Alaska Native Science Commission Northwest Arctic Regional Meeting Summary

1
Alaska Native Science CommissionNorthwest Arctic
Regional MeetingSummary

• Changes
• Possible Causes of Changes
• Ideas for Action

www.nativeknowledge.org
2
Changes Fish with Abnormalities

• Sores and pus on King Salmon
• King Salmon meat spotty and mushy
• King Salmon small - not fat
• King Salmon - guts fused into the stomach
• Herring - red behind the gills and under the
  scales on the body

3
Changes

• Salmon disappearing
• Low chum returns 1987 present
• Fish Board not protecting our catch - someone
  catching them before they reach us
• Kotzebue area - less whitefish, more salmon,
  lower size and quality
• No King crab large enough to keep this may be
  changing see Enochs comments this meeting.
• Addition - Norton Sound region since 1987 to
  present
• Addition Enoch finding large king crab and
  shrimp
• Question what Fish Board are you referring to?
  Board of Fish or North Pacific Fisheries
  Management Council? A Alaska Board of Fish

4
Changes Marine Mammals

• 4 dead belugas were seen washed up on the beaches
  between Cape Darby and Topkok. Since then, three
  more were seen between Elim and Koyuk (summer
  1998).
• There were seven deteriorated carcasses of gray
  whales on a beach near Shishmaref.

5
Changes Marine Mammals

• Walrus and ugruk intestines showed cysts
  especially around the kidneys.
• Two seals at White Mountain and Shishmaref were
  completely hairless and the skin was completely
  black.
• Still waiting for results on samples of two
  seals.

6
Changes New Species

• 10 years ago Silver Salmon started going by
  Diomede Island. Every year they are more
  abundant.
• Trout and whitefish are back.
• We are catching codfish with halibut lines.
• A few miles south of Tin City at York River,
  chums have returned to the river to spawn for the
  first time.
• Q east or west of Tin City? See Ellen Richards
  comment

7
Changes New Species

• Golovin area - a jack king caught when ice
  fishing in November, 1997. A pink salmon, still
  bright, was caught in October, 1998.
• Five years ago in Savoonga, I saw two small, dark
  birds - the size of snowbirds. Also a pretty
  yellow one. They survived and I saw one nesting
  in the ventilator of a house.

8
Changes Increase in Beaver

• Whitefish are only able to get halfway down from
  Whitefish Lake because of increase in beaver
  dams.
• Increase in giardia - caribou, moose, and some
  birds have giardia too.
• Beaver dams interfere with spawning.
• Beaver are moving up north where they didnt used
  to be

9
Changes Increase in Bear

• We counted 9 bears just from the coast to White
  Mountain.
• Bears drive reindeer where we dont want them to
  be and kill the fawns.
• Bears have been tearing down cabins.
• Clarify what was meant by coast to White
  Mountain.

10
Changes

• Moose numbers are down in the Golovin area. 3
  years ago (1995) we would see 30 to 40. Now we
  only see 3 or 4.
• Musk ox numbers have increased. People think of
  them as pests because they take over berry
  patches.
• Addition Musk Ox compete with reindeer and
  caribou for food. But people have realized the
  meat is great and dont complain too much
  anymore. Musk Ox were re-introduced in 1974 and
  1976.

11
Changes Caribou

• Western arctic herd is 465,000 now and migrates
  from Barrow to Nulato Hills. At Onion Portage,
  there were caribou with swollen joints, bad white
  liver spots, and lungs stuck to the ribs. 12-15
  (50 increase) show these signs. (1998)
• Addition there were collared caribou at Onion
  Portage and they made it to Kobuk around the 20th
  of August, - sickness close to 15
• Onion Portage is about 22 miles below Ambler
  the main place where caribou cross.

12
Changes Caribou

• 3,000 starved to death in 1995. They had rocks in
  their stomachs. They went out on the ice to
  commit suicide.
• Caribou are returning to the Golovin area.
• A caribou was caught with green pus around the
  organs.
• Addition We never knew why they went there and
  starved. Earl K_ of Pt. Hope so near Pt. Hope.
  There were so many caribou and snow machiners
  tried to get them to move to land and they
  wouldnt move.

13
Changes Caribou

• Reindeer are mixed up with caribou and are
  starving because of over-grazing.
• Addition reindeer are leaving their range and
  following caribou they are being targets of
  hunters and for this and other reasons arent
  coming back to their ranges.

14
Changes Health

• Increased incidence of stomach cancer, asthma,
  Alzheimers
• Higher cancer rates in some villages
• Elim rates high for people 40-50
• Increased use of drugs and alcohol affecting
  newborns
• Young people committing suicide
• Question Original statement Do we mean no
  cancer in Shaktoolik or Koyuk among 40-50 year
  olds?

15
Changes Health

• Misdiagnosis of illness - pressure not to send
  patients to Anchorage for tests and evaluations
  because of medivac costs.
• Indoor air quality - new HUD homes contain
  synthetic materials which may be carcinogenic.
• Problems of smoke in unventilated bingo halls

16
Concerns Seabirds

• Fewer murres between Nome and Golovin. 50 of
  kittiwakes and murres didnt return this year.
  The birds would just lay eggs and leave them.
• Elders at fish camp reported seeing a lot fewer
  gulls.
• Swans have increased dramatically.

17
Changes Seabirds

• Some sea gulls dont have legs.
• Eggs in nests are fewer and more shells are
  broken - greater scaup and other duck species
• Summer 1996, Savoonga - die-offs of cormorants,
  puffins and murres. They were skinny
• Q was it 97 not 96? Check with Herman

18
Changes Birds

• Ptarmigan have not been seen in good numbers for
  a few years now.
• Natives are conserving birds and then they just
  get killed by sports hunters in the lower 48.
• Elders say the meat is getting tough.
• Natives are forced not to hunt birds and then
  they just get killed by sports hunters in the
  lower 48.

19
Changes

• In Kivalina people have noticed changes in the
  tint and taste of the water. It leaves a residue
  on dishes - the odor has changed.
• Addition at the time when they were getting
  water from a different area.

20
ChangesWeather, Ice, Currents

• Ice around Savoonga usually goes out in early
  June. This year it was late June.
• 20 years ago we had ice from Shaktoolik to
  Unalakleet - now theres no ice 1.5-2 miles out.
• Ice not freezing as thick. We used to hunt seal
  by snowmachine in late October - now its
  November.
• Put in time frame

21
Changes Weather, Ice, Currents

• Last spring (1998) we only got 6 walrus because
  of weather and ice moving out too quick.
• Ice was very thin and rotted very early - Wales
  area
• We cant use the water on top of the ice for
  drinking anymore because it is too dirty.
• Identify were they got the six walrus

22
Changes Weather, Ice, Currents

• We started hearing thunder on Little Diomede
  Island in 1990.
• Skin boats used to stay out 2-3 days but now the
  weather forces you to go home in a day or two.
  (Little Diomede)
• We used to get northeast winds after northwest
  winds but now we are getting south winds which
  mess up the cycle for clamming.
• Do you mean Big Diomede or Little Diomede?

23
Changes Plants

• Vegetation stunted or non-existent at some
  remediated military sites
• Increase in willow
• Musk ox are eating the sour dock. They also eat
  the roots of other plants and trample the land.
• Greens are spoiling quicker than they used to.
• Correction they are eating the sour dock, not
  destroying it.

24
Possible Causes of Changes

• Change in winds and weather could change how
  contaminants travel
• Change in ice melt might not be only from warmer
  temperatures. It may be the sand flowing on the
  ice and melting it faster.
• Fish normally eaten by birds have gone to deeper,
  cooler waters. This could be the reason for bird
  die-offs.

25
Possible Causes of Changes

• The average temperature has risen in the last 20
  years and we think it is melting the ice and
  raising the sea level.
• Tagging species
• People dumping tons of fish out on the high seas

26
Possible Causes of Changes

• Poor indoor air quality
• Lead based paint
• Asbestos
• Military sites leaking contaminants
• Old batteries, waste oil, bad gas, refrigerators
  etc. buried in old landfills
• Landfills too close to water sources

27
Possible Causes of Changes

• Russian sources of contaminants - nuclear power
  plants, dumping of wastes
• Loss of traditional values - everyone used to
  share and to help. Thats what makes it a joy to
  live in the world.
• Berry combs destroy roots of plants.

28
Ideas for Action

• Have conferences with Elders in their Native
  languages. It is difficult for elders to get out
  their thinking in English words.
• Eat traditional foods - eating natural Native
  foods without any preservatives is part of
  keeping healthy.

29
Ideas for Action

• Put a bounty on beaver.
• Track migrating birds to see what happens to them
  - where they are hunted and in what numbers.
• Work with communities to set their own standards
  for what is safe to consume.

30
Ideas for Action

• Eat right, get exercise, stop smoking and be
  healthy.
• Make sure the alcohol connection gets into our
  statistics.

31
Ideas for Action

• Clean-up dangerous debris left by the military.
• Put monitors in our area to monitor contaminants
  from Russia.
• Make it possible for communities to test their
  foods for contaminants.
• Addition it is not just the military. It is
  also road construction, for example. So you have
  to look at other agencies as well.