Page 51 - Breath of the Bear

hundred discrete sockeye salmon populations—and this diversity is key to productivity and long-term sustainability. Every year, it adds up to an average
return of about 40 million sockeye salmon—truly the Earth’s last best salmon runs.
Bristol Bay’s portfolio of genetic diversity—much like a diverse investment portfolio—contributes to a more resilient salmon system and bolsters local
fishery-dependent economies. Wiping out or harming any of these discrete salmon populations puts the productivity of the larger Bristol Bay salmon
system at risk over time.
Despite Bristol Bay’s astonishing natural wealth—a standout even in Alaska—its globally important salmon runs are in danger. Underneath this massively
productive watershed lie rich deposits of copper, cold, molybdenum and other minerals. A global-scale mining proposal that would have straddled the
pristine headwaters of the Nushagak River and Kvichak River, spawning grounds for about half of Bristol Bay’s salmon, suffered major setbacks in 2023.
But new permit applications are popping up in surrounding areas all the time.
Leading with Science
The Nature Conservancy has invested in a science-led process to assess the risk of mining in the headwaters of two of the planet’s most productive wild
salmon rivers. Since the Pebble mine was proposed for the headwaters of the Nushagak and Kvichak rivers in the early 2000s, The Nature Conservancy,
tribal environment programs, and other research organizations have compiled thorough inventories of the region’s salmon streams, hydrology, traditional
use areas, water quality and more. This includes our 2019 assessment of direct loss of salmon streams, tributaries and wetlands, which compared the
thresholds of unacceptable adverse effects to salmon streams as outlined in the EPA’s proposed determination to the Clean Water Act, Section 404(c).
To learn more about our work in Bristol Bay, please visit nature.org/Alaska.

photos by Isaac Stern

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