Murkowski Speaks to Long-Term Protections for Bristol Bay

In a video statement to the Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN) yesterday, Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski framed the Pebble Mine project as being “stopped” for now and said, “We need longer-term protections for the region that can also provide enduring value for Alaskans.” Murkowski went on to say, “I plan to build on my appropriations language from last year to make sure that the Bristol Bay region remains protected. “

ADN has a summary of Senator Murkowski’s comments at the AFN Convention here.

Last weekend, Alaska Senator Dan Sullivan repeatedly stated “the Pebble Mine project is dead” during a debate with challenger Al Gross. While Bristol Bay fishermen applaud the Senators for clarifying their stance on Pebble Mine recent weeks, the fact remains that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has yet to deny or issue a permit. BBRSDA and other groups opposed to the Pebble Mine will continue to monitor the situation and ensure that federal regulators follow applicable environmental law pertaining to the permitting process, and will also seek durable protections for the world’s most abundant salmon resource. We look forward to hearing more about what specific actions Alaska’s senators will take to regarding the Pebble Mine project.

Fishing For Adventure - The Rogotzke family brings Alaskan salmon home to Minnesota

The Rogotzke family is featured in an article by Brian Hagenbuch in the Star Tribune.

When people hear that the Rogotzkes spend summers fishing on Alaska’s Bering Sea, they might imagine them wading the shores of remote rivers, lazily casting a fly. Not quite. “To explain it to people back home, one of the first things I tell them is that this isn’t with a fishing rod,” said Jay Rogotzke, 28, the youngest of the Rogotzke fishermen. “We’re dragging three football fields worth of net behind us.”

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Results from August 2020 Fleet Survey

A survey was disbursed by BBRSDA between August 19, 2020 and September 6, 2020 in an email to members and in Facebook posts. 

Eighty-one people responded to this survey, sixty-seven of which were drift permit holders, the other respondents were crewmembers or setnet permit holders. The drift permit holder respondents represent only 3.6% of the drift fleet. Being such a small sample these results are not conclusive of the entire fleet.

Thank you to those who participated and to those who did not, we encourage your participation in future outreach so we may better understand fleet priorities.

Survey Results