In 2019, explorer and environmentalist Veiga Grétarsdóttir became the first person to paddle counterclockwise around Iceland by kayak. On her journey, she captured images of the open-net pen salmon-farming industry up close, and her photos helped inspire a movement to defend Iceland’s wild waters from this devastating ecological calamity. Veiga is a self-funded activist and has set up a Patreon page to share updates on her initiatives and conservation projects.

For more than a decade, documentary filmmaker Shane Anderson’s stories have captured the most critical issues facing wild, anadromous fish while shining a light on the people working to protect them. His first major film, “Wild Reverence,” brought attention to the decline of the Olympic Peninsula’s wild steelhead populations. More recently, “The Lost Salmon” chronicled the history of the most revered salmon, Spring Chinook, and the narrow opportunity to save the species. Despite crossing multiple watersheds and species, Shane’s stories resonate deeply within the angling community and have served as a spark for change.

“Education, inspiration and action are the three words I use to vet myself,” Shane says, “because I’m not just making a movie. I want the movie to influence some kind of policy change or perceptions that people may have.”

In recent years, Shane has devoted his time to documenting the fight to reconnect the Klamath River. His recent short film, Undammed: Amy Bowers Cordalis and the Fight to Free the Klamath, captures what is possible when dams are breached and celebrates a critical example of Indigenous-led conservation.

Shane’s work is supported by several organizations, including California Trout, which works to ensure healthy waters and wild fish in California and has long pushed to breach the Klamath dams.

Our trout need help! Rapidly changing climate dynamics are drastically accelerating the environmental stress on coldwater fisheries. Montana’s iconic waters are ground zero for this crisis. The shocking crash of trout populations in the Jefferson drainage (Ruby, Big Hole and Beaverhead Rivers) is an urgent call to action. Witnessing this, Guy Alsentzer has established Save Wild Trout to protect coldwater fisheries.

Save Wild Trout believes Montana’s elected officials must commit and invest in their natural resources or be held accountable for not doing so. The allocation of proper funding and resources will enable managers to develop and implement long-term solutions for ecosystem resiliency. Save Wild Trout’s efforts have inspired a coalition of advocates prioritizing stewardship and wild fish where it matters — on the river and in the voting booth.