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During his speech, he addresses the value of Alaska’s resources and vows to ensure that Alaska’s resources will be used to the benefit of all Alaskans, not just to enrich the robber barons like those in the mining industry who plunder the land and leave behind a wasteland for the commercial fish packers. “Bob” Bartlett rises to speak to the gathered delegates, determined to join the partnership of the United States as the newest state, and create a framework for protecting Alaska’s resources. In that decade, the Alaska salmon runs were declared a federal disaster.Īt the same time, 300 miles to the north-east in the heart of the Alaskan interior, a man stands before a gathering of delegates at the University of Alaska campus in Fairbanks to present his opening remarks to the Alaska Constitutional Convention. Some fishermen only had 36 hours of fish openings in that season. The commercial fishing industry has just suffered another devastating year of losses due to poor management by outside salmon packers who still hold powerful sway over federal fishery managers. She lives there full-time with her husband and children. Downstream to the south, in Lake Iliamna, the only population of freshwater harbour seals in the world are waiting for the ice to form so they can give birth to their pups.Īlmost 100 miles to the south-west, on the edge of Bristol Bay, Violet Groat is five years into her 50+ year career in the commercial fishing industry, working as a winter watchman at the Bumblebee Cannery in South Naknek at the mouth of the Naknek River.
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Later, he and his nephews will set trap lines to obtain furs that can be sold for cash. Several hills and low valleys away to the south-east, a Dena’ina Athabascan elder is taking his nephews out to hunt for caribou near the Upper Talarik Creek, passing on traditions that have been part of the Alaska Native heritage for thousands of years. The seep is one of dozens in the area, illustrating the intense connectivity between the surface and ground waters in the area. On the surface, an artesian spring flows over the ground, creating a rare dark mark in this vast, white land. They are yet another generation of sockeye salmon, part of a race that has become genetically adapted to the rich, pure waters that have provided a stable environment for thousands of years. Snow has been building for over a month, forcing caribou to migrate, bears to den, and the last migratory fowl to take off for warmer habitats to the south.īelow the surface, deep in the hyporheic zone where groundwater and surface water mix, salmon eggs take advantage of the protective reaches of gravel and sand for protection from the onslaught of winter. It is a cold November day in 1955 on the banks of the north fork of the Koktuli River, the headwaters of the Nushagak watershed – one of the major waterways feeding into Bristol Bay in south-western Alaska. However, to understand the issues you need to look first to the past. Much of the discussion about the Bristol Bay region and the proposed development of the Pebble Mine focuses on the future. A Canadian and British joint venture seeks to bring jobs to the region and wealth to their shareholders by developing a massive gold, copper and molybdenum mine at two of those rivers’ headwaters.īut people in the region fear the development of that mine, known as the Pebble Mine, because of the potential for adverse impact to the land, waters and resources of the region. The Bristol Bay region of south-western Alaska has seven river systems that provide incredible habitat to a variety of wildlife and fish, including all five species of Pacific salmon. What does this mean for a people who are deeply connected to the land and a region that produces half of the world’s sockeye salmon supply? The Bristol Bay region in Alaska is at the centre of a decision about developing one of the largest gold and copper mines in the world.