Save Bristol Bay Blog

The Save Bristol Bay Road Show is headed to Albuquerque and Santa Fe, New Mexico, in February with screenings of “Red Gold,” and a farmer’s market event featuring wild Bristol Bay salmon provided by Seattle Fish Company of New Mexico prepared by four prominent area chefs.

A quiet attempt at changing the mission statement of Alaska’s Department of Natural Resources is generating public scrutiny and the attention of legislators. Department Commissioner Dan Sullivan is seeking to remove the words “conserve,” “enhance” and “future Alaskans,” from the agency’s mission.

A team of Alaska dog sledders are Mushing for Bristol Bay in races in Wisconsin and Michigan. Tim Osmar, a veteran racer, and Monica Zappa, an up and coming musher, have decked out their truck, sleds, parkas and even dog coats in Save Bristol Bay and No Pebble Mine decals to run the Apostle Islands and UP 200 contests. Both are also commercial fishermen who rely on the connection between clean waters and healthy salmon fisheries.

The EPA announced that toxic emissions increased nationwide in 2010 by 16%, largely due to metal mining. In addition, toxic emissions in Alaska accounted for 90 percent of all documented releases in the four-state Pacific Northwest region, and Alaska produced the most toxic emissions of any state in the country. The biggest single emissions source in Alaska is the Red Dog zinc and lead mine, which is tiny in comparison to the proposed Pebble Mine.

Bristol Bay in the News, January 9, 2012

Coverage of Bristol Bay and its valuable salmon fisheries did not slow down in the last week of 2011. A new national study found that Bristol Bay’s total economic benefits from commercial fishing could be as high as $5.4 billion annually. This value-added model of analysis includes the whole sale and retail value of fish, along the chain from catch to processing, to sales to retail establishments, such as restaurants and grocers.