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Co-Management: Science & Alaska Native Collaboration

How the Alaska SeaLife Center navigates complex regulatory and cultural landscapes in partnership with Indigenous communities.

By SAAMS Cultural & Tribal Liaison · ·7 min read

Operating a marine wildlife rescue and research program in Alaska requires navigating a unique and complex legal, regulatory, and cultural landscape. Under federal laws like the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), Alaska Native communities possess unique, federally protected rights to harvest marine mammals for subsistence hunting, handicraft creation, and traditional dietary needs.

For a non-profit scientific institution like the Alaska SeaLife Center (ASLC) to succeed, its conservation and rescue operations must never conflict with tribal sovereignty. Instead, the Center operates under a progressive model of tribal co-management, working in direct partnership with Alaska Native organizations.

The Co-Management Framework

Under Section 119 of the MMPA, federal agencies (such as NOAA and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) can enter into formal co-management agreements with Alaska Native organizations to cooperatively manage marine mammal populations.

ASLC works directly with these authorized tribal commissions:

  • The Ice Seal Committee (ISC): Co-manages ringed, spotted, bearded, and ribbon seals, ensuring that research projects and rescue intakes respect subsistence needs and local populations.
  • The Eskimo Walrus Commission (EWC): Represents 19 coastal communities in co-managing Pacific walruses, partnering on calves stranded in remote northern villages.
  • The Alaska Nanuq Commission: Cooperates on polar bear sightings and emergency response protocols.
       +---------------------------------------------+
       |           MMPA Section 119 Framework        |
       |  +---------------------------------------+  |
       |  |  Alaska Native Co-Management Groups   |  |
       |  |  (Subsistence Rights & Local Wisdom)  |  |
       |  |  +---------------------------------+  |  |
       |  |  |  Ice Seal Committee (ISC)       |  |  |
       |  |  |  Eskimo Walrus Commission (EWC) |  |  |
       |  |  +---------------------------------+  |  |
       |  +---------------------------------------+  |
       +---------------------------------------------+

Stranding Coordination in Subsistence Communities

When a sick, injured, or orphaned marine mammal is reported in a remote Alaska Native village, ASLC does not simply dispatch a rescue team. The Center immediately contacts the local tribal council and co-management representatives:

  1. Tribal Approval: Rescuers seek tribal consensus before retrieving any animal from local subsistence hunting grounds.
  2. Community Integration: ASLC partners with local residents to coordinate logistics, hire village boats, and integrate traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) into the response.
  3. Indigenous Naming: Rescued animals are frequently named in the local Indigenous language (such as Uki / Ukiaq, meaning “autumn” in Iñupiaq) to honor the community that initiated the rescue.

Merging Science and Traditional Wisdom

The integration of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) has significantly enriched ASLC’s research division. While laboratory scientists collect blood chemistry and genetic profiles, Alaska Native hunters contribute crucial longitudinal observations regarding migration timing, sea ice dynamics, and changing dietary patterns.

This cooperative co-management model ensures that marine mammal conservation at ASLC is not an academic exercise imposed from the outside, but a shared, respectful partnership that safeguards both Alaska’s marine ecosystems and the living, traditional cultures that have relied upon them for thousands of years.