Still Melting: How Climate Change and Subsistence Laws Constrain Alaska Native Village Adaptation

摘要

Subsistence hunting and fishing practices are essential to maintain the physical, economic, and cultural continuity of Alaska Native Villages ("ANVs "). The combination of rapid climate change, laws that restrict hunting and fishing, and systems for participating in decision-making about hunting and fishing all limit the ways in which ANV residents can legally adapt their subsistence practices to fluctuations in species populations and location. This Article outlines impacts to subsistence experienced by ANV residents, legal and institutional constraints to adaptation, and recommendations for change. A key finding is that subsistence-oriented adaptation takes place more often at an individual or household level, rather than at a community level. This is significant because the subsistence lifeway involves exchange with people in and beyond the community, even though the acts of hunting and fishing may be at the individual and household level. At the community level, ANVs are hindered by their lack of jurisdiction over fish and game and the challenges of participating in state and federal decision-making. Short of legal change, agencies could increase ANV participation by spending more time in ANVs and making efforts to increase involvement and employment of ANV citizens. ANV governments could improve food security by subsidizing and seeking funding to support subsistence, food storage, and other forms of food production.