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President Bush Liftes Ban on Drilling in Bristol Bay
Bristol Bay is home to the world's largest wild salmon run, high value red king crab, large pollock and cod fisheries, huge herring schools that sustain the Bering Sea, and a primary halibut nursery ground. This rich marine life could be harmed by the seismic testing, potential oil spills, and contaminated drilling muds and produced water associated with offshore drilling. The region's residents are heavily dependent on the local marine life for both direct sustenance through subsistence and for sustainable
livelihoods through commercial fishing.
Bristol Bay is an economically-critical salmon fishery, with an estimated net present value as high as $10 billion, and the area is prized by sportsmen for its salmon and halibut fishing opportunities. Its lush wetlands support vast bird populations and it provides essential habitat for the endangered Right whale.
More than 25 million fish are harvested (commercial, sport and subsistence) annually, contributing more than $300 million and providing some 12,500 jobs. Sport fishermen eager to test the famed fishing grounds spend about $120 million a year.
The Minerals Management Service (MMS) recently completed a public comment
period, including more than 10 public hearings in Alaska, on their draft Five-Year OCS Leasing Program that proposes opening Bristol Bay in 2010. Ten years ago, Alaska bought back oil company drilling rights after an outcry that drilling could damage the state's most important salmon run. Bush rescinded President Clinton's longstanding "Executive OCS Leasing Withdrawals" that were to protect Alaska's fragile North Aleutian Basin (Bristol Bay) until June 30, 2012. A similar bipartisan congressional OCS moratorium protected Bristol Bay starting with the Exxon Valdez oil spill
in 1989 until Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) led an effort to lift the ban in 2003.
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