We protect our species because it’s our way of life | Mellisa Maktuayaq Johnson

Fish & Us: Climate Stories from the Waterfront

Join us for this season’s final episode! I speak with Mellisa Maktuayaq Johnson, who grew up with a subsistence way of life in Nome, Alaska and is now the government affairs and policy director at the Arctic-Yukon-Kuskokwim Tribal Consortium. Mellisa shares her story which includes the landscapes of the Bering Sea region, the seasonal cycles of following the fish, and her experiences incorporating traditional foods in Tribal health care. Mellisa highlights the importance of working together and involving Indigenous peoples in fishery management systems as climate change continues to impact Indigenous holistic ways of life.