ISSUES AFFECTING SUBSISTENCE SECURITY IN ARCTIC SOCIETIES

This paper discusses certain culturally based adverse impacts upon nor thern peoples' socioeconomic and cultural ''security'' which originate in distant urban centers where economic and political agendas often a ntagonistic to Northerners' interests are aggressively pursued. In par ticular, anti-sealing and anti-whaling movements are addressed. The cu lture-historic basis of urban-led opposition to arctic marine mammal h unting is explored. Resulting animal rights campaigns have influenced conservation legislation in many countries, to the detriment of local economies in the North. Furthermore, a strict application of science-b ased resource management regimes often results in the uncritical appli cation of numerical catch quotas, thereby undermining the indigenous r elationship between humans and animals that has supported centuries of sustainable resource use in the past.