Localized practices and globalized futures: challenges for Alaska coastal community youth

Increasing enclosure in fisheries, the rising cost of living in northern rural areas, and the single sector economies of many coastal communities have increased community vulnerability to short and long-term resource and market instabilities. This article situates Alaska coastal youth within the current economic uncertainty experienced by communities traditionally reliant upon commercial fishing. Focus group interviews conducted with youth aged 16-24 in Gulf of Alaska coastal communities demonstrate youth in this region possess strong, place-based social capital shaped by the small size and geographic remoteness of their communities as well as a connectedness to each other and to the physical environment of those communities. Key discourses emerged in the interviews concerning this “close-knit” nature of Alaska coastal communities, how their residents are “hands-on” people in the context of employment preferences and affinities, and that Alaska coastal youth perceive a “real world” beyond the borders of their communities offering them attractive amenities of modern, urban lifestyles. As opportunities in traditional occupations such as fishing diminish, coastal youth are encouraged to pursue higher education and in this context, young women are leaving more frequently than young men as gender roles change. Interviewees report many youth who do leave, however, often return home without completing their education and how others who do must sometimes leave home permanently to pursue careers unavailable at home. Including a youth perspective in policy discussions concerning local economic development would produce the following prescriptions: 1) investing in training coastal youth for culturally relevant and desirable work, 2) recognizing youth might want to return to their home communities in the future, particularly with their families, 3) giving youth a voice in community affairs and policymaking to cultivate future community leaders and stewards, and 4) committing to economic development strategies that encourage local ownership in coastal resources and industries.