Traditional Ecological Knowledge of the North Pacific Marine
Environment
Traditional ecological knowledge, or TEK, is the compendium of environmental
knowledge indigenous people have accumulated over numerous generations observing
and interacting with the local environment. This type of knowledge is often
characterized by an encyclopedic knowledge of local species, population
histories, and ecological interactions, encoded in the local language and
culture. The Economic and Social Sciences Research Program is assisting the
Alaska Region in compiling a database of information pertaining to traditional
ecological knowledge of the marine environment in the North Pacific. The
information will be gleaned from published sources and from contacts with
village councils and Native corporations, on topics ranging from historic
distribution of species to changes in resource use and sharing patterns among
villages. Information from the database will be incorporated into NMFS
Environmental Impact Statements and other policy documents. In addition, the
program is coordinating efforts between AFSC taxonomists and Alaska Native
leaders to identify and name previously undescribed species of snailfish found
in deep waters off the Aleutian Islands. AFSC received a list of suggested
names from a group of elders in Unalaska, and the results of the collaboration are detailed in a news release published in August, 2006. STATUS: in progress, For more information or to comment on these projects,
contact Jennifer.Sepez@noaa.gov.
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