Gold/Fish?

Alaska is home to many valuable social and environmental and cultural gems; indigenous cultures, oil, gold, salmon and numerous other resources that have recently been discovered and exploited, some unfortunately at the expense of others. Recently Anglo American and Northern Dynasty Minerals have decided to excavate a gold mine in Alaska’s very important and sustained Bristol Bay. The Guardian reported that retailers including Tiffany & Co. have decided, in objection to the environmental damage and long-term destruction of an indigenous culture, not to sell gold mined from Bristol Bay.  They are more specifically concerned with the damage it would do to the Wild Alaskan Salmon population in the Bristol Bay Watershed which is an essential food source to the Alaskan Natives as well as the world’s largest outstanding wild sockeye salmon fishery, an industry worth about $320 million a year. These companies who are said to have a combined sale value of close to 5.6 million dollars, have made their point clear; the gold is just not worth the incredible sacrifice

            Internationally, wild salmon fisheries are slowly being diminished, Bristol Bay remains one of the most unstinted sustainable fishing grounds left, unfortunately it is predicted that close to 10 billion tonnes of mining waste would be produced as well as the movement and displacement of water in salmon spawning locations. Alaska Natives and fishermen greatly rely on these salmon supplies for their subsistence and livelihoods; gold mining would deplete their resources and would damage their way of life and income.

            It is very important to understand not only the implications for this specific situation but gold mining in general and its economic, social and environmental impacts locally as well as globally. As acknowledged in the revised World Gold Council’s sustainability statement; most of the countries that rely on mining are less economically developed nations that rely on exporting gold, the WGC advocates striving to obtain sustainable development and mining, and attempts to improve awareness and increase support for this imperative cause. The more the consumer understands the implications of gold mining on the environment and various food sources, the more they can push for action, which is demonstrated in Tiffany & Co. and their commitment to the environment and indigenous rights and traditional food sources in Alaska. Michael Kowalski, CEO of Tiffany & Co. commented: “There are some special places where mining clearly does not represent the best long-term use of resources. In Bristol Bay, we believe the extraordinary salmon fishery clearly provides the best opportunity to benefit southwestern Alaskan communities in a sustainable way. For Tiffany & Co - and we believe for many of our fellow retail jewelers - this means we must look to other places to responsibly source our gold."