A Synthesis of Laaqudax^ (Northern Fur Seal) Community Surveys and Commercial Fishery Data in the Pribilof Islands Marine Ecosystem, Alaska

Abstract

Indigenous communities on the Pribilof Islands have longstanding cultural and economic ties to their marine ecosystem and, in particular, to laaqudan (in Unangam Tunuu) or northern fur seals (NFS; Callorhinus ursinus). Indigenous and Local Knowledge holders from the Pribilof Islands have long expressed concerns about declines in NFS abundance, and research increasingly suggests that nutritional limitation is a key factor in the decline. Using a co-production of knowledge approach, we explore perceptions of NFS ecology and commercial fishery interactions in the Pribilof Islands Marine Ecosystem (PRIME). We synthesize results from community surveys and analyses of commercial pollock (Gadus chalcogrammus) fishery catch data from 2004–2018 relative to documented NFS foraging areas. Community survey results highlighted ecosystem changes and nutritional limitation as primary drivers of recent declines in Pribilof Islands NFS. Consistent with these results, pollock catch data indicate there are concentrated areas of pollock harvest over time near the Pribilof Islands where female NFS forage. These results reinforce the value of considering Indigenous and Local Knowledge and western science together to better understand ecosystem interactions. Our findings also support the consideration of Indigenous and Local Knowledge-based approaches in combination with spatiotemporal management to mitigate NFS nutritional limitation and Pribilof Islands NFS declines.