting Receiving Giving Harvesteda Harvested Household Capita
Ringed Seal 23.5 17.6 17.6 11.8 17.6 10 297 17.5 5.3 Steller Sea Lion 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 0 0.0 0.0 Walrus 41.2 11.8 0.0 41.2 17.6 0 0 0.0 0.0 Belukha 52.9 23.5 5.9 47.1 23.5 1 25 1.5 0.4’ Birds and Eggs 88.2 88.2 88.2 58.8 70.6 815 47.9 14.6 Migratory Birds 70.6 58.8 58.8 29.4 35.3 449 26.4 8.0 Ducks 70.6 52.9 52.9 29.4 35.3 390 305 18.0 5.4 Eider 11.8 11.8 0.0 11.8 0.0 0 0 0.0 0.0 Goldeneye 5.9 5.9 5.9 0.0 5.9 23 21 1.2 0.4 Mallard 52.9 41.2 41.2 11.8 11.8 93 93 5.5 1.7 Pintail 64.7 52.9 52.9 23.5 35.3 211 169 9.9 3.0 Teal 29.4 29.4 29.4 5.9 11.8 53 16 0.9 0.3 Wigeon 5.9 5.9 5.9 0.0 5.9 10 7 0.4 0.1 Geese 41.2 35.3 35.3 17.6 11.8 49 82 4.8 1.5 Brant 11.8 17.6 11.8 5.9 11.8 21 25 1.5 0.4 Cacklers 17.6 17.6 11.8 5.9 0.0 3 4 0.2 0.1 Lesser Canada Geese 23.5 23.5 17.6 11.8 0.0 9 19 1.1 0.3 Emperor Geese 0.0 5.9 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 0 0.0 0.0 White-fronted Geese 5.9 11.8 5.9 0.0 5.9 10 24 1.4 0.4 Unknown Geese 5.9 5.9 5.9 0.0 5.9 6 10 0.6 0.2 Swan 5.9 11.8 5.9 0.0 0.0 1 8 0.5 0.1 Crane 29.4 29.4 29.4 0.0 17.6 9 54 3.2 1.0 Other Birds 76.5 58.8 58.8 52.9 47.1 462 323 19.0 5.8 Upland Game Birds 76.5 58.8 58.8 52.9 47.1 462 323 19.0 5.8 Grouse 5.9 0.0 0.0 5.9 5.9 0 0 0.0 0.0 Ptarmigan 76.5 58.8 58.8 52.9 47.1 462 323 19.0 5.8 Table 12. Levels of Harvest and Use of Fish, Game, and Plant Resources Clark’s Point, November 1988 through October 1989 continued)
Percentage of Households Estimated Estimated Estimated Pounds Attempting Number Pounds Lbs. per per ?esource Using A Harvest Harvesting Receiving Giving Harvesteda Harvested Household Capita
Bird Eggs 70.6 70.6 70.6 35.3 23.5 42 2.5 0.8 Duck Eggs 23.5 29.4 17.6 11.8 5.9 2d 2 0.1 0.0 Geese Eggs 0.0 5.9 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 0 0.0 0.0 Swan Eggs 0.0 5.9 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 0 0.0 0.0 Common Snipe Eggs 29.4 29.4 29.4 11.8 17.6 5d 0 0.0 0.0 Gull Eggs 52.9 58.8 52.9 29.4 17.6 13 d 26 1.5 0.5 Murre Eggs 5.9 5.9 5.9 5.9 0.0 2d 4 0.2 0.1 Tern Eggs 41.2 35.3 35.3 11.8 17.6 9d 10 0.6 0.2 Marine Invertebrates 23.5 17.6 17.6 11.8 11.8 48 2.8 0.9 Clams 17.6 11.8 11.8 11.8 11.8 3b 45 2.7 0.8 Butter Clams 5.9 5.9 5.9 5.9 5.9 lb 15 0.9 0.3 Razor Clams 5.9 0.0 0.0 5.9 0.0 0 0 0.0 0.0 Unknown Clams 5.9 5.9 5.9 0.0 5.9 2b 30 1.8 0.5 Shrimp 5.9 5.9 5.9 0.0 0.0 3b 3 0.2 0.1 Vegetation ? 00.0 100.0 100.0 52.9 82.4 1,573 92.5 28.1 Berries 100.0 100.0 100.0 41.2 64.7 332 9 1,326 78.0 23.7 Plants/Greens/Mushrooms 41.2 41.2 41.2 11.8 29.4 247 q 247 14.5 4.4 Wood 88.2 76.5 76.5 23.5 23.5 54 c 0 0.0 0.0 a In numbers of animals unless otherwise noted. g = gallons; p = pounds; b = 5 gallon buckets; d = dozens; q = quarts; c = cords b Some not eaten. ’ Sometimes called “‘jackrabbits” locally. d In 1988189, nine walrus were taken by Clark’s Point residents. However, perhaps because several were confiscated during an incident involving alleged wanton waste, no respondents reported walrus harvests during the survey. e Includes spotted seals.
Source: Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Subsistence Household Survey 1989 poultry are purchased and brought into the family kitchen for each person each year in the western United States (U.S. Department of Agriculture 1983). In terms of harvest quantities, salmon was the most important resource for Clark’s Point residents. Salmon made up about 49 percent, by weight, of all wild resources harvested during the 1988/89 study year. Land mammals (mostly moose and caribou) accounted for about 26 percent of the overall harvest and non-salmon fish (including small harvests of marine invertebrates) comprised about10 percent of the community harvest of wild foods. Plants, particularly berries, were the next in rank (about 8 percent of the overall harvest), while marine mammals and birds and eggs when combined made up the remaining 8 percent (by weight) of the community harvest (Figure 7).
RESOURCE SHARING AND RECEIVING
Results of the harvest survey indicated that sharing of resources with friends and relatives is a common practice at Clark’s Point. For most species the percent of households which used the resource exceeded the percent of households which harvested the same resource. Categories of species for which successful harvesters equaled the number of users were: furbearers, geese, cranes, and a few species of ducks, as well as eggs, clams and plants and berries. Salmon, land mammals, marine mammals, non- salmon fish, and ptarmigan were the categories of wild resources for which there were high use levels and lower numbers of households actually harvesting them. Several species were harvested by comparatively few households and widely distributed. Moose, for example, was used by over three times as many households as the number which harvested it. Chinook and sockeye salmon were harvested by 70.6 percent of all households, and used by 94.1 and 100 percent respectively, of all households. Coho salmon were harvested by 52.9 percent of all households and used by 76.5 percent of households. Smelt was used by 94.1 percent of households, but only harvested by 76.5 percent. Nearly twice as many households used caribou (76.5 percent) as harvested it (41.2 percent). Forty-one percent of households used Dolly Varden and pike, but only 17.6 percent of households harvested Dolly Varden and only 11.8 percent harvested pike. Herring roe on kelp was harvested by 11.8 percent of households and used by 29.4 percent of the households (Table 12). Clark’s Point demonstrates a pattern common to mixed subsistence/cash economies of having a few households which usually harvest more, on average, than the majority, and provide wild foods to other households. The variation between households in total pounds harvested was quite large. The minimum household harvest was 22.8 pounds, while the largest household harvest was 5,531.7 pounds. On the other hand, the median number of resources given away was 11, while the largest number of resources given away by any household was 29. The harvest survey also showed higher levels of attempting to harvest than successful harvesting for several species, primarily land mammals, a reminder that not all hunts are successful (Table 11, Table 12).
37 Figure 7. Composition of Subsistence Harvest, Clark’s Point, 1988189
Plants
Marine Mammals
Salmon Land Mammals 49% 26%
Non-Salmon Fish 10% Birds 4%
38 Clark’s Point also demonstrates another pattern common to mixed subsistence/cash economies-- that of being tied into a network of exchange with other communities. Sixteen different resources were received from other communities by Clark’s Point households in 1988/89. Clams, sheefish, and whitefish were brought to Clark’s Point by Toksook Bay residents when they arrived in the spring for commercial salmon fishing. Halibut and clams were brought by Homer residents. Walrus, herring spawn on kelp, and murre eggs were brought by Togiak residents. Trout, blackfish, and spawned-out salmon were received from Manokotak. Salted salmon heads and spawned-out salmon were received from Soldotna. Fresh vegetables and crab were brought to residents of Clark’s Point from Palmer households. Whitefish was received from Ekwok and Nondalton. Smoked salmon was received from Nondalton and the most unusual gift, herring eggs on spruce tree limbs, was received from Sitka. Clark’s Point residents called these “herring on Christmas trees.” Clark’s Point residents gave gifts of beaver, moose, caribou, seal oil, whole seals, seal meat, belukha fat, belukha skin, walrus, herring, herring roe, spawn on kelp, salmon, salmon heads, smelt, berries, pike, ptarmigan, porcupine, and ducks to a variety of other communities. Dillingham, Anchorage, New Stuyahok, Soldotna, Koliganek, Homer, Ekwok, and Naknek all received wild food from Clark’s Point in 1988189.
COMPARISON OF CLARK’S POINT HARVESTS OF 1973/74 AND 1988/89
The overall harvest by Clark’s Point in 1988/89 was almost the same as that of 1973/74, according to the resource harvest survey conducted by Gasbarro and Utermohle for the year beginning in spring of 1973 (Table 13). Clark’s Point residents harvested 362.9 pounds per capita in 1988/89 and in 1973174 harvested 335.0 pounds per capita of wild resources, not including plants. If the plant harvest is excluded from the 1988189 data, the reported harvests are almost identical (334.9 pounds in 1988/89). Salmon accounted for a much larger share of the overall Clark’s Point harvest in 1988/89, 48.8 percent, compared to 21.3 percent in 1973174 (Table 13, Fig. 8). Marine mammals, on the other hand, only accounted for 3.8 percent of the 1988189 harvest, but accounted for 22.8 percent of the 1973/74 harvest. More caribou was harvested in 1973/74 than in 1988/89 on a per capita basis and waterfowl accounted for a larger share of the total harvest in 1973/74 (5.0 percent) than in 1988/89 (4.0 percent). The harvest estimates for Clark’s Point of 1973174 are reported in Table 14. A number of factors affect the ability of a village to carry out harvesting activities. The change in the amount of salmon harvested in 1989 over that of 1973 may be a reflection of the change in the regulations governing subsistence fishing within the Nushagak commercial district. All Clark’s Point residents had much greater opportunity to fish for subsistence salmon in 1989, when subsistence fishing was allowed for extended.periods of time during commercial closures, than they have had since before statehood. For a more detailed discussion of this change, see Technical Paper 195 (Seitz 1990).
39 Table 13. Wild Resource Harvests, Clark’s Point, 1973/74 and 1988/89’
Study Year: 1973174 Study Year: 1988189
Resource 1 Category
Salmon 72.7 21.8 72.9 88.2 48.8 177.0 Non-Salmon Fish 81.8 11.7 39.1 82.4 9.5 34.4 Big Game 54.5 37.3 125.0 47.1 23.9 86.8 Furbearers 54.5 1.9 6.4 47.1 2.1 7.5 Marine Mammals 63.6 22.3 74.7 47.1 3.8 13.8 Birds & Eggs 63.6 5.0 16.8 88.2 4.0 14.6 Marine Invertebrates 9.1 N/A N/A 17.6 0.2 0.9 Plants 72.7 N/A N/A 100.0 7.7 28.1
All Resources 81.8 100.0 335.0 100.0 100.0 363.0
’ Sample sizes: 11 households for 1973174; 17 households for 1988189
Sources: Gasbarro and Utermohle, 1974; Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Subsistence Household Survey 1989
40 Figure 8. Wild ‘Resource Harvests in Clark’s Point, 1973/74 and 1988189
I 0 1973174-..___ n-______-~ 1988189 / 400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0 Table 14. Wild Resource Harvests, Clark’s Point, 1973174
Mean Pounds I Percentage Estimated Harvests of Households lesource Name Numbers 1 Pounds HoEholdl CE::ta 1 Harvesting rll Resources 20,102 1,827.5 335.0 81.8 ;almon 783 4,375 97.7 72.9 72.7 Chinook Salmon 116 1,628 148.0 27.1 72.7 Sockeye Salmon 493 1,965 178.6 32.8 72.7 Chum Salmon 134 586 53.3 9.8 72.7 Coho Salmon 40 196 17.8 3.3 72.7 Ion-Salmon Fish 7,423 2,347 213.4 39.1 81.8 Pike 80 224 20.4 3.7 18.2 Whitefish 52 52 4.7 0.9 9.1 Tom Cod 100 50 4.6 0.8 9.1 . Flounder 225 225 20.5 3.8 18.2 Herring 850 213 19.4 3.6 18.2 Sculpin 50 25 2.3 0.4 9.1 Smelt 6,030 1,508 137.1 25.1 81.8 Char 36 50 4.6 0.8 18.2 arge Land Mammals 37 7,500 681.8 125.0 54.5 Caribou 32 4,800 436.4 80.0 54.5 Moose 5 " 2,700 245.5 45.0 27.3 ‘urbearers 123 386 35.1 6.4 54.5 Fox 51 0.0 0.0 45.5 Beaver 7 140 12.7 2.3 18.2 Hare 23 46 4.2 0.8 45.5 Land Otter 1 0.0 0.0 9.1 Porcupine 25 200 18.2 3.3 45.5 Wolf 16 0.0 0.0 m 18.2 larine Mammals 58 4,484 407.6 74.7 63.6 Belukha 1 700 63.6 11.7 9.1 Seal 54 ~_ 3,024 274.9 50.4 63.6 Walrus 1 560 50.9 9.3 9.1 Sea Lion 2 200 18.2 3.3 18.2 #irds and Eggs 850 1,010 91.8 16.8 63.6 Ptarmigan 525 368 33.5 6.1 63.6 Ducks 259 362 32.9 6.0 63.6 Geese 59 236 21.5 3.9 54.5 Swan 1 8 0.7 0.1 9.1 Crane 6 36 3.3 0.6 27.3 larine Invertebrates na na na na 9.1 Clams na na na na 9.1 lants and Berries na na na na 72.7 Berries na na na na 72.7 Source: Based on Gasbarro and Utermohle, 1974.
42 Weather is also an important factor in harvesting as explained in the discussions of processing salmon, seal hunting, and ice fishing (see the following chapters). Climatic conditions can slow harvest activities down considerably or stop them altogether, and may have contributed to the difference noted in harvests of 1973174 and 1988/89. Equipment availability and quality is another factor in successful harvesting. There must also be capable hunters who have the time to go hunting. Changes in availability of resources such as marine mammals and waterfowl as well as changes in tastes are also likely contributors to the different emphases on particular resources in the two years. In 1973/74, hunters harvested two sea lions whereas in 1988189 all households reported that sea lions are no longer harvested at Clark’s Point. In 1988/89, nine walrus were harvested by Clark’s Point residents, but several were confiscated by authorities under wanton waste laws before they were utilized. Perhaps because of this incident, none of this harvest was reported by any survey respondents. If those walrus had been included in this survey, 1988189 harvest levels of marine mammals might have more closely resembled 1973/74 levels.
43
CHAPTER FOUR: SALMON
PREFERRED SPECIES AND HARVEST QUANTITIES
Five species of salmon enter Nushagak Bay and associated drainages, primarily the Wood, Nushagak, Igushik, and Snake rivers (Fig. 9). Each species arrives at a different time and in different run strengths. Runs of chinook salmon appear first, beginning in late May, and usually peak by the end of June. Chinook (king) salmon are highly prized for commercial, subsistence, and sport uses. Sockeye (red) salmon are the most abundant species and the next to arrive after the chinooks. The peak of the sockeye run usually occurs in early July. Sockeyes are important for commercial and subsistence uses. Chums, locally known as dog salmon, begin returning to the bay in late June along with the sockeyes. They are usually caught incidentally with the targeted chinooks and sockeyes. Pink (humpback) salmon return strongly to Nushagak Bay in even-numbered years in the latter part of July. Due to their soft flesh they are not usually targeted for subsistence, nor are “humpies” a prized commercial species, but they are occasionally harvested commercially when an acceptable price is offered: The last salmon to arrive are the cohos, or silver salmon, in early August. This species is sought for commercial, subsistence, and recreational uses. In 1989, 48.8 percent of Clark’s Point residents’ total harvest consisted of salmon (Fig. 7). Of the salmon, chinook salmon were the most preferred due to their high oil content and firm flesh. Residents harvested a total of 331 chinooks, which accounted for 44.7 percent of all salmon caught, by weight Table 15). Sockeyes were also very highly valued. Seven hundred forty-five sockeyes composed 31.8 percent of the salmon harvest by weight, Coho salmon were also an important resource in 1989 (337 fish), and made up 15.9 percent of the salmon harvest by weight. Chums (130) were 5.5 percent and pink salmon (57) 1.3 percent of the overall salmon harvest, by weight. Spawned-out sockeyes made up the remainder of the salmon harvest (0.8 percent) (Table 15).
COMPARISON OF THE HOUSEHOLD SURVEY AND THE PERMIT DATA BASE
Permits are required for subsistence fishing in the Nushagak watershed. They are issued at the offices of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in Dillingham and by vendors in the villages. The Department also sends staff to villages in late spring to issue these permits. The permits are to be returned when households have finished their salmon fishing for the year. From these permits a data base has been developed which gives the Department an estimate of the numbers of salmon harvested each year for subsistence. The permit data base includes both the salmon harvested with subsistence
45 CT0 MANOKOTAK ,.A(‘: .%I. \ ’. : * “i, :*. .. . + *....
IGUSHIK ‘HAGAK / /RAY/ / / / / FISH CAMPS /////I/
. . .‘. . . Protection Pt % ‘. .. Table 15. Percentage of Salmon Harvest by Resource, Gear Type, and Total Salmon Harvest, Clark’s Point, 1989
Removed from Subsistence Commercial Harvests Methods Rod & Reel All Methods Percentage of: Percentage of: Percentage of: Percentage of: Number 1 Pounds Number 1 Pounds Number 1 Pounds Number 1 Pounds
hinook Salmon Gear type’ 35.6 63.4 8.6 23.2 0.0 0.0 20.2 44.7 Resource’ 75.8 75.8 24.2 24.2 0.0 0.0 100.0 100.0 Total Harvest3 15.3 33.9 4.9 10.8 .o.o 0.0 20.2 44.7
ockeye Salmon Gear type 54.4 30.6 38.7 33.0 33.3 51.3 45.5 31.8 Resource 51.5 51.5 48.3 48.3 0.1 0.1 100.0 100.0 Total Harvest 23.4 16.4 22.0 15.3 0.1 0.0 45.5 31.8
hum Salmon Gear type 1.0 0.6 13.2 11.3 0.0 0.0 8.0 5.5 Resource 5.4 5.4 94.6 94.6 0.0 0.0 100.0 100.0 Total Harvest 0.4 0.3 7.5 5.2 0.0 0.0 7.9 5.5
ink Salmon Gear type 0.7 0.2 5.6 2.6 0.0 0.0 3.5 1.3 Resource 8.8 8.8 91.2 . 91.2 0.0 0.0 100.0 100.0 Total Harvest 0.3 0.1 3.2 1.2 0.0 0.0 3.5 1.3
oho Salmon Gear type 8.4 5.2 29.9 28.3 0.0 0.0 20.6 15.9 Resource 17.5 17.5 82.5 82.5 0.0 0.0 100.0 100.0 Total Harvest 3.6 2.8 17.0 13.1 0.0 0.0 20.6 15.9
pawnouts, Salmon Gear type 0.0 0.0 4.0 1.6 66.7 48.7 2.4 0.8 Resource 0.0 0.0 94:9 .94.9 5.1 5.1 100.0 100.0 Total Harvest 0.0 0.0 2.3 0.7 0.1 0.0 2.4 0.8
II Salmon Gear type 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 Resource 43.1 53.4 56.7 46.5 0.2 0.1 100.0 100.0 Total Harvest 43.1 53.4 56.7 46.5 0.2 0.1 100.0 100.0
’ Gear Type = percentage of the harvest by that gear type composed of the resource 2 Resource = percentage of the harvest of a resource that was caught by that gear type. 3 Total harvest = percentage of the total salmon harvest composed of a salmon species harvest with a gear type
Source: Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Subsistence, Household Survey, 1989.
47 methods as well as the salmon removed from the commercial catch. Total numbers of fish are extrapolated from an average of those permits which were returned. Fourteen permits were issued for Clark’s Point in 1989. Eleven permits belonged to actual village residents. Eleven of the 14 permits were returned by April 23, 1990. The extrapolated harvest numbers are higher on the whole than the numbers reflected in the household survey. The extrapolated totals from the permit data are: 475 sockeyes, 136 chinooks, 84 chums, 382 cohos and 9 pinks. Based on survey results, Clark’s Point residents’ harvest with subsistence methods was 361 sockeyes, 80 chinooks, 123 chums, 278 cohos and 52 pinks. When considering salmon from the commercial catch as well as salmon caught with subsistence methods, the household survey totals are higher than the permit data: 745 sockeyes, 331 chinooks, 130 chums, 337 cohos, and 57 pinks (Table 16). There are several reasons for the apparent difference in harvest numbers. First, some permits were inadvertently issued to households which had recently changed their domiciles to places outside the Nushagak watershed, but which continued to return to fish commercially and for home use at Clark’s Point. Also, because not all households returned their permits, harvest estimates based on permit returns are extrapolated. Eleven Clark’s Point households received permits. Since the household survey was conducted in person with each household, researchers were able to record the harvests of those Clark’s Point iesidents who forgot to return their permits, or lost them, or returned them before they had finished fishing for cohos. Therefore, the household survey estimates represent a 100 percent sample of the harvest by Clark’s Point residents, while the permit data base includes some families who no longer are domiciled at Clark’s Point. Another basis for the difference may be that when fishers are filling out their subsistence calendars, they may not record salmon which they brought home out of their commercial catch. Frequently, salmon obtained this way are not considered “subsistence” salmon since they were not caught during a subsistence opening. Salmon which were preserved by freezing might also be left off of harvest tallies. “Subsistence salmon” appears to have a particular lo.cal meaning. There is a common view that subsistence salmon are those which have been preserved by drying and/or smoking. Yet a fourth explanation for differences between the two sets of data is that of recall. Fishers in the Nushagak watershed usually fish for a variety of salmon over a penod of three months. They may not recall the exact number and species of salmon held back from their commercial catch, and so may report their catch differently on their permit than the household survey. An examination of the peimit data from 1983 through ‘1989 shows that Clark’s Point harvests over that period fluctuated substantially (Table 17). Their harvests per permit have been much lower than the villages of Ekwok and Koliganek, even when similar numbers of permits were issued. It is likely that the lower salmon harvests in Clark’s Point are a result of the regulatory structure of the salmon fishery in the Nushagak Commercial District. There has been a virtual ban on all salmon fishing during the closed
48 Table 16. Comparison of Subsistence Salmon Harvest Estimates for Clark’s Point, 1989
Estimated Harvests Permit Household Survey Data Data Subsistence ICommercial 1 I otal
136 80 251 331 475 361 384 745 84 123 7 130 52 52 52 57 382 278 59 337
1,129 894 753 1,600
Source: Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Subsistence, Subsistence Salmon Permit Data Base and Household Survey, 1989
Table 17. Estimated Subsistence Salmon Harvests for Clark’s Point, 1983 - 1989
Permits Estimated Total Harvest Salmon/ Year Issued Sockeye 1 Chinook [ Chum 1 Pink 1 Coho 1 Total Permit
1983 5 487 55 44 15 131 732 146 1984 7 205 37 54 144 198 638 91 1985 6 73 23 12 0 0 108 18 1986 3 208 100 111 81 261 761 254 1987 9 55 307 514 0 10 - 886 98 1988 15 109 72 18 60 56 315 21 14 475 136 84 52 382 1 139 7F3
Source: Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Subsistence Salmon Permit Data Base.
49 commercial periods within the commercial district since 1955. Subsistence fishing was allowed to take place during open commercial fishing periods, but fishers without commercial fishing permits were at a competitive disadvantage to harvest salmon at Clark’s Point. Therefore one notes that sockeyes were the predominant species consistently harvested and reported over the past seven years. (See Seitz 1990 for a more detailed analysis of the effect of the regulatory structure on the subsistence fishery at Clark’s Point.)
HARVEST METHODS
As previously mentioned, 88.2 percent of all households at Clark’s Point and Ekuk harvested salmon for home use. Chinook and sockeye salmon were harvested by most households (70.6 percent each), chum salmon was harvested by 58.8 percent of households, and coho salmon harvested by 52.9 percent of households. Chum, pink, and coho salmon were not preferred species and when harvested, were usually caught with subsistence nets (Table 15, Table 18, Table 19). The type of gear used to catch salmon for subsistence reflects the timing of the subsistence and commercial openings as well as the timing of the runs, and the high preference for chinook salmon. Chinook, sockeye, and coho salmon were the primary salmon which residents retained from commercial catches. By weight, chinook salmon was the most significant (63.4 percent), followed by sockeye salmon (30.6 percent), and then by coho salmon (5.2 percent) (Table 15). An explanation of the sequence of events during the commercial salmon season of 1989 will shed light on the reasons for this. In 1989, an emergency opening for subsistence allowed only subsistence fishing from June 1 until June 24. During that time sockeyes, chums, and a few pink salmon entered the bay. Some of these were harvested for subsistence. Chinook salmon developed a significant run after the middle of June. When the commercial harvest of salmon began on June 26, a number of Clark’s Point residents had not harvested all the chinooks they wanted for the following year and so they continued to withhold them from their commercial catches for home use. Some individuals mentioned that the price for chinooks paid by the cannery was not the equivalent of the value of the fish for home consumption, and so they kept their chinooks for drying, smoking, or freezing. The price of the fish was less than its food value to them. Thus, most of the chinook harvest for Clark’s Point came from the commercial catch (75.8 percent) (Table 15). Sockeye salmon were harvested almost equally by subsistence methods (48.3 percent) and with commercial gear (51.5 percent) (Table 15). This reflects the fact that almost one-half of the sockeyes harvested for subsistence were harvested in the subsistence opening in June. It also reflects the practice commercial fishers have of withholding scarred fish from the commercial catch for home use. Commercial fishing took place primarily during the month of July, when sockeyes are the predominant species. On the other hand, most chums, pinks, and cohos were harvested with subsistence methods (Table 15, Table 18). Cohos arrived in late July, generally at the end of the sockeye run. They have
50 Table 18. Salmon Harvests by Gear Type, Clark’s Point, 1989
Removed from All Methods Commercial Harvests Subsistence Methods Rod & Reel Percentage of Harvest % of Harvest % of Harvest % of Total Harvest Total Harvest Resource Number IPounds Resource’ Number IPounds Resource’ Number IPounds Resource’ lumber IPounds INumber IPounds I Chinook 251 3,353.41 75.8 80 1,068.81 24.2 0 0; 0 331 4.422.21 20.2 44.7 Sockeye 384 1,620.5! 51.5 360 1,519.21 48.3 1 4.21 0.1 745 3J43.91 45.5 31.8 Chum 7 29.5; 5.4 123 519.1; 94.6 0 01I 0 130 548.6; 8.0 5.5 CJlL Pink 5 11.6; 8.8 52 120.1; 91.2 0 01 0 57 131.7; 3.5 1.3 Coho 59 276.1 I 17.5 278 1,301 .Or 82.5 0 O1 0 337 1,577.21 20.6 16.0 Spawnouts 0 0.0; 0 37 74.0; 94.9 2 41 5.1 39 78.0; 2.4 0.8 I I I I Salmon 706 5,291.l; 43.1 930 4,602.21 56.7 3 8.2: 0.2 1.639 9.901.51 100.0 100.0 I
’ Percentage of the total number of the particular resource harvested.
Source: Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Subsistence Household Survey, 1989 Table 19. Resources Removed from Commercial Harvests, Clark’s Point, 1988189
Percentage Removed from Harvest of Total Resource Units Numbers 1 Pounds Resource Harvest
All Resources Pounds 5591.1 55.2%
Chum Salmon Individual 7.0 29.5 5.4% Coho Salmon Individual 59.0 276.1 17.5% King Salmon individual 251 .o 3353.4 75.8% Pink Salmon Individual 5.0 11.6 8.8% Sockeye Salmon Individual 384.0 1620.5 51.5%
Herring Roe on Kelp 5 Gallon Buckets 7.5 300.0 100.0%
Source: Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Subsistence Household Survey, 1989
52 historically constituted a minor portion of the commercial harvest in the Nushagak District. However, over the years there have been few commercial openings during August when the coho run usually occurs (Seitz 1990). Cohos held back from the commercial catch in 1989 only accounted for 17.5 percent of the total species harvest, which itself only made up 15.9 percent of the total salmon harvest (Table 15). Since chum and pink salmon were not preferred species, and thus not targeted by most households, they were infrequently withheld from the commercial catch (Table 18, Table 19). However, when they were caught in subsistence nets they were utilized along with the preferred species, chinooks and sockeyes, for home use. The pink run in 1989 was quite small, which is usually the case in odd-numbered years. In sum, of those salmon taken with subsistence nets, sockeyes made up the highest percentage by weight (33 percent) followed by cohos (28.3 percent), then chinooks (23.2 percent), then chums (11.3 percent), pinks (2.6 percent), and spawned-outs (1.6 percent) (Table 15). Other methods used to harvest salmon consisted of rod and reel, which accounted for less than one percent (0.2 percent) of all salmon harvested; 11.8 percent of all households used rod and reel to harvest salmon for home use. The salmon harvested by this method were sockeyes and spawned-outs, but each constituted a very small percentage of their particular species harvest for subsistence (Table 15).
REGULATIONS GOVERNING SUBSISTENCE SALMON HARVESTING
Table 20 outlines the regulations which have governed the subsistence salmon fishery for the Nushagak District from 1924 to 1989. (For a more detailed history of the regulations see Seitz 1990.) Permits have been required for nearly all subsistence fishing since statehood. The only exception was during the years 1960 to 1964 for subsistence fishing which took place at least twelve miles upstream of a commercial district. Prior to 1971, applicants were required to show cause for the permits (1960-63) or demonstrate that the use of the fish was compatible with proper utilization of the stocks. After 1971 permits were to be issued upon request and the only additional change occurred in 1980 when it was stated that only one permit would be issued per household. Gear has been limited to legal commercial gear within the commercial district and to set gillnets in other locations. The number of fathoms allowed for set gillnets has been progressively restricted throughout the years. Until 1974, that portion of the bay encompassing Dillingham (between the markers at Bradford Point and Red Bluff) was restricted to use of ten fathoms of gillnet. In the following year, nets in the remainder of the watershed were limited to 25 fathoms. From 1963-1979, there were provisions in the regulations to impose quotas through the permitting process. However, no quotas have ever been imposed for the Nushagak District in the regulations themselves. Over the years a number of other restrictions were added to the regulations, all of which have stayed in place. In sum, these changes closed all waters within 300 feet of any stream utilized by salmon (1965) to subsistence fishing; forbid nets to obstruct more than one-half the width of a stream
53 (1965); and established the minimum distance between nets in a stream to be 300 feet (1965) (later this distance applied to nets in any location [1971]). In 1974, the area between the markers at Bradford Point and Red Bluff was put on a three day per week fishing period for one month during the peak of the chinook and sockeye runs. In 1978, no person was allowed to operate or assist in operating commercial and subsistence gear simultaneously. Restrictions which have had the effect of limiting the number of subsistence fishers began in 1986, when subsistence fishing was limited by state statute to customary and traditional uses by rural residents. In 1988, fishing for subsistence in the Nushagak watershed was limited to Alaska residents domiciled within the watershed. 1 Also in 1988, the Board of Fisheries adopted a regulation requiring the Department to provide for subsistence salmon fishing within the waters of the Nushagak commercial district whenever there were commercial salmon closures of five or more days. During these emergency openings, salmon could be harvested by set gillnets only of no more than 10 fathoms in length and 450 feet apart. Catches during the emergency order openings were to be reported to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game Dillingham office within 24 hours after the closure.2 In 1989, all the above regulations remained in effect. There were three areas in the Nushagak watershed which could be used for subsistence fishing: the Nushagak commercial district; the river system above a line from an ADF&G marker two miles south of Bradford Point to Nushagak Point; and the Dillingham beaches, from an ADF&G regulatory marker located two statute miles south of Bradford Point to an ADF&G regulatory marker located at Red Bluff on the west shore of the Wood River. In the Nushagak commercial district, fishing for home use was allowed during open commercial fishing periods with legal commercial fishing gear; or during emergency openings with 10 fathom set nets 450 feet apart. In the river system above the commercial district, 25 fathom set nets were the only legal gear. These had to be set 300 feet apart, not obstruct more than 112 of any stream. On the Dillingham beaches, subsistence fishing was restricted to three days per week from June 16 to July 17. Weekly periods were from 9:00 a.m. Monday until 9:00 a.m. Tuesday, from 9:00 a.m. Wednesday to 9:00 a.m. Thursday, and from 9:00 a.m. Friday to 9:00 a.m. Saturday. Nets were restricted to 10 fathom set gillnets set no closer than 100 feet apart (Table 20).
HARVESTING AND PROCESSING
In late May and early June of 1989, Clark’s Point residents began to set out nets on the beach in front of the community to harvest the first salmon as they began to arrive. Figure 10 shows areas used by Clark’s Point residents to harvest salmon for home use in the 1960s 1970s and early 1980s. During the
’ As a result of the McDowell decision, which ruled the rural subsistence preference in state law to be unconstitutronal, this ytriction on participation on subsistence salmon fishing was removed beginning in 1990. Subsequently, the Board of Fisheries changed this regulation to require emergency openings for subsistence salmon fishing In the Nushagak commercial district “during periods of extended [commercial] closures” (5 AAC 01.310(b]).
54 Table 20. History of Regulations Regarding Subsistence Salmon Fishing in the Nushagak Watershed
YearlAaency Permits Times Locations Allowable Gear Other Provisions
1924 not required 6pm Sat - 6 pm Mon closed waters hand, rod, spear, gaff personal use fish could not be 43 Stat. 465; 36 hrs/wk closed (prohibited use of commercial used for sale or barter, provided 48 U.S.C. 225, during weekly closed periods) that taking fish for local food 234, 226-228 requirements or for use as dog feed U.S. Dept. of Commerce was not prohibited in any way. Bureau of Fisheries
1934 not required same 1. where streams are less than 1000 ft. prohibits use of dams, 48 Stat. 594:4 wide or within 500 yards of the mouth barricade, fence, trap, fishwheel U.S.C. 233, 232 of any creek, stream, or river into or other obstructions in Alaska U.S. Dept. of Commerce which salmon run (except the Karluk, Bureau of Fisheries Ugashik, Kuskokwim, and Yukon Rivers)
2. any of the creeks, streams, or rivers only hand, rod, spear, or gaff same as above of Alaska; or within 500 years of the mouth of any such creek, stream, or river, except Karluk, Ugashik, Yukon and Kuskokwim Rivers
1941 not required closed U.S. Dept. of the Interior 6pm Sat - 6am Mon Fish and Wildlife Service 6am Wed - 6am Thur same same same 60 hrs/wk closed
1951 not required, but closed USFWS subsistence fishers 84 hrs/wk same as above same as above same required to give prior notice of the area to be fished, gear type, time of fishing, estimated catch, and use of the catch Table 20. History of Regulations Regarding Subsistence Salmon Fishing in the Nushagak Watershed (continued)
YearIAaency Permits Times Locations Allowable Gear Other Provisions
1952 dropped no fishing 48 hrs no fishing within 300 ft. of weirs, same as above, but snagging commercial salmon fishers were USFWS before or 48 hrs ladders, dams, culverts or other prohibited in waters closed to be in compliance with commercial afler a commercial artificial obstructions to commercial fishing fishing regulations during any salmon season commercial salmon season
1953 same Established twoseparate areas with same all-personal use fishers subject to USFWS different regulations for subsistence: to commercial fishing regulations a. 12 miles from commercial district during the period 48 hrs before and same as above fishing permitted anyplace continuing until 48 hrs after the b. Areas open to commercial fishing sockeye salmon commercial season subject to above regulations (June 25 -August 3)
1954 same PAF dock to Bradford Pt. DLG Beaches: 15 fathom set nets USFWS commercial closures Commercial District subsistence gill net fishing was prohibited during commercial closures
1. 6am - 6pm Wed commercial district
2. anytime 12 miles outside commercial district net must be registered 3. anytime “Snag Pt. to Bradford Pt. 15 fathom set nets
1956-58 1.6am - 6pm Wed commercial district set or anchored gill nets USFWS 2. before noon 6123 commercial district after noon 7/27 3. anytime “Dillingham Beaches” 15 fathom set nets 12 mile area
1960 Permit required anytime less than 12 miles upstream from set gill nets not to exceed 50 fathoms ADF&G must show cause waters open to commercial fishing to ADFBG open commercial a defined commercial district -legal commercial gear in commercial fishing periods districts during open commercial periods
closed 9am Sat - 9am Mon Table 20. History of Regulations Regarding Subsistence Salmon Fishing in the Nushagak Watershed (continued)
YearlAaency Permits Locations Allowable Gear Other Provisions
1961 permit required for open commercial commercial district commercial gear ADFBG those not licensed fishing periods as commercial fishers
1962 same commercial district set nets those not licensed as commercial fishers
1963 Same as above. In places where a subsistence fishery ADF&G Numbers of salmon same same same could have injurious effects on could be limited inadequate number of spawners, the fishery could be limited.
1964 no need to show same commercial district legal commercial gear same ADF&G cause for the permit anytime outside commercial district 50 fathom set nets
1965-70 permits required for same same, plus; waters within 300’ of same same ADF&G all subsistence fishers any stream mouth utilized by salmon in the drainage are closed to all subsistence fishing
No nets may obstruct more than l/2 the width of a stream Minimum distance between nets in a stream shall be 300
1971-73 permits required to same same, plus; minimum distance same same ADFBG take salmon between nets is 300 Table 20. History of Regulations Regarding Subsistence Salmon Fishing in the Nushagak Watershed (continued)
YearlAaency Permits Locations Allowable Gear Other Provisions
1974 same anytime Outside the defined commercial district set gill nets no longer than ADFBG 50 fathoms 9am Mon - 9am Tue Red Bluff to Bradford Point IO fathoms same 9am Wed - 9am Thur All set nets must be staked 9am Fri - 9am Sat and buoyed.
1975-77 same anytime Outside the commercial district 25 fathom set gill nets ADFBG l/l-12/31
1977 same same Red Bluff to Bradford Point 10 fathom set gill nets same set 100 ft. apart.
1978-79 same same same same no person may operate or assist in ADFBG operating subsistence salmon net gear while operating or assisting in commercial gill net fishing
1980-86 only one permit same same same same ADF&G per household
1988 same within the waters of a ADFBG district open during the commercial district same same commercial salmon fishing season, salmon may only be taken during open commercial fishing periods. catches during emergency order periods Emergency orders for commercial district 10 fathom set gill nets must be reported to the Dillingham subsistence salmon 450 ft. apart ADFBG within 24 hours of the closure. fishing
1989 same same same same same ADFBG
Sources: US Department of Comrr.;rce 1920 - 1940; US Fish and Wildlife Service1 941 - 1959; ADF8G 1960 - 1978, 1979 - 1989 Figure 10 CLARK’S POINT Subsistence Use Areas MARINE INVERTEBRATES
MOOSE El I lohn Wright and Molly Chythlook, field research, 1982 and 1983. See Division of Subsistence Technical Paper ic114. “Bristol Say Regional Subsistence Profile” (1985) for descripton of methodology and turther information SALMON iDF&G 1986, Alaska Habitat Management Guides Reference Atlas, Southwest Region, Volume 4. .q . . . . .
METHODOLOGY
Data were collected through interviews with local experts. Draft maps were reviewed and corrected at a public neeting attended by five Clark’s Point residents. Data represent contemporary resource use areas, defined as treas used over the 1963 to 1983 time period. Data depicted on this map are based on research conducted in 1962 and 1983. Other areas may also be used for esource harvesting. Consult with local communities for definitive information.
Produced by the State 01 Alaska. Department 01 Fish and Game. Division of Subsistence. May ISaS
SCALE 1:1.000.000 ” I-2 L” I” -- . .._-- LL(,r-LIIW I -&
0 10 20 30 40 KILOMETERS - J
59 study period, harvesting salmon for home use at Clark’s Point was a process in which individuals chose the time to set out their nets based on an optimum set of conditions. Basic to the success of the venture was the presence of fish. Without runs of chinook, sockeye, and chum salmon coming in close enough to shore to be caught with 10 fathom nets, setting out nets was pointless. Another critical fact of nature was the height of the tide. During periods typified by low high tides and during the low tide each day some of the residents’ nets were not covered by water for long, if at all. The weather was also of great importance. For many residents the goal of harvesting salmon in June was to dry and smoke enough to last throughout the winter, and to get through most of this process before the commercial fishing season began. The best weather for drying salmon is dry and windy. Wind helps dry the fish and keeps the blowflies from laying their eggs in the flesh and spoiling it. Too many still, rainy days can ruin an entire rack of fish for human consumption. Harvest quantities desired were generally “enough to fill the smokehouse.” Families would strive to catch, split, and dry enough salmon to fill their smokehouses in order to have all the fish go through the process evenly. This economized labor as well as wood. During the summer, families tried to smoke enough to supply their immediate needs, to use as gifts when visiting, to give to visitors, for holidays, and to share with their children’s or their siblings’ households, especially if the latter cooperated in harvesting and processing the salmon. Time and labor were two other necessary factors in processing fish. The process of drying and smoking salmon could take two weeks to three weeks depending on the weather. Time was needed to cut all the fish according to its intended use, and then, to brine them and either hang them to dry, bury them to make fermented fish (known as “stinkheads”), freeze them, can them, or salt them. If a family did not have electricity at their house, or did not possess a freezer, they might not have the option of freezing whole fish, to be put up or cooked as desired later. However, a few households did store salmon in the Ekuk cannery freezers during the summer, to be collected after commercial fishing was over. During commercial fishing periods, families involved in commercial fishing who had the faclllties to freeze fish frequently chose to do this in order to wait and dry them later, or to keep them as frozen fish Seasonal families sometimes chose to freeze fish they withheld from the commercial catch because they did not have time during commercial fishing to do the laborious process of splitting, bnntng. drying and smoking their fish during commercial fishing. So some families preferred to do it all together at the end oi the season.’ This was an attractive alternative for the additional reason that they tended to wlthhold only a few fish at a time from the commercial catch, and so could freeze enough to make a full smokehouse if they waited until later to dry and smoke them.
61 THE SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF HARVESTING AND PROCESSING SALMON
As a legacy of the gender differences in commercial fishing from the 1930s and 1940s most people operating set nets on the Clark’s Point beach in 1989 were women. Although some men operated commercial set nets, subsistence nets were largely set out by women and women were the majority of set net permit holders on the beach at Clark’s Point during the commercial season. Husbands and sons, if available, would help check the nets. Men participated in the commercial set net fishery primarily as partners and crew. There were no male set net permit holders in Clark’s Point in 1989, other than one emergency medical transfer. On the other hand, very few commercial drift permits in Bristol Bay were held by women in 1989. There were no female drift permit holders in Clark’s Point. Men brought home salmon from their commercial catch when there was a break in fishing and at the end of the season. They brought home chinooks and sockeyes during early July and cohos after they began to run in late July and early August. The study found that women in seven Clark’s Point households were the organizational centers of processing subsistence salmon for eight other households within the community, which usually consisted of their sons and daughters and their families. The majority of these women were the mothers and mothers-in-law of the women who helped them harvest, split, and hang fish to dry. A few of the younger generation who had their own families also put up fish on their own, but the majority reported cooperating with an older female relative to dry and smoke salmon. Another form of organization’was through sisters and neighbors. When the oldest woman in a family was no longer able to organize the processing, one of her daughters would organize the splitting, smoking, and drying of fish for the entire extended family. which might consist of several households linked through kinship through sisters. Five Clark’s Point households had daughters who returned for the summer from other places In Alaska. These women processed salmon with their parents and siblings who lived in Clark’s Point durrng the winter, and shared the fruits of their joint labor at the end of the summer. Most of the none households which put up fish in Clark’s Point in 1989 processed salmon for their own use as well as other householas The central households were usually the ones which received subsistence permits from the Department of Fish and Game. These central households put up fish for as manv as seven households and as few as one household. An average number of three households worked together and then divided the salmon Of the 33 seasonal households who returned to Clark’s Point In 1989, the vast majority (29) had members who were born and raised at Clark’s Point. Only 12 of these households continued to reside within the Nushagak watershed.. This fact influenced their strategies for obtaining fish for home use Those who were domiciled within the Nushagak watershed and who continued to return to Clark’s Point for commercial fishing had the option of fishing prior to the season on the Dillingham beaches Several households, both domiciled and those not domrclled within the Nushagak watershed, joined relatives In Clark’s Point early in the summer in order to combine their efforts in harvesting and processing salmon for
62 home use, dividing up the product of their labors at the end of the season. Those families not domiciled in the watershed and without relatives in Clark’s Point were generally forced to wait until the onset of commercial fishing before they could harvest fish for home use. These were removed from the commercial catch. Until 1989, when a long emergency opening for subsistence allowed residents to fish for salmon conveniently on the beach in front of the community, residents were obliged to fish outside the waters of the commercial district. The same conditions for fishing were necessary when fishing above the commercial district, near Lewis Point, as when fishing within the commercial district. Namely, the weather had to be good for drying fish, the fish had to be present, and the fisher had to be able to have a setnet In water at the time and place the fish were passing by. Going above the commercial district meant taking time to travel to and from the place; waiting for the fish to arrive; camping out for several days if necessary; timing the trip to coincide with good weather; and possibly, competing with others for a set net site. Moreover, although the production of salmon for subsistence is socially ascribed to women, operating a skiff is widely perceived as a man’s job. When setnets can not be set out, it is seen as the province of men to go and get fish for home use. Yet, most Clark’s Point men were involved.in some aspect of the driftnet salmon fishery and were busy during early June preparing-their boats to fish commercially, and were waiting to hear about openings. Some women had neither skiff nor male relative or husband to help them get fish before the commercial fishing season began. These individuals reported relying on relatives who lived outside the Nushagak Commercial District for their salmon, sometimes traveling to other locations to fish and preserve salmon, and in many years, going without dried salmon.
9
63 64 CHAPTER FIVE: NON-SALMON FISH AND MARINE INVERTEBRATES
Most households (82.4 percent) in Clark’s Point harvested fish other than salmon in the 1988189 study year. A total of 1,627 pounds was harvested by the community, for an average household harvest of 116.6 pounds. The community harvest was widely distributed. Ninety-four percent of all households reported using fish other than salmon. Eighty-two percent of the households reported giving away non- salmon fish while 70.6 percent reported receiving non-salmon fish during 1988189 (Table 1 I).
HE’RRING AND HERRING SPAWN ON KELP
Herring season in May marks the beginning of commercial fishing activity within the Bristol Bay region. Clark’s point residents began to prepare their commercial fishing boats in late April for the trip to Togiak. With a few exceptions, commercial crews consisted primarily of men and their male relatives. Many Clark’s Point residents traveled to Kulukak or Metervik Bay to wait for the commercial opening to harvest whole herring. Subsistence fishing occurred in ,conjunction with the commercial fisheries for herring and spawn on kelp. Three hundred pounds of herring spawn on kelp were harvested by Clark’s Point residents in 1989. Nearly one-third of the community reported using spawn on kelp although only two residents reported harvesting the resource. However, the low number of harvesters might have been somewhat unusual. In interviews conducted during the spring of 1990 in Clark’s Point, just prior to herring season, several fishermen reported having the custom of taking home a bucket each of herring and spawn on kelp for home use. In the past spawn on kelp was preserved by drying and stored in open-weave.grass baskets. Today freezing and salting are the most common methods of preserving spawn on kelp. As In the past, people today prefer to eat spawn on kelp dipped in seal oil. On returning to Clarks’ Point. the harvest was shared with relatives and friends who did not get to participate in the fishery The fresh taste of spawn on kelp was also a welcome gift for relatives returning for the summer at Clark’s Point Herring roe was prepared by boiling slightly, then eaten with soy sauce and seal oil. Whole herring were pickled. frozen, dried, or kippered.
SMELT
In late summer and early fall, a smelt run occurs off the beach at Clark’s Point. In 1989, residents reported fishing for them with dip nets (quloq’s) on the beach in front of the old village. One thousand sixty-eight pounds of smelt were harvested in 1989 by 76.5 percent of the households within the community. The vast majority of households (94 percent) reported using smelt. *
65 Smelting is also done in late winter, during February and March, through the ice near Black Point, Cross Point, or Lewis Point. Residents say that smelting is fast when the fish are running; the fish are usually plentiful and one can catch 200-250 easily in a day, Residents reported freezing smelt whole, and splitting them open and “freeze drying” them outside in the winter. They can be boiled or eaten dry with seal oil.
FRESHWATER FISH
Most Clark’s Point households look forward to ice fishing in spring, when the days have lengthened and the snow pack gets firm enough to travel easily. During February and March, Clark’s Point residents fished for pike, tomcod, Dolly Varden, whitefish (rarely caught), as well as smelt, through the ice. Different locations were used depending on the fish being targeted. Figure 11 shows that over the 20 year period from 1963 through 1983, Clark’s Point residents used areas as far away as Goodnews Bay and local areas such as the Kokwok River, Lake Aleknagik, and the Nushagak River for freshwater fishing. Freshwater fishing is often done while hunting or salmon fishing as well, and therefore the location used depends on the intent of the particular outing. In 1989, the most popular places for fishing were Black Point, Cross Point, or Lewis Point. The Portage Creek area was said to be good for catching pike. Pike fishing, residents say, is slow work. Local tradition has it that it is be& to try early in the morning and in the late evening. When pike are biting they may strike every twenty minutes. Pike are frozen, eaten fresh, or dried. Some residents boil the heads with a soup of vegetables. Some enjoy the inner organs such as the sperm sacks and the livers boiled or fried. Whitefish may be eaten fresh, baked, dried, smoked,- or frozen until needed. ~ Frozen whitefish are cut whole, unscaled, cut into chunks and boiled in water, then eaten with seal oil. They were used to make chowder by skinning, chunking, and taking the bones out, then boiling the fish with vegetables and spices. Residents also reported that “sea trout” (sea-run Dolly Varden) were good dried
MARINE INVERTEBRATES
During 1989, marine invertebrates were not widely harvested or used in Clark’s Pornt. Residents harvested a total of 45 pounds of clams, some of which were butter clams, and the rest not identified Few residents actually harvested clams during the study year (11.8 percent) and a minority reported using clams (17.6 percent). One household reported harvesting three pounds of shrimp off the beach in front of the village. Figure 10 shows areas used to gather marine invertebrates.
66 Figure 11 CLARK’S POINT Subsistence Use Areas cl FRESHWATER FISH
SOURCES @!!IMARINE FISH John Wright and Molly Chythlook, field research, 1982 and 1983. See Division of Subsistence Technical Paper (cl 14. ‘Bristol Bay Regional Subsistence Profile” (1985) for descripton of methodology and further information TRAPPING 4DFBG 1986, Alaska Habitat Management Guides Reference Atlas, Southwest Region, Volume 4. cl
METHODOLOGY
Data were collected through interviews with local experts. Draft maps were reviewed and corrected at a public neeting attended by five Clark’s Point residents. Data represent contemporary resource use areas, defined as weas used over the 1963 to 1983 time period. lata depicted on this map are based on research conducted in 1982 and 1983. Other areas may also be used for ‘esource harvesting. Consult with local communities for definitive information.
Produced by the State of Alaska. Department of Fish and Game. Division of Subsistence. May tSS9
67
CHAPTER SIX: LAND MAMMALS, MARINE MAMMALS, AND BIRDS
GENERAL PAlTERNS OF USE
The majority (82.4 percent) of Clark’s Point households used either caribou or moose in 1988189. Caribou are more plentiful than moose in the area immediately surrounding the community, and this is reflected in a higher bag limit (4 caribou, 1 moose per year). About 76.5 percent of all households used caribou and the same percentage used moose. Several households harvested these land mammals and shared them with other households in the community. Additionally, there was a higher mean household harvest of caribou than moose (158.8 Ibs per household of caribou compared to 127.1 pounds per household of moose) and more hunters successfully harvesting caribou. Forty-one percent of Clark’s Point households harvested caribou, compared to 23.5 percent of the households harvesting moose.
Figure 10 shows the areas used by Clark’s Point residents for moose hunting over the period 1963 - 1983. In 1989, the majority of Clark’s Point’s hunting took place in game management subunits 17C and 9B. Historically, moose populations have been low in subunit 17C. Unit 17 is mesic (moderately moist) and alpine tundra, and most moose are found along the riparian tributaries in the major drainages of subunits 17B and 17C (ADF&G 19894). Local residents reported seeing them in the Portage Creek area from late summer to winter when trapping activity usually displaces the moose northward, across the Nushagak River. Moose densities have increased from the 1970s to the present as a result of mild winters, closures of major wintering areas to late season hunting, and increased use of the expanding Mulchatna Caribou Herd by unit residents as their primary meat source. The 1989 moose population in 17C was estimated at 1,400 to 1,700 animals (ADF&G 1989d). Tables 21 and 22 show the moose hunting regulations for Units 9 and 17 from statehood to 1989. In 1988/89, subsistence regulations for 9B allowed moose hunting there from September 5 through 20 and again from Dec. 1 through 31 In that portion of 9B which drains into Lake Clark, hunters were allowed to kill one moose, although antlerless moose could only be taken from Dec. 16 - 31. In the remainder of 96 hunters were restricted to one bull moose during both periods of time. Subsistence regulations for suburlrt 17C, that portion including the lowithla drainage and Sunshine Valley, specified a harvest of one bull to be taken during the period of August 20 to September 15. In the remainder of subunit 17C hunters were allowed one bull, to be taken dunng August 20 to September 15 or December 1 to December 31 (ADFBG 1988b).
69 TABLE 21. MOOSE HUNTING REGULATIONS, GMU 9 (B AND C), 1960 - 1989
YEAR UNIT SEASON BAG LIMIT RESTRICTIONS (For all of GMU 9)
1960-63 Aug. 20 - Dec. 31 One Bull ___-~ ~ 1964-67 Aug. 20 7 Dec. 31 2 moose
1968 Aug. 20 - Dec. 31 2 moose Provided that only one moose be taken before Nov. 1
1969 Aug. 20 - Dec. 31 2 moose Provided that only one moose may be taken before Nov. 2.
1970-71 Aug. 20 - Dec. 31 2 moose Provided that only one moose may be taken during Oct. 1 - 31.
1972-73 Aug. 20 - Dec. 31 2 moose only one of which may be an antlered bull. 2 1974 That portion which drains . Aug 20 - Sep. 30 One moose into Shelikof Straits and Nov. 1 - Nov. 20 Cook Inlet between Unit 16 a-j Katmal National Monument
Remainder of Unrt 9 Aug. 20 - Dee 31 One moose
1975 9, North of Port Moller Sep 20 - Nov 30 One moose Provided that antlered bulls may be taken only from Sept. 20 through Oct. 6.
1976 That portlon which drains Sep. 10 - 30 One moose Provided that antlerless moose may be taken only from mto Bnslol Bay north of Dec. 1 - 31 Dec. 1 - 31 the King Salmon River -___- which flowslntoQeo1k Bav ~._._ ~--- ~__ 1977 Sep lo-30 One Bull Dee 1 31 (Subunits created in 1978-79)
TABLE 21. (continued) MOOSE HUNTING REGULATIONS, GMU 9 (B AND C), 1960 - 1989
YEAR UNIT SEASON BAG LIMIT RESTRICTIONS 1985 (continued) Remainder 9C same season Qne moose Antlerless moose may be taken only from Dec. 1 - 31. Resident Hunt 9B and 9C Sep. 5 - 25 One bull
1986 Subsistence and Resident Hunts 9B, that portion draining Sep. 5 - 25 One moose However, antlerless moose may be taken only from Dec. 16-31. Into Lake Clark Dec. 1 - 31
Remainder of Unit 9B Sep. 5 - 25 One bull
9C, that portlon dralnlng Sep. 5 - 25 One moose However, antlerless moose may be taken by registration permit into the Naknek River Dec. 1 - 31 only. Permits are valid from Dec. 1-31.
Remainder of Unit 9C Sep 5-25 One moose However, antlerless moose may be taken only from Dec. l-31. Dee l-31
1987 Subsistence and Resident Hunts 9B, that portion draining Sep. 5 - 25 One moose However, antlerless moose may be taken only from Dec. 16-31. into Lake Clark Dee 1 - 31
Remainder of 9B Sep. 5 25 One bull Dee 1 - 31 Subsistence Hunt 9C, that portion draining Sep 5-20 One moose However, antlerless moose may be taken by registration permit into the Naknek River Dee 1 - 31 only Permits are valid Dec. l-31.
Remainder of 9C Sep 5 20 One moose However, antlerless moose may be taken only from Dec. l-31. Dee 1 - 31 TABLE 21. (continued) MOOSE HUNTING REGULATIONS, GMU 9 (BAND C), 1960 - 1989
YEAR UNIT SEASON BAG LIMIT RESTRICTIONS 1987 (continued) Resident Hunt 9C, that portion dralnrng Sep IO-20 One moose However, antlerless moose may be taken by registration permit into the Naknek River only. Permits are valid Dec. l-31.
Remainder of 9C Sep. 10 - 20 One moose However, antlerless moose may be taken only from Dec. l-31 Dee 1 - 31
1988 Subsistence Hunt 9B, except that porhon Sep.5 - 20 One bull draining into Lake Clark
9B, that portion dram- Sep.5 - 20 One moose However, antlerless moose may be taken only from Dec. 16-31. ing into Lake Clark Dec. 1 - 31
9C. that portion draining Sep. 5 - 20 One moose However, antlerless moose may be taken only by registration into the Naknek River Dec. 1 - 31 permit only. Up to 15 antlerless moose may be taken. Permits are valid Dec. 1-31.
Remainder of 9C Sep. 5 - 20 One moose However, antlerless moose may be taken only from Dec. 1 - 31. Dec. 1 - 31 Resident Hunt 9B, except that porhon Sep lo-20 One bull draining into Lake Clark
9B. that portton draining Sep lo-20 One moose However, antlerless moose may be taken only from Dec. 16 - 31 into Lake Clark Dee 1 - 31
9C. that portron dralnrng Sep lo-20 One moose However, antlerless moose may be taken by registration permit into the Naknek Krver only, up to 15 antlerless moose may be taken. Permits are valid Dee l-31. i
74 TABLE 21. (continued) MOOSE HUNTING REGULATIONS, GMU 9 (9 AND C), 1960 - 1989
YEAR UNIT SEASON BAG LIMIT RESTRICTIONS 1990 Subsistence and Resident Hunt 9B Sept. 1 - 15 1 bull Dec. 1 - 31
9C, that portion draining tnto the Sept. 5- 15 1 bull Naknek River Dec. 1 - 31 1 moose by registration permit only; up to 15 antlerless moose may be taken.
Remainder 9C Sept. 5 - 15 1 moose; antlerless moose may be taken only from Dec. 1 - 31 Dec. 1 - 31 TABLE 22. MOOSE HUNTING REGULATIONS, GMU 17,1961-1989
YEAR SUBUNIT SEASON BAG LIMIT RESTRICTIONS 1961-74 Unrt 17 Aug. 20 - Dee 31 one bull
1975 Unrt 17 Sep 1 - Dec.31 one bull
1976-78 Unit 17 Sep 1 - 20 one bull Dec. 10 - 31
1979-80 17A8 B Sep lo-20 one bull Dee lo-31 17C, that portron rncludrng the lowrthla Sep. 10 - 20 one bull drainage and Sunshrne Valley
Remainder 17C Sep lo-20 one bull 2 Dee IO-31
1981-82 17A No open season
178 Sep. 5 - 15 one bull Dee lo-31
17C, that portion mcludrng lowrthla Sep. 5 - 15 one bull drarnage and Sunshine Valley
Remainder 17C Sep 5 - 15 one bull Dee IO-31 TABLE 22. (continued) MOOSE HUNTING REGULATIONS, GMU 17,1961-1989
YEAR SUBUNIT SEASON BAG LIMIT RESTRICTIONS 1983 17A No open season
178, except that portion Aug. 20 - Sep. 4 one bull During the period Aug. 20 - Sept. 4, moose may which includes all drainages (Season subject to be taken by registration permit only. of the Mulchatna River up- closure by stream from, and including emergency order). the Chilchitna River
Rematnder 178 Sep 5-15 one bull Same as above Dec. lo- 15
17C, that portion includmg the lowithla Aug. 20 - Sep. 4 one bull Same as above. drainage and Sunshme Valley Sep 5-15
Remainder 17C Aug. 20 - Sep. 4 one bull Same as above. Sep. 5 - 15 Dec. lo-31
1984 17A No open Season
178, that portion which Includes Sep 5-15 . one bull all drainages of the Mulchatna River upstream from, and including the Chilchitna River drainage
Remainder of 178 Aug. 20 - Sep. 4 one bull During the period Aug. 20 - Sept. 4, Sep 5-15 moose may be taken by registration Dee lo-31 permit only.
17C, that portion rncludrng lowrthla Aug. 20 Sep 4 one bull Same as above drainage and Sunshrne Valley Sep 5-15 ___..--- .- ~~~~ -~~-.___.. ___.. ~-__ .
TABLE 22. (continued) MoOSE HUNTING REGULATIONS, GMU 17,1961-1989
YEAR SUBUNIT SEASON BAG LIMIT RESTRICTIONS I 984 (contrnued) Remainder of 17C Aug. 20 - Sep. 4 one bull Same as above. Sep. 5 - 15 Dec. 10 - 31
198566 Subsistence and Resident Hunts 17A No open season.
178, the Mulchatna River Sep. 1 - 20 one bull upstream from and including the Chilchitna River drainage.
Subsistence Hunt Remainder of Unit 178 Aug 20 - Sep. 15 one bull During the period Aug. 20 - Sept. 4, and Unit 17C Dec. 10 - 31 moose may taken by registration permit only.
17C. that portion mcluding lowlthla Aug. 20 - Sep. 15 one bull Same as above. drainage and Sunshine Valley
Remainder of 17C Aug. 20- Sep. 15 one bull Same as above. Dee lo-31 Resident Hunt Remainder of Unit 178 and 17C Sep 5-Sep 15 one bull _- 1987 Subsistence and Resident Hunts i7A No open season
178. that portion whrch includes Selj 1 - Sep 20 one bull all drainages of the Mulchatna Rover upstream from and Including the Chilchitna River drarnage TABLE 22. (continued) MOOSE HUNTING REGULATIONS, GMU 17,1961-1989
YEAR SUBUNIT SEASON BAG LIMIT RESTRICTIONS 1987 (continued) Subsistence Hunt Remainder of 178 Aug. 20 - Sep. 15 one bull During Aug. 20 - Aug. 31, moose may Dee 10 - Dec. 31 be taken by registration permit only.
17C. that portion tnclud- Aug. 20 - Sep. 15 one bull Same as above rng the lowithla drainage and Sunshine Valley
Remainder of 17C Aug. 20 - Sep. 15 one bull Same as above Dec. 10 - Dec. 31
Resident Hunt Remainder of 178 and 17C Sep 1 - 15 one bull
1988-89 2 Subsistence and Resident Hunts 17A No open season
178, that portion which Sep. 1 - 20 one bull Includes all drainages of of the Mulchatna River upstream from and including the Chilchitna River drainage.
Subsistence Hunt Remainder of Unrt 17B Aug. 20 Sep. 15 one bull Dec. 1 - Dec. 31
17C. that portion inclu- Aug. 20 Sep 15 one bull ding the lowithla dralnage and Sunshine Valley TABLE 22. (continued) MOOSE HUNTING REGULATIONS, GMU 17,1961-1989
YEAR SUBUNIT SEASON BAG LIMIT RESTRICTIONS I 989 (continued) Remainder of Unit 17C Aug. 20 - Sep. 15 one bull Dec. 1 - Dec. 31
Resident Hunt Remainder of Unit 178 Sep. 1 - 15 one bull and Unit 17C During 1989, 11.8 percent of Clark’s Point residents harvested a community total of four moose, estimated at a total of 2,160 pounds usable weight. The meat was distributed both within the community (as 76.5 percent of the households reported using moose) and outside the ccmmunity. Hunter success was about one half the effort; twice as many hunters attempted to hunt moose as had a successful harvest. Moose hunting was done in late summer, when the season opened in August. Hunters tended to go in groups of 3 to 4 which included primarily male relatives and friends, although women occasionally were part of the hunting party. Residents reported traveling up the Nushagak River in skiffs or their commercial fishing boats, walking in to find moose, and camping out from three days to a week before getting one to bring home, One resident estimated the cost for food and gas using a 32 ft. commercial fishing boat for moose hunting at $556. Another popular area for hunting moose as well as caribou was between Portage Creek and the Kvichak River, at Halfmoon Bay. During that time hunters also fished for pike, trout, grayling, and “redfish” (spawned out salmon). Only if caribou were readily available would hunters also harvest one during early fall. Most preferred to concentrate on getting their moose, planning to hunt caribou later, since the caribou season was much longer. Ducks were also hunted opportunistically during moose hunts. Moose meat was generally preserved by freezing, although a few residents dried strips of the meat for camping or traveling. While hunting moose, residents would fish for freshwater fish with rod and reel, or once in a while, set a net of 4 l/2 to 4 3/8 mesh “humpy gear,” for whitefish. The net was usually left in a short while, to catch what was needed and then pulled in.
CARIBOU
Figure 12 outlines the areas used for caribou hunting by Clark’s Point residents from 1963 to 1983. These areas fall within Game Management Units 9 and 17 The Mulchatna Caribou Herd ranges within Game Management Units 17 and 9B. The first attempt to census this herd was in 1974, and Its size was estimated at 14,231 animals. Declining trends in the population prompted the state to reduce both seasons and bag limits continuously during the 1970s. Since 1981 the Mulchatna Herd has been increasrng at an annual rate of approximately 17 percent, and by 1989, had reached an estimated 70 000 canbou. This increase is attributed to a succession of mild winters, low predation rates, and an annual harvest rate of less than 5 percent since 1976. Radio-telemetry data indicate that summer and fall range use has been expanded primarily to the northwest as far as the Taylor Mountains and the Anrak River drarnage, and to the north throughout the Stony River drainage. Winter range use has expanded to the southeast across the Kvichak River as far south as the Naknek River drainage and to the northeast as far as Kokhanok. Significant numbers of caribou (3-00+) have been wintering on the .west side of the Nushagak River between Kemuk Mountain and the Muklung Hills since 1986. Several penpheral groups
81 are at Etolin Point (100-300 caribou); Rainy Pass (200-400 caribou year-round); and the Kilbuck Mountains to the west of the Mulchatna Herd range (600-800 caribou). Approximately 2,000-3,000 caribou spend the spring, fall, and summer in the upper Koktuli and upper Stuyahok drainages, and then join the main part of the Mulchatna Herd on the wintering grounds by late November or early December (ADF&G 1989e). Regulations in 1988/89 for units 9B and 17C east of the Nushagak River for subsistence hunters specified a limit of four caribou, not more than two to be taken between August IO and August 31; and no more than one caribou to be taken between September 1 and November 30. The open season was from August 10 until March 31 (ADF&G 1988b) (Table 23). In 1989, after trapping season was over, hunters from Clark’s Point concentrated on caribou hunting again. In March, weather conditions began to improve, temperatures rose and the snow pack was hardened by freezing and thawing brought on by warmer days, more sunlight, and rain. Once harvested, caribou were widely distributed among relatives in Clark’s Point and other communities. Timing of hunting also depended on when the meat was needed. Hunters generally abided by their regulatory yearly limit of caribou and hunted during the open season, but occasionally would harvest outside the season, in April, if they needed meat for their families, and if they had not already gotten their regulatory limit of four caribou. In 1989, a community harvest of 18 caribou constituted 13.3 percent of the total resource harvest by weight. Caribou was used by 76.5 percent of the community Over half (52.9 percent) of the seventeen households in Ekuk and Clark’s Point combined attempted to harvest caribou, but only 41.2 percent of the households were successful.
BROWN BEAR
According to residents, the community of Clark’s Point does not regularly hunt brown bear However, they are plentiful in the area, and are frequently a nuisance to the community. When residents feel the bears are a menace, they will on occasion hunt them, but this is the exception rather than the rule They do not use the bears for human consumption, but in the past have used the meat to feed dogs anc the hides for camping mats.
FURBEARERS AND SMALL GAME ’
Beaver, red fox, land otter, lynx, wolverine, marten, muskrat, parka squirrel, monk, coyote, and wolf occur in Unit 17. Beaver has been the most Important furbearer in the northern Bristol Bay area The red fox is second In populanty They are currently abundant throughout most portions of Unit 17. . among Unit 17 trappers. Populations have fluctuated widely during the past ten years due to an outbreak
82 Figure 12 CLARK’S POINT Subsistence Use Areas
SOURCES
John Wright and Molly Chythlook. field research, 1962 and 1983. See Division of Subsistence Technical Paper w114. “Bristol Bay Regional Subsistence Profile” (1965) for descripton of methodology and further informatior ADFIG 1986. Alaska Habitat Management Guides Reference Atlas, Southwest Region, Volume 4.
METHODOLOGY
Data were collected through interviews with local experts. Draft maps were reviewed and corrected at a public meeting attended by five Clark’s Point residents. Data represent contemporary resource use areas, defined as areas used over the 1963 to 1963 time period. Data depicted on this map are based on research conducted in 1962 and 1983. Other areas may also be used for resource harvesting. Consult with local communities for definitive information.
Produced by Ihe State of Alaska. Department ot Fish and Game, Division of Subsistence. ~8y ,989
WATERFOWL
V.-l ALASKA SCALE 1:1,000.000 0 10 20 30 40 MILES pnk-ilril L I -iv 0 10 20 30 40 KILOMETERS t------7 (‘iip (‘/II< hoqw ..Ba-
83 TABLE 23. (continued) CARIBOU HUNTING REGULATIONS, GMU 9 (B AND C) and GMU 17,1960-1989
YEAR SUBUNITS SEASON BAG LIMITS RESTRICTIONS (Subunits within GMU 9 created in 1978-79)
1979-81 9B,l7 Aug. 10 - Sep. 10 2 caribou Provided that not more than one may be taken per Dec. 1 - Feb. 28 day, nor may more than one caribou be taken from Aug. IO -Sep. IO.
9c Aug. 10 - Mar. 31 4 antlered Provided that not more than one may be taken from caribou Aug. 10 - Oct. 31.
1981-82 9B, 17 Aug. 10 - Sep.. 5 2 caribou Provided that not more than one may be taken per Dec. 1 - Feb. 28 day, nor may more than one caribou be taken Aug. 10 - Sep. 10.
9c Aug IO - Mar. 31 4 caribou However, not more than one caribou may be taken from Aua. 10 - Oct. 31. f% 1982-83 9B, 17 Aug. 10 - Sep. 5 3 caribou However, no more than one may be taken per Dec. 1 - Mar. 31 day, nor more than one caribou be taken from Aug. 10 - Sep. 5.
9c Same as 1981-82
1983-84 9B Aug. 10 - Sep. 4 3 caribou However, not more than one may be transported from the unit per regulatory year nor may more than one caribou be taken from Aug. 10 - Sep. 4.
9c Same as 1981 - 82 TABLE 23. CARIBOU HUNTING REGULATIONS, GMU 9 (B AND C) and GMU 17,1960-1989
YEAR SUBUNITS SEASON BAG LIMITS RESTRICTIONS 1961-63 9 Aug. 20 - Mar. 31 3 caribou 17 Aua. 20 - Mar. 31 3 caribou
1963-64 9 Aug. 10 - Mar. 31 3 caribou 17
1964-65 9 Aug. 10 - Mar. 31 4 caribou 17 Aua. 10 - Mar. 31 3 caribou
1965-72 9. 17 Auq. 10 - Mar. 31 3 caribou
1972-73 9 Jul. 1 - Jun. 30 3 caribou 17 Aua. 10 - Mar. 31 3 caribou
1973-76 9 Jul. 1 - Jun. 3q 5 caribou Provided that not more than three caribou be taken 17 Jul. 1 - June. 30 3 caribou from Aug. 10 - Nov.30 EE 1976-77 9 Aug. lo- Oct. 15 3 antlered Provided that not more than one caribou may be taken Dec. 1 -Mar. 31 caribou Aug. 10 - Oct. 15.
17 Aug. 10 - Mar. 31 2 caribou Provided that not more than one may be taken per day nor may more than one be taken from Aua. 10 - Oct. 31
1977-78 9 Aug. 10 - Mar. 31 4 antlered Provided that not more one caribou may be taken from daribou Aug. 10 - Oct. 31.
17 Aug. 10 - Mar. 31 2 caribou Provided that not more than one be taken per day, nor more than one be taken from Aua. 10 - Oct. 31.
1978-79 98, 17, Aug. - 10 Sep. 10 2 caribou Provided that not more than one may be taken per day, Jan. 1 - Feb. 28 nor may more than one caribou be taken from Aug. 10 - Sep. 10.
9c Aug 10 - Mar. 31 4 antlered Provided that not more than one may be taken from caribou Aua. 10 - Oct. 31. TABLE 23. (continued) CARIBOU HUNTING REGULATIONS, GMU 9 (B AND C) and GMU 17,1960-1989
YEAR SUBUNITS SEASON BAG LIMITS RESTRICTIONS 9B, Remainder of Aug. 10 - Mar. 31 3 caribou However, not more than one may be taken before Unit 17 Nov. 1.
9c Aug. 10 - Mar. 31 4 caribou However, not more than two may be taken from Aug 10-31, and not more than one may be taken from Sept. 1 - Oct. 31.
1988-89 Subsistence Hunt 9B,9C,l76,17C-’ ’ Aug. 10 -Mar. 31 4 caribou However, no more than two may be taken Aug. 10 - 31 that portion east and no more than one may be taken Sept. 1 - Nov. 30. of the Nushagak River Resident Hunt 9B,9C, 178, 17C- Aug. 10 - Mar. 31 4 caribou However, no more than one caribou may be taken that portion east Aug. 10 - Nov. 30. of the Nushaoak River k% i : . : I ; t
I . ? . 1 : I
87
of rabies in 1980181. Land otters have increased in the 1980s. They are abundant in subunit 17C. Lynx are rare to uncommon in subunit 17C. They are presently (1989) at the bottom of their cycle in the unit. Wolverines occur throughout unit 17, but are most common in subunit 178. The’-marten population in unit 17 is presently low, although high pelt prices have kept trappers interested in this species. Muskrats are scarce throughout unit 17 (ADF&G 1989f). No information was available on the coyote, wolf, and mink populations. Figure 11 shows the areas used for trapping by Clark’s Point residents from 1963 - 1983. In 1989, there were few households in Clark’s Point actively engaged in trapping. The primary animals targeted were beaver and hares. Fifty beavers and fifty hares were harvested by 23.5 percent of all households. Beaver was the most widely distributed, used by 41.2 percent of all households. The meat was used primarily as dog food, although a few families reported eating it occasionally. Hares were used by 35.3 percent of Clark’s Point households and a higher number of households attempted to harvest them than had successful harvests. Seventeen red foxes were harvested by 11.8 percent of the households, although more (17.6) attempted to harvest them. By the spring of 1990, residents were not interested any longer in harvesting fox as the price per pelt had dropped to $7.00. Thirteen land otters were harvested by 23.5 percent of the households in Clark’s Point. Unlike the others mentioned above, all of these were sold. Very few Clark’s Point residents used the meat. One coyote was harvested. Residents mentioned that coyote, wolverine, and lynx were returning to the area. Fourteen porcupine were also harvested by 35.3 percent of Clark’s Point households in 1988/89. Over half of all households reported using porcupine. Residents used the quills for crafts and enjoyed the meat. Porcupine meat is usually hung for a day or so and then soaked overnight in a vinegar and water solution, and then cooked the next day. One recipe called for pickling spices, garlic and onions to be simmered with the meat in enough water to cover it for a couple of hours over a low -heat. Thus was known as “adobo.” Wolf, wolverine, lynx, marten, mink, muskrat and ground squirrel were also hunted In 1988189. but wrth no success.
BIRDS AND EGGS
From November of 1988 until October 31, 1989, Clark’s Point residents harvested or used 20 kinds of bird resources, including ptarmigan, six species of ducks, five species of geese, sandhill crane, swan, three kinds of seabird eggs; and duck, snipe, and swan eggs. Overall, 88.2 percent of the households in the community used bird resources. The average household harvest was 47 9 pounds per household for a total community harvest of 815 pounds, four percent of the total communrty harvest of all resources by weight. Of the 815 pounds, 773 pounds were birds, and 42 pounds were eggs. Birds were harvested by 88.2 percent of the households.
89 Over the 20-year period from 1963 to 1983, Clark’s Point residents harvested waterfowl in a variety of locations, including Goodnews Bay and the Nushagak Peninsula. Figure 12 shows the general areas used for hunting waterfowl. As with freshwater fishing, bird hunting is usually combined with other activities.
Ptarmiaan During the study year, regulations for GMU 17C and 9B allowed ptarmigan hunting from August 10 until April 30. The bag limit was 20 a day and 40 in possession (ADF&G 1988b:45). During the study year a total of 462 ptarmigan were harvested intermittently during winter and spring by 58.8 percent of the resident households. This was 50.7 percent of the total bird harvest for the community and 41.9 percent of the bird harvest by weight. Ptarmigan accounted for 1.6 percent of the community’s total food harvest by weight. Ptarmigan were shared widely within the community, as 76.5 of the households reported using ptarmigan in 1988/89.
Waterfowl and Eaas Table 24 displays the state regulations governing waterfowl hunting in GMU 17C and 9B in 1989. There was no open season for cackling Canada geese, emperor geese, tundra swan or, beginning in July 1989, canvasback ducks in units 17 or 9. For all waterfowl, except snipe and cranes, a duck stamp and a state waterfowl tag were required for hunting. Hunters in Clark’s Point do most of their bird hunting in the fall. When moose hunting, or during camping trips hunters will harvest ducks and geese as they are available. Some waterfowl hunting also takes place in spring in conjunction with seal hunting. Later, while residents are awaiting announcements for commercial herring fishing at Togiak, some hunting takes place to provide food while camping, and occasionally a taste is also brought back to friends and family at home. Residents like to harvest black ducks, “whistling ducks,” goldeneyes. mallards, pintails, and teals in lesser numbers than in fall, and a few geese and cranes if they are available. Of all the waterfowl harvested in 1988/89, a large majority was harvested in fall. Three hundred three birds were harvested in fall compared to 136 harvested in spring. Most were ducks with 278 ducks taken in fall, compared to 112 ducks harvested In spring. Dunng 1988/89, residents harvested goldeneye.
mallard, pintail, wigeon, teal, black brant, Canada geese, cackling Canada geese, whitefront geese, and swan (Table 12). Most hunters harvested pintails, mallards, teals, and geese, of which most households reported harvesting Canada geese. Of the geese harvested, black brants were the most numerous (21). followed by lesser Canada geese (9), whitefront geese (lo), unknown geese (6), and cacklers (3) One swan and 9 sandhill cranes were also harvested. The largest portion of the duck harvest by weight was pintails, followed by mallards. A harvest of . 211 pintails made up 42.7 percent of the waterfowl harvest by weight. The entire waterfowl harvest was
90 Table 24. Hunting Regulations for Selected Species of Birds, Game Management Units 9 and 17. 1988/89
Daily Possessior ‘pecies Unit Open Season Bag Limit Limit
lucks’ 9 Sept. 1 - Dec. 16 8 24 17 Sept. 1 - Dec. 16 10 30
‘ea Ducks’ 9, 17 Sept. 1 - Dec. 16 15 30
:anada Geese3 9, 17 Sept. 1 - Dec. 16 4 8
White-Fronted Geese3 9,17 Sept. 1 - Dec. 16 2 4
‘now Geese4 9, 17 Sept. 1 - Dec. 16 6 12
‘rant 9 Sept. 12 - Oct. 31 2 4 17 Sept. 1 - Oct. 20 2 4
nipe 9, 17 Sept. 1 - Dec. 16 8 16
undra Swans No open season
.mperor Geese No open season
Ianes 9. 17 Sept. 1 - Dec. 16 2 4
irouse 9, 17 Aug. 10 - April 30 15 30
‘tarmigan 9, 17 Aug. 10 - April 30 20 40
’ Except sea ducks; provided that not more than 3 per day or 9 in possession may be pintall ducks ’ Eiders, old squaw, harlequin, and mergansers. ’ Except cackling Canada geese. No more than 4 a day or 8 In possesston may be any combination of Canada or white-fronted geese. The combined bag llmlt of Canada. white-fronted, and snow geese is six a day, twelve in possession 4 The combined bag limit for snow, Canada, and white-fronted geese IS six a day, twelve In possession
Source: Alaska Department of Fish and Game 1988b
91 1.9 percent of the overall total harvest of wild food by Clark’s Point residents. About 58.8 percent of the households in Clark’s Point liar-vested waterfowl and 70.6 percent reported using waterfowl, indicating a significant degree of sharing of the resource (Table 12).
MARINE MAMMALS
The coastal waters of Bristol Bay host a wide array of sea mammals. Of particular importance to Clark’s Point residents were belukhas, ringed seals, and harbor/spotted seals. Figure 13 shows the areas used for marine mammal hunting by Clark’s Point residents from 1963 - 1983. From May until freeze-up, belukhas feed on numerous species of anadromous fish, bottom fish, and shellfish at the mouths of the Igushik, Snake, Wood, and Nushagak rivers (Schichnes and Chythlook 1988: 159). Belukhas which summer in Bristol Bay are part of the Bering Sea stock and number 1,000 - 1,500 animals (ADF&G 1985a:23). They usually arrive in March and April and congregate in nearshore areas, especially at the mouths of rivers in Kvichak Bay. In late March, April, and May, they concentrate at the mouth of the Naknek River, feeding on smelt and moving upriver as breakup progresses. Several weeks later they move to the mouth of the Kvichak River to feed on outmigrating sockeye salmon smelts. During the calving season (June to August), belukhas are distributed throughout Kvichak and Nushagak bays. They remain in inner Bristol Bay throughout the summer, exploiting the runs of different salmon species present. They may ascend the rivers to feed as far as King Salmon on the Naknek River, Portage Creek on the Nushagak River, and Levelock on the Kvichak River (ADFBG 1985a:22) Harbor and spotted seals resemble one another so closely that until recently the spotted seal was considered a northern subspecies of harbor seals. Recent studies of North Pacific phoclds have concluded that the sum of the differences in the two seals warrants their distinction as separate species. Spotted seals range from Bristol Bay to the Beaufort Sea. Harbor seals are ubiquitous throughout the coastal areas of temperate and sub-Arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere (ADFBG 1985e) Nushagak Bay is at the southern end of the range of spotted seals, where harbor seals are also found Clark’s Point residents did not distinguish between the two. During interviews conducted in the sprrng of 1990, residents reported that seals enter Nushagak Bay during breakup, sometime in late March and early April. Ringed and bearded seals are also present tn Nushagak Bay seasonally Clark’s Point residents reported sighting very few seals in the spring of 1990 compared to previous years. Walrus and Stellar sea lions inhabit portions of northern’Bristol Bay. Stellar sea lions are year- round residents of Bristol Bay where they feed on large concentrations of herring and capelin. Walrus live along the ice edge in Bristol Bay in the winter and haul out on land in specific locations In the spring.
92 H $
Reauiations Since the passage of the Marine Mammal Protection Act in 1972, ttie federal government has held management authority over most marine mammals. The National Marine Fisheries Service has jurisdiction over whales, seals, and sea lions, while the United States Fish and Wtldlife Service manages walrus and sea otter populations. Under the provisions of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, in effect in 1985, only Alaska Natives living on the coast of the North Pacific and Arctic oceans were -permitted to harvest marine mammals for food or handicrafts. There are no seasons or limits. Observers are allowed to go along provided they do not participate in the harvest (personal communication, Brad Smith, National Marine Fisheries Service, 4/12/90). No permits were required for subsistence hunting and no quotas have been imposed on species hunted by Clark’s Point residents. Hunters are required to have their walrus tagged by a representative of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service within 30 days of the kill.
Marine Mammal Harvest and Use Belukhas and seals are hunted by Clark’s Point residents within Nushagak Bay. When seals migrate into Nushagak Bay they usually pass in front of the community. Residents make day trips in skiffs to the ice flows as they pass by the village. According to local hunters, a flat calm bay is needed to go hunting. Otherwise the seals are too difficult to hit. Hunters may also camp across the bay and hunt near the lgushik or Snake Rivers. Protection Point is a favorite area for hunters. When the weather is calm hunters go in small groups of two to three and camp there overnight, hunting seals and ducks. One residents description of seal hunting was as follows:
I can’t wait to go out hunting! I miss it so much. What we do is we go out and get in amongst the ice chunks and wait. We pull the skiff up on the ice and wait. You don’t catch anything zooming around. You have to wait sometimes two hours. Go in and out with the tide, then you catch them. You go out just before high water then come in when it starts to ebb. We’re out 3-4 hours sometimes. Sometimes we don’t get one. It’s very hard (Se&, field notes, 4/5/90).
Marine mammals harvested by Clark’s Point residents during 1989 consisted of one belukha whale and 23 seals, 13 of which were harbor-or spotted seals and 10 ringed seals. The total manne mammal harvest composed 3.8 percent of the total community harvest of wild foods dunng 1988139 Almost half the households (47.1 percent) in Clark’s Point harvested marine mammals dunng 1989 Over half (52.9 percent) attempted to harvest marine mammals. Most households (76.5 percent) reported using marine mammal products during 1989. Marine mammal products were given away by 64 7 percent of households and received by 70.6 percent (Table 12). During interviews conducted in 1989, residents reported that Clark’s Point hunters rarely harvest sea lions. It had been several years since one was harvested by the community.
95 In most years, few walrus are harvested. According to one resident, one walrus would annually would suffice for the needs of the community. The skin is a treat for many residents, but they do not consume the meat. As noted earlier, 9 walrus were killed by Clark’s Point hunters in 1989, but none were reported during the harvest survey, perhaps because several were confiscated due to a wanton waste allegation and investigation. Belukha skin is considered a treat by several residents, but most households use neither the meat nor the fat (Seitz, field notes, 4/5/90). Seal meat, on the other hand is eaten by several households, and the oil remains very popular as a condiment for a variety of wild foods. When kept in a cool place seal oil can last four to five years, according to residents.
96 CHAPTER SEVEN: WILD PLANTS
Berry picking and plant harvesting were very popular activities during the summer and fall of 1989 in Clark’s Point. Residents picked a variety of local greens and berries from the tundra surrounding the community on the bluff. The areas used by Clark’s Point residents for plant harvests are shown in Figure 13. The total combined harvest of 1,573 pounds of wild plants represented 7.7 percent of the total community harvest of wild foods (Table 12).
Berries Berries were a very important resource for the community of Clark’s Point in 1988/89. Residents harvested 1,326 pounds of a variety of berries--salmon berries (also known as cloud berries), blackberries (crow berries), blueberries, and cranberries. Berries were harvested by 100 percent of the households in Clark’s Point and Ekuk and comprised 6.5 percent of the total community harvest by weight. Most berries were used in making akutaq, a mixture of berries, Crisco, and sugar. Sometimes fruit juices and store bought berries were used as well for variety in sweetening this favorite dish. Akutaq was served at most festive occasions, on birthdays and holidays, and most commonly eaten with smoked salmon strips or other fish. Berries were often included among the wild foods taken when residents went visiting friends and relatives in other communities as well as in Clark’s Point.
Other Plants Approximately 247 pounds of other plants were harvested by 41.2 of all Clark’s Point households in 1989. Stinkweed (also known as wormwood) was a popular remedy for colds and skin conditions. Bunches of stinkweed were Used to stimulate the skin while taking steam baths. Wild celery sourdock, and beach greens (also called Eskimo spinach) were also harvested. The latter was also cooked and combined with crisco and sugar to make another kind of akutaq.
Wood Although it is not possible to measure its importance to the community by weight, wood was another important resource to the community. It was necessary for smoking fish, heating steambaths. and in some cases, for heating homes. Men usually went for wood in late winter by snowmachine, as far north as the Nushagak River and Portage Creek at times. Wood was also harvested around the village, and everyone brought driftwood home from the beach in front of town during spring, summer, and fall. An estimated 53.8 cords were harvested by the community in 1989, and an average of 3 2 cords were used per household during the year (Table 12).
97 98 CHAPTER EIGHT: DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
REGULATORY ISSUES
At the time the study began, perhaps the most outstanding regulatory issue for the village of Clark’s Point was the lack of openings for subsistence fishing in the commercial district when the district was closed for commercial fishing. The village is located well within the commercial district, 10 miles from its northern boundary. The commercial fishery for chinook salmon declined substantially in the 198Os, resulting in longer commercial closures during June. Due to these circumstances, Clark’s Point residents had to travel above the northern end of the district and find a set net site in order to fish for chinook salmon in June (Seitz 1990). Environmental factors such as tides, wind, and the condition of the seas in the bay had to be weighed and negotiated in order to go fishing. Social factors such as the age and gender of persons who needed to fish also influenced residents’ capacity to go outside the commercial district. Economic factors such as the cost of missing the chinook run, versus the cost of being late for the first commercial opening, had to be weighed. During this time fishers were generally preparing for commercial fishing and were “on standby” for the first commercial opening. However, during this time the chinook run also began to gather strength. This created conflicts over whether to go fish for subsistence and risk being late for a commercial opening, or not fish for subsistence above the marker and miss the larger part of the chinook run, the preferred species for home use. In addition, all possible sites for set nets are occupied during the commercial season. Just over one-half (10 of 19 sites) of Clark’s Point setnetters have shore fishery leases (Alaska Department of Natural Resources 1989). These leases tend to reinforce the perceived ownership of the set net site. Shore Fishery leases are issued by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources. They entitle the lessee to exclusive use for commercial fishing of state tidelands for a shore fishery site or sites when :he fisherman is present and fishing. In order to.obtain a shore fishery lease for a set net site one must be at least 10 years old and possess a valid salmon setnet limited entry permit (ADNR n.d.) Subsistence fishers who do not possess salmon setnet limited entry permits are not eilglble to apply for a shore fishery lease. Therefore, when commercial fishing is open, even though subsistence fishing is open to all those eligible, they are at a competitive disadvantage to catch fish on the beach In front of the village. Since the village is bordered by extensive mudflats at both the northeastern end and the southern end, it is not feasible to travel by land to another set net site. Ekuk is similarly crowded. From Ekuk to Etolin Point there are 90 set net sites (Alaska Department of Community and Regional Affairs 1982a, 1982b). Sixty-seven have shore fishery leases on them, most of which are concentrated toward the northern end of the beach, closest to the cannery (ADNR 1989).
99 The result of this concentration of set net leases is that during open commercial periods, when commercial setnetters are fishing, subsistence.fishers have a very difficult time finding a place to put out a net. Due to this difficulty, at Clark’s Point and Ekuk a few local households reported setting a net out during closed periods in order to get fish. During 1989 and 1990, when this report was written, this situation was remedied significantly by long emergency openings for subsistence in June. The Division of Commercial Fisheries in Dillingham opened the Nushagak Commercial District by emergency order for subsistence from May 29 until June 24, 1989. In 1990, subsistence fishing within the Nushagak Commercial District was allowed from May 28 until June 20, by emergency order. During 1.989, Clark’s Point residents harvested a significant portion of their salmon for subsistence during this period (Seitz 1990). Also in 1989, for the very first time, an emergency opening for subsistence was called in August, to allow residents domiciled within the Nushagak Commercial District to harvest cohos. The emergency order period from August 28 until September 30 was too late to harvest cohos, according to Clark’s Point residents. Some residents reported putting out nets earlier in August in order to take advantage of runs of cohos off the Clark’s Point beach. The Division of Commercial Fisheries in Dillingham has proposed allowing more subsistence fishing time in August, and thus, this situation may also be significantly addressed in 1990 (personal. communication, J. Skrade, 1989).’ The issue of space on the beaches for subsistence set nets remains, though its significance may change with the new pattern of subsistence openings offered by the Department. . . Another troublesome area of regulations is that regarding the harvest of waterfowl in spring. For all birds except ptarmigan, which was open for hunting August 10 through April 30, there was no spring hunting allowed. Canada geese, cranes, ducks, sea ducks, snipe, snow geese, tundra swans and white- fronted geese were open from September 1 through December 16. Although residents reported taking significantly fewer birds in spring than in fall, spring hunting is a traditional activity, which in the 1980s
occurred primarily in conjunction with seal hunting and herring fishing. Most use of birds taken in the spring was reported to be for immediate needs while camping, although small amounts were brought back to the village so others could have a “taste.” The season for harvesting caribou officially ends March 31.’ For hunters in the Clark’s Point area this can be too early. The primary hunters in the village also trap. Trappmg ends In the first of March however, snow conditions can prohibit traveling for days on end during this month. Dunng March, residents anticipate the annual caribou migration from the New Stuyahok area back to the Etolin Point calving grounds. If snow conditions are good for traveling they can harvest caribou. However, weather
’ Subsistence fishing regulations subsequently adopted by the Board of Fishenes require the ADF&G commlssloner to prowde subsistence fishing periods in the Nushagak Distnct “during periods of extended [commerc!al] closures” (5 AAC 01 310[b]) ADF&G has regularly opened the dlstrtct to subsistence fishing for coho salmon In August and Septemberduring such closures * Since the study period. the Board of Game extended the caribou hunting season tn GMU 98 and portions of GMU 178 and 17C to April 15.
100 can prevent hunting for long periods. The preferred method of transportation, all-terrain-vehicles, may be used once the snow pack thaws and freezes well. This may not occur, in conjunction with the presence of caribou, until April. Hunters who have not yet taken their limit may still try to hunt.
CONCLUSIONS
This study has documented the use of fish and wildlife by Clark’s Point residents in 1988/89 and compared that use to earlier harvests as reported by Gasborro and Utermohie in 1973/74. The per capita harvest of wild foods in 1988/89 was similar to that of this earlier study. As in 1973174, in 1988189 Clark’s Point demonstrated the characteristics of an Alaska community with a mixed cash/subsistence economy (Wolfe et al. 1984, Nebesky et al. 1983, Petterson et al. 1984, Langdon 1983). Subsistence activities were an integral part of daily life, in which households cooperated and shared with each other. Salmon, seals, caribou, berries, and a long list of other wild resources made up a very substantial portion of the diet of most households. There was extensive sharing of wild resources within Clark’s Point and between communities to which village residents were linked through kinship and friendship. Hunting activities continued to play a major role in the social organization of the community. Hunters compared information on weather conditions and known animal and bird populations among themselves. They watched for each other when going and returning from the country. These activities built strong bonds among various households in the community. Thus, subsistence activities at Clark’s Point in the 1980s were fundamental in creating ties between households and reaffirming them on a continuing basis.
101 102 REFERENCES CITED
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1982b Community Planning Profile for Ekuk. Prepared by DOWL Engineers, with North Pacific Aerial Surveys and Bristol Bay Native Association.
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103 1989f Annual Progress Report, Furbearers Survey and Inventory Activities, prepared by Kenton P Taylor. Division of Wildlife Conservation, Dillingham.
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Nelson, Mike 1987 History and Management of the Nushagak Chinook Salmon Fishery. Bristol Bay Data Report No. 87-l. Division of Commercial Fisheries, Alaska Department of Fish and Game Dllllngham
Petterson, John S., Lawrence A Palinkas, Bruce M. Harris, Kathleen B. Barlow, and Michael Downs 1984 Sociocultural/Socioeconomic Organization of Bristol Bay Regional and Subregional Analyses Minerals Management Service. Social and Economic Study Program, Technical Report No 103. Juneau.
104 Oswalt, Wendell H. 1967 Alaskan Eskimos. Scranton, Pa.: Chandler Publishing Company.
Schichnes, Janet and Molly Chythlook 1988 Use of Fish and Wildlife in Manokotak, Alaska. Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Subsistence Technical Paper No. 152. Juneau.
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Scott, Cheryl L., Amy Paige, Gretchen Jennings, and Louis Brown 1995 Community Profile Database. Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Subsistence. Juneau.
Seitz, Jody 1990 Non-Commercial Fishing in Nushagak Bay, Southwest Alaska. Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Subsistence Technical Paper No. 195. Juneau..
Skrade, Jeff 7/89 Personal Communication, Division of Commercial Fisheries, Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Dillingham.
Smith, Brad 4/l 2/90 National Marine Fisheries Service, personal communication.
Thompson, P.C. 1989 Personal communication. Trident Seafoods.
United States Department of Agriculture 1983 Food Consumption: Households in the West, Seasons and Year 1977-78. Nation Wide Food Consumption Survey 1977-78, Report No. H-10. Consumer Nutrition Division, Human Nutrition Information Service, Washington, D.C.
United States Department of Commerce 1906-I 940 Annual Reports. Bureau of Commercial Fisheries
1920-I 940 Laws and Regulations for Protection of the Fisheries of Alaska
1992 1990 Census of Population and Housing: Summary Social, Economic, and Housing Characteristics: Alaska. Bureau of the Census Report 1990 CPH-5-3. Washington- Government Printing Office.
Untted States Fish and Wildlife Service 1941-1959 Annual Reports, Washington D.C.. United States Fish and Wildlife SetvIce
1941-1959 Laws and Regulations for Protection of the Commercial Fishenes of Alaska. Washirqton D.C., U.S. Government Printing Office.
1950 History and Development of the Set Net Fishery Unpublished manuscript. On file. Dlvislon of Subsistence, Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Dillingham.
105 VanStone, James W. 1967 Eskimos of the Nushagak River. University of Washington Press.
1971 Historic Settlement Patterns in the Nushagak River Region, Ala.ska. Fieldiana Anthropology Vol. 61.
1972 Nushagak: An Historic Trading Center in Southwestern Alaska. Fieldiana Anthropology. Vol 62.
Wolfe, Robert J., Joseph J. Gross, Steven J. Langdon, John M. Wright, George K. Sherrod, Linda J Ellanna, Valerie Sumida, and Peter J. Usher. 1984 Subsistence-Based Economies in Coastal Communities of Southwest Alaska. Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Subsistence Technical Paper No. 89. Juneau.
Wright, John M., Judith Morris, and Robert Schroeder 1985 Bristol Bay Regional Subsistence Profile. Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Subsistence Technical Paper No. 114. Juneau.
106 APPENDIX A. SURVEY INSTRUMENT
Y w u c b-4 2. Using Person's I.D. #'s from the table above, indicate which household members participated in harvesting activities during 1988-1989. Hunting - - - - - Fishing ------
Plant Gathering -- ___ __ Trapping -- --___ _
3. COMMERCIAL FISHING
Did members of your household participate in commercial fishing during 19897 YES NO If YES, please complete the following table:
f - 1 NUMBER REMOVED I.D.#' OF FISHED GEAR TYPE FISHERMEN SPECIES LOCATION FOR OWN GAVE Permit YES NO Drift Set HOME USE AWAY H Crew
______--_-_------__-_---_-__-----__-______------mm_____ KING/Taryaqvak 11501 I _---_--___------___------__-----_--__------I ------mm_____ RED/Sayak 11701 I -_-___--__------_____ I I------mm_-___ z ___----I-----_-_ ------_------_ 03 CHUM/Kangitneq 11101 ------_------_------_--_I----_------__-----_------1------_------I--______------I ______PINK/Arnaqaayak 11601 ------__------__--- -_-_---I------_- -_____--_-_--___ _-_---___------I _------I------_ - - --em-- I ------SILVER/Qa,kiiyaq 11401 I ---_---_-__------______-__I--_----- I I -_------_--______I _ ------___ -I------,HERRING/Iqalluarpak Seine 12451 Bkts Bkts I ------___------_------_------_I l------I ------_ ,------*----___ ROE ON KELP/Melucuaq 12511 Bkts Bkts I I xxx ------__------_--- -_-__-- L ------_ ------_---____ OTHER (Please Specify) ------___----______-____-___----______-____------_-_I ------_------I _--__---_____I HALIBUT/Naternarpak 12401 t I I
Page 2 4. NON-COMMERCIAL SALMON FISHING
A. Did your household have a subsistence salmon fishing permit in 1989 YES NO
If helped on another's permit, HH ID # relationship to that household B. Did your household try to harvest or use any salmAn in 19891 YES NO
If YES, please complete the following table:
I TRTFn vPA I I *L.&Y.. L” NO, HARVESTED BY GEAR TYPE GAVE SALMON USED HARVEST SUBS. ROD & OTHER I REC. AWAY__..--- SPECIES YES NO YES NO NET REEL (specify) YES NO YES , NO ______-__------_____- .------______------.------_____-_----_-_------m---m--. ------. -_-_------KING/Taryaqvak 11502 --__------._____-______------.------.------I I I I I I RED/Sayak 11702 ______-_-______._____-______------.------I I I 1 _------.------.------I I CHUM/Kangitneq 11102 -____------______.------e______I J ______.____----we_ ____-_____-I I ___-_--__-_-.-__---_--~------I I PINK/Amaqaayak 11602 --_-----_-----______------______I I 1 __--__--__-___-_--__------I L -______---I SILVER/Qakiiyaq 11402 ------______-____-_-___.______------I I I I ______--em---m_ I ____.___-- J -e-e_ SI.Jl (unk) 11802 ------_-______-______,______------I I I I _____--_------I _--___---___---_I REDFISH/Sayalleq Spawned-outs) 11900 ------_-______---_----___.______------1 I ____------_------I ROE 11950 Quantity:(quart bags,fish,etc.J Meluk Commercial and Non-Commercial ' I I
Does your household have a fish camp? Yes No ~ If yes, where?
If your household harvests redfish (spawned-outs), where do you usually get them? (Specific location)
Interviewer: add source of harvest numbers: Memory, Permit, Both. (Explain if necessary) Page 3 5, Did your household try to harvest or use any other fish in 1988-891 YES NO If YES,-please complete the following table:
TRIED TO NO. HARVESTED BY GEAR TYPE SAVE USED HARVEST SUBS. ICE ROD & REC. AWAY SPECIES ES NC YES NO NET FISH REEL OTHER YES NO YES NO (j id (open wtr) (specify) ______-__------__-__--- SMELT/Iqalluaq 12750 I ___*___------__-___I ___-__-- HERRING/Iqalluarpak 12452 ______-___-_------I --_ __- I -m-m HHRNGROE/Meluk 12500 bkts ______------J --- ______-__------__--I I _--__--_------I --- 1 ---- ROE-ON-KELP/Melucuaq 1251 bkts I. : 1 : 1 ::::. ______-----_------I --_ -_----_------_------_------__- 1 ---- CAPELIN/Cikaaq 12150 ______----- _- I _-- __-__--__-- -_-_---_---_--_------e---v- _--we---I _-----_---I BROAD-WHITEFISH/Uraruq 1'2930 ______-___-___-___-_----- __----I ______- 1______-______------i i __- J -we. ----I----- WHITEFISH 12980 I ______--_---__--_------J ------_---e---m----w--e------^---m--..--I -- -*_--. e--e l e-m-- WHITEFISH 12990 _--_---__--__------_- J _-______--__-_-____-_____-___-__--_---_-I _-- I _e-. ---- I -__-- LEAST CISCO/ Cavirrutnnaq 12200 _--_---___-___-__--_------_--I ---_------e------.I --_------I ______-_I PIKE/Cuukvak 12600 ---_---______--__------____-- --__----_-__--_---_------t I _--e---wI GRAYLING/Nakrulugpak 1235 ---_---______--__--_ ------_------I______-_-- I _-w-w---I ------RAINBOW/Talaariq 12860 ----______I ---_---_---I------_-___-_---_------_-- I _____--_l ---- I----- LAKE TROUT/Cikignaq 12850 ------__--______-_----- __----I _____-___-___-__-__-I __- I ---_ ----I-_--- DOLLY/Yugyaq 12830 VARDEN ------___-__--__-______.__-I _-- I -_-______- SEA RUN DOLLIES/Angyuk 12835 ------I_I I, - -
:RIED TO NO, HARVESTED BY GEAR TYPE GAVE USED IARVEST SUBS. ICE ROD & REC AWAY SPECIES YES NO (ES NO NET FISH REEL OTHER YES NO YES NO (j id (open wtr) (Specify)
.-VT- ____w-w-m- ______-- ___---- _____--- ______--- 'TOGIAK TROUT"/ inerrluaq 12859 I I ______e-m-___---- ___-_-- __------.---- .____e-w-e- 3URBOT/LUSH/ 12100 itgiaq I I I I _---- .____e----- .______..v--e-w--- _____-- ___e--- _----_-em 3LACK FISH/Cangiiq I __ _ Lu2 z!!! ------__ J ---- -w--m .____ I -s-T- SUCKERS/ 12760 Cungartak ______-____e------_------___-- ._--- I ----- ?ACIFIC COD 12270 Ceturrnaq I -_--. _--em..----- ___-__m__----_------_____-- __ 1 ---_ _-__-____-__ I _-e-w- TOM COD/Atqiaq (small) 12290 I -w-m. _--em-----. ______- _ - - - - 7------I _--_-___-___ l _-mm-- SCULPIN "bullhead" devilfish"/Kayutaq 12650 I _____w---- _____ev--e. ______------_-----_ -----____-__------. _ FLOUNDER/Naternaq 12310 I ___-______-_---- -_----_I _____w------_ _ _ - - - _ - - - . HALIBUT/ 12402 - # # Naternarpak (- lbs) L-- lbs) ______-__-______--- __----. _ - - - - - . ------____------. OTHER Please Specify)
I -
Page 5 6. DOGS * A. How many dogs do you have? B. How many dog teams:
C. Do you feed anyone else‘s dogs? D. How many?
E. Were any of the fish you caught Species # Included on previous page? Yes No used to feed dogs? Species # Included on previous page? Yes No
Species # Included on previous page? Yes - No __
What do you use your dog team for? racing recreation hunting/trapping travel
If you race them, did you earn any money? Amount '
7. Did your household try to harvest or use any type of marine Invertebrates in 1988-19897 YES - NO-.-- ? If YES, please complete the table below: . .
SPECIES USED TRIED TO HARVEST NUMBER RECEIVED G$VE AWAY YES NO YES NO I HARVESTED I YES NO I YES NO _----_------______------I ______---_------BUTTER CIAMS/Tavtaaq bkts. 47160 d I I I I ______-__------.----______-.----- ______-_-_------_____-_-_------RAZOR CLAMS/Aliruaq bkts. 47170 I I -__--_-_--_--____---____ I I ______(_------______(______------MUSSELS/Amyak 47450 I ------~------_----__--____--______------.------_-______-.------I SHRIMP/47660 Cungaralukvak I .I, ------_-______--______------_---_----____ ---___-_-_____--- ___--______----_--_- v---v------______------I ------_---_-__------______.I, OTHER I (Please Specify) I I
Page 6 8. MINE MAMMALS Did your household try to harvest or us& marine mammals or marine mammal products during 1988-19897 YES NO If YES, please complete the table below: - TRIED TO PORTIONS POUNDS GAVE USED HARVEST NUMBER USED FOR USED FOR RECEIVED AWAY i SPECIES YES NCI YES NO HARVESTED** FOOD* FOOD YES NO YES NO Human Dogs ------.------.------IHARBOR SEAL Issuriq 35430 I______-_----_----. . - _ - - - _ ------.______--__---I --_---_---_-I RINGED SEAL 35450 Nayiq ______-____-___-__ .------I .__--__--_-_-- BEARDED SEAL 35410 Maklak I I _-___--__------___-__ .------em--___- ----m-_-m-_- WALRUS/Asveq 35500 I ------_--_------.-----_ ---- I ------SEA LION/Uginaq 353OC I I _--__-____-______.------mm ----- I -_---_ BELUKHA/Cetuaq 35050 I --_-----__-_----_----- .------w-*- I ~~~I~~ PORPOISE/Mangayaaq 35250 ------___-______-_---_I _ _ ------__-______OTHER (Please Specify) - I * Which parts were used for fOlod? -k-k flurnber broup.ht home
Page 7 9. LAND MAMMALS Did your household try to harvest or use game in 1988-19897 YES NO If YES, please complete the following table:
TRIED TO # RECEIVED GAVE AWAY USED HARVEST # USED. FOR YES NO YES NO SPECIES YES NO YES NO HARV. FOOD FUR FOOD FUR FOdD FUR _--__------___ ------___--___--- ___--- __---sm--m------_----_------,,--;------BR. BEAR/ # Taqukaq 23150 Lbs I 1 _---_m------___ -___--_-_----_------I ____-_ ___--e------=I _h_..______--_--- __----_____---__------BL. BEAR/ # Tan'gerlfq 23100 Lbs I I _---_------_----___ ------_ _- _----_-_------______m-_---mm--I ____--- l ---w-w------1 ------CARIBOU/Tuntuq _--- iz32Qo------_ ------I ------I --_- -___-- _____-_ I ------1 MOOSE/ 23400 xxx xxx Tuntuvak xx I ----_--_---______-----I---- ___--______I -___-- __- - - - _ e-e------_-e--e I __-_-- I ------PORCUPINE/ Issaluuq 24550 xxx xxx xx xx 1 I I I I ------_---___ ------_ -- _---v----e______- __--__m------____------v------______-_____--__----__ SNOWSHOEHARE/ Nullutuuyak 24220 I I I _------______---- ______---_---______- ______--- ___---- ______I ------1 ______-__--- JACK RABBIT/ Qayuqueggliq 24230 lxxx ------______------_----_---______- ______-___---- _____-- l w--m------1 ARCTIC HARE 24210 ------v-m__-______---- _--- ___-______I -_---- ______--em--m-e I ______------OTHER (Please specify) n I I Page 8 10. FURBEARERS Did anyone in your household try to harvest or use furbearers during 1988-19891 YES NO If YES, please complete the following table:
TRIED TO # # RECEIVED GAVE AWAY USED HARVEST # USED # USED YES NO YES NO SPECIES YES NO YES NO HARV. FOOD SOLD FUR FOOD FUR FOOD FUR ______-______-,------______-___------.------______--__-_^_------____ _-_____ BEAVER/Paluqtaq 24100 ______-______^__-,______--___.__------.------.------I I ---I------1 t ------r MINK/Imarmiutaq 24450 xx xx xx _-______--__-_---__-,------I I __--___-----__--.---___I______----- 1-_-_-_-_-----_---- I I ---__-__---____I FOX/Kaviaq 24600 xx xx xx ______-______-__-,------I I -__-,-----__------.---e-v p------w--- --______--______^___i I I --_____---____-1 WOLF/Kegluneq 24700 xx xx xx _-_____---____-__-__-~------.------.------I I _--__ ------^-.------I I ------I WOLVERINE/ 24750 Terikaaniaq xx xx xx ------~------.------.------I I ------___------_.------/ I I _-_-___- LAND OTTER 24250 Cuignilnguq ------____-_-__-.------.------i I ---_-__------_------I I 1 I _----_--~ WXRAT/ 24500 Kanaqlak --__-______-.------.------.---1 I ---~-----,--1------xx1 I i,------i1___-___- LYNX/Tertuli 24300 xx ------______I -___-__-____._----_------~------~------PARKA SQUIRREL Qanganaq 24810 ------_-______------.------.---1 I ---_ I I --I------I-- -l-----i--- 1----^ I--_----- tuTEN/ xx X xx
Javcicuar 24400 t I ------______------~---- *I I ______------.------______--__------___ I __--__------__-- 1 COYOTE 24150 Kayu ------______1 I ______.------.------______.-_-______-______----I 1 1 I 3THER Please Specify) I I I I ' Page 9 11. PLANTS Did your household harvest or use wild plants in 1988-19891 YES NO f YES, please complete t le table below:
USED TRIED TO IIARVEST AMOUNT HARVESTED RECEIVED GAVE AWAY YES NO YES NO YES NO YES NO _____------______--_-_.------.------BERRIES 48050 gal. I I ______------_ --_-_I-----.------I ------_-__-_--_--- ______-___-_---_-----I ------_ PLANTS 48100 ______-______---__.------I I ------___--_-______qts* 1_-_____-______-- I ( -__------___------1 FIREWOOD 48250 cords (4x4x8ft) I
.2.BIRDS Did your household try to harvest or use birds during 1988-19891 YES NO If YES, please complete the table below:
- USED TRIED TO HARVEST1 NUMBER RECEIVED GAVE AWAY SPECIES ES NO YES NO HARVESTED YES NO YES NO _-_--___------_------___------_-__ ------___------______I ------w----- SPRUCE GROUSE/Egtuk 464C I --____-_--__------_------J ---- ___-__----__------1 ------__------I -_--_-- I -w-v----- PTARMIGAN/Qangiig 46450 _---______-______- - -I ------_------I------__------I ______--___-_-_-- I CANADA GOOSE (little) Cacklers 46325 I Lagiq ------__-__---_------_____-______-_---I-_------_------_____---______- - - I - - - _ I -______._____------I ------I - - - -._ - - - - CANADA GOOSE (big) 46321 (Lesser) - - _I_ - - ______-______---__1 ---____--_____,---__--__---_ I ---_----- Lagirpak l- - 12. CON'T.
-iiFUSED TRIED TO HARVEST I NUMBER 1 RECEIVED 1 GAVE AWAY - SPECIES YES NO YES NO SEASON 1 HARVESTED 1 YES NO 1 YES NO ______------______-----__-___ I ------WHITEFRONT 46350 A H 1 I (Specklebelly) ----_------_--______------_ __---____--- Neqleq ASON I I ______------______------_ I _--mm------1 I I -----__-- 46370 BLACK BRANT 4637 I A 'M (Sea Geese) ----__-_--___-_-____- - _ - - - - _ _ I -______------we_-- Neqlernaq ASON I ______----______------I ----- 1 __---___------__-- EMPERORS 46330 I A M ------__ __-______---______.______------I ___-_.-___------_------I -----m--m Nacaullek I ASON ______-----______------_-_---___-_____~_(______------______---.--_____------_------I -__c-.--_------I ----___-- Other Geese A M I (Please(please Specify) ------I -_-___--'---__--_____) 1 ______-_-_-______-----_-- I ___--._--__------e-_-m ASON I I I _____------mm-__------L-----_----_---l------i --______-_.____--______------I -----.------e----w-v- SWAN 46500 A M I Whistle,mist-e, TrumpeteTrumpeter* ------I -_____---____---_____--______-__-_-_------Qugyuk ASON I I I I -----__------_-______------_-___--_ ---_- - - I --______-______--______- - - _ _ I ------_-- SANDHILL CRANE 4646190 A M I I I I I I I -____-- L------_--_--‘-,-_------I -_____ ------me -----__-- Qucillgaq ASON ------_---____--_----______---_------__-----__------_ I ---___ I -----_------.- - - - - MALIARD 49160 I I - - I - - - - _ _ ---_----m-----m-__-----m-__-- Uqulkatagpak ASON I * Circle one or both if resoGrce harvested is known.
Page 11 12. (CONT.) - USED TRIED TO HARVES NUMBER RECEIVED GAVE AWAY SPECIES YES NO YES NO SEASON HARVESTED YES NO YES NO -_--_-_m------_ --__----___ _-_--___-___ --____-___-_ ------_-m-__-- PINTAILS 49190 A M I --__--_____ ----em I ------__--m__-_ea_-- Uqulkatak ASON .I ______-----m----_ -m------_------__- I --_------___--___---__-- EIDER Qengallek 49120 I -----__- a------e-e------___--_____ OTHER DUCKS
(Specify)
------
ASON
-mm------mm------m------e------1--__- $ GULL EGGS 49420 doz. Kayanguq ------m---_--m__ ------__--______------I _-_-__m-_-__- GEESE EGGS doz. Neqleq 46290 ------mm-mm-__--_ -- _m’- _-- I------_-_____-__ ------_____ DUCK EGGS 46280 doz. ------mm-m--__--_ -___--I-_--- 1_--_-_--_ -----____--_ I SWAN EGGS 46270 doz. ------m___-__ ------_-I I-____--__ ------__--_ --_-_-__--___-__----I TERN EGGS 49390 doz. ------m-w- ----___ I I-____-_-__ --_--____-__ --_-_-_----__-_-__--I SNIPE EGGS 49480 doz. - I I Page 12 13. EMPLOYMENTHISTORY Please complete the following information for all jobs held by the employed households members listed in question 1 from November 1988 to October 1989. Include commerical fishing and crafts sales.
ID # FROM LOCATION # OF MONTHS HOURS WORKED AMOUNT UESTION 1 JOB TITLE EMPLOYER OF JOB WORKEDP/YEAR PER WEEK I EARNED --_------_-----_.------.------e------m----- I -_----___-_-__---_ _---_-----m---em ------
NDJFMA It MJJASO ______--__-______------.------______(-______--_----_------______-_-_---_------_------NDJFMA MJJASO I -______-___----_.------.------.------______-___------______--_------*__------NDJFMA MJJASO ______---_-_------w----m------___---___.-__^---_------~------_----_----w------tfl NDJFMA MJJASO
___--_----______--_____-___------,------____-___------______--_ NDJFMA MJJASO
____---_------'------~------.------e---_----v------_____-______--______-____-_ e---e--- NDJFMA MJJASO 1 ___-a_---- ______----_------.------.______---- ______-____---. __-__-______-__-______------___-______----- NDJFMA MJJASO ______-__------.______m_-e--e- _____-___-_____--. ______------I NDJFMA MJJASO ______----_------. ______--. __-__-_--__-______--__-___ ------_------NDJFMA I MJJASO
(For Trappers - don't ask amount earned or hours worked per week. Just ask the months worked.)
Page 13 14. Other Income Sources (Check all that apply and indicate amount)
Monthly # Months Amount Received
Social Security (blue/green)
SSI (Supplemental Security, gold)
Longevity Bonus (white/blue) $
Energy Assistance $
Adult Public Assistance (white) $
AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) $ Food Stamps (white) Unemployment L-- Pension $
Corporation Dividends $ Other K--- 15. Please estimate your monthly expenses:
Heating fuel Transportation fuel (gas) water housing/rent
Food Electricity Propane phone
Annual Grubstake
Page 14 APPENDIX B. CONVERSION FACTORS AND UNITS OF MEASURE, CLARK’S POINT, 1989
Conversion Unit of Resource Factor Measure
King Salmon 13.36 Individual Sockeye Salmon 4.22 Individual Chum Salmon 4.22 individual Pink Salmon 2.31 Individual Coho Salmon 4.68 Individual Spawnouts, Salmon 2.00 Individual Salmon Roe 1 .oo Pounds Blackfish 6.00 Gallons Burbot 1 .oo Individual Cisco 1.50 Individual Gray Cod 3.50 Individual Tom Cod 5.00 Individual Flounder 1.00 Individual Grayling 0.70 Individual Herring Spawn on Kelp 40.00 5 Gallon Buckets Pike 2.80 Individual Smelt 6.00 Gallons Sucker 1.50 Individual Dolly Varden 1.40 Individual Whitefish, Large .(Alaska, Broad, Humpback) 1.00 Individual Caribou 150.00 Individual Moose 540.00 Individual Beaver 20.00 Individual Arctic Hare 2.00 Individual Small Snowshoe Hare 2.00 Individual Large Snowshoe Hare, “Jackrabbit” 5.60 Individual Land Otter 3.00 Individual Porcupine 8.00 Individual Belukha a individual Bearded Seal a lndivldual Harbor Seal a lndiwdual Ringed Seal a Individual Walrus lndiwdual Sandhill Crane i.00 Individual Ptarmigan 0 70 lndivldual Goldeneye 0.90 lndiwdual Mallard 1.00 lndlwdual Pintail 0.80 lndiwdual Wigeon 0.70 Individual Teal 0.30 Individual Black Brant 1.20 lndiwdual
continued a Pounds harvested based on pounds used for human food, as reported by respondents.
121 APPENDIX B. (continued) CONVERSION FACTORS AND UNITS OF MEASURE, CLARK’S POINT, 1989
Conversion Unit of Resource Factor Measure
Lesser Canada Geese 2.10 Individual Canada Geese (Cacklers) 1.20 Individual Whitefront Geese 2.40 Individual Unknown Geese 1.70 Individual Swan 8.00 Individual Murre Eggs 2.00 Dozens Gull Eggs 2.00 Dozens Tern Eggs 1.20 Dozens Duck Eggs 1.30 Dozens Snipe Eggs 0.01 Dozens Butter Clams 15.00 5 Gallon Buckets Razor Clams 15.00 5 Gallon Buckets Clams (Unknown) 15.00 5 Gallon Buckets Shrimp 1.00 Gallons Berries 4.00 Gallons Plants/Greens/Mushrooms 1.00 Quarts
Source: Scott et al. 1995
122 APPENDIX C. UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA COOPERATIVE EXTENSION FOOD LIST
POTATOES Cake mix, yellow White potatoes, fresh Spaghetti, dry, plain French fried potatoes, frozen Biscuit mix Dehydrated Potatoes BREAD VEGETABLES White bread, enriched Cabbage Whole grain bread Carrots (fresh) Hamburger buns Celery Cucumbers OTHER BAKERY PRODUCTS Lettuce Crackers, saltines Onions Cookies, vanilla wafers Tomatoes (fresh) Cake, frozen, ready-to-eat Corn, canned whole kernel Pie, frozen, ready-to-bake Green beans, canned Pastry, frozen Leafy dark greens, canned Peas, canned MIXTURES, MOSTLY GRAIN Tomatoes, canned Soup, chicken noodle Beets, canned Macaroni and Cheese mix Tomato Juice MILK, YOGURT VEGETABLE CONDIMENT Whole milk Potato chips Low fat milk, 2% Catsup Dry milk (list wt. of pkg) Pickles, dill, whole Yogurt, plain
FRUIT CHEESE Apples, fresh Cottage cheese Bananas fresh Natural cheese, cheddar, mild Cantaloup, fresh American cheese, sliced Grapefruit, fresh Oranges, freh MIXTURES, MOSTLY MILK Strawberries, frozen Ice cream Applesauce, canned Fruit cocktail, canned RED MEAT, VARIETY MEAT Peaches, canned Chuck steak, bone in Pears, canned Round steak, bone In Apple juice, canned Sirloin steak, boneless Grape juice, frozen concentrate T-bone steak, bone in Grape juice, canned Chuck roast, bone in Grapefruit juice, canned Rump roast, boneless Orange juice, fresh Ground beef, regular Orange juice, frozen concentrate Pork chops, bone in Orange juice, canned Pork spareribs Ham, cured, boneless ready-to-eat BREAKFAST CEREAL Ready-to-eat (cornflakes) BACON,. SAUSAGE, LUNCHEON Oatmeal, old fashioned MEAT Bacon FLOUR, RICE PASTA Frankfurters All purpose flour, enriched Bologna Whole wheat flour Cornmeal Rice
123 APPENDIX C. UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA COOPERATIVE EXTENSION FOOD LIST
POULTRY Chicken, whole, cut or uncut Turkey, whole
FISH, SHELLFISH Fish, raw, fresh or frozen Tuna, canned
MIXTURES, MEAT, POULTRY, FISH Canned chili with beans
EGGS Eggs, large
DRY BEANS AND PEAS, NUTS Beans, dry, pintos Mature beans, canned, kidney Peas, dry, split Nuts, shelled, peanuts Peanut butter
FATS, OILS Butter Margarine Shortening Vegetable oil Mayonnaise
SUGAR, SWEETS Sugar, granulated Sugar, brown, powdered Syrup, pancake Jelly, grape Candy, bulk and/or gumdrops Pudding, dry milk
SOFT DRINKS Soda pop, Coke, 7-UP, Pepsi Drink mixes (Tang)
COFFEE, TEA Coffee, ground, 100% Coffee, instant, 100% Tea, bulk or bags (not instant)
124