FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 30, 2007

(Anchorage) —The Department of Interior (DOI) announced today the release of their final 5–Year Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Leasing Program. The program includes a sale for Bristol Bay in 2011. Congress will have sixty days to review and comment on the program before it goes into effect on July 1, 2007. The Alaska Marine Conservation Council (AMCC) and Bristol Bay fishermen are calling on Congress to protect Bristol Bay's unparalleled fisheries from the risks of offshore drilling.

"Offshore drilling would pose tremendous risks to the sustainable fisheries economy of Bristol Bay and the southeastern Bering Sea," said Kelly Harrell, project director of AMCC's Friends of Bristol Bay. "The potential for harm to habitat and fishing grounds demands that Congress take a very close look at allowing a lease sale in these sensitive and fish-rich waters," said Harrell.

The DOI is legally required to create a 5-Year OCS Leasing Program that balances the potential for the discovery of oil and gas with the potential to damage renewable resources. "In Bristol Bay there is no balance - the estimated value of recoverable oil and gas pales in comparison to the value of the fisheries," explained Harrell. The federal government estimates the net value of drilling at $7.7 billion over the entire 25–40 year lifespan of the project. Bristol Bay and southeastern Bering Sea fisheries that would be put at risk are worth more than $2 billion annually. (See Bristol Bay Commercial Fisheries Value).

"No matter how many mitigation measures you put in place there is always the chance that a big accident could occur," said long-time Bristol Bay fisherman and former state legislator Mike Davis. "We've seen this again and again - in Prince William Sound in 1989 and on the North Slope this past year," said Davis.

According to federal reports, offshore drilling in Bristol Bay would lead to at least one large oil spill and numerous smaller spills. Other impacts include loss of access to fishing grounds, reduced catch rates from seismic surveys, the discharge of toxic drilling wastes and damage to habitat from offshore, nearshore and onshore infrastructure emplacement and construction.

"Congress should utilize this review period to reconsider making Bristol Bay drilling a part of our nation's energy policy. The region has been off–limits to drilling since 1990 for many good reasons that still exist today. Bristol Bay salmon is on the upswing and we don't need to jeopardize this promising future," said Terry Hoefferle, AMCC board member and former CEO of the Bristol Bay Native Association.

Last week the bipartisan Bristol Bay Protection Act (HR 1957) was introduced in the House by Congressmen from Washington, New York and Maryland.

"As Alaskans, we hope that our own delegation will use this review period to take a closer look at the risks versus the benefits to Alaskans – particularly to Bristol Bay fishermen and communities," said Hoefferle.

The Alaska Region of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) called the plan to hold lease sales in Bristol Bay "unrealistically ambitious" and advised removing it from the plan to allow for further study. Other experts warned at a federally-sponsored meeting on Bristol Bay drilling held this past November that the lack of available scientific data for a number of fish species would preclude a complete environmental impact analysis.

"The fact that the very agency in charge of the health of our nation's fisheries is holding up a red flag on Bristol Bay drilling provides even more impetus for Congress to stop the Bush Administration from finalizing this flawed plan," said Harrell.

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