I am in Washington, D.C., delving into national strategies to improve fishery management and the Magnuson-Stevens Act, but today I'm being pulled toward Alaska as we launch an online spotlight on Pebble Mine with Commercial Fishermen for Bristol Bay.

In this industry, the proposal to build Pebble Mine at the headwaters of Bristol Bay, home to the world's largest wild sockeye salmon run, has been a hot topic for several years. But the public at large is still largely uninformed on the subject.

A week and a half ago, the Environmental Protection Agency released its second draft assessment of the Bristol Bay watershed. The first draft assessment had a 90-day comment period, which garnered 250,000 comments. This second assessment has only a 30-day comment period. That means as stakeholders in this industry, we must work harder to spread the word and encourage fishermen and others to learn about Bristol Bay and Pebble Mine, and then to provide an informed comment to the EPA's assessment.

We are not all on the same page when it comes to Pebble Mine, as tends to be the case in fisheries conservation issues. But we are all stakeholders, whether we catch fish, eat fish, count fish, or just love fish.

Don't miss this opportunity. The door closes May 31.

For more information, visit www.nationalfisherman.com/pebble-mine.