Fishers of Nation’s Largest Salmon Run Fight Proposed Mine
Locals and indigenous people worry that the proposed Pebble Mine will harm their remote Alaskan community.
And each year, gossip runs rampant from cabin to cabin, predicting whether the run will be late and if it will be larger than last year. Yet for centuries, the fish have returned, following the ancient route of their ancestors to spawn in the same small streams and rivers.
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During 2010, in fact, more than 40 million salmon swam through Bristol Bay, according to the Alaskan Fish and Game Department. It is estimated that more than half of all wild salmon sold in the United States comes from Bristol Bay fisheries.
But as National Geographic magazine reported in its December 2010 issue, the salmon run—and those who fish there—are under threat from another
