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ABSTRACT. Well-being and equity are increasingly identified as integral to environmental governance and improved sustainability outcomes. Greater consideration of these dimensions has generated calls for more data and new methodologies capable of collecting, evaluating, and converting social and cultural data into formats deemed more useful to decision makers. These efforts expose gaps and challenges related to an over reliance on quantitative data, especially when it comes to adequately accounting for the well-being of Indigenous communities. Located along the western shore of Nanvarpak (Lake Iliamna) in southwest Alaska, this paper examines Indigenous conceptions of well-being and provides insights on how to better account for the well-being of Indigenous communities in sustainable governance. Carried out in partnership with the Tribal Nation of Igyaraq (Igiugig), we draw on ethnographic and interview data to identify and examine three foundational elements of Indigenous well-being: (1) land relations or nunaka (my land, my birthplace), inclusive of one’s responsibility to ensure continuation of a way of life defined by connections to ancestral lands; (2) sovereignty; and (3) effective governance. We pay special attention to the implications of Indigenous well-being as primarily expressed and achieved through enactments of sovereignty and nation-building. We draw attention to the need for greater investment in diverse scientific expertise and data but caution against assuming that more science will lead to better governance. There is a need to acknowledge the ways in which dominant Western science-policy structures do not serve Indigenous communities. Our research suggests that you cannot adequately account for Indigenous well-being without explicit consideration of governance, and the often taken for granted value assumptions and political conditions that quietly frame policy debates and scientific understandings of what data are considered useful and what impacts are considered acceptable. This paper demonstrates the fundamental importance of centering sovereignty in not only well-being and equity considerations, but as a central tenet of ethical scientific inquiry and environmental governance more broadly. 

This article provides perspectives on the graying of the fleet and research efforts to understand it in Alaska fisheries, discusses recent abrupt multifaceted challenges faced by Alaskan fishermen, and compares divergent public perceptions and support programs for farmers and fishermen in the United States. Equity concerns have seen a resurgence in academic and policy realms and the graying of the fleet is now a common example of distributional inequity, yet despite in-depth research attention on the issue, few substantive programmatic modifications have been made to address it in Alaska. Aging trends in United States fisheries have typically been framed as one of changing aspirational preferences. Research suggests coastal youth do desire and highly value fishing careers, but structural and financial barriers limit opportunities for new generations. The precarity of the fishing industry was highlighted in 2023 with sudden global seafood market instability, rising interest rates and operating costs, destabilized geopolitical tensions, and hastening climate change impacts. This recent industry turmoil disproportionately impacts those on the margins and adds an additional layer of complexity to addressing graying of the fleet trends. Unlike in fisheries, there are numerous federal programs to support young farmers and the agricultural industry. This paper calls for proactive and comprehensive measures to stabilize and support fishing communities and the viability of next generation pathways amidst recent fishing industry market turmoil and longer term inequities in fishery governance. 

ABSTRACT. Indigenous Peoples and salmon in the lands now called Alaska have been closely entwined for at least 12,000 years. Salmon continue to be central to the ways of life of Alaska Natives, contributing to physical, social, economic, cultural, spiritual, psychological, and emotional well-being. Salmon have also become important to Alaskan settlers. Our research and advisory team conducted a synthesis of what is known about these diverse human–salmon relationships, drawing on 865 published scientific studies; Indigenous knowledge; state, federal, and tribal data; archival materials; oral histories; and cross-cultural dialogs at working group meetings. Two important socio-cultural dimensions of salmon–people systems emerged from this synthesis as fundamentally important but largely invisible outside of Indigenous communities and the social science disciplines that work closely with these communities: (1) the deep relationships between Indigenous Peoples and salmon and (2) the pronounced inequities that threaten these relationships and stewardship systems. These deep relationships are evident in the spiritual, cultural, social, and economic centrality of salmon across time and cultures in Alaska. We describe Indigenous salmon stewardship systems for the Tlingit, Ahtna, and Central Yup'ik. The inequities in Alaska's salmon systems are evident in the criminalization and limitation of traditional fishing ways of life and the dramatic alienation of Indigenous fishing rights. The loss of fish camps and legal battles over traditional hunting and fishing rights through time has caused deep hardship and stress. Statewide, the commodification and marketization of commercial fishing rights has dispossessed Indigenous communities from their human and cultural rights to fishing ways of life; as a result, many rural and Indigenous youth struggle to gain access to fishing livelihoods, leaving many fishing communities in a precarious state. These deep relationships and relatively recent fractures have motivated a concerted effort by a group of committed Indigenous and western scholars to better understand the root causes and opportunities for redress, as well as to document the breadth of research that has already been conducted, in an effort to improve the visibility of these often-overlooked dimensions of our salmon systems. 

ABSTRACT. Salmon are intrinsic to health and well-being in Alaska, and sit at the center of myriad social, cultural, and spiritual practices, norms, and values. These practices and values are essential to living and being well in many communities in Alaska, but often remain invisible and unaccounted for in management contexts. This paper stems from the collective efforts of a cross-disciplinary, crosscultural project team brought together as part of the State of Alaska’s Salmon and People (SASAP) knowledge synthesis project. In this paper, we assess the sustainability and equity of Alaska salmon systems through a well-being framework. Key objectives include (1) defining and conceptualizing well-being in the context of Alaska salmon systems; (2) developing and assessing well-being indicators for Alaska salmon systems; and (3) evaluating how well-being concepts are currently incorporated into Alaska salmon management and suggesting improvements. We draw on specific examples to evaluate the application of well-being indicators as a tool to more effectively measure and evaluate social considerations, and discuss how to better integrate well-being concepts into governance and management to improve data collection and decision making. As part of this effort, we discuss trends and inequities in Alaska fisheries and communities that impact well-being, and tensions between equality and equity in the context of Alaska salmon management.