Go to NPRB
Go to NSF

Major research areas

The goal of community-based research is to incorporate results of LTK research into BSIERP ecosystem models and syntheses.

Local harvest practices

  • Document, characterize and quantify
  • Analyze change over time

Local ecosystem understandings

  • Document and characterize
  • Compare and share with BSIERP natural science

Comparison across communities

  • Integrate results from Harvest and Ecosystem research
  • Examine patterns, trends, and associations

Human Communities

Communities participating in this study are Akutan, Emmonak, Nelson Island, Savoonga, St. Paul, and Togiak.

kids from emmonak, alaska

All have a history of research on local and traditional knowledge and/or subsistence harvest surveys, which will provide useful information and a basis for identifiying trends and changes over spans of a decade or more.

St. Paul, in particular, has a strong connection to fur seals, black-legged kittiwakes, and thick-billed murres, which are three key species to be studied in BSIERP. Savoonga is similary connected to walrus, another BSIERP species.

Download a poster that summarizes the local and traditional knowledge (LTK) component of the Bering Sea Project.

See a map of the study region.

Akutan (Aleutian region)

akutan, alaskaAkutan is located on Akutan Island in the eastern Aleutians, one of the Krenitzin Islands of the Fox Island group.

  • Population: 796
  • Language/culture group: Unangan (Aleut)

 

emmonak, alaskaEmmonak (Delta region)

Emmonak is located at the mouth of the Yukon River, 10 miles from the Bering Sea, on the north bank of Kwiguk Pass. It lies 120 air miles northwest of Bethel and 490 air miles from Anchorage, in the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge.

  • Population: 794
  • Language/culture group: Central Yup'ik

 

 

Nelson Island from the airNelson Island (Delta region)

Nelson Island, located in coastal Western Alaska, has three villages, all located on the Bering Sea coast in the southwest part of the island: Tununak in the west, Toksook Bay southeast of Tununak, and Nightmute in the east.

  • Combined Population: 1,186
  • Language/culture group: Central Yup'ik

 

savoogna, alaskaSavoonga (St. Lawrence region)

Savoonga is located on the northern coast of St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea, 164 miles west of Nome. It lies 39 miles southeast of Gambell.

St. Paul IslandSt. Paul (Pribilof region)

St. Paul is located on a narrow peninsula on the southern tip of St. Paul Island, the largest of five islands in the Pribilofs. It lies 47 miles north of St. George Island, 240 miles north of the Aleutian Islands, 300 miles west of the Alaska mainland, and 750 air miles west of Anchorage.

  • Population: 470
  • Language/culture group: Unangan (Aleut)

togiak, alaskaTogiak (Bristol Bay region)

Togiak is located at the head of Togiak Bay, 67 miles west of Dillingham. It lies in Togiak National Wildlife Refuge, and is the gateway to Walrus Island Game Sanctuary.

  • Population: 802
  • Language/culture group: Central Yup'ik