Two brothers are bicycling from Alaska to Argentina to draw attention to Bristol Bay wild salmon and the threat the fishery faces from a proposed open-pit copper and gold mine. Seth and Parker Berling left Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, in early July to begin a 17,000-mile journey to Tierra del Fuego, at the southernmost tip of South America. The Berling brothers are making the trip to raise awareness about the proposed Pebble mine and how it could harm the world’s largest sockeye salmon fishery, located in Southwest Alaska’s Bristol Bay. The Pebble deposit is located in the headwaters of the Nushagak and Kvichak Rivers, two of the major salmon-producing rivers of Bristol Bay. If developed, Pebble would be one of the world’s largest open-pit mines. A diverse coalition of commercial and sport fishermen, Alaska Natives, lodge owners, guides, outfitters, scientists and others say the project is likely to expose the region to acid mine drainage, industrial discharges and habitat destruction.
Follow the journey here.
