Bristol Bay Salmon vs. Pebble Mine

Last summer I returned to Bristol Bay, Alaska on assignment for Outside Magazine.  This is the place that I landed my first commercial fishing job in 1995. It’s a pristine wilderness area, home to caribou and giant brown bears and one of the last great wild salmon producing river systems in North America that hasn’t been exploited by human tinkering… until now.  One of the world’s largest deposits of Copper and Gold has been discovered in the headwaters of the Nushagak and Kvichak rivers.  Foreign mining companies have converged on the site and hope to dig one of the largest open pit mines in the world, worth hundreds of billions of dollars.  Tailings from the mine could eventually seep their way into the watershed and destroy the salmon habitat forever.  Pick up Outside Magazine this month and check out the hard hitting article written by my pal Tim Sohn.

This summer, I’ll be operating my own fishing vessel in Bristol Bay and will continue my photo project on the region.  More picks and a shiny new portfolio section to come.  Below are some spreads from the Outside article.  They also put up a small web gallery of my picks online.  Thanks to all the fisherman that accommodated me for my one month journey around the bay last year!

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2 comments

  1. harlan bailey says:

    congratulations on the publication of your photo in Esquire mag. Great image, sweet little niece.

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