Juneau Empire
Web posted February 28, 2007
My Turn: Fish more precious than gold
By NORM VAN VACTOR
As a commercial seafood processor who has lived and worked
in Bristol Bay for 31 years, I know wild salmon are the bay's
real gold.
Each year, millions of fish pour into the bay and its drainages,
putting food on the tables and paychecks in the pockets of
thousands of Alaskans, not to mention pumping an estimated
$400 million into Alaska's economy annually. Bills before
the Legislature would help protect this resource from irresponsible
mineral development.
Not only are the state's greatest wild salmon runs found
in the watershed, so, too, are the world's biggest rainbow
trout and brown bears, and one of the state's largest caribou
herds. Bristol Bay is truly one of Alaska's outstanding natural
treasures, and its long-term health is crucial for the prosperity
of those who live there.
The vast majority of the seafood industry opposes the Pebble
Mine, the massive open-pit project being pushed by the Canadian
company Northern Dynasty Minerals. I see a groundswell of
opposition to Pebble - from hundreds of Bristol Bay fishermen
to statewide trade associations - and support for new long-term
protections for Bristol Bay and its renewable resources.
Fishing prices are rebounding. Salmon run returns in the
Nushagak River hit an all-time record last year. The king
salmon season was exceptional, and the Kvichak River salmon
run is making a big comeback. Why gamble a thriving fishery,
a local economy and a healthy subsistence lifestyle on a mine
that will benefit mostly a foreign corporation and its investors?
I find Northern Dynasty's recent ads disrespectful of local
opinion. The majority of locals believe there is too much
at stake to risk putting an enormous mine in the bay's headwaters.
Polls conducted by Anchorage-based Hellenthal and Associates
cite more than 70 percent opposition to the project.
Northern Dynasty obscures the fact that some of the state's
most respected organizations and individuals oppose Pebble,
because they believe world-class salmon and open-pit mines
don't mix. These organizations include Alaska Independent
Fishermen's Association, Bristol Bay Driftnetters Association,
Trout Unlimited Alaska, United Fishermen of Alaska, Alaska
Inter-Tribal Council and Nunamta Aulukestai.
Desperate to silence critics, Northern Dynasty asks Alaskans
to pipe down until the Department of Natural Resources starts
the clock ticking on permits. But given that the process favors
permit approvals, Alaskans are wise to ask questions now.
Based on Northern Dynasty's water-rights permit applications,
we know the mine will: drain Upper Talarik Creek and the Upper
and Lower Koktuli; generate hundreds of millions of gallons
of toxic mine waste; and store waste behind earthen dams,
two of which will be among the largest in the world. Both
the dams and the mine will sit in a highly earthquake-prone
area. Clearly, Pebble could forever alter Bristol Bay, and
all Alaskans should have a voice in a decision of this magnitude.
This session legislators in Juneau are considering pro-Bristol
Bay salmon bills designed specifically to protect salmon habitat
and clean water. One of the more talked about measures would
establish the Jay Hammond State Game Refuge in the Bristol
Bay watershed. I encourage Alaskans to look closely at this
legislation.
Before he died, former Gov. Jay Hammond told the Kodiak Daily
Mirror, "I had said I could think of no place in Alaska
where I'd less rather see the largest open-pit mine in the
world than at the headwaters of the Koktuli and Talarik Creek,
two world-class fishing streams and wild salmon spawning areas.
... There is a location where I'd even less wish to see such
a mine: right in the middle of our living room floor at Lake
Clark."
I could not agree more.
• Norm Van Vactor is Bristol Bay manager for Peter Pan
Seafoods and divides his time between its corporate headquarters
in Seattle and Dillingham.
###
For more information, contact:
Renewable Resources Coalition, Inc.
500 L Street, Suite 502
Anchorage, AK 99501
Tel: (907) 274-9954
Email: info@renewableresourcescoalition.org
Website: http://RenewableResourcesCoalition.org |
