The common good: salmon science, the conservation crisis, and the shaping of Alaskan political culture

Abstract

Without a doubt, the salmon fishery in Alaska has been at the forefront of natural resource debates and has served as an example of ineffective, misunderstood, and controversial policies, as well as many missed opportunities to better understand the resource. Management of Alaska's longest lasting natural resource industry is contingent upon an evolving scientific understanding of salmon. At the same time, policy has been shaped by political, economic, cultural, and social phenomena. Considering these parts of the historical narrative of the Alaska salmon industry demonstrates the fundamental challenges of fisheries management: reconciling biological limitation, economic demands, and cultural practices. This study contextualizes modern salmon management in Alaska by analyzing early- to mid-twentieth century conservation efforts within these constraints. To begin, some fundamental questions arise in the analysis of salmon management: why did managers make the decisions they did? What were limits faced by managers and the science they relied on? Also, how did political, economic, and cultural forces impact these decisions? By addressing these questions in a historical analysis, a fuller understanding of modern salmon management in Alaska is found. Answering these questions shapes this thesis and supports the argument that economic, political, and cultural factors often influenced changing policies as much as technological advances and ecological understanding did. In particular, Alaska's unique transition to statehood in the mid-twentieth century - a period when huge advances in ecology were underway - highlights how science often took a backseat to other concerns.