The Last Wild Salmon Sanctuary
A testament to nature’s brilliance, Bristol Bay is one of the last untamed sanctuaries where salmon thrive. SOURCE takes you deep inside its wild beauty, revealing how the most powerful way to preserve something is simply to let it be.
A documentary film directed by Eric Overton
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Keepers of the Wild
SOURCE delves into the story of one of the last undeveloped sanctuaries for wild salmon—Bristol Bay, Alaska. Through breathtaking visuals and immersive storytelling, the film follows commercial fishing skipper Nick Lee as he explores the fragile balance of this pristine ecosystem and the responsibility we all share in preserving it.
Nick Lee’s life has been shaped by the tides of Bristol Bay. Since he was a boy, he dreamed of these waters. Now a seasoned fisherman for over 40 years, he navigates the awe-inspiring beauty and relentless challenges of this untamed wilderness. In SOURCE, his voice emerges as both a steward of these waters and a philosopher of the wild—offering a deeply personal meditation on what it means to coexist with nature rather than dominate it
The Threat
The world's last great wild salmon population, along with its delicate ecosystem, is now under threat. Bristol Bay is home to one of the world’s largest copper deposits and the Pebble Mine Project wants to put the largest open pit mine in North America in this pristine habitat, and create five of the largest dams on earth to hold the mining waste.
A Legacy of Preservation at Risk
Bristol Bay is home to half of the world’s sockeye salmon, the lifeblood of entire ecosystems and a vital foundation for indigenous culture and livelihoods. But this delicate balance now faces an existential threat from unchecked industrial development.
The most radical act of conservation is restraint: Preserving nature’s natural perfection.
Untouched Perfection
These ecosystems thrive because Bristol Bay’s headwaters and spawning sites remain undeveloped. The record breaking run of 80 million salmon in 2022 shows the success of its fishery’s sustainable management practices.
Headwater’s Lifeblood
Salmon are the cornerstone of the thriving biodiversity in Bristol Bay’s rivers. When salmon return to spawn, they carry essential marine nutrients upstream. This influx supports algae, insects, and smaller fish, creating a ripple effect that sustains life within river ecosystems.
Feeding Forests
When salmon die, their nutrient-rich bodies nourish the surrounding forests. Bears, eagles, and other predators spread marine-derived nitrogen into the soil, feeding the entire forest ecosystem. The connection between fish and forest is one of nature’s most profound relationships.
Web of Life
Bristol Bay’s ecosystem is a delicate web with salmon at its core, sustaining species from microorganisms to apex predators like bears and wolves. Their presence maintains balance and fosters biodiversity that extends far beyond the rivers, making their protection essential to an interconnected world of life.
This Is More Than a Matter of Conservation
For centuries, industry and development have damaged nature’s most perfect creations. But Bristol Bay—wild, untouched, and self-sustaining—stands as a testament to nature’s resilience when left to flourish. Protecting it means ensuring that future generations can experience nature in its purest form.
Know Your SOURCE
Know Your SOURCE
What can we do?
Knowing where your food comes from and valuing the source is the easiest and most important way to protect the ecosystems of Bristol Bay. By choosing sustainably caught, wild Alaskan salmon you are supporting the people and businesses that keep Bristol Bay pristine.
A Sustainable History
For generations, the people of Bristol Bay have lived in harmony with its waters, guided by a profound respect for the wild. Both the indigenous cultures that have thrived on the natural rhythms of nature and the fishermen who cast their nets with reverence to the greater power of nature know that stewardship is both an honor and a responsibility.
