A new digital and television ad campaign launched by the Bristol Bay Defense Fund is urging the Environment Protection Agency to “finish the job” of protecting salmon habitat in Alaska’s Bristol Bay watershed.
The campaign, part of a nearly year-long effort aimed at the Biden administration and EPA, comes in the wake of a federal court decision vacating a previous decision by the Trump Administration to withdraw proposed protections for Bristol Bay and to put the process of protecting Bristol Bay back in the EPA’s hands.
The new ad states that “the president and the EPA know what’s at stake. Before the next fishing season begins, they have the power to stop Pebble mine.” This ad and previous efforts by Alaska seafood harvesters, fishing communities and others, were prompted by concerns that development of the massive copper, gold and molybdenum Pebble mine would have an adverse environmental impact on the Bristol Bay watershed, the world’s largest run of wild sockeye salmon.
The Pebble Partnership in Anchorage, a subsidiary of a major Canadian mining firm, maintains that the mine can be constructed and operated in harmony with the fishery. Pebble Partnership spokesman Mike Heatwole said last week that mine proponents would continue working with the state of Alaska and the Environmental Protection Agency regarding the facts and technical information about the project, while focusing on their appeal for permitting from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.