Date of Award

Summer 8-16-2024

Level of Access Assigned by Author

Open-Access Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Marine Policy

Advisor

Joshua Stoll

Second Committee Member

Anthony Sutton

Third Committee Member

Darren Ranco

Additional Committee Members

Jessica Jansujwicz

Abstract

This research focuses on the policies and fisher group dynamics of the Pacific Herring (Yaaw, Clupea pallasii) fishery in Sitka Sound, Alaska. Known as Sheet’ka Kwaan to the Indigenous Tlingit people, this area has seen many changes since the industrialization of commercial fishing was introduced to the region in the 1800s. Multi-level management institutions from federal fisheries to the State of Alaska have managed the commercial fisheries of Southeast Alaska leading to the current day conflicts on user group perceptions on management practices moving forward. The current state of the fishery has led to the privatization of commercial rights and the dispossession of Indigenous rights which have contributed to these fisher group tensions and a precarious future of the fishery. As an Indigenous scholar from Lingit Aani who grew up in and surrounded by commercial fisheries in Alaska, I open my thesis by reflecting on my positionality and experience conducting research in my homelands. This project focuses on future management by examining the trends of fisheries management decisions in the region to identify mistakes of the past to inform new management decisions.

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