Discover Your Potential
Dear Editor: I had the good fortune to be involved in Discover Your Potential Week at Blatchley. I want to thank everyone who makes that creative learning experience happen.
First, thanks to Kari Sagel and Elvia Torres and so many others for organizing, raising funds and taking care of details and questions.
I’d also like to thank the other teachers who show so much enthusiasm, dedication and care for their students. And I thank the students in my watercolor classes for their good work, willingness to explore, and creativity beyond all my expectations.
Laura Kaltenstein, Sitka
Gift of Robe
Dear Editor: YÉIL JEEYÁX Raven’s Way students participated in a unique and memorable ceremony Feb. 21 as they presented a traditional robe hanging they created and constructed for Sitka School District Superintendent Steve Bradshaw.
The theme of the robe is to honor commitment to Native education in our community. Steve Bradshaw has worked earnestly as an administrator throughout his lengthy career to ensure that our district is set up for the success of our Native children through supporting, advocating and ensuring funding for personnel and programs that infuse Native education in the classroom as part of the daily curriculum. He advocates not only for our Native children in our community, he is a strong voice for the homeless and downtrodden students.
He stated that, “Out of all the recognitions he has been awarded, this by far is the most honorable.” Raven’s Way students would like to thank local culture bearers for support and guidance, Nancy Douglas, Jamie Bradley and “Mamma” Cass Pook.
The students learned about and created the robe in Ryan Hill’s Alaska history class. The beautiful traditional robe hanging is adorned with the form line design of the Biorka Bear, which was created and given to Raven’s Way by Barry Burger, the Biorka island caretaker. The design is bordered by mother of pearl and Sitka deer horn buttons. The bear represents the students at Raven’s Way as they empower themselves with the knowledge and skills to overcome addictions. The mink hide, which was trapped by students on Biorka Island, represents the addictions that afflict our students and the bear is chasing the mink away. The mink is attached with special buttons chosen by the students to represent themselves on the hide. A strong “aha” moment for the students was realizing they were in a healthy space, so healthy in fact they could sincerely give of themselves for somebody else.
Ryan Hill, M.A., Education Director and Wilderness Specialist,
YÉIL JEEYÁX Raven’s Way
Backpack Program
Dear Editor: A huge thank you to the Sitka Rotary for generously donating to Sitka’s Blessings in a Backpack Program. The Rotary donation will sponsor two children at Keet Gooshi Heen to receive a bag of needed supplemental food every Friday throughout the coming school year. Their entire donation will go towards purchasing kid friendly food items which volunteers will pack and distribute at the school.
If you feel that “hungry children” should be an oxymoron, and you would like to donate to this program which benefits Sitka’s children in need, then please visit www.blessingsinabackpack.org and write “Sitka” in the comments section of your donation page. You can also call Kathy O’Gara at 747-8710 to ask questions, make donations, or volunteer. Thank you Rotary members for donating locally to this program.
The Falvey Family, coordinators of
Blessings in a Backpack, Sitka
Board of Fish Proposal
Dear Editor: At its statewide finfish meeting in March, the Board of Fish will consider the board-generated Proposal 243, which would add Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii) to the state’s Forage Fish Management Plan. Pacific herring are currently the only forage fish species that is commercially harvested in the State of Alaska. The state fails to acknowledge herring as a forage fish by not specifically listing them in its FFMP; however, the FFMP does list exemptions for all existing herring fisheries.
Biologists, fishery managers and governments around the world acknowledge herring as a forage fish. The federal government acknowledges their importance by listing them as a prohibited species in the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea trawl fisheries. Herring also meet the role of a forage fish as defined by the BoF in the FFMP (5 AAC 39.212 (d)).
“The board finds that forage fish perform a critical role in the complex marine ecosystem by providing the transfer of energy from the primary and secondary producers to higher trophic levels. The higher trophic levels include many commercially important fish and shellfish species. Forage fish also serve as important prey species for marine mammals and seabirds.”
There are some who have the misconception that this listing will shut down the various herring fisheries within the State. This is not the case. As stated above, the current FFMP lists exemptions for all the herring fisheries in Alaska (5 AAC 03 - 5 AAC 39). Proposal 243 does not remove these exemptions it merely lists Pacific herring as a forage fish. At the October 10, 2012, Board of Fish meeting in Anchorage, ADF&G Regional Supervisor Scott Kelly testified that adding herring to the state’s FFMP would not change the way the State manages the herring fisheries.
Listing Pacific herring on the FFMP will require fisheries managers to acknowledge herring as a forage fish and is the first step towards a more conservative management approach that prioritizes the needs of the marine ecosystem. Commercial (longline, troll, seine, etc.), sport, personal use, and subsistence fishers along with non-consumptive users would all benefit from more conservative management of this keystone species.
I encourage you to write a letter to the BoF in support of Proposal 243, which can be mailed or faxed to the address or number below. You also have the option to completing an online petition at http://www.thepetitionsite.com/492/125/552/add-pacific-herring-to-alaskas-forage-fish-management-plan/ , which will be submitted to the BoF. Written comments should be submitted to the BoF by March 5, 2013.
Send to: Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Boards Support Section, P.O. Box 115526, Juneau, AK 99811-5526, or fax to: (907)465-6094.
Michael Baines, Council Chairman,
Sitka Tribe of Alaska
