The Subsistence Use of Beluga Whale in Bristol Bay by Alaska Natives, 1993

by Molly Chythlook and Philippa Coiley

Excerpted from Alaska Department of Fish and Game

Technical Report No. 231, July 1994

CONTEMPORARY USE OF BELUGA IN BRISTOL BAY

Currently, residents of at least twelve southwest Alaska communities are known to harvest beluga for subsistence in the Bristol Bay area, including Aleknagik, Clark's Point, Dillingham, Igiugig, Iliamna, King Salmon, Levelock, Manokotak, Naknek, South Naknek, Togiak and Twin Hills. Historic communities that used beluga in the recent past include Kulukak on Kulukak Bay, and Kangirnaq (USGS Kinegnak), southeast of Platinum. Beluga is widely shared between families living in and outside the southwest region, so a larger, though undetermined, number of communities make use of beluga products that come from the Bristol Bay region. Communities in the Bristol Bay area where no beluga hunters were identified during the first year of this project included some inland Nushagak River communities (Ekwok, Koliganek, New Stuyahok, and Portage Creek), some inland Iliamna Lake area communities (Newhalen, Kokhanok, Nondalton, and Pedro Bay), and three Alaska Peninsula communities (Egegik, Pilot Point, and Ugashik).

It is difficult to precisely estimate the number of beluga hunters in the Bristol Bay area. For this project, known beluga hunters were contacted to learn about the pattern of beluga use in Bristol Bay. Key respondents were asked about active beluga hunters in their home community. Some of these hunters also were contacted and interviewed. Through this chain referral method, an estimate of the number of hunters was made for the Bristol Bay area.

The project identified about 42 active beluga hunters in the Bristol Bay area. Some hunters of beluga probably were missed by the chain referral method, particularly persons who harvested beluga more occasionally, so this is a conservative estimate of beluga hunters in the Bristol Bay area. Not all hunters identified in Table 1 were active each year, so this probably is a high estimate for the number of persons actually hunting beluga on an annual basis in the Bristol Bay area.

By community, the numbers of hunters were as follows: King Salmon Naknek-South Naknek (11 hunters), Dillingham (9 hunters), Manokotak (6 hunters), Levelock (5 hunters), Aleknagik (4 hunters), Clark's Point (3 hunters), Igiugig (2 hunters), and Iliamna (2 hunters). Beluga historically were taken in the Togiak-Twin Hills area, but currently, due to the absence of local beluga stocks, there were no active beluga hunters identified for these communities in Table 1. The counts of beluga hunters in each community indicate that beluga hunting was a relatively specialized subsistence activity in each community, compared with subsistence activities like salmon fishing or moose hunting, for which there are larger number of harvesters. As discussed below, the numbers of persons using beluga products are substantially larger than the number of harvesters, because beluga products are widely distributed....

There are a number of traditional subsistence uses of beluga, including food for humans and for working sled dogs. Items commonly used from the beluga for human consumption include the skin, blubber (fat), flippers, and backstrap meat along the spine, particularly near the blow hole. Larger, adult white beluga are usually preferred over the younger grey whales. The skin of adult whales is firmer ("crunchier") compared with the skin of young grey calves. Beluga products are prepared a number of ways, such as boiling skin and meat (eaten hot or cold); flouring and frying or barbecuing backstraps; and processing fat into oil for use with dried fish and meat. Ways of preserving and using beluga products show local differences between communities and families.

Beluga also are used for feeding dogs in the Bristol Bay area. Use of beluga for dog food predates the time when snowmachines became common in the region. Dog teams continue to be used by some families in the Bristol Bay area, as has the traditional practice of using beluga products to feed them.

Beluga is shared widely between families and friends, both in and outside the Bristol Bay area. Beluga products are shared and exchanged between relatives and friends in different households. Beluga skin and oil are shared and exchanged to inland communities along the Nushagak River and in the Iliamna Lake area. Another way beluga is shared is through a general distribution on the beach. News of the harvest is spread among families at the camp or community. People are invited to come to the beach and take pieces. It is common for a beluga to be reduced to almost nothing after such a public invitation....

COMMUNITY USE PATTERNS

The community of Manokotata is situated along the Igushik River, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) inland from its mouth and mid-way to Amanka lake (Manokotak Lake). Manokotak residents are originally from several areas, including Platinum, Togiak, Kulukak, Tuklung ( an old village site upriver from Igushik), and Iyusiiq (Igushik), the old village site located at the mouth of the Igushik River. Because many people have ancestors from coastal communities, hunters possess the knowledge and techniques for marine mammal hunting. In addition, because of their use of inland areas, hunters have knowledge of land hunting. Manokotak hunters consider themselves to be "hunters with two arms", that is, "complete" or "whole hunters", in that they are knowledgeable about hunting on both the sea and the land....

There are three different seasons that Manokotakak hunters harvest beluga. The first is during early spring, about April and May, or soon after the Igushik River is becoming free of ice.....The early spring harvest is more of chance harvest than a targeted activity....If a beluga.is harvested from the river at this time, it is widely shared among families in the community. It is considered a treat and a change from eating freezer-stored food to have fresh beluga in early spring. Not much of a beluga taken in early spring will be left to store for later use.

The second season is during the salmon fishing season, while Manokotak residents are living at Igushik....Like the early spring harvest, the beluga harvests are widely shared among people living at the Igushik camp. This includes some families from, Alenagik, Dillingham, and other communities beluga who are using the Igushik site as base for commercial fishing. Beluga taken during summer supplements a diet containing large amounts fresh salmon.

The third and main hunting season for Manokotak residents is during fall, after families have returned to Manokotak from Igushik....The fall beluga harvests are preserved and stored in freezers for later use by immediate family members of the harvester. Portions of the harvest are shred with persons outside the immediate household as well....

The community of Aleknagik is located at the outlet of Lake Aleknagik. Where it is drained by the Wood River, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) inland from Nushagewk bay. many residents of Aleknagik trace their origins to the Togiak and Kulukak areas. The knowledge of how to hunt and use beluga derives in part from those coastal areas.

Beluga harvest and use patterns by Aleknagik residents are similar to those of Manokotak.

The community of Levelock is located along the Kvichak River, mid-way between the coastal areas of Kvichak bay and freshwater Lake Iliamna...

Most of the beluga taken in Levelock for human consumption is stored in freezers for later use. Levelock residents render some of the beluga fat into oil. Some residents say they prefer beluga oil over seal oil. Beluga products are widely shared with relatives and friends from other communities, such as Kokhanok, Iliamna, Igiugig, and Newhalen. If most of the cached beluga products have been given away during summer, they are replenished during the fall hunt for winter use.

Dillingham is a relatively large regional center in the Bristol bay area. Its population has been drawn from a large number of communities in and outside the region, as well as from outside Alaska....

Beluga products are widely shared among family and friends in Dillingham. Beluga products also are shared between Dillingham and other communities in the region, such as New Stuyahok. Kukokwim residents who fish seasonally in Bristol Bay are known to take home beluga products. If beluga are taken near town in a fishing net, they are commonly puled to the beach, such as at Kanakanak or Snag Point, for butchering. People are notified and encouraged to come down to take a portion on a "first come, first serve" manner. Beluga is sometimes given to Dillingham hospital and the senior center to serve at mealtime.

In 1991, an adult beluga was caught in a subsistence salmon net across the Wood River from Dillingham. The whale had drown. It was towed across the river to the Dragnet cannery, and the whale's location was broadcast on the radio for people to come and get it. Reportedly, the senior center drove over a van full of ladies and their ulus who cut up and took a good part of the whale. Later in the day, ADF&G staff checked on the site. Reportedly, there was nothing left but a "grease spot" and a backbone, which was transported to the Kanakanak hospital whose staff had requested it for soup.

In the summer of 1993, a young beluga was reported to be caught in a subsistence net on Snag Point near downtown Dillingham. When ADF&G staff arrived to see, about 25 people had come together at the net. Reportedly, about half the people wanted to let the whale go while the other half wanted to have the whale "for braekfast", and the people were discussing it. A decision was made that if in releasing the whalke it was not hurt or wounded, it would be let go, but if it appeared to be injured, it would be harvested. As the whalke ppeared unhurt, it eventually was freed.

.....Residents of Clark's Point commonly used the skin, the meat, especially the rib sections, ands flippers. Beluga oil was not made from fat by Clark's Point residents. Seal oil is preferred over beluga oil. Currently, beluga is not used for dog food at Clark's Point.

Igiugig is a community along the Kvichak River, near the outlet of Iliamna lake. Igiugig residents have historis ties to the contemporary community of Levelock, as well as former communities at Kaskanak Creek, Kukaklek Lake, and Branch River. Hunters from Igiugig take beluga in the Kvichak River during spring and fall, using techniques similar to those used at Levelock (see descriptions above). Families also receive beluga meat from relatives and friends in Levelock.

Beluga skin and a little of the fat are stored in freezers. Beluga fat is rendered for oil, which is highly regarded by lgiugig residents, reportedly tasting like Wesson oil. Beluga meat and flippers are used. It is said that potatoes take the fishy taste from beluga meat. Other beluga parts are used to feed dogs. Because the beluga are so huge, hunters share beluga products widely. Beluga products are commonly used during Slavi celebrations. One hunter from lgiugig stated, "Whale blubber goes a long way. By the time I send pieces away, I hardly have any left."

In spring and in fall, beluga come into the Naknek River. In the past, hunters used to take beluga in the river. Hunters chased beluga up to the rapids on the Naknek River, and shot them when the whales turned to go down river. Currently during the summer, hunters report that the great amount of boat traffic tends to keep beluga and seals out of the river. Reportedly, the Bristol Bay Borough has regulations prohibiting shooting around town, including the Naknek River mouth. Because of this, some hunters now choose to travel away from town to hunt beluga, such as the sandbars of the Kvichak River to the northwest. Hunters take beluga with harpoons, floats, and rifles, using small skiffs. One hunter reported shooting the beluga first with a large caliber rifle, and then immediately harpooning the animal. Then he shoots down the harpoon line with a 22 caliber rifle to kill the whale, which is towed to a bar or beach for butchering. Other methods reportedly used in the area included beluga nets and shooting from shore.