The beginning of the herring spawn in Sitka Sound signals the wind-down of commercial fishing, and the start of the subsistence harvest: The millennia-old tradition of submerging hemlock branches along the shoreline, and waiting for herring to coat them in a thick layer of eggs. KCAW recently spoke with one subsistence advocate who’s determined to see this tradition continue — by working to protect herring stocks, and by teaching kids how to harvest eggs.

“This was their first time seeing what subsistence herring eggs are all about,” says Tom Gamble, a former Tribal Council member and subsistence harvester, referring to his herring campers. “They’re really excited about it, they, they like to eat them, but they’re not really sure how to harvest them.”

This spring, Gamble shared some of his knowledge in a herring camp for kids, which he said created a lot of “aha” moments.

“There were a lot of those moments for these kids who had never seen anything like it before,” he said. “Giving them just the mental images for the first time, and being able to manipulate, you know, a branch and a twig and, and the hope that maybe they might get some eggs.”

The camp is an extension of his new business, the Alaska Native Indigenous Training Academy, or ANITA, named after his late mother. Over the course of several hours one day in late March, he taught around 10 students and their chaperones the basics of harvesting herring eggs on branches. From the technical, to the familial.

“So the very first activity they had to do was to go and find a rock together. And then they had to learn how to tie it together and to communicate what works and what didn’t,” he said. “Because if you’re out there and you’re harvesting, and you’re not talking with your family, then it’s just work. You might as well just get a job and call it work. It’s got to be fun.”

“Helping Tommy set the trap for the herring…it was fun,” said 8-year-old Lukas Schmidt, who participated in the class.

“I liked doing it…and I got to learn something new,” he said.

Lukas’s mom Jeren said the camp was an important experience for her kids and her homeschool classroom. 

“It’s important to carry on some of the Tlingit traditions and to learn about them,” she said. “My family and I are Iñupiaq, so this is all new to us, but it’s fun to learn about the traditions of the local Indigenous peoples.”

Subsistence is a lifelong practice for Gamble. He is Kiks.ádi from the Clay house and his family uses the Herring Rock as their emblem, signifying strong cultural ties to Sitka herring for thousands of years. His advocacy for herring has become energized by what he’s seen on the water over the last couple of decades.

“As a subsistence harvester, we’re the frontline. We see a lot of changes,” said Gamble. “My involvement if you would, wasn’t chosen, where I wanted to draw a line in the sand and say ‘I want the commercial side to be over here and I want the subsistence guys to be over here,'” he said. “My involvement came because we realized if we didn’t stand up, there were never going to be any changes, and we were going to get run right out of our own way of life.” 

The Sitka Tribe of Alaska sued the state in 2018, calling for changes to the management of the commercial fishery. The case is still being litigated but some incremental changes have been made. The state must further document its efforts to show they’re allowing “reasonable opportunity for subsistence.” But Gamble is concerned that the state’s modeling is far from perfect.

“Most recently, the indescribable coming back from a different harvesting trip, I had to stop in the middle of the ocean to watch the herring surface,” Gamble, thinking back on a day in mid-March.

“This was on the day that science flew everywhere in the Sound and said that they didn’t see a single herring. So the traditional harvester had the herring come up under me. I’m telling you again that our traditions and our knowledge have proven over time. When we say that the herring are disappearing, that’s what we meant.”

Gamble understands that commercial seiners are just trying to earn a living, but he believes the fleet is too large, and should be reduced through a permit buy-back program. And he’d like locals to have a larger role in managing the fishery through a stakeholders committee.

In the meantime, it’s important that the subsistence harvest of herring remains viable in Sitka Sound, so that it can be taught down through the generations. Gamble plans to continue teaching subsistence camps throughout the year. It’s a way to honor his mother, Anita, and a hedge against the day when he is an Elder himself and may depend on others for this food. 

“[The camp is] trying to perpetuate a way of life that’s disappearing,” he said.

“When I was growing up I never thought for the life of me that even my own kids would be so busy that I can’t get help harvesting,” he said. “And I thought ‘Well maybe if I trained a couple of these youngsters around here, I can sit at home and one day they just bring me a deer or a seal.'”

“I’m gonna train this next generation how to take care of Elders in their community by just taking care of themselves.”

Editor’s Note: This story is part of a series sharing different perspectives on herring.
Links to other stories:
-‘Herring Protectors’ gather at Sitka’s courthouse as commercial fishery gears up
–After two-year break, seiners hopeful herring fishery will continue into future
-Herring fishery opens for first time in two years

Herring Camp is a five day program that teaches students both ecological and traditional knowledge. A student examines a plankton sample, collected by his classmates. (Emily Kwong/KCAW photo)

As a host of herring arrived in Sitka Sound last week, another school clamored to be out on the water. Nineteen students spent their Spring Break at the Yaa Khusgé Yaaw Woogoo (Knowledge of Herring Camp) – a 5-day program that taught students both the cultural and ecological significance of this critical resource.  

In its second year, the camp is a collaboration between the Sitka National Historical Park, the Sitka School District, and the Sitka Tribe of Alaska. Blending western science with traditional knowledge, the camp seeks to provide students a holistic understanding of herring. Marine ecologist Michelle Ridgeway, who runs a similar program in the Pribilof Islands, returned as Camp Director.

KCAW’s Emily Kwong tagged along for one of the boat trips and submitted this audio postcard.

Listen:

Downloadable audio.

Herring Camp, Day 2 begins with a scavenger hunt for predators. I’m standing on the observation of an Allen Marine boat with a whole cluster of students. Birds are spiraling in the air and diving in the waters around us.

(Boat on the water, engine sounds)

Ryan Carpenter (Sitka National Historical Park ranger): We’ve got some definite herring predators at 3 o’clock. I can see those black and white birds.

Patty Dick (6th grade science teacher): Alaska waters – it’s like the nursery of the planet because the whales come up to eat, but then the birds come up to nest because of this rich, rich ocean ecosystem that we have.

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Today’s lesson is all about the oceanography of the herring habitat. One student kept his hands firmly on his binoculars.

Conner: I’ve birded quite a bit in my life so it’s pretty exciting to be on the boat. I don’t get to come out here very much and see what birds are out here.Patty Dick: Wahoo!!! Plankton soup!

Science teacher Patty Dick triumphantly holds a container of water into the air, filled with the herring’s favorite food. Two of her students, Delaney McAdams and Esther Burdick, are intrigued.

KCAW: What did you know about herring before taking this camp?

Esther Burdick (student): I thought of going to the beach with my parents to collect herring eggs for our garden and when I was younger, I’d just pick them up off the beach and I’d just put them in my mouth and eat them. I didn’t think about the predators and the prey. I think it’s a really good experience to do the herring camp and learn more about what I didn’t know before.

Students and adults tow in a plankton net. Students went on a three hour cruise around Sitka Sound to study the herring habitat – it’s predators and it’s prey. (Emily Kwong/KCAW photo)

Jessica Gill (Fisheries Biologist, Sitka Tribe of Alaska) : Alright, let’s pull it up.

Mary Miller (Superintendent, Sitka National Historical Park): See how engaged they are? This is day two and they’re in charge of the science.

Our vessel is the magic school boat of dreams, where kids become student researchers. At the bow, students are pulling up a sample of the ocean water. At the stern, they’re crouched over a joystick, manipulating an underwater camera as it scans the sandy bottom floor.

Chuck Miller tells the history of Indian River, as “Vanna White for the day” – camper Madison Roy-Mercer – held up place name signs. One side was in English…(Emily Kwong/KCAW photo)

And the other side was in Tlingit. Miller noted that it’s spelled Kaasda Héen. The dual language place names are one of many ways the camp honored both ecological and traditional knowledge. (Emily Kwong/KCAW photo)

Below deck, camper Madison Roy-Mercer holds up signs with the name of the place we’re passing in both English and Tlingit. Chuck Miller tells the story of Mt. Edgecumbe. In Tlingit they called it L’ux.

Chuck Miller (Youth Program Coordinator, Sitka Native Education Program): L’ux is what we call it and it means blinking because when our people first came to these shores, the first thing they saw was something blinking. That’s what brought them here. It was the volcano erupting.

The camp is funded through a $21,000 grant from the Outdoor Foundation and matching funds from the Sitka School District. Last year, the schedule divided the scientific research part of the camp from cultural activities. Certain days were devoted to each, but this year, the two worlds are blended.

Becky Latanich (Chief of Interpretation and Education, Sitka National Historical Park): We’re singing songs. We’re doing native languages and native place names. The science is happening and it’s all at the same time. So it’s not prioritized or compartmentalized.

We cruise into some waters just behind Crow Island. And that is when the grand celebrity of predators shows up.

(Kids cheering on the whales)

Carpenter: 6, 7 right there…we’ve got tails!

Burdick: On like a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being sleeping – very boring – and 10 being awesome rollercoaster, 90 degree drop, I would rate it like a 7 or an 8.

KCAW: Seeing a whale?

Burdick: Yeah!

Heather Powell: So while we’re eating I just wanted to do a quick song. This song is Raven’s First Dance.

(Raven’s First Dance song) 

As the trip winds down, we sit quietly as Heather Powell of the Sitka Native Education Program sings us home. On Thursday, the group also sang cultural songs while watching the herring fleet at work. Ranger Ryan Carpenter said it was one of the most powerful moments of camp.

The full schedule for Herring Camp included cooking herring eggs on the beach in a bentwood box, dissecting herring to study their anatomy, cutting down a hemlock tree and laying it’s branches in traditional spawning sights.

Our boat returns to Crescent Harbor. (Emily Kwong/KCAW photo)

Tristan Ballesderoz and Kyler Newton label a dissected herring during Knowledge of Herring Camp, on March 21, 2014. (KCAW photo/Rachel Waldholz)

Sitka National Historical Park Ranger Ryan Carpenter describes the unique partnership behind Herring Camp, a spring-break program for middle school students. Herring Camp mixes contemporary scientific methods with traditional knowledge to give students a well-rounded perspective on this critical resource. With Tribal culture-bearer Chuck Miller, resource protection manager Jeff Feldpausch, and camper Madison Roy-Mercer.

Downloadable audio.

Sixth graders Abby Saiz and Cora Dow dissect their specimen during Knowledge of Herring Camp, on March 21. (KCAW photo/Rachel Waldholz)

Each year in Sitka herring season arrives, marked by reliable traditions: the proliferation of whales, sea lions and eagles; the arrival of the commercial herring fleet; trips to set branches for the subsistence collection of herring eggs.

This year, the Sitka Tribe, Sitka School District and Sitka National Historical Park added another element, one they hope will become a new tradition: herring camp. During spring break, about fifteen students, in 5th grade through high school, participated in a week of research into herring biology and ecology. The camp included field trips out onto the water to collect plankton and watch the commercial fishery; dissections in the lab; and discussions with tribal elders, the Alaska Department of Fish & Game, and the U.S. Forest Service.

KCAW’s Rachel Waldholz dropped by the last day of camp, and sent this postcard, along the way learning a little something about what goes on inside this iconic spring fish.

Listen to iFriendly audio.

What do we have ladies?

Instructor Michelle Ridgeway is examining the handiwork of 6th graders Abby Saiz and Cora Dow. The two Blatchley Middle School students have just finished dissecting a herring. They’re now placing pins to label the different body parts.

Tristan Ballesderoz and Kyler Newton label a dissected herring during Knowledge of Herring Camp, on March 21. (KCAW photo/Rachel Waldholz)

So would you guys describe for me what you’re doing right now?

We’re labeling a fish.

You’re labeling a fish. So what are you labeling?

Where the organs are, because it’s cut open.

So describe this fish for me.

It has its eye poked out.

Next to the herring is a small petri dish.

So what’s in this petri dish here?

The eye and a heart.

And that’s the herring’s heart right there? OK, describe that for me.

It’s triangle shaped, and tiny, very tiny.

And is the eye actually bigger than the heart?

Yeah.

Describe that eye for me.

It’s about a centimeter, I guess around, and it’s kind of silvery, and then it has a pupil that’s black. And then the back is kind of white-ish. And it has blood on it.

How did it feel when you were pulling that out of the fish?

Ummm, pretty disgusting. [laughs] Squishy!

Ridgeway quizzes her students on the different parts of herring anatomy…

And what are the two main functions of the air bladder?

Floatation and communication.

Communication, exactly. It’s amazing these herring can make sound using their air bladder…and primary function?

To help breathe.

Okay, gills. And they’re extracting what from the water?

Oxygen.

…and after a week of herring camp, they pass with flying colors.

Nice detailed work, ladies. Excellent internal anatomy. Okay! Let’s prepare your exhibit for the public. Ready to go? Let’s go.