How does the changing marine environment affect hunters’ access to Pacific walruses?

THE ISSUE. Over thousands of years, Indigenous hunters in theBering and Chukchi seas have adapted to changes in weather, sea ice, and sea state that influence their access to walruses. In recent decades,however, those conditions have been changing at unprecedented rates. Safely adapting to changing conditions will be essential to the well-being of communities.

WHY IT MATTERS. Nineteen coastal communities in Alaska and eighteen in the Russian Far East1,2 depend on Pacific walrus for food and cultural activities. Access to Pacific walruses by those communities depends on sea ice that is seasonally close to the communities and favorable to migrating walruses (Figure 1). Recent changes in sea ice, winds, and waves in the Bering and Chukchi seas, however, make access to walruses more costly, dangerous, and unpredictable. Adaptive deci-sions by hunters and their co-management partners need to be informed by understanding of future environmental conditions. [Read more at Arctic, Antarctic, & Alpine Research.]