WCS Fisheries Ecologist Kevin Fraley and other WCS staff members traveled to Point Hope, Alaska to conduct interviews with subsistence fishers and hunters, and to present results from a study of the ecology of the nearby Cape Thompson coastal lagoons (photo above).

In 2018 and 2021, WCS Fisheries crews visited five lagoons in the area to characterize the zooplankton, fish, and bird assemblages and talk to subsistence practitioners that we encountered in the field about the importance of these habitats for the people and landscape of the area.

Results from our assessments were compared with studies dating back to the 1950s and 1960s, which were conducted when the area was being considered as a site for a harbor to be blasted into the coastline using nuclear charges (known as “Project Chariot”). Luckily, the harbor was never developed thanks to robust opposition from the people of Point Hope, and thanks to the findings of the scientists conducting environmental impact studies. Averting the creation of this harbor was heralded as an important milestone in the history of Indigenous and environmental advocacy on conservation issues.

After visits to the Tikigaq School in Point Hope to talk to students about careers in science, a public meeting was held at the City of Point Hope office building where Kevin Fraley and a scientist from Owl Ridge Natural Resource Consultants gave presentations on lagoon ecology studies in the area, and took questions from attendees.

We greatly enjoyed our visit to Point Hope, and are thankful for the generous help provided to us by the North Slope Borough Department of Wildlife, the Tikigaq School, and all the wonderful residents of Point Hope. We look forward to returning to Point Hope in the future to foster the community connections we have established and to coproduce additional fisheries research projects with local partners!