Tim Ackerman discusses seal skinning as chef manager Nichole Thoms, left, and Crystalyn Lemieux, a program manager for Alaska Native Heritage Center, observe. (Courtesy/Marc Lester, ADN)

Wielding a sharpened piece of volcanic glass, Tim Ackerman sliced into the thawing carcass of a harbor seal.

“You want to keep parallel to the hide like this, as close as you can to the skin,” Ackerman said, narrating his deft movement separating skin from fat to a dozen…