This year the Alaska Department of Fish and Game had their proposal to conduct a community harvest survey in Unalaska funded through the Office of Subsistence Management’s Fisheries Resource Monitoring Program. This project is being led by Brian Davis and Amy Wiita with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game Division of Subsistence with support from the Aleut Corporation and the Qawalangin Tribe.
Results of this study will provide updated community harvest data for salmon, nonsalmon fish species, and all wild food harvested. The study will collect local traditional knowledge and participant observation information about the subsistence salmon fishery in the community of Unalaska. In addition, it will determine if four years without commercial trawl fishing in Unalaska Bay has impacted the local fisheries. Principal investigators and collaborators from the Aleut Corporation, the Qawalangin Tribe and the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge will work with the Unalaska school to include students in the participant observation and key respondent interview portions of the research.
Important Dates:
- March 2019: Community scoping meeting
- June and July 2019: Researchers will participate in and observe salmon fishing in Unalaska Bay with the Qawalangin Tribe and conduct the initial key respondent interviews
- February and March of 2020: Household Harvest Surveys will be administered
- April through October 2020: Survey and preliminary key respondent interview data will be analyzed
- November 2020: Draft research findings presented at a community review meeting
- 2021: Final Report will be shared with community members and participating councils