Fisheries Privatization, Sociocultural Transitions, and Well-Being in Kodiak, Alaska

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Scholars and fishermen alike view the privatization of fishing rights as a fundamental driver of change in fishing livelihoods and communities. Expanding upon ethnographic research conducted in rural fishing communities in the Gulf of Alaska, this project explores the social and cultural shifts linked to the privatization of fishing rights in the diverse fishing community of Kodiak, Alaska. This study has three primary objectives: 1) to understand how the privatization of fishing rights has been experienced across diverse human groups that participate in fishery systems, 2) to explore the relative importance and magnitude of the impacts of fisheries privatization compared with other ecological, economic, and technological drivers of change, and 3) to assess the relationship between the social and cultural shifts linked to fishery privatization and individual and community well-being.This ethnographic study, employing mixed methods of interviews, surveys, participant observation and archival research, will provide rich qualitative and systematic quantitative data to assess how regulatory and related changes affect the social and cultural dimensions of fishery systems and fishing communities. The research framework joins scholarship in political ecology, social-ecological systems, and the anthropology of fishing communities to provide key analytical insights into the relationship between the enclosure of resources and changing nature-society relationships. The research findings will have broad applicability to understanding transitions in fishing communities in the Gulf of Alaska, Bering Sea, and throughout the Circumpolar North. This study also informs resource policy development. As fishery economists, managers, environmental groups, and popular media sources increasingly advocate for the widespread privatization of marine resources, the social and cultural implications of these transitions need to be explored and documented. The results of this study will have practical application in understanding how to develop new adaptive models of institutional and ecological management that will provide for the resilience of fishing-dependent communities. Shifts to ecosystem-based marine governance call for increased attention to the ways in which individual and community health and well-being and general concerns of social justice are addressed in policy development. The research will provide insights on how the diversity of livelihoods and values can be better accounted for in resource management policy in the arctic, sub-arctic and beyond.