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Long known for its potential riches, the area was heavily prospected by Oil and Gas prospectors, mostly notable Shell Oil , from the early 1960's through present day. Since the area is an important passageway for the highly-prized Sockeye Salmon fishing industry, particularly those in communities like Dillingham , Naknek , and King Salmon — which collectively wield considerable Political power, vis-a-vis the number of people employed in the fisheries — the entire area was subject to a Federal offshore Drilling Moratorium until lately.

As recently as October 2005 , both the state of Alaska and the United States Federal Minerals Management Service had plans to develop the oil, and especially Natural Gas , potential of the area. One proposal would have offshore platforms extracting natural gas north of the village of Nelson Lagoon and transporting the gas (via pipeline) to a processing facility to the Pacific Ocean side near Sand Point .


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