When: Monday, November 6th, 6:00 PM Where: St Peter’s by Book the Sea Episcopal Church - 611 2021 Tide Lincoln St Alaska Southeast
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Skagway Shop 381 Fifth Ave Skagway, AK 99840 907-983-2851
Award-winning bags, camera accessories, GoPro mounts and other gear that helps you follow your passions.
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Haines Shop 24 Portage St Haines, AK 99827 907-766-2869
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Boat-to-doorstep seafood, focused on community, quality and traceability. www.sitkasalmonshares.com 216 Smith St B Sitka, AK 99835 salmonsupport@sitkasalmonshares.com Remote fly in fishing and wilderness adventure lodge. www.flyfishalaska.com 800-613-6551 P.O. Box 2187 Sitka, Alaska 99835
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(907) 697-2257 P.O. Box 26 Gustavus, AK 99826 www.glacierbayseakayaks.com info@glacierbayseakayaks.com Sign up to become a SEACC Business Partner today: www.seacc.org/business_partners or contact Conor Lendrum at info@seacc.org or call 907-586-6942.
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8375 Old Dairy Road Juneau, Alaska 99801 907-789-4370
Southeast Alaska Conservation Council 2207 Jordan Ave, Juneau, Alaska 99801 www.seacc.org
The Future of Water and Land Thank you for picking up the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council’s (SEACC) 2021 Tide Book! We hope this information will assist you in planning your Inside Passage adventures, whether you are beachcombing rocky shores, kayaking with humpbacks, or harvesting wild Alaskan seafood. If you don’t see your community’s tide pages, please see the tidal corrections. SEACC is grateful to everyone who contributed their experience and knowledge to this tide book. We hope you can get to know your Southeast Alaskan neighbors by reading their stories. If you want to become a member, flip to the end of the interviews and find out more about how to support SEACC.
Southeast Alaska, the home of the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian since time immemorial, is made of deep fjords, dense old-growth forest, and an abundance of wildlife. The communities of the panhandle, from Yakutat to Metlakatla, rely on the web of life woven through the water and the land to support their lifestyles and livelihoods. Pristine waters flow with wild seafood, supporting individuals and families, and provide a plethora of opportunities for recreation. The interviews in this tide book share the relationships Southeast Alaskans have with the Inside Passage through their lives as fishers, artists, and lovers of water. Their words will show you their desire for a future with clean water, healthy people, and further preservation of the Tongass and Inside Passage.
Tongass Forest Program Deep in the Tongass on a rainy summer afternoon, a bald eagle soars over the Inside Passage, searching for a scrumptious meal of juicy, nutrient-rich king salmon. Down below, people aboard a sport fishing boat are doing the same. It’s all part of daily life in the Tongass National Forest, an ancient forest that supports all life here in Southeast Alaska and is the traditional homelands of the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian peoples who use the forest for traditional hunting, fishing, gathering, and arts. The Tongass is what’s known as a “living forest,” and is an economic engine for Southeast Alaskans. The regional tourism and fishing industries together generate more than $480 million in earnings annually and employ more than 11,000 people. Globally the Tongass is important because the forest holds eight percent of all carbon stored in U.S. National Forests and is recognized as a globally significant carbon storage reserve.
Photo by Leon Werdinger
The Tongass is one of the last intact temperate rainforests left in the world. For over 50 years SEACC and the Forest Team have worked to preserve the Tongass from industrial scale old-growth clearcut logging and needless road building. Our goal as the Forest Team is to ensure that some of the most important wildlife habitats, cultural and recreational areas, and places of importance for Southeast Alaskan communities are preserved for future generations. You can support the Forest Team at SEACC by… 1. Becoming a member on our website: www.seacc.org/donate 2. Staying informed about the issues threatening the prosperity of the Tongass. Learn more at: www.seacc.org/tongass 3. Encouraging your elected officials to support protections for Alaska’s crown jewel
Inside Passage Waters Program Southeast Alaska is as much water as it is land. Here, the interconnected web of the Inside Passage is home to lush wild salmon rivers and immense watersheds that feed the trees of the Tongass and the oceans of the world. It is a place teeming with biodiversity from whales and moose, to eagles and bears, to salmon and human communities. There is wisdom here too, connection, balance, and resilience - lessons learned through millennia of change and adaptation. Yet, balance is becoming more difficult in a world of rapid change and large-scale resource extraction. Our Inside Passage Waters Program supports Southeast Alaskan communities in having a strong voice, developing solutions for managing, protecting, and benefiting from local waterways, and learning from local knowledge about what works for maintaining balance in this place.
Photo by Michele Cornelius
We envision a healthy, resilient, flourishing Inside Passage, in which communities play a central role in governing local waterways in a holistic, equitable, and collaborative way. To achieve this vision, we provide resources to: 1. Advocate for water policies, practices, and philosophies that lead to systemic change throughout the region. 2. Respond to requests from community members and decision-makers for the science-based information and tools needed to support healthy waters in our region. 3. Create opportunities for multiple narratives, artistic expression, and solutions-based approaches to be included in developing an alternative economic vision for Southeast Alaska, post-mining and logging. Learn more at: www.seacc.org/our-work/inside-passage/
Zorza Szatkowski Haines, Alaska Zorza: “I like to draw pictures of dragons and play with friends. I like all the cool stuff I find washed up on the beach, and all the strange shapes the ice makes on the beach in winter.” Jessica: “We were sailing down the Lynn Canal one summer when Zorza was a toddler, and we were suddenly surrounded by a pod of orcas. Zorza was on the bow of the boat, right up near them, and fortunately he was clipped in because he would have climbed through the rails and joined them, he was so enchanted. With a dreamy look on his face, Zorza begged to be allowed to swim with the orcas.”
Zorza is 8 years old and has spent his life enjoying the natural wonders of the Chilkat Valley. His mom, Jessica, is the executive director of Lynn Canal Conservation and his dad is a naturalist, so Zorza has already learned a lot about the living world. In spring, he likes to go dipnetting for eulachon (hooligan) in Chilkoot Inlet. In the fall, their family uses a subsistence river net to catch sockeye and coho salmon. Zorza always looks forward to winter when he can cross-country ski again. When he is older, Zorza wants the water to be as clean and healthy as it is now and be full of life! Zorza’s name is Polish for “northern lights,” or “the light that comes from the sky.”
Ashlynn Leask, Nłüü k’aay
Metlakatla, Alaska
“I have always gone with my family to harvest seaweed, I started going when I was a baby. I was 6 years old when I went on a seiner with my family to harvest seaweed at Cape Chacon for the first time. I was supposed to keep my great-grandma Ruth Booth company on the boat while my family picked. The boat left at 2 a.m. and I was so excited, I stayed awake the whole time. Then when we got there I finally fell asleep. When I woke up I had missed the whole thing, my great-grandma said she had to talk to herself because I was snoring away. I’ll always remember that.”
Ashlynn Leask is 10 years old and has lived in Metlakatla, AK for her whole life. Her Sm’algyax name, Nłüü k’aay, means under the eagle’s wing because she learns year-round from her grandma Melody Leask and aunty Naomi Leask. Her father is teaching her how to drive their boat, so she can gather seaweed and go for boat rides on her own when she is older. Ashlynn enjoys living in Metlakatla because her family can harvest seafood. Her grandma Melody taught her a lot about gathering and the practice is important to Ashlynn because she wants to keep the traditions that were passed down by her family. In the future, Ashlynn wants the ocean to be healthy, so that she can always harvest and remain healthy herself.
Torah Zamora Ketchikan, Alaska
“ I always yearned to be more connected and learn more, so I had the opportunity to go over to the Skeena River. I was able to go dip net for ooligans (hooligans) and my boyfriend and I went with the intention of valuing the experience just knowing that our ancestors have done this for thousands of years in this river. Being able to walk out into the crispy, cold river and watch the seagulls swarm all around, eating the ooligan as they do every year. It just really felt right. I didn’t really know what to do. I just dipped my net down and hoped for the best and there were ooligan in my net. My boyfriend looked at me and he said “your body remembers”.
Torah is Tsimshian and was born and raised in Ketchikan. Since her return home from college, Torah has focused on language work and sustainable living. As an anthropology major, she learned about language loss and revitalization and being away from home helped her realize the importance and value of her heritage. Whenever Torah goes outside, it is a process of rebuilding her relationship with land, but also her language because the two are inseparable. In the past, Torah worked with local youth and experienced the disconnect many young Alaskans have with the environment. She believes we need to give more opportunities for Native youth and all youth to foster their relationship with the ocean and land because “you take care of what you know.”
Julia Gregory, Káa Kayat.óo Hoonah, Alaska Photo by Carol Lahnum
“Subsistence is something I’ve been enjoying teaching my kids at this age because I didn’t really get that growing up in Juneau. My 4-year-old is learning how to fillet a fish and my 3-year-old is learning how to pack it into jars. I don’t want to see the correlation of increased population and pollution, with decreased fish happen in a town like Hoonah where my kids are growing up. I want them to have the ability to provide for me and their grandparents when we are older. I think for the future of the ocean, we need to work on preserving the waters the best we can.”
Káa Kayat.óo is Julia’s Tlingit name
passed down from her maternal greatgrandmother’s sister, Johanna Albeyade. She is Kaagwaantaan of the Box House and a child of the Deisheetaan from the End of the Trail House in Angoon. Julia is a fulltime student, seeking her bachelor degree in Business Administration from the University of Alaska Southeast, and a full-time mother to her two daughters, teaching them about their relationship with the water and land.
While growing up in Juneau, Julia
often spent summers fishing in Hoonah with her grandmother to stock up on sockeye and coho for the winters when resources were more scarce. It was not until she was older and realized how much work fishing and storing could be, that she fully appreciated the labor of love.
Ricky Tagaban, L’éiw Yéil Juneau, Alaska “The land and the water are inseparable with who we are as Tlingit People and as people who choose to live here. We’ve chosen to live here continually for 14,000 years. All of our crafts reflect our relationship with the land and the intimate history we have. I’m not going to eat a fish I caught myself, I’m going to give away parts of it. I’ll give the best parts to people in my family who aren’t able to go fishing and other people I love, like my chosen family. By taking care of each other in that way, we are also furthering our relationship to this place.”
Ricky is a lifelong Juneau resident and is a traditional Tlingit weaver, using cedar bark and commercial wool. More recently, he has transitioned into using mountain goat wool, because it is the original material used by the Tlingit people. He makes both contemporary and traditional pieces, such as ceremonial garments, accessories, and art. Ricky’s work is decolonized in the sense that he doesn’t work a typical 9-5 schedule. Harvesting food and producing artwork are valued equally for him personally and he reflects that in his schedule. It is one of his favorite parts about being self-employed because when he is not weaving, he’s fishing. With the future of the water in mind, Ricky thinks about his son and hopes the water is even more protected than it is now.
Kelly McLaughlin Gustavus, Alaska “I grew up fishing on the river, from the dock, on the boat, or however we could! In my estimation, it seems like there were more fish then. I would like to see a return to that perceived abundance. I think it is really scary that our fish numbers seem to be dropping. It’s really important to me to have responsible regulations around water quality as well as fish harvesting, so we are not over-fishing, so that the fish can sustainably return, year after year, to the clean rivers and streams that nurture them.”
Kelly is a fourth generation Southeast Alaskan. She is the owner of the Fireweed Gallery, Coffee and Tea House and focuses on local and sustainable products by supporting Gustavus-based artists and sourcing her food and coffee products from the community. Kelly has a deep love for the water and mountains and is an active member of the Gustavus community. In 2018, she started the Gustavus PFAS Action Coalition (GPAC), which formed out of a need for answers surrounding the community’s contaminated drinking water and the plume that reaches the Salmon River, a tidal river that supports salmon runs. In 2020, GPAC received a grant to collect fish samples to better understand the PFAS content of several species of fish in the Salmon River.
Louise Brady Sitka, Alaska
Photo by Bethany Goodrich
“I really don’t think people can get a sense of the importance of what people call the subsistence lifestyle because I don’t know if many people know the history of how this land was taken, but we were punished through the Presbyterian Church and the government and told we couldn’t speak our language. The herring were central to everything, because they were the first, what western society calls, subsistence foods to come in. The Forest Service burned our smokehouses down and in reality, what they were doing was destroying our economy. What people love about Southeast Alaska, the salmon, plant life, beach asparagus, salmon berries, and seaweed, that’s our way of life.” To learn more about Louise, herring, and koo.éex’ go to: seacc.org/blog_louisebrady
Louise is Kiks.adi of Sheet’ká Kwaan (Sitka, Alaska), from the Point House. She was born and raised in Sitka and her family has been there for thousands of years. Since the ‘90s, Louise has focused on learning the Tlingit and Kiks.adi culture. She is the co-founder of the Sheet’ká Kwaan dance group and is a strong advocate for Indigenous rights. In 2018, she helped organize Sitka’s first Herring Koo.éex’, what people may know as a potlatch. Louise hopes the water will be teeming with herring again and that her great grandchildren will have a sense of joy while taking their first bites of herring eggs in the spring. She wants people to understand how healing the water is and learn how to cherish that again.
Vivian Faith Prescott Wrangell, Alaska Vivian and Mitchell live in Wrangell, AK at Mickey’s Fish Camp, named after their family’s four generations of fishermen. Mitchell has spent most of his life fishing in the Inside Passage and is now sharing his knowledge with Vivian. The fish camp is a central location for their family to harvest together and pass down traditions. They are of Sámi and Finnish heritage, among others, and Vivian is adopted into the T’akdeintaan clan, her children’s clan. As an author and poet, Vivian has found herself relying heavily on her relationship with the currents, tides, river, and silt for her work. Vivian and her daughter have a blog, Planet Alaska, where they write about their lives as Alaskan artists and writers, living off the land.
Mitchell Prescott
Wrangell, Alaska Vivian: “Most people made their livings in the 1970s through a combination of fisheries. Living at the mouth of the Stikine River, I probably should have known 30 years ago what I’m learning from my dad now about the river and currents. It would have helped me be a better fisherman. Mitchell: “When I was younger, everyone fished one fishery. They never branched out to more than one like my daughter in the 1970s, but I worked several fisheries. I started out power trolling because my dad was a power troller and then I branched out to seining and halibut fishing. So, I have a bit of that in my background.”
Alaska’s Fish
Consumption Rate
dkf UnukAlaska’s 44,000 miles of coastline remain home to some of the cleanest waters and healthiest salmon runs left in the world. These resources, at the heart of our economy, cultures, and lifestyles, are what make Alaska resilient. Unfortunately, the regulations protecting them remain very weak – some of the weakest in the nation. Under the Clean Water Act, the State of Alaska is required to protect the health of our waters for current Alaskans and future generations. It is the State’s responsibility to limit the amount of pollution that enters Alaskan waters by setting Water Quality Criteria - the maximum limits of pollution allowable to keep water safe for human and aquatic life. Water Quality Criteria are set to protect human health and are determined through a formula with two main factors; Fish Consumption Rate, under guidance from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Acceptable Rate
of Cancer, which is strictly a policy decision. The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC) recommends criteria for both factors to be adopted into law by the state legislature. The Fish Consumption Rate estimates how much “fish” (includes all foods gathered from the sea such as salmon, fish eggs, shellfish, and seaweeds) each Alaskan eats on average each day. The current Fish Consumption Rate in the State of Alaska is a mere 6.5 grams, per day, per person (g/d/p) – about the size of a small strawberry. Meanwhile, the national average sits at 22 g/d/p or 144 g/d/p for a population that eats a lot of fish. Studies completed by Alaska Native Tribes show that the state’s fish consumption is closer to 250 g/d/p. Some members of villages in Southeast Alaska obtain 80% of their food from the waters and land.
Take
Consumption of fish and other aquatic foods, along with drinking water, are the primary pathway by which we are exposed to toxins. By keeping the presumed amount of fish we eat low, the government can allow more toxins and pollutants to contaminate our waters, letting polluters off the hook from cleaning up their act. The more fish the government recognizes we eat, the more protective our Water Quality Standards will have to be. Alaska lags far behind other states in updating its Fish Consumption Rate despite having the highest per capita consumption of fish in the nation. As a state whose economy and culture depend on healthy aquatic environments, we deserve better. Take action to increase the Fish Consumption Rate in Alaska by sending a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency, Region 10, and by sending us photos of your prepared fish meals, estimating how much fish you’re actually
Action
eating (see below images for examples). This will help to ensure our waters are clean, salmon remain healthy, and generations of Alaskans to come will have access to safe food. For additional guidelines and a ready-tosend letter to EPA, visit our website: seacc.org/ issues/fish-consumption-rate
6.5 grams/day/person About one bite
22 grams/day/person About what you’d put on one cracker
144 grams/day/person
250 grams/day/person About one small dinner
About one small lunch
Sustaining Donors Southeast Alaskans know that in order to ensure a lush and healthy future for the Tongass and Inside Passage Waters, we must come together to support that goal however we can. Members of the SEACC community do so by volunteering, taking online actions, and donating! In the following pages you’ll meet a few of our Sustainers, donors who emulate the cumulative power of water itself and allow their steady, monthly donations to build to big impacts. Some give $3 a month, and in a year donate $36. Some give $25, and in a year give $300. SEACC’s Sustaining Donors know that just as every drop of rain fills the surging river, giving every month keeps SEACC’s work swelling and rushing forward.
Judy Brakel
Gustavus, Alaska “I cannot see my being except as part of this region - maybe like another piece of its vegetation or fauna. I’ve lived and worked in several parts of Southeast Alaska. My family has been here for six generations and I recognize the strong love for it in my father and my son Matt among others. This beloved place - its rain, big tides, waterways, complicated coastlines, the woods, the gorgeous alpine, the glaciers and high mountains. I’m one of many here who have worked to protect its natural character. For a long time the big threat was government subsidized heavy logging that sent so much of our forest to be chewed up by pulp mills. SEACC became essential in joining the efforts of many small individuals, some in tiny Southeast communities, and making them effective in Washington D.C. There are still threats from timber projects, and newer threats - climate change and all that, so SEACC has broadened its work. I am a sustaining donor because SEACC needs to stay consistently active and effective.”
Hunter Mallinger
Nicole Jacobs
Juneau, Alaska
Fairbanks, Alaska
Hunter grew up in Juneau and spent time on the water with his family, often visiting his grandparents in Elfin Cove and Gustavus. He believes life as a Southeast Alaskan would not be as appealing without the lush, temperate forest. For Hunter, being completely alone in the forest with the sounds of the Tongass is an unparalleled feeling. After learning about the dangers that mining waste presents to traditional food sources for Alaska Native communities, Hunter became a SEACC supporter with a desire to do more for Southeast Alaska. A first step was getting involved with people who care about the same issues he did. He donates monthly to SEACC because it sustains work on the issues he cares about and aids his long-term commitment to the ecological and cultural well-being of Southeast Alaska.
Nicole was first connected with SEACC while she pursued her bachelor’s degree in Juneau. She opposed building the Juneau Road and found SEACC through her shared stance on the issue. Nicole loves everything about Southeast Alaska and being a lover of rain made her a perfect fit for the temperate climate. She is currently pursuing her PhD in Environmental Chemistry in Fairbanks, which has drives her passion for conservation even further. Nicole is a SEACC sustaining donor because of advice she received from a friend. She was told, “If there are things you care about and you don’t want to see them go away, you should do something about it.” That advice prompted Nicole to support SEACC each month in order to ensure the future of the places she holds close to her heart.
Love Southeast Alaska? Become a Member Today! There is an incredible history of philanthropy in Southeast Alaska. We look out for each other by knowing what we give helps us all. Donating to SEACC is a way to directly ensure the future of a healthy Tongass and a clean Inside Passage by strengthening our position with policymakers and supporting our grassroots organizing. Start with a gift of $35 a year, or consider a monthly donation of $5. You’ll receive our Ravencall twice a year and be given the tools to make a difference in protecting this special place. Donate Online at www.seacc.org/donate or clip and send to: 2207 Jordan Ave, Juneau, AK 99801 (907)-586-6942
[ ] I want to set up a monthly, recurring donation: o $10/mo o $5/mo o $50/mo o $25/mo o $______ o $100/mo [ ] I want to make a one-time donation of: o $50 o $35 o $250 o $100 o $1000 o $500 o $_______ Card # _____________________________ Expiration date _______________________ CVC Code___________________________ Name______________________________ Email______________________________ Address_____________________________ City__________________ State__________ Zip _____________ Phone(_____) _____ -_________(required for card payments) SEACC is a 501[c]3. Your contribution is tax deductible to the extent allowable by law.
Merch Up! A great way to support SEACC is to add some of our gear to your wardrobe! The profits from the sale of our merchandise directly support our mission. Show your support of a healthy, sustainable future for the Tongass and the waters of the Inside Passage by wearing and sharing our items. Our limited edition 50th Anniversary snapback hats, adult and youth T-shirt designs, baby onesies, and bumper stickers will ensure you are outfitted for any Southeast adventure. Check out all that and more at www.seacc.org/store.