Bristol Bay

The possibility that a giant gold-and-copper mine might someday be built near the headwaters that feed Bristol Bay in Alaska, one of the richest salmon fisheries in the world, is cause for alarm.

The rivers of Bristol Bay make up the world's largest commercial sockeye salmon fishery and the bay accounts for $360 million annual income. After recently discovering the world's second-largest copper and gold resource at the river headwaters, a multinational mining corporation known as Pebble Limited Partnership (PLP) has applied for permits to develop one of the largest mines on the planet, an open-pit mine estimated at 55 square miles and producing several billion tons of toxic waste requiring treatment and storage in perpetuity.

In a high-stakes battle that pits gold and copper against fish, members of Congress are scrapping over a plan to build one of the world's largest open pit mines in southwest Alaska.

A new poll by the Alaska chapter of The Nature Conservancy of some 500 registered voters shows overwhelming statewide support for policies protecting salmon habitat across the state.

Senior EPA officials were in Dillingham last Friday to give an update on the Bristol Bay Watershed Assessment. The public meeting is an early stage in the agency’s assessment of the watershed and the potential impact of large-scale development on water quality and regional fisheries.

Commercial, subsistence and sport fishermen, as well as year-round Nushagak river residents made two hours worth of public statements on the possible impacts of the proposed Pebble Mine project that would be situated close to the river’s headwaters. Melati Kaye has more.

Thirteen young area residents considering careers as sport fish guiding will embark on an eight-day adventure on Sunday as participants in the third annual Bristol Bay Fly Fishing and Guide Academy at an upscale fishing lodge near King Salmon. 

Participants, aged 15-24, are coming to learn how to fly fish and master the art of guiding from long-time Bristol bay resident and lodge owner Nanci Morris Lyon and Ekwok elder Luki Akelkok, a veteran sport fishing and hunting guide and owner of two lodges, who is an expert on the cultural history of the region.

A state-funded third party study of the potential impacts of the proposed Pebble mine has been shelved.

A $750,000 appropriation near the end of the 2010 legislative session inserted into the capital budget directed the Legislative Council to award a contract for an "independent third party scientific and multidisciplinary study of the potential large mine development in the Bristol Bay drainage."

The prospect of the Pebble Mine is a looming figure for many in Bristol Bay. While the Environmental Protection Agency is moving forward with a scientific assessment of the watershed, those of various industries connected to the salmon population would like to see further action.