JAMES A. CHARLES

“My mother said I was born at fish camp. My heart is in fishing, both subsistence and commercial. Right now I own five airplanes, and in the 1960’s I used to buy fish directly from other fishermen and fly them out and sell them. My Yup’ik name is Aiagiaq, and it means “always going.” I used to fish up to 40 hours sometimes. With new regulations in these areas, they are only allowed to fish up to six.”—James A. Charles is Yup’ik from Bethel, Alaska.