Postmark: Feb 28,96 1:29 PM Delivered: Feb 28,96 1:29 PM
Subject: Subsistence News-3/1/96
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Message:
*The Southcentral Regional Advisory Council will hold its spring meeting in Cordova, March 4-6. The major issue under consideration is the rural-non rural proposal for the Kenai Peninsula.
*The Alaska Sea Otter Commission plans to train Native peoples to work with Alaskan sea otter hunters. This effort entails taking samples and measurements from harvests. Funding for the project comes from the Administration for Native Americans. For information: Alaska Sea Otter Commission (ASOC), P.O. Box 83177, Fairbanks, AK 99708 or call 1-800-474-4362.
*Under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, it is legal for Alaska Natives to hunt and use sea otter. However, the ASOC stresses that it is critical for harvesters to limit their take to what is necessary for subsistence and/or handicraft purposes.
*Alaska Natives can sell or trade raw or tanned pelts only to other Alaska Natives. It is illegal to sell raw pelts to anyone except Alaska Natives or registered tanneries.
*The USFWS released a draft “Alaska Native Handicraft Policy” on sea otter, polar bear, and Pacific walrus. It is opposed by the ASOC and Indigenous Peoples Council on Marine Mammals.
Postmark: Feb 22,96 10:38 AM Delivered: Feb 22,96 10:38 AM
Subject: Subsistence News-2/23/96
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Message:
*Proposed Federal regulations will soon appear in the Federal Register which will amend Subsistence Management Regulations for Public Lands in Alaska. These proposed changes expand jurisdiction for wildlife and fisheries management. These recommended changes may appear as early as April 5th.
*Alaskan anthropological literature reveals wildlife and wildlife products play an important role not only in nutrition and standards of living, but also in the ceremonies and long-standing social and religious traditions of Alaskan Natives.
*Hunting and fishing are important activties for non-Natives as well. Anthropological surveys suggest that the continued existence of wildlife, and the opportunity to hunt and fish, are inseparable to the maintenance of what some call the “pioneer” Alaskan lifestyle, especially in rural communities.
*Human survival, the economy, and the means of establishing prestige and of maintaining peace have all involved the consumption, transfer, and exchange of fish, game, and of products made from them, since time immemorial.
Postmark: Feb 15,96 3:10 PM Delivered: Feb 15,96 3:10 PM
Subject: Subsistence News-2/16/96
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Message:
*The Southeast Federal Subsistence Regional Advisory Council (RAC) recently met in Wrangell, February 8-9.
*Highlights of the RAC meeting provide a glimpse of pending litigation concerning the management of fisheries in navigable waters of Alaska. The US Supreme Court is expected to rule on the Katie John vs. US lawsuit this spring.
*A new proposal was adopted by the RAC which allows for the taking and use of wildlife for food in traditional Alaska Native religious ceremonies. These specific ceremonies must be part of a funerary or mortuary cycle, which includes memorial potlatches. Under the adopted proposal, wildlife may be taken outside of the seasons and bag limits.
*Another adopted proposal opens federal public lands on the Stikine River drainage to the harvest of moose. This proposal reinstates the Alaska state registration permit system in place of the existing federal permit system.
*The fall Southeast RAC meeting is scheduled for Kake. Specific dates have not been finalized.
