EARTHWORKS

Everett Thompson

United States | Alaska | Naknek : Pebble Partnership

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Driftnetter, Business Owner, Father
Everett Thompson is a lifelong resident of Naknek, Alaska, and a driftnet fisherman who fishes all five districts in Bristol Bay.

He also subsistence fishes and hunts in the wilderness between Naknek to Iliamna. Everett is married with a daughter and son, Lakota and Viktor.

"I've fished this area for 25 years, every season, all season since I was 7 years old," Everett said. He began by set netting, but has been a drift fisherman since the age of 21. Everett is now 34 and about to begin his 27th year fishing Bristol Bay. His fishing boat, Chulyen, which means Raven in Athabascan, is one of the oldest aluminum boats in Bristol Bay.

Everett is a shareholder in the Bristol Bay Native Corporation and a tribal member of the Naknek Native Village. He is co-owner of a small business, Naknek Family Fisheries, a family affair also owned by his mother, two sisters, his daughter and a niece. He is also on the Alaska department of fish and game local advisory council and a shareholder of Paugvik, Alaska Peninsula Corp. and Levelock Limited.


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He is an ivory and bone carver and enjoys traditional Alaska Native artwork. He has won several statewide art competitions, and his work has been featured at the Alaska Native Heritage Center, the Peabody Museum, and the Seward Visitor’s Center.

Everett on Protecting Bristol Bay

In recent years, Everett has become an activist for Bristol Bay’s protection, opposing the proposed Pebble Mine project north of Iliamna and proposed off-shore drilling in "Cod Alley" in Bristol Bay.

"The pure waters of Bristol Bay have sustained my family for generations. This watershed provides a subsistence lifestyle and commercial fishery worth fighting for," Everett said. "We will fight to save this place with all we have so that my daughter and her generation have the opportunity to carry on living from and protecting Bristol Bay – a home beyond compare."


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Tagged with: pebble, commercial fishermen, bristol bay

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