The Editor’s Note

I’ve never been to Bristol Bay, but in all of my experiences of chatting with either locals or those who have spent time chasing the salmon of their angler dreams, I can picture what a special place it is. In fact, I know what a special place it is.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 10 o ce has determined that some of the proposed Pebble Mine’s discharges of dredged or fill material could a ect several rivers and creeks in the Bristol Bay watershed, home to one of the world’s most important salmon spawning regions.

Before I began my tenure at Media Inc. Publishing, most of what I knew about salmon was when I’d order it at restaurants, plus the memorable salmon meal prepared by a dear friend at her home years ago. Long before that as a kid I remember watching a Jacques Cousteau documentary about salmon. And when I was too young to fully understand, I teared up finding out the fish died at the end of their journey.

A recent YouTube search found that show, titled The Tragedy of the Red Salmon, part of the great oceanographer’s documentary series Jacques Cousteau Odyssey.

I felt nostalgic rewatching that episode so many years later. It was filmed on Kodiak Island, and both Cousteau and Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling share the narration for this 1970 production. Cousteau says it best as we follow the sockeye return upstream toward Frazer Lake from the sea.

“As the elected ones dash forward for their last test,” the Frenchman narrates as he and his crew watch the reds hit their final stretch, “we salute the epic travelers at the (end) of their odyssey. It is nature’s wisdom other than tragedy. The strongest have survived to spawn and live on in their progeny, thus continually improving the species.”

To the northwest of Kodiak in the Bristol Bay watershed, the remarkable journey of the salmon that are born there and die there represent a celebration of life worth fighting for.

“To keep it that way, we must ensure the headwaters remain free of mining, dams and other destructive industrial activities,” said Alaska Environment state director Dyani Chapman.

Somewhere, Monsieur Cousteau would wholeheartedly agree. -Chris Cocoles

The ancestors of these spawning Kodiak Island sockeye were once captured on film by famed oceanographer Jacques Cousteau. The editor hopes those fish and others in Bristol Bay will be preserved