Alaska Fisheries Science Center

Interviewee Collection Sort descending Description Interviewer Date of Interview Location of Interview Affiliation
Carla Harris and Judy Jo Matson Women in Alaska Fisheries

JudyJo Matson and Carla Harris are a feisty mother/daughter duo; JudyJo commercially set nets while her mother Carla primarily fishes for subsistence. JudyJo begins the interview by talking about her experiences commercial fishing as a woman. She talks about her commercial site at Graveyard Point in the Kvichak River, as well what drives her to fish. JudyJo also addresses environmental changes and her childhood fishing experiences.

Kim Sparks , Kitty Sopow Nakenk, AK Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, NOAA Fisheries, Alaska Fisheries Science Center , Bristol Bay Native Association , NOAA Preserve America Initiative
Gayla Hoseth Women in Alaska Fisheries

Gayla Hoseth is Director of the Natural Resources Program at Bristol Bay Native Association and currently serves as the Second Chief to the Curying Tribal Council. She spent summers during her childhood putting up fish with her grandmother in Bristol Bay. In this interview Gayla talks about learning to set net fish for salmon with her grandmother and carrying on these practices with her sisters and younger generations of her family. She also discusses the importance of fighting to protect and maintain the traditional Native way of life.

Kim Sparks , Anna Lavoie, Jean Lee, Kitty Sopow, Sean Day Dillingham, AK Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, NOAA Fisheries, Alaska Fisheries Science Center , Bristol Bay Native Association , NOAA Preserve America Initiative
Alannah Hurley Women in Alaska Fisheries

Alannah Hurley is the Executive Director of the United Tribes of Bristol Bay in Alaska. She is a Yupik fisherwoman of salmon for subsistence and commercial purposes. She discusses her heritage and how she learned to fish as a child, and historical socio-cultural processes of the Bristol Bay region. She also discusses her experience and knowledge of climate change and the challenges Yupik people face in regard to climate change and their struggle to maintain their identity, culture, and relationship with the environment.

Anna Lavoie, Jean Lee, Kim Sparks , Kitty Sopow, Sean Day Dillingham, AK Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, NOAA Fisheries, Alaska Fisheries Science Center , Bristol Bay Native Association , NOAA Preserve America Initiative
June Ingram Women in Alaska Fisheries

June Ingram is an elder Yupik fisherwoman from Bristol Bay, Alaska. She has fished salmon (subsistence and commercial) at her family's fish camp site, which has been in her family since the 1940's. In the interview June describes what it's like to fish with multiple generations of her family and how she passes on values and lessons to younger generations through salmon fishing practices. She also discusses her experience of environmental change.

Anna Lavoie, Kitty Sopow Dillingham, AK Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, NOAA Fisheries, Alaska Fisheries Science Center , Bristol Bay Native Association , NOAA Preserve America Initiative
Leilani Luhrs Women in Alaska Fisheries

Leilani Luhrs is a commercial and subsistence fisherwomen who fishes out of Togiak, AK. In this interview, Leilani talks about learning how to fish from her Dad and her experiences as being one of the few young girls fishing in Togiak Bay when she was growing up. Leilani also talks about environmental changes she?s witnessed, and how her family has adapted to the uncertainty of fishing. Leilani also speaks to her own identity as fishing as a way of life and her deep connection to the ocean.

Kim Sparks , Anna Lavoie, Jean Lee, Kitty Sopow Togiak, AK Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, NOAA Fisheries, Alaska Fisheries Science Center , Bristol Bay Native Association , Preserve America
Simuka Smith Women in Alaska Fisheries

Simuka Smith is a fisherwoman living in Dillingham Alaska who has participated in subsistence and commercial fishing for the past two decades. She is a retired commercial fisherwoman and skilled in many trades. She talks about her experiences and adventures commercial and subsistence fishing, and moose hunting as well as her overall life in Bristol Bay. This interview is part of the Alaska Native Fisherwomen of Bristol Bay oral history project, a partnership between NOAA Fisheries Alaska Fisheries Science Center and Bristol Bay Native Association.

Anna Lavoie, Jean Lee, Kim Sparks , Kitty Sopow Dillingham, AK Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, NOAA Fisheries, Alaska Fisheries Science Center , Bristol Bay Native Association , NOAA Preserve America Initiative
Connie Timmerman Women in Alaska Fisheries

Connie Timmerman is a Native fisherwoman of Bristol Bay Alaska who has fished for decades including salmon for subsistence. She discusses her heritage and how she learned to fish as a young woman, and fishing activities with her family. She emphasizes how women, such as herself and daughters, must be skilled for the local lifestyle of fishing and hunting, and the values of family working together. Her bear dog, Maggie, makes an appearance at the end of the interview.

Anna Lavoie, Jean Lee Dillingham, AK Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, NOAA Fisheries, Alaska Fisheries Science Center , Bristol Bay Native Association , NOAA Preserve America Initiative
Rhonda Wayner, Harmony Wayner and Betty Bonin Women in Alaska Fisheries

Betty Bonin (grandmother), Rhonda Wayner (mother) and Harmony Wayner (daughter) represent three generations of Alaska Native fisherwomen in Naknek, Alaska. In this interview, these ladies discuss their family heritage of having strong, female fishers in the family, the physical nature of fishing, and family roles in the fishery. Rhonda participated in a follow-up phone interview where she further discusses her history in the fishery, environmental changes she's witnessed, as well as family bonds that are created through fishing.

Kim Sparks , Kitty Sopow Naknek, AK Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, NOAA Fisheries, Alaska Fisheries Science Center , Bristol Bay Native Association , NOAA Preserve America Initiative
Rhonda Wayner Women in Alaska Fisheries

Rhonda discusses her history in the fishery, environmental changes she's witnessed, as well as family bonds that are created through fishing. This interview is part of the Alaska Native Fisherwomen of Bristol Bay oral history project, a partnership between NOAA Fisheries Alaska Fisheries Science Center and Bristol Bay Native Association.

Kim Sparks Naknek, AK Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, NOAA Fisheries, Alaska Fisheries Science Center , Bristol Bay Native Association , NOAA Preserve America Initiative
Esther Ilutsik Women in Alaska Fisheries

Esther Ilutsik is the Director for Yup’ik Studies for the Southwest Region Schools in Dillingham, Alaska. She learned to set net fish as a child and commercial fished throughout her life at her family’s fish camp in Ekuk. In this interview Esther recounts her experiences of fishing with her mother and the social and environmental changes she has observed in Ekuk.

Anna Lavoie, Jean Lee, Christopher Maines Dillingham, AK Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, NOAA Fisheries, Alaska Fisheries Science Center , Bristol Bay Native Association , NOAA Preserve America Initiative