Do you believe in the power of music?  Do you enjoy salmon?

Bristol Bay, Alaska, is the largest remaining sockeye salmon fishery left in the world. According to National Geographic, it alone is responsible for approximately 46% of the average global abundance of wild sockeye salmon.  Unbelievably, this pristine ecosystem is threatened with environmental destruction by a proposed “open pit” copper and gold mine.  

Musicians United to Protect Bristol Bay is using the power of music and musicians’ networks to raise awareness and support the Alaskan Natives and fishermen in their fight to stop the Pebble Mine.  As one part of a greater movement, we have played a role in causing a great turn around in Alaska public opinion, with approximately 70% of Alaskans now against the mine. 

We will keep fighting until this mine is defeated permanently. Our members – 409 musicians and counting – are writing original music, giving information to their fans and using their media connectivity to help spread the word.  

We post their music on our website, and members have been posting to the internet as well.  But now we want to create a major internet video presence.  We could be reaching many more people.  We will work with social media and video consultants to build a robust Youtube channel, with great videos that can serve as the new platform for getting the word out there about this important struggle.  

Musicians United Member Paul Nagle on Halloween night in the costume he made – Canned Salmon  (a folk trio of salmon) -  singing “Salmon Rock” by Musicians United member Judy Jacobs (of Anchorage, Alaska), on the streets of New York and at the NYC Halloween Parade.  2.5 minute video by Musicians United member Sandi Bachom.

What is at Stake?

The Pebble Partnership is trying to force through the Pebble Mine, a two mile wide “open pit” dig sited across the headwaters of both the Nushagak River (one of the top king salmon producing rivers worldwide) and the Kvichak River (the top sockeye salmon producing river in the world).

The mine complex would include a 740 foot high dam and a 10 square mile “pond” to contain (in perpetuity) the  up to 10 billion tons of toxic mine sludge the Pebble Mine would produce over its lifetime.  Worse, the entire area is seismographically active (a 9.2 earthquake in 1964 devastated Anchorage, less than 300 miles away).  Any release of mine waste into the surface or groundwater has the potential to devastate the entire ecosystem forever.

Even worse, On August 4, 2014, the containment dam at Mount Polley Mine, British Columbia breached sending 2.64 billion gallons of wastewater and 1.36 billion gallons of solid tailings with a smorgasbord of toxins into local waterways. The facility that failed was designed by the same firm that is working on Pebble Mine’s tailings dam. The Mount Polley environmental catastrophe serves as a direct warning to us.