Jewelry Retailers Support Bristol Bay Watershed Protection

Six prestigious UK jewelry retailers and designers representing 260 stores today pledged their support for Bristol Bay, Alaska, by announcing that they will not buy gold from Anglo American’s proposed “Pebble” mine, a massive open-pit operation being considered in the bay’s headwaters. The Bristol Bay watershed supports the world’s most productive wild sockeye salmon fishery, which is critical to the state’s economy and to the livelihoods of many Alaska Native communities. The UK is the largest consumer of Bristol Bay canned sockeye salmon.

UK jewelers Goldsmiths, Beaverbrooks, Mappin & Webb, Watches of Switzerland, Fifi Bijoux and April Doubleday took this step at the invitation of local Alaskans who seek to protect wild salmon, clean water and their traditional ways of life from the damaging effects of industrial metal mines.

In pledging not to source gold mined at Pebble, the UK jewelers join eight U.S. retailers who endorsed the pledge last year, including Tiffany & Co. (which has seven stores in the UK), Helzberg Diamonds, and Ben Bridge Jeweler. The threat to the Bristol Bay fishery has generated an unusual and diverse array of allies, including Alaska’s commercial fishing industry, over 140 sportfishing businesses, the Alaska Intertribal Council (a consortium of 231 Alaska Tribes), and numerous conservation groups.

About 80 percent of gold demand in the United States is for jewelry. Globally, jewelry accounts for about 68 percent of gold demand. Retailers and consumers are becoming increasingly concerned about where their gold comes from and the impacts its production has on local communities and the environment. For more facts: http://www.nodirtygold.org/pubs/NDGfs-VDay2009.pdf.

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Statements from Jewelers

"We at Beaverbrooks support the protection of Alaska's Bristol Bay Watershed from large scale mining.  We need to be mindful and respectful of the Bristol Bay Salmon fisheries and the communities that depend on it.  We feel that the precious metals that we sell need to be mined responsibly and in environmentally friendly ways and if this means looking to other places to source gold, then so be it."
- Mark Adelstone, Managing Director, Beaverbrooks the Jewellers

"As a responsible retailer and an active supporter of ethical trading and sourcing, Aurum Holdings has pledged its support to the Golden Rules in relation to precious metal mining.   We would therefore also wish to extend this support to the campaign to protect the Bristol Bay watershed from large scale mining."
- Ian Haycock, Aurum Holdings Ltd. (Goldsmiths, Mappin & Webb, Watches of Switzerland)

"There are places where mining does not represent the best use of resources. In Bristol Bay, we support the salmon fishery as the best bet for sustainable, long-term benefit. For Tiffany & Co., and we believe for many of our fellow retail jewelers, this means we will look to other places to source gold."
- Michael Kowalski, Tiffany & Co. chairman and CEO

"I am pleased to stand with others in the jewelry industry today in announcing our support for protecting Alaska's Bristol Bay watershed from large-scale mining. As retail jewelers, we want to be able to tell our customers that the precious metals we use are mined responsibly -- that the materials used in the jewelry they purchase have been mined in environmentally-friendly ways, respectful of the Bristol Bay salmon fishery and the communities that depend on it."
- Jon Bridge, Co-CEO/General Counsel of Seattle-based Ben Bridge Jeweler

"As a Bench designer and maker of Jewellery I try to source all materials that are socially and environmentally responsible. That is why I feel very strongly about Bristol Bay. Not only is it home to the largest wild sockeye salmon fishery, but it is of great natural beauty. A large mining corporation will only reduce all natural resources and take away people's right to sustainability."
- April Doubleday, Artisan Jeweler

"It seems that to impose a mining site on an area which currently thrives on wild salmon fishing is to disregard the community values and to go against a well developed CSR programme. Bristol Bay is an environmentally sensitive area of significant conservation value. Sustainable development is surely a necessary value which is core to any 21st century business and I am surprised that Anglo American would pursue a programme in Bristol Bay which is clearly not in the best interests of the long term sustainability of the local community or the conservation of important ecosystems.  I would ask them to revise their strategy and review their CSR standards to ensure any new mining site need not compromise their vision of environmental integrity and community consultation."
- Vivien Johnston, Fifi Bijoux, Artisan Jeweler

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