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dc.contributor.authorMoerlein, Katie J.
dc.date.accessioned2020-03-28T19:57:38Z
dc.date.available2020-03-28T19:57:38Z
dc.date.issued2012-05
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11122/10937
dc.descriptionThesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2012en_US
dc.description.abstractArctic ecosystems are undergoing rapid changes as a result of global climate change, with significant implications for the livelihoods of arctic peoples. In this thesis, I use ethnographic research methods to detail prominent environmental changes observed and experienced over the past few decades and to document the impact of these changes on subsistence fishing practices in the Inupiaq communities of Noatak and Selawik in northwestern Alaska. Using in-depth key informant interviews, participant observation, and cultural consensus analysis, I explore local knowledge and perceptions of climate change and other pronounced changes facing the communities of Noatak and Selawik. I find consistent agreement about a range of perceived environmental changes affecting subsistence fisheries in this region, including lower river water levels, decreasing abundances of particular fish species, increasingly unpredictable weather conditions, and increasing presence of beaver, which affect local waterways and fisheries. These observations of environmental changes are not perceived as isolated phenomena, but are experienced in the context of accompanying social changes that are continually reshaping rural Alaska communities and subsistence economies. Consequently, in order to properly assess and understand the impacts of climate change on the subsistence practices in arctic communities, we must also consider the total environment of change that is dramatically shaping the relationship between people, communities, and their surrounding environments.en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipU.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of Subsistence Management, Project Number 10-152, Research Work Order number G10AC00473 from the U.S. Geological Survey, Alaska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, U.S. National Park Service, George Wright Melendenz Climate Change Fellowship, Alaska NSF EPSCoR Programen_US
dc.description.tableofcontentsIntroduction : arctic climate change and research approach -- Research methods and data analysis -- Noatak and Selawik : patterns of change and continuity -- Observations of climate change and impacts on subsistence fishing -- Climate change in the context of a total environment of change -- Assessing agreement about observations and perceptions of climate change -- Synthesis and future directions -- References -- Appendix.en_US
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.subjectsubsistence fishingen_US
dc.subjectAlaskaen_US
dc.subjectNoataken_US
dc.subjectSelawiken_US
dc.subjectclimatic changesen_US
dc.subjectInupiaten_US
dc.subjectfishingen_US
dc.subjecttraditional ecological knowledgeen_US
dc.titleA total environment of change: exploring social-ecological shifts in subsistence fisheries in Noatak and Selawik, Alaskaen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
dc.type.degreemsen_US
dc.identifier.departmentFisheriesen_US
refterms.dateFOA2020-03-28T19:57:39Z


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