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Patterns of fish and wildlife harvest and use in Beaver, Alaska

This report documents the pattern of fish and wildlife harvest by the community of Beaver, Alaska during the mid-1980s and provides an overview of the integrated subsistence and cash economy which presently exists in the community. The research was conducted during 1985-86 and included surveys with all community households, resource use area mapping, and informal interviews. Beaver is a small community located on the north bank of the Yukon River, amidst the broad, unroaded expanse of the Yukon Flats, approximately 60 miles southwest of the community of Fort Yukon. It is accessible year-round by air, by boat during open water seasons, and snowmachine during winter months. Beaver’s population was 78 individuals in 31 households in 1985, 97 percent Alaska Native. The community is composed of individuals of diverse and mixed ethnic origin with residents of Gwich’in and Koyukon Athabaskan Indian, Inupiaq Eskimo, Euro-American, and Japanese descent. Like many remote, rural Alaskan communities the local cash economy is fueled directly and indirectly by government monies. Wage employment in the community is limited. Most employment was seasonal and 56 percent of the jobs held during the survey year provided employment for 4 weeks or less. Households averaged 29 weeks of employment. The average taxable income in Beaver was $9,259 in 1985 (Alaska Department of Revenue 1988). Trapping was an important source of cash in the community and the estimated potential income generated through the sale of furbearers was approximately $3,400 per trapping household during 1984-85. Cost of food items available locally were between 18 to 52 percent higher than comparable items in Fairbanks. During the survey year 100 percent of Beaver households harvested some type of local fish, mammal, bird, or plant resource. Residents harvested a total of 56,938 pounds edible weight of resources during 1984-85, with a per capita harvest of 730 pounds. Salmon comprised 56.8 percent of the total weight, big game was 17.7 percent, freshwater fish was 10.7 percent, and the remaining 14.8 percent consisted of small game, edible furbearer species, waterfowl, and berries. Approximately 37 percent of the overall harvest was used to feed dogs. The per capita harvest of resources for human consumption was 459 pounds. A relatively small percentage of households harvested the majority of fish and wildlife resources. On average, households with high production levels were larger, had more members over 16 years of age, owned more equipment, and had more dogs than households with medium and low production levels. Patterns of household harvesting and processing activities varied in the community. Research findings demonstrate the importance of a variety of fish and wildlife resources and the lands which support them to the residents of Beaver. Subsistence production and the distribution of wild resources remain an integral component of life in this remote community, integrated with participation in the cash sector of the local economy.