Resuming Tlingit Harvest of Gull Eggs in Glacier Bay
Kunisch E and Ocean Alaska Science and Learning Center. 2016. Resuming Tlingit Harvest of Gull Eggs in Glacier Bay
For centuries, the Huna Tlingit harvested gull eggs at rookeries scattered throughout the recently deglaciated islands of lower Glacier Bay. Egg harvests not only provided a healthy spring food source, but also served as a mechanism for families to bond through intergenerational food harvests. These traditional harvests were curtailed in the 1960’s when the National Park Service (NPS) began enforcing the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and related NPS policies that prohibited egg harvest. In recent years, NPS and the Hoonah Indian Association (HIA) have collaborated on a range of programs designed to encourage and reinvigorate cultural activities within the park, including the harvest of gull eggs. In 2010, NPS prepared a Legislative Environmental Impact Statement (LEIS) that determined that egg harvest could occur within the park without impacting gull populations or other park resources. Based on these findings, Congress passed legislation in 2014 authorizing harvest of glaucous-winged gull eggs in Glacier Bay National Park. With the long awaited passage of this legislation, NPS can now promulgate the necessary regulations to implement the law, and a collaborative NPS-HIA working group working group can begin to develop the first gull egg harvest plan.
- Type
- Resource Brief
- Authors
- Kunisch, Erin; Ocean Alaska Science and Learning Center
- Date of Issue
- 2016-01
- Units
- GLBA