Paper short abstract:

Pacific salmon, migrating to return to their spawning grounds, are seen as a prototype of animals with a “fixed” home, but are rarely discussed when reflecting on animal dwellings. This paper explores how the perception of a salmon´s home – places where they belong - are negotiated in Alaska.

Paper long abstract:

Pacific salmon migrate thousands of miles from the ocean to their spawning grounds, places where they were born themselves, to reproduce (and die). Their life story can be easily related to the human concept of home, and is mirrored in several local folklore and laboratory stories originating in North America.

At the Kuskokwim River in Southwest Alaska, state and federal management regulations affect the perception of salmon homes and dwellings, as well as the idea of where this animal belongs. Subsistence fishing created a discourse and a set of values about correct fishing. Local oral history and daily practice amplify the importance of respecting salmon in order to become or stay successful in catching fish. The goal is to bring fish into the net. The net here represents more than a fishing tool. Fishing for salmon ensures fishing success for the following years; the net, and the act of catching, establishes and continues the relationship between fish and human. In contrast, fish biologists tell a different story of where salmon belong: their spawning grounds. To ensure that the set amount of salmon reach these places, fishing regulations are enforced, and salmon have to be counted. Both fishing for salmon as a subsistence way of life as well as regulations establish human-fish relations for the future, but give different meaning to it. Hence, the proposed paper will discuss what happens when designated animal dwellings are negotiated: human-fish relations are (re-)shaped and (new) salmon homes are created.