First published on 10/13/2017, and last updated on 09/17/2020
By: Tero Mustonen, Snowchange, Member of the ICCA Consortium and Kolyma ELOKA
The Lower Kolyma region, in far-east Russian Siberia, is widely known for its iconic nomadic reindeer communities. For millennia, these communities have assured their food security and cultural stability through traditional fishing methods, in addition to their semi-domesticated reindeer herds. The Kolyma River is the largest river in Siberia. Along with hundreds of smaller streams, lakes and the Arctic Ocean coastline, it is home to abundant and diverse fish species. The local communities harvest some of these fish in traditional ways. In the past 15 years, with the support of a Snowchange community programme, fishermen from various Kolyma communities are taking steps to address climate change.
Visit their website and learn more about Indigenous fishery practices in the region and some of the drivers of change that are affecting it: Lower Kolyma Fisheries
