Brown bear fishing for salmon in Katmai National Park, Alaska 2008 © Amy Vitale/The Nature Conservancy

Simply put, Bristol Bay’s watersheds are the most productive wild salmon nurseries on earth. The clean water and diverse mix of lake, river, and stream habitats create near-perfect conditions for spawning and rearing for five species of Pacific salmon. The salmon in Bristol Bay fuel the ecosystem, sustain local people and traditional ways of life, drive lucrative seafood and fishing economies, and feed the world. The commercial salmon fishery in Bristol Bay is arguably the most sustainable wild fishery in the world.

One of the world's largest known mineral deposits, known as the Pebble Deposit, straddles the headwaters of the Nushagak and Kvichak drainages. Between the globally significant salmon resources here, the scale and potential risks associated with proposed mineral development, and the economic value of the mineral resource, the table is set for a controversy of historic proportions. The Nature Conservancy has addressed the issue in recent years through careful conservation planning and scientific evaluation to document salmon habitat use, hydrology, and water quality.