Savoring Bristol Bay, One Bite At A Time
Earlier this month, Trout Unlimited Alaska enlisted the help of several dozen restaurants and markets in the Pacific Northwest to help spread the word about the risks facing Bristol Bay. In this guest blog entry, Elizabeth Dubovsky, Trout Unlimited Alaska’s Why Wild Program Director, talks about Savor Bristol Bay 2010……
Right when Americans fire up grills in honor of our nation’s independence, thousands of boats fill the waters of Bristol Bay, home to the world’s largest sockeye salmon run. In early July, Bristol Bay’s salmon fishing season peaks as tens of millions of adult wild salmon return to their natal waters, completing the last leg of their long journeys. In celebration of this annual pulse of life, Trout Unlimited Alaska brought Bristol Bay’s salmon and story to Seattle and Portland for Savor Bristol Bay week. By agreeing to offer Bristol Bay sockeye on their menus and in display cases, nearly 40 restaurants and markets jumped onboard to vote with their forks for Bristol Bay and reconnect their customers with this unique and irreplaceable wild salmon source.
Throughout the week, diners and had a chance to learn from local celebrity chefs about why salmon consumers in the Northwest should care about the future of Bristol Bay. Shoppers at Portland’s New Seasons Market and Seattle’s PCC Natural Markets participated in salmon cooking classes and demonstrations where they learned about the unique aspects of Bristol Bay salmon and how to prepare it themselves. Dozens of Seattleites and Portlanders also turned out to watch the award-winning documentary about Bristol Bay, Red Gold.
At every Savor Bristol Bay event, food was the focus, and with good reason. For Trout Unlimited Alaska, a Bristol Bay salmon fillet is the most powerful outreach tool. When it comes to engaging people in the campaign to save Bristol Bay from threats like the proposed Pebble mine, a taste of freshly prepared sockeye speaks for itself. When someone takes a bite of a beautiful and delicious Bristol Bay sockeye fillet, you can see in their eyes that they get it, that they realize what it’s all about and that they have something at stake in Bristol Bay. I see it at every Savor Bristol Bay event we do, including at our Red Gold screening at Roy St Coffee when someone in the audience took their first bite of Chef Kevin Davis’s Salmon Nicoise. The joy of eating flavorful, delicious food spread across their face until they suddenly realized that the salmon that they were eating is what’s at stake. That’s when they raised their hand and asked what they could do to help protect Bristol Bay.
Anyone who eats wild salmon has a stake in Bristol Bay. Losing Bristol Bay’s salmon fishery to a mining accident or acid mine drainage means losing our nation’s largest wild salmon fishery and the largest sockeye salmon run on the planet. Given the state of our wild salmon fisheries in the Lower 48, we can’t afford to lose the last best place left for wild salmon. Thankfully, we have a lot to gain by coming together and speaking out as salmon consumers around the world and creating change, one bite at a time.
Learn more about how you can Savor Bristol Bay.
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