Urban harvests: food security and local fish and shellfish in Southcentral Alaska

Abstract

Background: Alaska is known for its many fisheries, which support an extensive global marketplace, a thriving tourism industry, and also contribute much to diets of many Alaskans. Yet, some research has suggested that Alaska's food security has been impacted negatively by the development of export-oriented commercial fisheries and tourism-oriented sport fisheries. In this paper, we discuss two sets of interviews that we completed with participants in two food fisheries in the Kenai Peninsula region of Southcentral Alaska: sockeye dipnet fishing and razor clam digging. Results:We encountered a great deal of cultural and socioeconomic diversity among the participants of each, though a far greater proportion of the clam fishery were Alaska Native than in the salmon fishery. In both fisheries, people report participating both as a matter of food security and family tradition. Likewise, participants in both fisheries reported a great deal of experience with and knowledge of the fisheries. Many clam diggers worried that the fishery was being overharvested, despite the apparent abundance of clams that year, and this proved prescient to the fishery's closure 2 years later. In the salmon fishery, some people were similarly concerned about the sustainability of the fisheries.Conclusions: Ultimately, our paper provides a descriptive account of participants in these two fisheries and sheds light on how important wild food harvests can be to the food security of Alaska's urban residents. We recommend that future resource management policies continue to support the role of fisheries in local food security.

A scoping review of traditional food security in Alaska

“…Yet, to our knowledge, few studies have investigated the contribution of traditional foods to food security in urban areas. These include Fazzino and Loring [35] who focus specifically on the experiences of food bank users who have recently moved to urban areas from rural communities, and Harrison and Loring [47] who interviewed harvesters of salmon and clams in Cook Inlet. This research gap could be significant for understanding the health status of urban indigenous peoples, because as noted, the increased consumption of store-bought foods has been shown to decrease nutrient and diet quality and increase the potential for chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes and heart disease in both Alaska and the Circumpolar North [4,48–50].…”

“…A fuller understanding of the role traditional foods play for those living in urban communities will also support policies to increase availability and access of these foods, such as provision of subsidies to help secure traditional foods or explicit allowance of traditional foods in food assistance programs. Such policy initiatives could also serve to strengthen the food system of indigenous populations throughout the state [45,47]. …”

Cryptosporidium and Giardia in locally harvested clams in Iqaluit, Nunavut

“…Clams ( Mya truncata) are an easily accessible and important country food in many communities in Inuit Nunangat and are typically harvested during the summer and fall (Caughey et al, ; Harrison & Loring, ; Priest & Usher, ; Rideout, ; Samuelson, ). In Iqaluit, Nunavut, clam harvesting areas on large tidal flats adjacent to the community can be accessed on foot, and clam harvesting areas further afield can be reached by boat (Dale, Leech, McCann, & Samuelson, ).…”