Administration Stands Firm: No Pebble Mine

Administration Stands Firm: No Pebble Mine

From Bristol Bay Forever:

“As the 2025 Bristol Bay fishing season closes with more than 50 million salmon returning, Bristol Bay businesses, fishermen and Tribes celebrate the Administration’s decision to defend America’s largest wild sockeye salmon fishery from legal challenges by a foreign mining company.

Bristol Bay, Alaska fishing communities today celebrated the administration’s decision to defend Bristol Bay in court from lawsuits brought by foreign mining companies. The administration agreed to stand by a decision to stop the toxic Pebble Mine from being built in the headwaters of two of the Bristol Bay region’s most important rivers. This comes as the $2.2 billion salmon fishery is underway.

Tim Bristol, SalmonState Executive Director, said: ‘We thank the President for defending this one of a kind natural resource from short term exploitation by foreign controlled interests. Bristol Bay’s world class salmon runs generate upwards of $2.2 billion in economic activity, are a vital source of clean, nutritious food and represent one of the great hunting and angling destinations on the planet. Simply put, Bristol Bay is the biggest and the best and it’s clear the President knows this based on his wise decision today.’

Nels Ure, Deputy Director of Commercial Fishermen for Bristol Bay echoed: ‘As the fishing season hits its peak production and thousands of fishermen and industry members work to bring wild salmon to markets across the country, we’re grateful that President Trump recognizes Bristol Bay as a regenerative economy and pillar of domestic seafood production. This announcement affirms what generations of Bristol Bay fishermen, Tribes and residents have fought for: the right to a future built on clean water, wild salmon and strong communities. We thank the President for recognizing that Bristol Bay’s fishery is more than an economy–it’s a way of life and livelihood that sustains thousands of American families every year.’

In November 2020, the administration denied Pebble Mine a key permit, after two years of exhaustive study by multiple federal agencies. The Environmental Protection Agency subsequently determined that the Pebble Mine site was unfit for toxic waste storage. Both of those decisions are being challenged in court by Northern Dynasty, a Canadian company that’s behind the Pebble project.

Bristol Bay is the most prolific salmon run on Earth, averaging 40 million returning sockeye salmon every year. It supports 15,000 fishing jobs and another 7,000 sport fishing and hunting jobs annually.

Over the years, the strength of the Bristol Bay ecosystem and its fishing economy have led a succession of prominent Alaska leaders, from the late Senator Ted Stevens to current Senator Dan Sullivan, to speak out against the mine.

With the U.S. Justice Department and Bristol Bay communities and organizations united behind these policy decisions to defend Bristol Bay, the case will now proceed in federal court.”

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