Thanks for your help, Tracy! Keep tuned to this site and our facebook page to learn more and get updates about eventual broadcast dates...

Hey Steve,
That Wild Russia segment has done a great job of bringing some much needed attention to Kamchatka. With your support we'll be able to keep the ball rolling by producing media and stories that help Kamchatka's pristine wilderness gain the international public interest it needs to endure. Help us out by donating today here, learning about Kamchatka on this site, and letting your friends know about the project.
Thanks!

Sounds like an exciting adventure! Thanks for sharing :)

Hi Erich,

Thank you for your feedback, and thanks for the invitation to the Alps! I'd like to reply to several of your inquiries:

1. Is the biggest threat to Kamchatka's salmon at sea or on land?

We agree that there are many dangers salmon face in the Sea of Okhotsk and Pacific Ocean. Legal and illegal commercial fishing, pollution, and changing water chemistry and temperature are only a few of the challenges humans have presented to these fish at sea. Furthermore, pending development of oil and natural gas deposits along Kamchatka's western shore and in the Sea of Okhotsk threaten to destroy large tracts of estuarine and marine habitat these salmon depend on.

However, the bulk of the research that we've seen points to inland activities as the source of the bulk of the threats salmon face. At this time, illegal salmon poaching techniques, such as netting entire rivers just for caviar, is responsible for depleting more Kamchatkan salmon than any other cause.

In coming years, it's likely that inland hydroelectric projects, mining activities, and other resource extraction will topple poaching as the number one threat to salmon.

2. Is our approach really helping the effort to conserve Kamchatka's bountiful ecosystems, or are we just needlessly treading/paddling in a pristine place that humans should leave untouched?

This is a topic our team has grappled a lot with, but as we have learned more and talked with many professionals and organizations focused on conserving Kamchatka's ecosystems, we have become convinced that we are benefiting -and not merely exploiting- the amazing place we're planning to explore.

As I just noted, Kamchatka and the Okhotsk Sea are on the brink of being exploited for the vast oil, natural gas, and mineral deposits (including an estimated 1,000 tons of gold, 5,000 tons of silver, as well as large deposits of platinum and other minerals). In addition, development associated with these pending activities will likely result in hydroelectric projects, pipelines, roads, and new towns (one pipeline up the west coast is nearly complete, and the service road alongside it has already opened up dozens of new rivers to salmon poaching). The pollution and habitat destruction related to these human activities could have devastating impacts on Kamchatka's ecosystems if not performed under the watchful eye of an attentive international audience.

There is a certain amount of irony associated with western attempts to influence Russians to conserve their salmon-based ecosystems, considering we've all but depleted our own over the past 150 years. But as Guido Rahr of The Wild Salmon Center stated in an article a few years ago for PBS show, 'The Living Edens:'

"What we can offer -- in addition to much-needed funding and technical support -- is a perspective on what the future may bring. We have witnessed catastrophic salmon declines along both our shores. We have seen which conservation strategies worked, and which didn't. Perhaps we can help Russia avoid making the same mistakes we have. Kamchatka represents a real chance to travel back in time hundreds of years. We have a chance to work together to develop and fund programs that may-this first time- keep bad history from repeating itself."

We as a team have spent our lives witnessing countless acts of needless environmental and ecological destruction resulting from unchecked development, and we have seen the power that comes from an aware and attentive populace to force industries to take careful approaches that are considerate of existing natural capital. We're not necessarily trying to take a stance against development itself; we just hope that when it does inevitably occur on a large scale in Kamchatka, it will be planned with ecosystem preservation as a major consideration.

This expedition presents an opportunity to produce exciting and informative media that helps generate the popular international interest necessary to impact bureaucratic and corporate decision making in the future.

As far as our direct footprint on the environment is concerned, kayaks allow us to travel and camp without leaving a trace in the river canyons and valleys we will be exploring. Off the rivers, the most significant environmental impact of this trip will be the fuel burned by the airplanes, helicopters, and land-based vehicles necessary to get us into the super-remote locations we're planning to venture to.

Thank you again for your interest, Erich. Where in Kamchatka will we find you this summer?

Ethan

Funny that you ask! We JUST made a new batch of Kamchatka Project T-shirts and will be offering them on the site within the next week! Keep posted :)

Congratulations to William of Longmont, Colorado, for winning his choice of kicks from <a href="http://www.endfootwear.com!!" target="_blank">http://www.endfootwear.com!! His short comment on our Facebook wall was all it took for him to enter!

The Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife did an interesting study tracking the progeny of 200 chum salmon and put up this cool illustrated summary:

http://wdfw.wa.gov/fish/chum/chum-3d.htm

Just found this super-informative timeline history of salmon aquaculture, starting in the late 1800s:

http://www.seaweb.org/resources/aquaculturecenter...

Thanks to everybody who entered this contest! Over the past week and a half 34 people subscribed to the newsletter and community members made 20 blog posts. This is a great start to a project we hope you can help us grow even bigger!

Of those 34 subscriptions and 20 comments, we chose one lucky winner at random...

We are pleased to announce that Adam Peck-Richardson of Corvallis, Oregon is this week's winner! Keep tuned, as have many more drawings planned for the coming weeks.

That's a fantastic article.. I just learned a TON and will definitely be returning to the extensive list of references at the bottom. Thanks, Brooke!