Collaborative Research: Sustainabiity of critical areas for eiders and subsistence hunters in an industrializing nearshore zone

Throughout the Arctic, indigenous people are faced with difficult choices between the cash benefits of industrialization versus potential degradation of subsistence hunting. Subsistence hunting often provides a large fraction of foods, and may be more reliable in the long term than a cash economy based on nonrenewable resources. Subsistence hunting for certain species may also have cultural significance that far exceeds their dietary contribution. On the Chukchi Sea coast, pipelines connecting offshore oil wells to onshore terminals must be built across a nearshore corridor used by most marine birds and mammals that migrate to the western North American Arctic. These animals are hunted for subsistence by local Natives. During spring, these animals travel through a zone of open water that forms between landfast ice and moving pack ice. If an oil pipeline were ruptured by spring ice scour in this shallow zone, oil could probably not be removed from open water within broken ice during migration. Such an event could not only restrict the extent of viable habitat, but also eliminate local hunting areas. Thus, key habitats that are usually accessible to hunting should be avoided in pipeline placement. In this research, we will model habitat requirements and map viable prey densities for a formerly hunted but now threatened species (Spectacled Eider, SPEI) and a commonly hunted species (King Eider, KIEI) in the Chukchi nearshore zone, and determine long-term variability in the eiders? access to those areas through the ice. We will refine these maps with traditional ecological knowledge on conditions and areas where hunting for KIEI typically occurs. We will then estimate probabilities that different eider feeding areas that are accessible through the ice and conducive to hunting would be eliminated during migration by oil spills from pipelines built along four alternative routes. We will use this information to inform structured decision-making workshops we will hold in the Native community. These workshops will help create a local vision for sustainability, in terms of potential risks of different pipeline routes to subsistence and cultural values of eiders, relative to cash benefits of local construction projects. Local villagers will be involved in creating and shaping the data set, and will be the main participants in structured decision-making workshops. We will integrate our work with outreach and education programs conducted in these villages by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Our project will yield important information for future evaluations and decision-making by Endangered Species and Migratory Bird Management Offices. Our modern scientific and traditional ecological data, and facilitation of community consensus-building, will expedite later impact assessments by BOEM and other agencies as oilfield development proceeds. On a hemispheric scale, the approach we develop will serve as a prototype applicable to the many such situations developing across the Arctic.在整个北极区域，原住民始终面临两难抉择：一边是工业化进程带来的现金收益，另一边则是自给性狩猎（subsistence hunting）可能面临的生态退化风险。自给性狩猎通常可为原住民提供占比可观的食物供给，且从长期视角而言，相较于依托不可再生资源的现金经济，其供应稳定性更优。针对特定物种的自给性狩猎，其文化意义往往远超其在饮食供给层面的价值。 在楚科奇海（Chukchi Sea）沿岸，连接近海油井与陆上终端的输油管道，需穿越一片近岸廊道——该区域是多数迁徙至北美北极西部海域的海鸟与海洋哺乳动物的栖息通道。当地原住民会以自给为目的，狩猎这些动物。每年春季，这些动物会穿行于固定冰（landfast ice）与流动浮冰群（pack ice）之间形成的开放水域带。若输油管道在该浅水区因春季冰蚀发生破裂，在迁徙季期间，泄漏的原油大概率无法在破碎冰面的开放水域中得到清理。此类事故不仅会压缩适宜栖息地的范围，还会彻底摧毁当地的狩猎区域。因此，在铺设输油管道时，应避开原住民通常可开展狩猎活动的关键栖息地。 本研究将针对楚科奇近岸海域的两种鸭类开展建模与制图工作：其一为曾被广泛狩猎、如今已受威胁的眼镜绒鸭（Spectacled Eider, SPEI），其二为常见狩猎物种王绒鸭（King Eider, KIEI）；我们将模拟二者的栖息地需求，绘制适宜猎物密度分布图，并评估冰面通道下，绒鸭进入这些区域的长期动态变化。我们将结合当地原住民关于王绒鸭典型狩猎区域与环境条件的传统生态知识，对上述分布图进行优化完善。随后，我们将评估：沿四条备选管道线路铺设管线时，若发生原油泄漏，哪些通过冰面可达且适宜狩猎的绒鸭觅食区会在迁徙季被破坏，并计算此类事件发生的概率。 我们将基于这些分析结果，为在原住民社区举办的结构化决策研讨会提供支撑。这些研讨会将助力形成本地化的可持续发展共识：对比本地建设项目带来的现金收益，不同管道线路对自给性狩猎及绒鸭文化价值的潜在风险将被纳入考量。当地村民将全程参与数据集的构建与优化工作，并作为结构化决策研讨会的核心参与者。我们还将与美国鱼类及野生动物管理局（U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service）在当地村庄开展的外展与教育项目进行整合。 本项目将为濒危物种与候鸟管理办公室后续的评估与决策提供关键支撑信息。我们整合现代科学数据与传统生态知识，并推动社区共识构建的工作，将在油田开发推进过程中，加速海洋能源管理局（BOEM）及其他机构后续开展的环境影响评估进程。从半球尺度来看，我们研发的研究方法可作为通用范式，适用于北极地区诸多类似的开发场景。