NPFMC’s local and traditional knowledge recommendations receive broad support

Recommendations on how to include local and traditional knowledge into the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) has received broad support from tribes, industry groups, environmental groups, and other stakeholders.

“At a time when our fisheries are in crisis, and the subsistence Way of Life practiced by our people since time immemorial is in jeopardy, it is imperative that we use all available resource to identify solutions to this disaster – including traditional and indigenous knowledge,” Association of Village Council Presidents CEO Vivian Korthuis said in supporting the recommendations.

In 2020, the NPFMC created the Local Knowledge, Traditional Knowledge, and Subsistence (LKTKS) Taskforce and directed it to identify potential onramps for incorporating local and traditional knowledge – and related social science – into its decision-making process. The taskforce has returned with 11 individual recommendations, ranging from providing opportunities for tribes to engage directly with the council to creating dedicated Alaska Native Tribal seats to its various advisory bodies and committees. In October 2022, the council added a designated Alaska Native Tribal seat to its Advisory Panel, an action that the taskforce would like to see expanded.

The taskforce also created a protocol for identifying, analyzing, and incorporating traditional and local knowledge, which it has asked the council to adopt. Last year, the LKTKS Task Force created a …

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