2015, Pages 301–331
Chapter 11 – First Nations Perspectives on Sea Otter Conservation in British Columbia and Alaska: Insights into Coupled Human–Ocean Systems
Highly
valued, hunted, managed, and traded by indigenous people for at least
12,000 years, sea otters share a deep history of interactions with
humans along North America’s northwest coast. Yet the nineteenth century
extirpation and subsequent recovery of sea otters triggered profound
ecological, cultural, and socio-economic transformations that continue
to elicit complex trade-offs that coastal communities grapple with
today. To expand our understanding of past baselines, future recovery
targets, and the role First Nations in British Columbia and Alaska once
played in altering and managing coastal resources, including sea otters,
we synthesized evidence from archeological faunal remains, historical
records, traditional knowledge, and contemporary ecological research.
Archeological evidence suggests that sea otter hunting was a significant
and widespread practice among aboriginal people in this area throughout
the Holocene, although the magnitude of use varied spatially.
Furthermore, isotopic evidence suggests that over the millennia, sea
otters may have been reduced in numbers, existing below carrying
capacity, and excluded near human settlements. Furthermore, traditional
knowledge and historical records reveal that indigenous peoples of the
northwest coast developed diverse technologies to conserve and manage
coastal marine resources, such as selective harvesting, seasonal
restrictions on use or consumption, and proprietorship that was
contingent on sustained productivity. Ancient marine tenure systems and
governance protocols based on reciprocity were used to conserve and
spatially manage most marine species, including sea otters. Current
First Nations perspectives on sea otter conservation and management vary
among people and through time as sea otter population status changes,
as communities adapt to this perturbation, and as new legal frameworks
supporting First Nations rights to co-management emerge.
Keywords
- Alternative state;
- food security;
- kelp forest;
- indigenous food system;
- resilience;
- social-ecological system;
- shellfish;
- traditional resource management;
- traditional knowledge;
- transformation
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