Southwest Alaska is vital to the salmon business of Alaska. All five species of salmon return to the waters of the Bristol Bay region yearly, totaling some 40 million annually. Nearly 50 percent of all sockeye salmon harvested in Alaska are from the Bristol Bay drainage. That is why you are hearing so much about the proposed Pebble Mine, which if approved, could have devastating effects on the system and its fish, animals and all of us.
Salmon, rainbow trout, Dolly Varden, Arctic char and grayling flourish, with even some lake trout and northern pike thrown in for good measure in some areas. One such area that seems to have it all is the Wood-Tikchik system.