I love salmon. Baked, poached, smoked, grilled, Coho, Chinook, Sockeye, whatever. The salmon is an amazing species. It is the best known of all anadromous fish. That is, salmon are born in fresh water, spend most of their life at sea, and then return to fresh water to spawn. The survival of the species depends on our stewardship of the bays, rivers and streams needed for reproduction. Thus, the salmon is often considered an indicator species. The salmon is also considered one of the tastiest species (by me, anyway). As long as we harvest responsibly and preserve habitat adequately, salmon will remain a deliciously sustainable source of protein.
But what does that have to do with beer? This Sunday, from 1:00 – 6:00 the Beveridge Place Pub (blog sponsor) hosts a silent acution event to benefit the Trout Unlimited Save Bristol Bay Campaign. Why does Bristol Bay need saving? A mining project, commonly referred to as Pebble Mine, threatens to devistate the Bristol Bay ecosystem. Less fish coming from the Bristol Bay fishery means less fish in my belly. Not good.
According to the event organizers, “Bristol Bay is one of the last great pristine salmon fisheries in the world. This sustainable fishery supports business and individuals from Alaska to the West Seattle. The proposed Pebble Mine threatens that fishery and the livelihoods of those who thrive off of it.
“The bay is under threat from foreign mining corporations that want to turn the watershed into an industrial mining district. North America’s largest open-pit mine is proposed for an area that straddles two of the bay’s most important salmon streams. If plans for the Pebble Mine are allowed to proceed, they risk destroying a $360 million commercial and sport salmon fishery that celebrated its 125th year in 2009.”
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Auction items will please outdoors enthusiasts, foodies, beer geeks, and normal people, too. They will also be serving smoked salmon from Seattle Fish Company. Also,Sunday means Happiest Hour prices all day.
For more information about the cause: http:www.savebristolbay.org
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To be fair and balanced, here is what Wikipedia teaches us about Pebble Mine:
Pebble Mine is the common name of an advanced mineral exploration project investigating a very large porphyry copper, gold, andmolybdenum mineral deposit in the Bristol Bay region of Southwest Alaska, near Lake Iliamna and Lake Clark. The proposal to mine the ore deposit, using large-scale operations and infrastructure, is controversial. Proponents argue that the mine will create jobs, provide tax revenue to the state of Alaska, and reduce American dependence on foreign sources of raw materials. Opponents argue that the mine would adversely affect the entire Bristol Bay watershed; and that the possible consequences to fish populations, when mining effluents escape planned containments, are simply too great to risk. Much of this debate concerns the tentative plan to impound large amounts of water, waste rock, and mine tailings behind several earthen dams at the mine site.
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