Bristol Bay, Alaska is in the middle of an EPIC fishing season.
The kind of season where I really can’t keep on top of the amazing pictures coming in from our lodge partners.
Photo courtesy of TU Gold Business Member, Bear Trail Lodge. King Salmon, Alaska
The kind of season where news crews are lining up to document and feature “the best of what’s left.”
Photos by Ben Knight
The kind of season where I tell friends and partners in the Lower 48: “you just have to see it for yourself” more times than I can count.
Bristol Bay sockeye. Photo by Johnny Armstrong
The kind of season where commercial fishermen harvested more than a million sockeye salmon in one fishing district in the Bay in a SINGLE DAY.
Egegik fishing district. Bristol Bay, Alaska
The thing is… this isn’t unusual for Bristol Bay. Sadly though, this is all still threatened by Pebble Mine. If you want to help protect this region, click here.
The Bristol Bay region is home to some of the premier sport fishing destinations on the globe including the Nushagak, Naknek, Mulchatna, Koktuli and Kvichak Rivers, and Talarik Creek. Rivers that are as productive now as they were thousands of years ago. These rivers are magnets for anglers from all over the world who want “once in a lifetime” fishing experiences. Bristol Bay supports the world’s largest runs of wild salmon, trophy rainbow trout, grizzly bears, caribou, moose and more.
Bristol Bay Grizzlies. Photo by Ben Knight
For many years now, Trout Unlimited has stood shoulder to shoulder with local business owners, guides, commercial fishermen, tribal members, anglers and thousands of others to say no to a proposal that threatens to destroy Bristol Bay: The Pebble Mine. Maybe you thought Pebble was already dead – don’t worry, it’s not just you. In 2014, the EPA listened to more than 1.5 million comments and issued a set of proposed restrictions on mining in Bristol Bay that would ensure wild salmon are protected.
Dillingham, AK. Photo by Jenny Weis
Unfortunately, Pebble responded with a series of lawsuits that stalled the protections from ever coming to fruition and the EPA has now proposed to withdraw the very protections we fought for so long to achieve. As a result, the EPA has opened another 90-day comment period. It’s important that we show them – again – that millions of Americans STILL agree that Bristol Bay is too special to be risked by the proposed Pebble Mine. Please click here to comment today.
If you hope to someday hold a 30-inch Bristol Bay rainbow or enjoy the freshness of a wild sockeye salmon shore lunch on the banks of the Koktuli River, then your comment today is more important now than ever.
Thank you. Please comment today.
Jenny Weis is the Alaska Program communications director. She lives in Anchorage.