Expanding Our Tool Kit: Traditional Knowledge & Ocean Research

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) provided an essay to the recent publication of the Journal of Ocean Technology. When governmental agencies engage with Alaska Native peoples about resource management, they encounter knowledge and belief systems far different from their own. Whether aware of it or not, the collaborators find themselves in an alternative management space in which there are more tools available than usual. A key component of this enhanced collaborative space is the traditional knowledge of Alaska Native peoples, which can be used to improve decision making.