EPA proposes protections for world's biggest sockeye salmon fishery
Source: Washington Post
The Biden administration announced Wednesday it will protect waters in Alaska home to one of the world’s biggest salmon spawning grounds, the culmination of a long-running dispute that pitted Alaska Natives against mining interests. The proposal from the Environmental Protection Agency is a potentially fatal blow to a plan to mine in the Bristol Bay watershed for gold, copper and other valuable metals.
Bristol Bay, the source of 37.5 million sockeye salmon a year, helps sustain a $2 billion commercial fishing industry as well as a way of life for Alaska Natives, who have vigorously opposed the construction of the Pebble Mine. The EPA’s action, if finalized, may finally put an end to a decade-long legal and political tussle over the fate of this corner of southern Alaska as President Biden strives to protect a greater share of the nation’s wilderness.
“The Bristol Bay watershed is a shining example of how our nation’s waters are essential to healthy communities, vibrant ecosystems, and a thriving economy,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in a statement. Mike Heatwole, a spokesman for the mine’s sponsor, said in an email that Pebble Limited Partnership is “waiting to see the final details before offering specific comments.” Using a rarely used authority under the Clean Water Act to protect wetlands from being dumped with waste, agency officials found the proposed mine would destroy 8.5 miles of streams and lead to “unacceptable” injury to the region’s salmon.
The silvery-red fish has been a source of food for southwest Alaska’s Indigenous peoples for generations and today attracts big-spending fishing enthusiasts from around the world. Alannah Hurley, executive director of United Tribes of Bristol Bay, a consortium of more than two dozen tribal governments, called the EPA’s announcement a “monumental step.” “Our tribes have been asking for this for the last 12 years,” added Hurley, who is Yup’ik. But she warned the federal government has come close to protecting these waters in the past only to fall short. “We’ve been here before,” she said.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/05/25/biden-epa-bristol-bay-salmon/
Here is EPA's main page for Bristol Bay - https://www.epa.gov/bristolbay
Here is EPA's "determination" page - https://www.epa.gov/bristolbay/2022-proposed-determination-pebble-deposit-area (includes link to the draft of what will be the Federal Register publication)
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"The Biden administration announced Wednesday it will protect waters in Alaska home to one
of the world’s biggest salmon spawning grounds."
A big win for the environment and the native peoples.
