The Fish on My Plate

"We're sitting ducks downstream. There are ticking timebombs upriver that have to hold back that [mine] waste in perpetuity. Just over the border, in the Taku watershed, is the best coho salmon rearing habitat in the world...we need to decide as a society, not just a few companies, not just one government, how do we all want to see this place a long, long time from now."  

​- Heather Hardcastle, Salmon Beyond Borders 
During the summer of 2018, Salmon Beyond Borders visited communities in Northwest British Columbia.
Wherever we went, the responses were the same.
"Salmon Is..."
Thank you to the communities of Telegraph Creek, Kitwanga, Gitwangak, Kispoix, Terrace, 
Gitlaxt'aamiks, Gingolx, and Sooke for sharing your salmon stories. 

This film was made in celebration of 2019 as International Year of the Salmon. 
International Year of the Salmon (IYS) is a global “initiative to inform and stimulate outreach and research that aspires to establish the conditions necessary to ensure the resilience of salmon and people throughout the Northern Hemisphere.” 
IYS seeks to bring people together, share and develop knowledge, raise awareness and take action. 
Salmon Beyond Borders (SBB) is hosting a series of IYS events throughout the region - and we look forward to connecting with you about your research and potential events in your community.
Three friends set off on a 400km bikepacking and packraft expedition through the heart of the sacred headwaters in northwestern British Columbia, birthplace of three critical salmon rivers, and home to the Tahltan people. In the wake of the devastating Mount Polley Mine disaster, the team’s goal is to understand what is at stake as a wave of new mines are developed across this remote corner of the province. Their journey offers an exciting and sobering window into this wild landscape as they pedal through vast boreal forest, paddle frigid whitewater, battle monster trout, outrun a grizzly, learn about the Tahltan’s fight to protect their homeland and glimpse inside a massive open pit mine.
A Film by Tyler-Wilkinson Ray, Colin Arisman and Luke Kantola
Produced by Wild Confluence Media
In Association with Gear Junkie
​Supported by Ibis Cycles, Kokopelli Packraft & Wetfly Fishing

Available free online this - with support from Salmon Beyond Borders

Ryan Peterson's film, Xboundary, explores the large-scale open-pit mining boom currently underway in northwest British Columbia, Canada. The size and location of the mines--at the headwaters of major salmon rivers that flow across the border into Alaska--has Alaskans concerned over risks posed to their $2b fishing and tourism industries and unique way of life. These concerns were heightened with the Aug 4, 2014 catastrophic tailings dam failure at nearby Mt. Polley Mine in the Fraser River watershed. ​

PHOTO GALLERY

Enjoy photos of the making of Xboundary, Ryan Peterson's short film exploring threats to the Alaska/B.C. transboundary regions and a journey down the Unuk River, summer 2014.
Photos by Travis Rummel, Ryan Peterson, and Gordon Klco.

More photos around Southeast Alaska and the trasnboundary region from Heather Hardcastle, Chris Zimmer, Mike Faye, and Chris Miller.