Western Initial Summary of Concerns

Initial Summary of Concerns u Clams: PSP (increased red tides) and Oil Spill u Salmon: deformed salmon, cysts, tape worms in spawned out salmon u Mushy meat of hatchery fish u Seal livers and kidneys: Oil Spill u Animal fat doesn’t preserve meat as well (seal, fish, walrus) – Bristol Bay area

concerns u Balding seal, skin elastic, blubber thinner and gristly - Cook Inlet and Bristol Bay u roundworms in halibut, smelt, seals – PWS area u Tapeworms in salmon – Cook Inlet area u There are more cancers and heart disease u Moose and caribou livers discolored, have a gray sheen – Bristol Bay area u Discolored marrow in caribou - BB

u Increased sport hunters/ fishers and guides – there is more waste of the animal and trash left behind and human waste YUCK!!!!! u But certain hunting that is controlled by permits and tags is in check unless they increase the number of permits.

Is the ecosystem changing? u The elders find the weather is less predictable because they have a hard time reading the sky u Sea Lions seem to be more aggressive –They have less food because of fish trawlers and draggers? –People are feeding them in the harbors u Seals less plentiful and further from Chenega Bay since the oil spill u Used to be able to skate in Cordova in October – snow came later; now cycle reversed

Changes u Weather appears to be going back to the pattern of 40 or 50 years ago in the Kodiak area – more snow, colder u Cordova area hasn’t had….winds (add from Mary’s notes) u Die-off of barnacles and badarki’s (chiton, gumboots) winter of 1999 in the Seldovia and English Bay areas due to unusual cold/freeze

Changes in species u More wolves – Bristol Bay area u More bear – PWS, Lower Cook Inlet, Kodiak and Bristol Bay area - more visible in town and camp areas u More sea otter – PWS, Lower Cook Inlet u More rabbits, porcupines and lynx – Port Graham/Rocky - Windy Bays u More sea lions in PWS but disappearing in Togiak area u Incidentally harvesting King crab in herring nets in Togiak area

Changes u Fewer king crab, dungeness crab, tanner crab and shrimp with warmer waters and over-harvesting – but cooler water temps may lead to increasing shellfish populations (area?) u Fewer and smaller clams – sea otters eat them, contaminants/ oil spill u Increased wolf population in Bristol Bay area – killing moose u Deer died off last year (?1998) due to increased snowfall – Chenega Bay, Kodiak area

Changes u Black bear – bald spots, losing hair – Port Graham area (1989 – after the oil spill u Decrease in seabirds, kittiwakes, ducks, murres, black ducks, puffins, shags (cormorants), mallards, sawbills, scouters in PWS area u Die-off of skimmer birds in Bristol Bay Area (esp. Cape Constantine) Fall 1998 u Blooms in water – Fall 1998 u Catch and release – fish are showing up with damaged jaws, swollen mouths

Changes in Plants u After Chernobyl, blackberries smaller, seedier, only 2 or 3 berries in cluster ripen – the whole southwestern coastal area of Bristol Bay u Wild rhubarb mushy, slimy when cooked u Can no longer use medicinal plants in steam baths when they are partially dry because the leaves fall off – must use them when they are green u No salmon berries last summer – Kodiak area u Berries don’t freeze as well – have a strange taste

Changes in Plants u Fewer blueberries, cranberries u Salmonberries not as big and abundant – Seldovia u Alders more abundant – Seldovia and Chenega Bay u Salmonberries abundant in Bristol Bay area (but they are tundra variety)

u Change in beach grass in Bristol Bay area – less strong, molds when keeping traditional amount damp, grass blades grow unevenly on same plant so you can’t pick all blades at the same time. u Could be in Lower Cook Inlet as well u We think that nutrients are different in the plants. We just notice the ones we eat, use, process, but it could be all the plants u Can no longer braid smelt with grass because it is too brittle. We have to use twine.

Health u Increase in cancers u Liver cancer more prevalent in the Kuskokwim and Bristol Bay coastal area u Bristol Bay coastal villages – more internal cancers u Bristol Bay interior villages – more breast and prostate cancer

Health u Port Graham – increase in colon cancer and diabetes in the late 1980’s after water system installed u Seldovia and Port Graham – adults and young kids in new HUD housing (1983) having more respiratory problems - paint - mildew from visquene placed on dirt, mold on walls near floor u More varieties of flu u TB resurgence

Concerns u Boat harbors are sources of contamination which then travels with the tides u Contamination from commercial boats – destruction of traditional kelp harvesting area in Togiak

Logging u Logging sites – logs in bay, oil wastes, litter left behind. –Jackaloff Bay? And…

Research Process u Researchers – glad to help them if they have an open mind to more than what is written in books u We are making headway in taking action ourselves – e.g. Harbor Seal Commission. We traditionally base what we do on peer review – scientists need to know that, and we have specialties too.

Tourism/Charters u Increased tourism, charters – PWS u Shooting halibut on charter boats – contaminants from bullets, noise u Oil spills from fishing boats – increase in motorcraft