FAQs about the Natural History of the Inside Passage

In 1978, the Alaska Legislature passed the Alaska subsistence law requiring that subsistence uses of fish and game be authorized and protected. Subsistence is legally defined to include the customary and traditional uses of fish and game in all of Alaska's rural areas. If a person moves into a rural area and adopts a subsistence lifestyle, then that person, whether Alaska Native or non-native, may legally fish and hunt for subsistence. However, only Alaska Natives may hunt marine mammals, such as seals, whales, polar bears, and sea otters due to international treaties.

Food is one of the most important subsistence uses of wild resources. However, there are other important uses of subsistence products including: furs and hides for clothing and sleeping mats; wood for fuel, smoking meats, and building homes; food for dog teams; wild grasses for baskets and mats; specialty products like seal oil and furs that are traded or sold; and ivory, grass, wood, skins, and furs are crafted into beautiful items for use and sale.

It is a common misconception that there is no money in traditional subsistence economies. Rural families use money in order to purchase basic goods and services such as shelter, fuel oil, electricity, family goods, and subsistence equipment (guns, ammunition, fishing nets, gasoline, and so forth). Subsistence is not a welfare system for people with low incomes.