Voices from the Coast: An Elder’s View from Chignik Lagoon
Alvin Pedersen is a lifelong resident and elder of Chignik Lagoon. For the first time in his life, subsistence users here were completely closed to king salmon for an entire season. When weak Chinook and sockeye stocks are intercepted in mixed-stock ocean fisheries far from home, too few fish return to the lagoon and rivers. Local families lose food security, culture, and the ability to pass knowledge to the next generation.