Salmon, Subsistence, Pebble Mine & More:
Watch my Waterside Chat with SalmonState’s Melanie Brown
SalmonState’s Melanie Brown recently joined me on the Marine Fish Conservation Network’s Waterside Chat. Melanie’s fishing roots run deep, her great-great grandfather was still fishing when she started at ten years old. Now her children are following in her footsteps.
Melanie is a stalwart defender of fishing in Alaksa. Her work with SalmonState, which grew out of Trout Unlimited's fight to protect Bristol Bay, encompasses other issues in the Bering Sea and waters around Alaska, particularly bycatch.
Our conversation that started with a poem and ended with a song.
Melanie and I also talked about:
How the Pebble Mine fight brought together sport fishing interests, commercial fishing interests and Alaska's First People around protecting Bristol Bay
The status of the Pebble Mine fight, which now moves to a federal district court, though Melanie hopes for an eventual legislative solution
How mining development in Canada threatens U.S. waters, because "everything flows downstream"
The status of Magnuson-Stevens reauthorization, plus the work to derail a late Trump administration rule that would open 28 million acres of land to mining and oil & gas exploration
How wild salmon and other species including caribou play a big role in feeding people in Alaska, particularly the state's First People
And much, much more!