Beluga Harvest
How do we get harvest data?
- ABWC delegates
- Questionnaires to hunters
- Harvest studies
- Harvest monitors
- Assistance from ADF&G and BBNA and NSB-DWM
- Interviews with hunters
Which communities harvest from each stock?
- Beaufort Sea Stock: 6 communities (Barrow, Diomede, Kaktovik, Kivalina, Nuiqsut, Point Hope)
- Eastern Chukchi Sea Stock: 2 communities (Wainwright, Point Lay)
- Kotzebue Sound Stock: 5 communities (Buckland, Deering, Kivalina, Kotzebue, Noatak)
- Eastern Bering Sea Stock: 20 communities – Norton Sound (Elim, Golovin, Koyuk, Nome/Council, Saint Michael, Shaktoolik, Stebbins, Unalakleet, White Mountain); Yukon (Alakanuk, Chevak, Emmonak, Hooper Bay, Kotlik, Marshall, Mountain Village, Nunam Iqua, Pilot Station, Pitka’s Point, Russian Mission, Saint Mary’s, Scammon Bay)
- Kuskokwim: (Platinum, Toksook Bay, Qainhagak)
- Bristol Bay Stock: 9 communities (Aleknagek, Clark’s Point, Dillingham, Egegik, Igiugig, Iliamna, Levelock, Manokotak, Naknek)
Average Annual Harvest (based on 2017-2021):
| Stock | Est. Pop | # Landed/Yr | % of Pop |
| Beaufort | 39,258 | 27 | <0.1* |
| E. Chukchi | 20,752 | 41 | 0.2 |
| Kotzebue | ? | 10 | ? |
| E. Bering | 9,242 | 212 | 2.3 |
| Bristol Bay | 2,040 | 12 | 0.76 |
*Does not include Canadian harvest
Conclusions:
Beluga harvests are sustainable for the Beaufort Sea, Chukchi Sea, Eastern Bering Sea and Bristol Bay stocks. There are currently no abundance estimates for the belugas in Kotzebue Sound and it is unknown which stock Kuskokwim belugas belong to. Better struck and lost information is needed for all areas.
Maktaak hanging to dry
Publications:
- Frost, K.J. 1998. Harvest Report: Statewide Summary for the Eastern Bering Sea Beluga Population, 1995-97. Alaska Beluga Whale Committee Report 98-1 to NOAA.
- Frost, K.J. 1999. Harvest Report: Statewide Summary for Western Alaska Beluga Stocks, 1994-1998. Alaska Beluga Whale Committee Report 99-4 to NOAA.
- Frost, K.J. and R.S. Suydam. 2010. Subsistence harvest of beluga or white whales (Delphinapertus leucas) in northern and western Alaska, 1987-2006. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management 11(3):293-299.
