Page 50 - Breath of the Bear

Guided by Science:

THE NATURE CONSERVANCY’S WORK IN BRISTOL BAY

The migration of wild salmon is one of nature’s most wondrous journeys. Through the wild salmon’s remarkable cycle of life, in a single lifetime, a wild
Pacific salmon will migrate from their place of birth—in a freshwater stream or lake—to the Pacific Ocean—and back again. This migration may span many
hundreds of river miles, with an ocean phase of their life cycle leading them far into the Pacific and lasting several years.
As a cycle of life, wild salmon are entirely reliant on healthy lands and waters—cold, clean and abundant water in free-flowing rivers amid forests and,
in Alaska, vast tundra uplands. For wild salmon, the health of the land surrounding lakes and rivers is as important as the health of their waters.
Southwest Alaska’s Bristol Bay is pristine salmon habitat. It’s a region the size of Ohio with a population of just 7,000 people. The region produces more
wild salmon than anywhere else on Earth while fueling a $2.2 billion wild salmon fishery that has been certified sustainable by the Marine Stewardship
Council. Bristol Bay’s annual salmon migration of returning adult salmon brings a natural spectacle that attracts a wild range of wildlife—think bears,
whales and eagles. It also sustains a traditional way of life dating back millennia.
Why here? It’s the wealth of healthy streams and rivers, wetlands and lakes. This mix of pristine habitat creates a diverse genetic portfolio of several

48