New bill deepens salmon protections within Bristol Bay Fisheries Reserve

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MEDIA CONTACT: Alannah Hurley, UTBB Executive Director, (907) 843-1633 or ahurley@utbb.org

‘Bristol Bay salmon deserve watershed-wide protection’: New bill deepens salmon protections within Bristol Bay Fisheries Reserve

Speaker Edgmon and Representative Josephson have proposed a new bill that would prohibit metallic sulfide mining activities, such as that proposed at the Pebble deposit, in the Bristol Bay region.

DILLINGHAM – Speaker Edgmon (I-Dillingham) and Representative Josephson (D-Anchorage) have introduced a bill (HB 233) that would protect Bristol Bay’s unparalleled wild salmon, and the cultures and jobs they sustain, by banning activities related to metallic sulfide mining within the Bristol Bay Fisheries Reserve. 

As Northern Dynasty Minerals still seeks to pursue Pebble mine, and more than 20 mining claims remain active across the region, this bill creates  state-based protections for a region that depends on healthy fish habitat to support a timeless subsistence way of life and commercial fishery that has operated over 130 years.

This bill would strengthen the protection of salmon within the Bristol Bay Fisheries Reserve where oil and gas development is currently prohibited without legislative approval. The Bristol Bay Fisheries Reserve was established by the Alaska Legislature with Governor Jay Hammond's leadership in 1972, marking more than a half century of state-based efforts to safeguard the unique region. 

The bill was introduced at the end of a busy first legislative session. Since the Legislature operates on a two session cycle over two years, the bill will automatically be up for consideration when the legislature reconvenes in January 2026.

The following is a reaction from Alannah Hurley, Executive Director of United Tribes of Bristol Bay:

“Bristol Bay is ready to focus on sustainable growth and the wellbeing of our communities. We should not be condemned to endless decades of fighting to protect our ways of life from large-scale mines like Pebble. This legislation will free Bristol Bay Tribes and our people so we can focus on building a sustainable future for our region and state. We are so thankful to Speaker Edgmon and Representative Josephson for being champions for Bristol Bay and Alaska’s fisheries.” 

The following is a reaction from Katherine Carscallen, Executive Director of Commercial Fishermen for Bristol Bay:

“Bristol Bay continues to deliver record-breaking salmon runs and harvests. Not only does it provide employment and a way of life for fishermen like myself and over 15,000 others in the industry, Bristol Bay also contributes over $2.2 billion in economic value year after year.

These irreplaceable salmon runs and the industry and people they support warrant action. We have to ensure they are never traded away for the short term profits from incompatible mining development in the region.”

The following is a reaction from Michael Link, President/CEO of Bristol Bay Economic Development Corporation:

"We welcome all efforts to avoid trading abundant, sustainable salmon runs for metallic sulfide mines. This legislation provides additional protection so we can focus on sustainable economic development.  Bristol Bay salmon constitute a gold mine all on their own, supporting tens of thousands of people annually. Mines of the nature being proposed are simply not compatible with healthy salmon runs."

The following is a reaction from Daniel Schindler, Ph.D., Professor, School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences*, University of Washington:

“The iconic fisheries in Bristol Bay ultimately depend on the vast and productive watersheds that provide the spawning and nursery habitats for salmon. Industrial scale efforts to extract metals from the sulfide-rich deposits found throughout Bristol Bay watersheds pose substantial and unavoidable risks to salmon fisheries because it is clear that these activities will permanently alter stream flows, and will contaminate surface- and ground water sources. Mining of these sulfide-rich deposits will also require perpetual retention and maintenance of waste materials that will generate contaminants directly toxic to fish for centuries. These activities are both economically expensive and are simply not compatible with strategies to sustain commercial, sport, and subsistence fisheries in the future.”  

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United Tribes of Bristol Bay is a tribal consortium representing 15 Bristol Bay tribal governments (that represent over 80 percent of the region’s total population) working to protect the Yup’ik, Dena'ina, and Alutiiq way of life in Bristol Bay.
*The Fisheries Research Institute / University of Washington Alaska Salmon Program has worked on salmon ecosystems in Bristol Bay since 1946, and Daniel Schindler has been a Principal Investigator of this program since 1997.

Commercial Fishermen for Bristol Bay is a national coalition of fishermen working to protect Bristol Bay, Alaska and the 15,000 jobs, $2.2 billion in economic activity, and generational fishery that Bristol Bay’s wild salmon provide.