Carol Ann Hester, Meg Anna Schlais and Elizabeth Hester
Women in Alaska Fisheries
This oral history project focuses on Native Alaska women engaged in Bristol Bay fisheries. Women play a major role in maintaining set net permits and are critical to sustaining small-scale fisheries in Alaska and the communities who depend on them. Interviews were conducted with women of various ages who have participated in commercial and/ or subsistence salmon fisheries.
Kim Sparks
CarolAnn Hester, MegAnna Schlais, and Elizabeth Hester represent three generations of women fishing in Naknek, Alaska. CarolAnn and MegAnna are a mother/daughter team who commercially fish, and all three women participate in subsistence fishing. In this interview, CarolAnn, MegAnna and Elizabeth talk about how they got started in fishing, the products they produce and their participation in the subsistence lifestyle, which includes gardening. They also talk about their strong work ethic, and what motivates them to fish. This interview was conducted by NOAA Fisheries Alaska Fisheries Science Center in partnership with Bristol Bay Native Association as part of the Women of Alaska Fisheries oral history project.
It’s who we are: Voices of Alaska Native women set-netters. Anna Lavoie, Kim Sparks, Jean Lee (Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission), and Sarah Wise (NOAA Fisheries, Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC). 2018. Support provided by Bristol Bay Native Association. Funding provided by the NOAA Heritage Program (formerly the NOAA Preserve America Initiative) and AFSC. Interviews are accessed on NOAA's Voices from the Fisheries website at www.voices.nmfs.noaa.gov.
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