A project led by Ginny Eckert, our associate director of research, Stephen Langdon and Sonia Ibarra found that a booming sea otter population has caused a big drop in subsistence shellfish harvest in Southeast Alaska. Interviews with harvesters revealed economic hardships and a lack of access to shellfish—which sea otters eat voraciously—compared to the past.
“The issue is complex,” explained Eckert, University of Alaska Fairbanks fisheries professor. “Sea otters play a key ecological role, and yet they can have a devastating effect on shellfish resources that are important subsistence foods.”
PhD student Sonia Ibarra and Stephen Langdon, University of Alaska Anchorage anthropologist, interviewed residents and spent weeks at a time in rural communities harvesting clams with locals. Over the course of the project, Ibarra has mentored undergraduates and in 2017 was honored with the Meritorious Service award from the Alaska Chapter of the American Fisheries Society. The award recognizes her long commitment to mentoring, particularly of Alaska Native and rural Alaskan students, and her activities to increase diversity in the sciences. Ibarra is funded by a National Science Foundation fellowship.
