World Wildlife Fund

World Wildlife Fund Board Chairman Bruce Babbitt travels to Alaska's Bristol Bay in hopes of repeating history and helping prevent oil and gas development in the region.

Part 3: Choggiung

Examining a map on the way to a native camp on the Nushagak River.
© WWF-Canon / Tom LALLEY

I head to a native hunting and fishing camp on the Nushagak River called Choggiung. It's about 30 miles from Dillingham and a base camp for Alaska Natives. I want to hear what they think about the proposed oil and gas drilling and see how reliant they are on a healthy Bristol Bay ecosystem. The camp is a 20 minute flight away in a tiny plane and then a quick ride on a skiff up the river. You can feel the excitement when we reach camp. Everyone is in a good mood and a precocious two-year-old jumps into my arms the moment we hit shore. This is an exciting and joyous time of year. Berries are at their peak of ripeness and moose are plentiful. In fact, the first moose of the year had been taken just before we arrived and was already being processed.

Bruce Babbit with Todd Frizie, an Alaska Native at the camp on the Nushagak.
© WWF-Canon / Tom LALLEY

There are hundreds of these camps around Bristol Bay. The average native person gets about a quarter of their food from the land and sea. Salmon, moose, caribou, ducks and geese, and plants like berries, greens, and even seaweed can be found in most homes in Dillingham and the surrounding villages.

The people here see extra meaning in hunting, fishing and gathering. They feel it's essential for the spiritual and cultural health of the community. Many say that hunting and fishing is a powerfully spiritual experience.

It's also an essential way to put food on the table. In rural Alaska, groceries are at least twice the price in the lower 48 states. People at this camp don't just hunt and fish for themselves. They share with other community members, particularly the old, sick and families with young children.

I spend some time talking with Todd Fritze, an Alaska Native who told me that his community wouldn't survive if the salmon fishery was compromised.

"For us, salmon isn't just an industry or a job. It's a way of life and it can't be replaced with something else," he said.

Bruce Babbit speaking with Michael Addiago, the owner of a guide company on the Nushagak.
© WWF-Canon / Tom LALLEY

Beaming with pride, Todd then showed me the moose he and his sons had just hunted. He said this one, a small 2-year-old moose, would feed several families over the next year.

As we speak, Michael Addiego pulled up in a skiff. He runs a sport fishing outfit further up the Nushagak and said that his business was "one hundred percent" reliant on a healthy ecosystem.

He boasted that Bristol Bay is home to "the best salmon fishing on the continent," and that he guided people in search of the "Grand Slam" of salmon fishing - catching all 5 species of salmon in one trip. "There are people who'll stay up all night just to do that."