Dune Lankard will be the keynote speaker at the 2024 Mariculture Conference.

Dune Lankard. Photo courtesy of Ayse Gursoz.

Dune Lankard is an Eyak Athabaskan Native, Eagle Clan member from the Copper River Delta and Prince William Sound. Born into a fishing family, his life education as a subsistence and commercial fisherman began at a young age. His first sea-provided income came from grappling for herring roe on kelp at age 12. After graduating from high school, he fished for wild salmon, herring,  halibut, cod, as well as tanner and Dungeness crab and earned a living as a fishery and seafood processing consultant in his off-season. In the wake of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound, Dune earned his Eyak name, Jamachakih which means “little bird that screams really loud and won’t shut up,” as he stepped away from fishing to become a fully committed and passionate community activist. From that day on, he was fighting for justice in the courts and on the land to preserve, protect and restore Native and fishing culture and wild salmon habitat. Along with the Native Conservancy, Dune co-founded and led several Alaska-based non-profits to take on the powers that be. After 35 years of LandBack work in Alaska, Dune is now fully immersed in OceanBack work to build a community-based regenerative ocean farming model to help heal and restore the ocean. He is also building portable community kelp seed nurseries, community cold storages and a Giyah Boat Company to help future Native ocean farmers and fishermen change their relationship with their wild food sources and the sea. Dune is an Ashoka Fellow, Prime Movers Fellow, Future of Fish Cohort, and has won several awards. TIME Magazine named him one of the “Top 50 Heroes for the Planet” for his work to keep old-growth trees standing in the Gulf of Alaska and the Copper River Delta roadless and wild.