Traditional Knowledge

Manuscripts

Effects climate change on marine mammal hunting
Changing ice and subsistence hunting

Reports

Arctic marine mammals, including ice seals, are important for subsistence harvests by Alaskan coastal communities. These animals are also iconic Arctic marine mammals at risk from climate change. Placing satellite transmitters on seals, walrus, beluga whales, and other species provides detailed information about the movements, habitat use, and behavior of some individual animals. Satellite telemetry studies, however, are limited in the number of individuals per species that can be instrumented, therefore it is difficult to know how well tagged animal movements and behavior represent the population as a whole. Documenting traditional knowledge about timing of migration, behavior, and the age classes of marine mammals at specific locations through interviews with residents of coastal communities provides important context in which to interpret the satellite telemetry studies as well as providing contemporaneous and historical information about general patterns in marine mammal distribution, movement, and behavior that complement the science greatly. These reports summarize information gathered from interviews held in coastal communities with hunters and other knowledgeable residents.

Scammon Bay
  • Huntington, H. P., M. Nelson, and L. T. Quakenbush. 2017. Traditional knowledge regarding ringed seals, bearded seals, and walrus near Scammon Bay, Alaska. Final report to the Eskimo Walrus Commission, the Ice Seal Committee, and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management for contract #M13PC00015 10 pp.
  • Report (PDF 136 kB)
Mekoryuk
  • Huntington, H. P., M. Nelson, and L. T. Quakenbush. 2017. Traditional knowledge regarding ringed seals, bearded seals, and walrus near Mekoryuk, Alaska. Final report to the Eskimo Walrus Commission, the Ice Seal Committee, and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management for contract #M13PC00015 9 pp.
  • Report (PDF 140 kB)
Hooper Bay
  • Huntington, H. P., M. Nelson, and L. T. Quakenbush. 2017. Traditional knowledge regarding ringed seals, bearded seals, and walrus near Hooper Bay, Alaska. Final report to the Eskimo Walrus Commission, the Ice Seal Committee, and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management for contract #M13PC00015 10 pp.
  • Report (PDF 133 kB)
Shishmaref
  • Huntington, H. P., M. Nelson, and L. T. Quakenbush. 2016. Traditional knowledge regarding ringed seals, bearded seals, and walrus near Shishmaref, Alaska. Final report to the Eskimo Walrus Commission, the Ice Seal Committee, and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management for contract #M13PC00015 8 pp.
  • Report (PDF 153 kB)
Kotzebue
  • Huntington, H. P., M. Nelson, and L. T. Quakenbush. 2016. Traditional knowledge regarding ringed seals, bearded seals, and walrus near Kotzebue, Alaska. Final report to the Eskimo Walrus Commission, the Ice Seal Committee, and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management for contract #M13PC00015 11 pp.
  • Report (PDF 124 kB)
Kivalina
  • Huntington, H. P., M. Nelson, and L. T. Quakenbush. 2016. Traditional knowledge regarding ringed seals, bearded seals, and walrus near Kivalina, Alaska. Final report to the Eskimo Walrus Commission, the Ice Seal Committee, and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management for contract #M13PC00015 8 pp.
  • Report (PDF 206 kB)
St. Michael and Stebbins
  • Huntington, H. P., M. Nelson, and L. T. Quakenbush. 2015. Traditional knowledge regarding ringed seals, bearded seals, and walrus near St. Michael and Stebbins, Alaska. Final report to the Eskimo Walrus Commission, the Ice Seal Committee, and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management for contract #M13PC00015 7 pp.
  • Report (PDF 98 kB)
Elim
  • Huntington, H. P., M. Nelson, and L. T. Quakenbush. 2015. Traditional knowledge regarding ringed seals, bearded seals, and walrus near Elim, Alaska. Final report to the Eskimo Walrus Commission, the Ice Seal Committee, and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management for contract #M13PC00015 7 pp.
  • Report (PDF 98 kB)
Barrow
  • Huntington, H. P., M. Nelson, and L. T. Quakenbush. 2015. Traditional knowledge regarding walrus, ringed seals, and bearded seals near Barrow, Alaska. Final report to the Eskimo Walrus Commission, the Ice Seal Committee, and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management for contract #M13PC00015 8 pp.
  • Report (PDF 106 kB)
Point Hope
  • Huntington, H. P., and L. T. Quakenbush. 2013. Traditional knowledge regarding walrus near Point Hope, Alaska. Report to Native Village of Point Hope and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management for contract #M09PC00027 9 pp.
  • Report (PDF 101 kB)
Point Lay and Wainwright
  • Huntington, H. P., M. Nelson, and L. T. Quakenbush. 2012. Traditional knowledge regarding walrus near Point Lay and Wainwright, Alaska. Final report to the Eskimo Walrus Commission and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management for contract #M09PC00027 11 pp.
  • Report (PDF 190 kB)

Conference Abstracts, Presentations, and Posters

2017
  • Nelson, M., H. P. Huntington, and L. Quakenbush. 2017. Evaluating the effects of climate change on indigenous marine mammal hunting in northern and western Alaska using Traditional Knowledge. 22nd Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals. 22–27 October 2017, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. (Abstract and poster) (PDF 1,528 kB)
2016
  • Huntington, H. P., L. Quakenbush, and M. Nelson. 2016. The effects of changing sea ice on marine mammals and their hunters in northern Alaska. Alaska Marine Science Symposium, 25–29 January, Anchorage, AK. (Abstract and poster) (PDF 867 kB)
2015
  • Huntington, H. P., L. Quakenbush, and M. Nelson. 2015. The effects of changing sea ice on marine mammals and their hunters in northern Alaska. Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union, 14–18 December, San Francisco, CA. (Abstract and poster) (PDF 826 kB)
2012
  • Nelson, M., J. Goodwin, and L. Quakenbush. 2012. Subsistence harvest records for ice seals in Alaska, 1960–2010. Alaska Marine Science Symposium, 16–20 January, Anchorage, AK. (Abstract and poster) (PDF 950 kB)
2009
  • Nelson, M., L. Quakenbush, J. Citta. 2009. The subsistence harvest of ice seals in Alaska–Has it changed in 40 years? 18th Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals, 12–16 October, Quebec City, Canada. (Abstract and poster) (PDF 3,198 kB)