Meeting Indigenous Subsistence Needs: The Case for Prey Switching in Rural Alaska

Abstract

Identifying coping strategies that Alaskan subsistence hunters use while responding to adverse conditions provides insights into their capacity to sustain traditional livelihoods. Previous qualitative research has suggested that subsistence hunters switch prey to cope with fluctuations in the availability of subsistence resources. We developed and quantitatively tested a predictive framework assessing whether 19 rural Alaskan communities used this strategy. We found, between 1993 and 2004, these communities rarely substituted one resource for another. Our lack of evidence for prey switching may reflect other complicating factors such as greater availability of groceries and increased formal employment opportunities. These results highlight the need for improved data collection on harvests, hunter effort, and socioeconomic characteristics to inform comprehensive models. Our findings characterize subsistence hunting systems in rural Alaska, providing regulatory agencies with a greater understanding of the systems they manage. This may facilitate more flexible management that balances conservation concerns with rural livelihoods.