Mark Niver

“I got out of high school. I got on the oil pipeline with BP. And within a year, I was buying a Bristol Bay boat permit with my brothers, and we all started fishing. I got married, raised a family, and my three sons all starting working on the boat when they were 10 years old.

Now I have a grandson, 8 months old. And that’s what this fight is all about. I probably wouldn’t see the Pebble Mine in my lifetime, but my kids and my grandkids would. Bristol Bay wouldn’t be the fishery that it ever was if Pebble goes through. It’s too big of a project, and they’re not truthful. Next thing you know, you’re like California, and you look around, and say how in the hell did that happen?

Bristol Bay is a place that brings people together. When people are working hard together like that — the whole community is built on salmon out there. Salmon is the backbone of Bristol Bay. My favorite memories are of time with my family.

Fishing in Bristol Bay is one of those things in life where the harder you work, the more money you make. There’s not many jobs like that. Even now, my sons take time off of work to come fish with me. They love getting out there. There’s just no place like it.”

— 40-year Bristol Bay fisherman and retired oil worker Mark Niver

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