Alaska Fishing Conservation Efforts | Copper River Lodge
The Copper River Lodge is concerned about the salmon populations around the world, and Alaska. We are fortunate to have very stable salmon runs, but they need to be protected to keep them that way.Threats from the Pebble Mine, over fishing, and habitat destruction could all play a role in destroying one of the largest intact salmon ecosystems left in the world.
On this page we will try to keep you updated on current threats. We also donate trips every year to these conservation causes. If you are interested in bidding on a trip please let us know. We also sell $100 raffle tickets for a free trip, 100% of the donation will go to fighting the Pebble Mine, or habitat preservation through the agencies below.
Our greatest fight at this point is trying to slow down or stop Pebble Mine which could become the largest open pit mine in the world. The mine is located between the two largest salmon producing drainages in Alaska, the Nushagak and the Kvijack. Please support the agencies that are fighting this mine: Trout Unlimited, the Conservation Fund, the Nature Conservancy, and the Sportsman's Alliance.
Another major concern for Pacific Salmon has emerged this fall. Scientist have found wild Sockeye salmon with salmon anemia. This is the first time it has been found in the Pacific Northwest. It has been blamed for decimating many Atlantic salmon runs. It morphed into this deadly disease in Atlantic fish farms. It is believed that the fish farms in British Columbia Canada are the source of this new disease. IF EVER YOU WERE LOOKING FOR A REASON TO EAT WILD SALMON THIS IS IT! STOP EATING FARMED SALMON (ESPECIALLY FROM CANADA) UNTIL THE CANADIAN GOVERNMENT GETS THEIR _____ TOGETHER! There is a link below for the most recent articles.
If you would like to see a great video on the mine please go to Red Gold trailer
Recent News:
Feb 7, 2012:New scientific report describes dangers of Pebble Mine to Bristol Bay salmon, watershed and communities;
Concludes Pebble is a monumental gamble that risks too much
Portland, Ore. – The proposed Pebble Mine would siphon as much as 35 billion gallons of fresh water out of the headwaters of Bristol Bay, Alaska every year, eliminating critical salmon habitat, and would likely facilitate the development of a much larger mining district, further endangering the world’s largest wild sockeye salmon fishery, according to a new, comprehensive report.
“Bristol Bay’s Wild Salmon Ecosystems and the Pebble Mine: Key Considerations for a Large-Scale Mine Proposal,” examines the potential impacts of the proposed Pebble Mine on Bristol Bay’s wild salmon fishery, which produces up to 40 million mature wild salmon each year. The 111-page report, produced by the Wild Salmon Center and Trout Unlimited, details multiple issues and concerns driven by the potential exploitation of Pebble’s massive deposit of copper, gold, and molybdenum.
Examining a wide body of studies, reports, and the best available scientific information, the report analyzes preliminary proposals for the mine, concluding there is too much at stake ecologically, economically, and culturally to risk development of the Pebble deposit.
“This report shows the far-reaching impacts that development of the Pebble deposit would have on Bristol Bay’s world-class salmon fishery and largely pristine watersheds,” said Guido Rahr, President of the Wild Salmon Center. “In addition to risks posed by the chronic leaching of contaminants or a catastrophic failure, the proposed mine would substantially alter the hydrology, water table, and available habitat for salmon, which are extremely sensitive to changes in their environment.”
The report emphasizes that approval of the Pebble Mine and its infrastructure will likely lead to the development of a much larger mining district, substantially increasing the odds that mining will harm Bristol Bay’s wild salmon ecosystem. An unprecedented coalition of Alaska Native tribes and corporations, sportsmen, commercial fishermen and others have asked the EPA to protect Bristol Bay by withdrawing the watershed as a disposal site for dredge and fill activities under Section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act. The EPA is currently conducting a scientific assessment of the Bristol Bay watershed to determine whether large-scale development would adversely impact the region’s natural resources.
“This report confirms what hunters and anglers from Alaska to Maine are most worried about – Pebble Mine will damage a place that is a critical part of America's sporting heritage,” said Shoren Brown, Bristol Bay campaign director for Trout Unlimited. “It provides a thorough analysis of the mine’s potential impacts and makes a compelling case for why a 404(c) process is necessary to protect Bristol Bay.”
Preliminary proposals and studies presented by developers indicate that the Pebble Mine:
• contains ore that has a high likelihood of generating acid mine drainage, which is severely harmful to salmon and other aquatic species;
• will produce up to 10.8 billion tons of waste rock, requiring miles of tailings dams initially proposed up to 740 feet high;
• may use 35 billion gallons of fresh water per year, more than three times the usage of Anchorage, Alaska’s largest city; and
• will construct multiple sources of contamination, including: an open pit and underground mine, an 86 mile road and pipeline route, a deep-water port and other infrastructure.
In addition, the infrastructure required to exploit the Pebble deposit has led to additional mining claims, creating a mining district which spans 793 square miles within the Bristol Bay basin, an area 10 times larger than Washington D.C. The report also presents several case studies in which mining companies polluted surrounding waters and left expensive cleanup costs to American taxpayers.
Lance Trasky, retired Alaska Department of Fish and Game Regional Supervisor and one of the report’s primary contributing authors added: “The Bristol Bay watershed and its tributary streams are a powerhouse of wild sockeye salmon production – the very best in the world. The Pebble Mine proposal dwarfs all of the existing mines put together in Alaska and, if constructed, will have devastating consequences for salmon, as well as the wildlife and humans who depend on them."
Report authors and experts are available for questions. For a full copy of the report, go to http://www.wildsalmoncenter.org/programs/north_america/pebblemine.php
November 3, 2011:
A very sad and scary article on salmon anemia. This could be the largest threat yet to Pacific salmon :
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/18/science/18salmon.html?_r=3&scp=1&sq=lethal%20virus&st=cse
Bristol Bay in the News: May 16, 2011
As Anglo American flexes its muscle by dropping a huge amount of money into the Pebble Mine stake, the industry gathered at an Anchorage Chamber meeting to talk about mining statewide. In total, mining companies employed 3,500 people in Alaska last year, according to the Alaska Miners Association. That’s not even a third of the sustainable jobs tied to fisheries and tourism in Bristol Bay.
Bristol Bay is known for sockeye, but it’s also Alaska’s second largest producing region of chinook as the Kodiak Daily Mirror reports. Outdoor writer Tim Mowry says one of his summer goals is landing a salmon on a rod and reel. And thanks to the Bristol Bay Fly Fishing Academy, local Bristol Bay youth can learn how to fly fish and about the career of being a guide.
Finally, a cautionary documentary, “Salmon: Running the Gauntlet,” is running on PBS stations across the country. Exploring the state of salmon on the Columbia River, it demonstrates how “our once great runs of salmon are now conceived in laboratories, raised in tanks, driven in trucks, and farmed in pens.” It’s so much cheaper and easier to protect healthy salmon now, rather than trying to restore them later.
Here’s a weekly roundup of media.
Chinook Salmon: True Icon of Salmon fishery
Laine Welch
Kodiak Daily Mirror
Chinook salmon make up less than 1 percent of Alaska’s total statewide harvest, but those big kings are the true icon of the salmon fishery. By far, most of the chinook salmon catch comes all year round from trollers in Southeast Alaska — 262,000 kings in 2010 at an average weight of 14.47 pounds and average price of $4.05 per pound...Click here to read more
Mining increases Economic Clout industry says
Tim Bradner
Alaska Journal of Commerce
Mines operating in Alaska are injecting hundreds of millions of dollars into the state's economy, particularly benefiting the state's larger communities where support companies are based…Click here to read more
Tim Mowry Examines his summer Alaska to-do List
Tim Mowry
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
Even though summer isn’t quite here yet, I have decided to go ahead and release my 2011 summer list of things to do. I figure the sooner I get started, the better the chance that I might actually get something checked off my list this year…Click here to read more
Bristol Bay Fly Fishing + Guide Academy 2011
May 29 to June 5, 2011 at Alaska Sportsman's Bear Trail Lodge near King Salmon
Most people who visit Bristol Bay want to fish. And most of them want to fish with a local, home-grown guide who knows the waters, the wildlife, the people and the way of life here. That’s why we’re training the region’s young people to explore careers as guides…Click here for details
Nuna Resources – are they your friend in Bristol Bay?
River Wire Blog
Anglers at Large
Dear Hunting and Angling Supporters of Bristol Bay:
In February, we delivered a letter from over 360 hunting and angling organizations and businesses from all across the USA and a few foreign countries to the Environmental Protection Agency urging permanent protection of Bristol Bay, Alaska’s biggest wild salmon fishery and one of the planet’s truly premier sport fishing and hunting destinations...Click here to read more
Salmon: Running the Gauntlet
PBS stations across the country
The parallel stories of collapsing Pacific salmon populations and how biologists and engineers have become instruments in audacious experiments to replicate every stage of the fish's life cycle. Our once great runs of salmon are now conceived in laboratories, raised in tanks, driven in trucks, and farmed in pens …Click here to watch
February, 2011:
Hello Royal Coachman Lodge,
We received some fantastic news from the EPA today...a great first step in protecting Bristol Bay's fish and wildlife resources from large-scale mining! In a press release sent out this morning, the Environmental Protection Agency, at the request of 9 Bristol Bay tribes, sportsmen groups and other fishing organizations, will conduct a scientific assessment of the Bristol Bay watershed to better understand how future large-scale development projects, such as Pebble, may affect water quality and Bristol Bay’s fishery.
Trout Unlimited - Alaska, tribes, other Alaskans and other sportsmen's groups are applauding this as a great first step in protecting Bristol Bay. Begich and Murkowski have both weighed in with their own press releases.
Read Begich's statement here. Read Murkowski's statement here.
If you live in Alaska and feel inspired to help on this please pick up the phone and call Begich (202-224-3004 or email) and Murkowski (202-224-6665 or email). Thank them for supporting local Alaskan's requests that the EPA move forward in protecting Bristol Bay's fish and wildlife resources. Tell them that you are supportive of the 404c process in Bristol Bay and thank you for supporting the scientific study that the EPA is initiating.
If you live anywhere and feel inspired give the EPA regional office in Seattle a call and tell them a huge THANK YOU for initiating a scientific review of large-scale mining and the affects it would have on Bristol Bay and that you are supportive of the EPA initiating the 404c process in Bristol Bay. Their number is 206-553-1200.
This news really is hot off the press. Keep an eye out for more info on Save Bristol Bay's Facebook page or I'll also post updated news and press hits on my Facebook page (search Nelli Williams Tu Alaska).
Kindly,
Nelli Williams
Trout Unlimited - Alaska | Anchorage Office | 907.230.7121 | nwilliams@tu.org
Last Chance to Sign on to the Sportsman's Letter to EPA
Over 300 sport fishing, hunting and outdoor recreation businesses have signed on to the letter asking EPA to initiate 404c in Bristol Bay. The EPA has taken the first step with their scientific study but we still want to encourage them to continue the protection efforts. To see a copy of the letter and sign on email me your Name, Lodge Name, Title and River/Town. We will be public releasing this letter later this month.
Ecological Risk to Wild Salmon Assessment Complete
The Nature Conservancy in Alaska recently completed "An Assessment of Ecological Risk to Wild Salmon Systems from Large-scale Mining in the Nushagak and Kvichak Watersheds of the Bristol Bay Basin." Bottom line: It found that with large-scale mining in the region "significant negative impacts to the aquatic ecosystem are to be expected over the life of the mine, and beyond." If you would like to a copy of this document or a summary, please email ttroll@tnc.org.
Volunteer at a Sportshow this winter
Sportsman’s Alliance for Alaska will be exhibiting at the following sport shows during the winter months in 2011. If you are interested in volunteering a few hours or days of your time to spread the word about Alaska conservation – contact Scott Hed to get involved. We’ve had a terrific batch of volunteers for the past two years and are looking for more in 2011.
NOTE: Additional appearances may be forthcoming – checkout the SAA website for up to date information.
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February 9-13 |
Pacific Northwest Sportsmen’s Show |
Portland, OR |
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March 3-6 |
Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation Camp |
Reno, NV |
Aug 5, 2010:
