Legacy - January 2016

Legacy

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Since 2011

eMagazine of Wild Game Fish Conservation International

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IInnssiiddee:: G Gaam mee FFiisshhiinngg P Pllaanneett E Eaarrtthh O Oppiinniioonn A Accttiivviissm m C Clliim maattee H Haabbiittaatt H Haarrvveesstt S Saallm moonn FFeeeeddlloottss E Enneerrggyy G Geenneerraattiioonn FFiisshhiinngg P Piiccttuurreess

Cover: Samantha “Sam” Datta on Scotland’s River Tay battling the United Kingdom’s first wild salmon of 2015. Read Sam’s “First and Last” on page 7 in this issue of Legacy.

Sam and her husband, Sandip, are co-directors of Scottish Salmon Fishing Surgery Photo Credit: Sandip Datta

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

Legacy Wild Game Fish Conservation International Wild Game Fish Conservation International (WGFCI): Established in 2011 to advocate for wild game fish, their fragile ecosystems and the cultures and economies that rely on their robust populations.

LEGACY – Journal of Wild Game Fish Conservation: Complimentary, nononsense, monthly publication by conservationists for conservationists LEGACY, the WGFCI Facebook page and the WGFCI website are utilized to better equip fellow conservationists, elected officials, business owners and others regarding wild game fish, their unparalleled contributions to society and the varied and complex issues impacting them and those who rely on their sustainability.

LEGACY exposes impacts to wild game fish while featuring wild game fish conservation projects, community activism, fishing adventures and more. Your photos and articles featuring wild game fish from around planet earth are welcome for possible inclusion in an upcoming issue of LEGACY. E-mail them with captions and credits to Jim (wilcoxj@katewwdb.com).

Successful wild game fish conservation will ensure existence of these precious natural resources and their ecosystems for future generations to enjoy and appreciate. This is our LEGACY.

Wild Game Fish Conservation International Founders

Bruce Treichler

Jim Wilcox

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

Contents  Check out what WGFCI is working on ___________________________________________________________________ 6

Game Fishing Planet Earth _________________________________________________________________________ 7  United Kingdom: First & last ___________________________________________________________________________ 7  Alaska: Camille Egdorf with a beautiful, wild Rainbow __________________________________________________ 13

Opinion __________________________________________________________________________________________ 14  Opinion: Herring fishery needs integrated management plan ____________________________________________ 14  Petronas and Lelu Island: The cutting edge of LNG in BC? ______________________________________________ 16  ‘Record salmon runs’ actually a decline________________________________________________________________ 20  The Biotech Industry Is Jeopardizing Our Health _______________________________________________________ 22  Tell Consumers What They Are Eating _________________________________________________________________ 24  Looking ahead: commercial aquaculture _______________________________________________________________ 26  Salmon farms threatening B.C. wilderness _____________________________________________________________ 28  Risky Leap to GM ____________________________________________________________________________________ 29  Area Guides Call for Chehalis River to Be Reopened for Fishing _________________________________________ 29

Special ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 30  Obama awards medal of freedom to Billy Frank Jr. of Nisqually tribe _____________________________________ 30  U.S. House votes to rename Nisqually Refuge after Native-American leader Billy Frank Jr. _________________ 32  FDA’s Approval of GE Salmon Based on Bad Science, Say Consumer Advocates _________________________ 34  Kristi Miller: Unmuzzled ______________________________________________________________________________ 38

Community Activism, Education and Outreach ______________________________________________________ 39  Stopping Farmed Salmon at the Cash Register _________________________________________________________ 39  Climate Flotilla – Paris ________________________________________________________________________________ 40  Ta’Kaiya Blaney, 14-Year-Old First Nations Activist: "Turn the World Around" ____________________________ 41  Farmed Salmon Boycott: Superstore – Abbottsford, British Columbia ____________________________________ 42    

GAAIA: Farmed Salmon – Sealed with a Kiss of Death __________________________________________________ Massive turnout for Global Climate March in Vancouver, BC_____________________________________________ Global Climat March - Gabriola Island and Nanaimo, BC_________________________________________________ Site C Dam – No Justification Now_____________________________________________________________________

43 44 45 46

Climate___________________________________________________________________________________________ 47  Thousands take to Vancouver's streets for Global Climate March ________________________________________ 47  Canada shocks COP21 with big new climate goal _______________________________________________________ 50  Washington project aims to ensure forest stores carbon for decades ____________________________________ 53

Habitat ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 55  No charges under B.C.’s mining laws for failure of Mount Polley mine dam _______________________________ 55     

Above Alaska’s Lake Iliamna ____________________________________________________________________________ 58 SQUAXIN ISLAND TRIBE WRITES PLAN FOR COHO RECOVERY ________________________________________ 59 Environmental tragedy in Brazil from the air ___________________________________________________________ 156 Water discharge permit approved for Mount Polley Mine ________________________________________________ 64 Stop Mount Polley – What legacy are we leaving? ______________________________________________________ 66

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Harvest __________________________________________________________________________________________ 67  Lawsuit would force feds to act on wild steelhead recovery _____________________________________________ 67  Area Guides Call for Chehalis River to Be Reopened for Fishing _________________________________________ 69  FISH COMMISSION ENDS WILD WINTER STEELHEAD RETENTION IN WA ________________________________ 72

Salmon feedlots __________________________________________________________________________________ 75  Congress to require labeling of ‘Frankenfish,’ genetically engineered salmon ____________________________ 76  Irish groups call for Christmas farmed salmon boycott __________________________________________________ 78  Major Japanese and American Consumer Groups Oppose Genetically Engineered Salmon ________________ 79  Farmed steelhead fillets available at Costco ____________________________________________________________ 80  Ecology Action Centre calling for Nova Scotia to continue fish farm moratorium __________________________ 81  Dumps chemicals without permission _________________________________________________________________ 83  Seal Killing at Scotland Salmon Farms _________________________________________________________________ 87  Is Salmon Farming B.C.'s Version Of The Tar Sands? __________________________________________________ 88  There is something wrong with these __________________________________________________________________ 91  Norwegian animal welfare – NOT! _____________________________________________________________________ 92  A victory for wild salmon _____________________________________________________________________________ 93  Toxin-laden fat bars in “organic” Atlantic salmon from Norway’s ocean-based salmon feedlots; packaged in Canada – Don’t buy it! ____________________________________________________________________ 95  PCBs, PCDD/Fs, and organochlorine pesticides in farmed Atlantic salmon from Maine, eastern Canada, and Norway, and wild salmon from Alaska. ____________________________________________________ 95  What’s in Farmed Salmon? ___________________________________________________________________________ 96  Vancouver, BC Atlantic Salmon Feedlots: Lice and Escapes_____________________________________________ 97  Ina (38) was horrified when she opened the package with smoked salmon________________________________ 99  Quinault Nation slams approval of genetically modified salmon ________________________________________ 101  Buy-Low Foods makes switch to more sustainable seafood ____________________________________________ 103  Legal Sea Foods boss says no to genetically modified salmon _________________________________________ 104  What’s Grosser than Gross? GMO Salmon with FDA Approval __________________________________________ 106  Costco says it won’t sell genetically modified salmon __________________________________________________ 110  Nordlaks taking salmon offshore _____________________________________________________________________ 112

Energy Generation: Oil, Coal, Geothermal, Hydropower, Natural Gas, Solar, Tidal, Wind ______________ 115 Petroleum – Drilled, Refined, Tar Sands, Fracked ________________________________________________________ 116  Petropolis - Rape and pillage of Canada and Canadians for toxic bitumen _______________________________ 116  At Least 32 Dead in Worst Offshore Disaster since Piper Alpha _________________________________________ 117  Unique Hazards of Tar Sands Oil Spills Confirmed by National Academies of Sciences ___________________ 119  Firefighters battling large fire near Highway 30 in industrial NW Portland ________________________________ 123      

WHAT THE NORTHWEST NEEDS TO KNOW ABOUT THE CRUDE OIL EXPORT BAN LIFT ________________ US Senator Maria Cantwell: US Crude Oil _____________________________________________________________ US Senator Patty Murray: US Crude Oil _______________________________________________________________ Enbridge taking time to decide on Northern Gateway pipeline __________________________________________ State analysis forecasts derailment every other year if Vancouver oil terminal is built ____________________ UTC pens list of recommendations for oil projects _____________________________________________________

125 127 129 130 132 135

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Coal __________________________________________________________________________________________________ 138  Save the Chuitna ____________________________________________________________________________________ 138  The oil boom in one slick infographic _________________________________________________________________ 138  Beijing smog ‘red alert’: Schools and businesses to completely shut down as Chinese capital issues first ever extreme warning ___________________________________________________________________________ 139 Hydropower / Water Retention __________________________________________________________________________ 141  Video: Fight over dams in the Northwest ______________________________________________________________ 141  Site C Opponents Call for Action from New Liberal Government as Construction Ramps Up ______________ 142  Let’s quit pretending dams like Site C are good for the climate _________________________________________ 144  Heading Off Negative Impacts of Dam Projects ________________________________________________________ 147 Natural Gas ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 150  500 million to 1 billion young salmon use the Skeena River estuary each year – unacceptable for Liquified Natural Gas export facilities _________________________________________________________________ 150  Earthquake in Northern B.C. caused by fracking, says regulator ________________________________________ 151 Solar _________________________________________________________________________________________________ 153  Tesla says Australian utility Origin to market solar battery _____________________________________________ 153

Forward The January 2016 issue of “Legacy” (Volume 5, Issue 3) marks fifty one consecutive months of our complimentary eMagazine; the no-holds-barred, watchdog journal published and distributed by Wild Game Fish Conservation International.

Conservation of wild game fish is our passion. Publishing “Legacy” each month is our self imposed responsibility to help ensure the future of these precious gifts that have been entrusted to our generation for safekeeping.

Please read then share/forward “Legacy” with others who care deeply about the future of wild game fish and all that rely on them.

Sincerely,

Bruce Treichler James E. Wilcox Wild Game Fish Conservation International

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

 Check out what WGFCI is working on

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January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

Game Fishing Planet Earth

 United Kingdom: First & last November 18, 2015 For me, the mighty River Tay will always hold a special place in my heart. It is was on the banks of the River Tay that I got married, scattered my father’s ashes and also caught my first as well as heaviest salmon to date. The Tay can be a very harsh, uncompromising river with its big pools and fast currents but it can also be very rewarding. There have been two experiences that I have had on the river this season, which have highlighted this and made it a year that I will never forget.

My husband and I were fishing with friends on the opening day of the season in January. We had had left the North of England at 3 am that morning as we had been working there the previous day. The weather was atrocious on the way up north. It was howling a gale and there were frequent snow showers. After crossing the border, I checked the river levels and my worst fears had been confirmed as the river was rising fast. I knew that a rising river meant that the chances of catching a fish would be minimal. Opening day, however, is not so much about catching fish but more a social event. It’s great meeting up with old friends, catching up on the riverbank and having a good day, regardless of the weather or water conditions. We had booked the Dalmarnock beat on the Middle River Tay for the day. The beat was under new management with our good friend Colin Mcfadyen at the helm. The party that we were fishing with were all good friends of ours. Some had travelled far and wide to attend, witness and have a cast on this momentous day.

The opening day ceremony gets underway

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels We arrived at the beat just before nine after a four-hour drive in atrocious weather. Some of our friends had already arrived and were setting up their rods. It was great to see Colin again and he was quite optimistic about prospects in spite of the rising water and weather conditions. We all sat in the hut enjoying a hot cup of coffee, hearing the icy wind blowing outside. To be honest, I really did not feel like having a cast and would have preferred to remain in the warm confines of the fishing hut in front of the roaring log fire.

All the guests were present by the time our piper Bob arrived. He was dressed immaculately in his full Highland attire. So the drams were poured and we all marched down to the boat behind the piper.

There was snow on the ground and I had to hold my husband’s arm to stop myself from slipping. After a quick speech from my husband, a toast to the salmon was made and I had the first cast. The Dalmarnock beat was now declared open for the 2015 season. We all scurried back into the hut as the snow started to fall horizontally in the strengthening wind. The craic in the hut was good and the coffee and whisky was flowing freely. Nobody was in a hurry to go out and brave the elements. Colin, however, had other ideas and insisted that we all had a cast. My husband and I as well as our good friend Grant were allocated the upper half of the beat in the morning. The water was very high and still rising. When we got to the Dalmarnock pool, the rising water had submerged the car park, which is never a good sign!

The Dalmarnock pool can fish well in high water and because of this the three of us decided to concentrate our efforts at the head of the pool. I was fishing between Grant and my husband. Both Grant and my husband were using Salmo lures while I opted for a Vision 110, Western Clown. The wind was howling down the river and it was quite difficult to cast even with a spinning rod. I had been fishing for around ten minutes and I could tell that the river was rising since we had started fishing.

The side of my face was beginning to hurt because of the snow hitting against it. It was just getting too cold for me, so I decided to have three more casts then retreat to the warm confines of the hut.

The lure of some hot soup and a log fire was becoming more appealing than fishing in a gale and frequent snow showers.

I am playing a fish but could it really be a springer?

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels I had just made the second of my three casts when my line tightened and the rod buckled over violently. I could not believe that I had actually hooked a fish in such unfavourable conditions. I shouted to my husband as he was fishing downstream from me. He started to wind in his lure but it got caught around my line with the fish still on. I was not impressed. My husband told me not to worry, as the fish would only be a Kelt. He then started to pull at my line with his hands so he could untangle his lure from it. At that point, I swore a number of times at him and said some bad things! Finally, my husband managed to get his lure free from my line and came up to where I was playing the fish. By this time Grant had also joined us. We had still not seen the fish. My husband then said that he wished I would hurry up and land the fish, as he did not want to stand about all day watching me play an old kelt in the cold. I just ignored that comment, as I was having fun now.

The fish sat and sulked in the main current for a few minutes and then started to strip line from the reel purposefully. It appeared to be a strong fish. Every time I got the fish anywhere near the bank it would slowly and steadily swim back downstream. After fifteen minutes of cat and mouse, my husband finally got a glimpse of the fish and then appeared to freeze. He looked at me with a nervous smile. There was a tremor in his voice as he said to me to take my time and be careful playing the fish. I knew what this meant; this was unlikely to be a Kelt. Had I just hooked a springer on the opening day of the season? The wave of emotions that coursed through my veins was almost unbearable. It was a mixture of anguish and excitement and my hands were visibly shaking. The fish sat in the main current, a third of the way across the river for what felt like an age and I could not move it. Eventually after a further run upstream the fish showed again on the surface. This time, there was no doubt that the fish was fresh. The fish then came towards me at a rate of knots. I managed to guide it over on to the high bank that was now under water. My husband made no mistake and grabbed the fish firmly by the tail and let out a yelp of joy. I am sure it was so loud that it must have been heard in Dundee!

The first salmon caught in the UK, in 2015

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels We phoned Colin to come and have a look at the fish while we revived it in the water. While this was all happening, Grant was furiously taking pictures. I was still shaking whilst holding the fish. Colin arrived five minutes later, but it felt like five hours. He confirmed that the fish was fresh. It had a hard belly and was solid looking in appearance. The fish had been in the river for around a week. After a few more photographs, the fish was returned, swimming away strongly into the murky depths of the magical River Tay. Later it was confirmed that I had caught the first salmon in the UK in 2015. It was another magical moment that the River Tay had given to me.

My husband’s 24 pounder caught during the last week of the season Throughout the season, the Tay has been good to both my husband and I. During the last week of the season my husband caught a cracking fresh fish of twenty-four pounds from the Kercock beat. I was gutted as he had caught three fish in total for the day and I was unable to accompany him.

However, when I called Colin the night before the season ended, he informed me that he had a rod available on the last day of the season. Of course, I jumped at the chance of having a final day cast.

When I told my husband that I was going fishing, I could see he was not happy. The following morning he went off to work in a big sulk! I got to the hut a little after nine. It was a cold, still, foggy mid-October morning. Colin suggested that I fished the Dalmarnock pool for the first hour.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels I drove up to the top of the beat. The pool was looking in good order and there were a few fish showing. I immediately remembered my opening day exploits. It was quite a strange feeling knowing that I would probably never be able to repeat such a feat again. The water was thankfully much lower on this occasion and for the sake of nostalgia I decided to use a Vision 110. I had fished down the entire pool without as much as a sniff. Colin came down to see me and suggested that I should try fishing the Summer House pool form the far bank. This would mean crossing the river in the boat. As we motored downstream, Colin suggested that I had a few casts in the Willies Hole pool from the boat. He explained that had been seeing a few fish through the course of the week in the pool. On my second cast, I got a savage take. The line screamed of the reel as the fish surged upstream. I had hooked what felt like a decent fish. The fish sat in the deeper water for sometime close to the far bank, refusing to move. Eventually after a further run upstream the fish came to the surface and it looked fresh. It was at this point that Colin swore loudly. He had just realised that he had not brought a net with him. Moreover, there was nowhere for him to bring the boat into the bank to land the fish.

The boat was sitting in about twenty feet of water. This had disaster written all over it and I was convinced that it was not going to be a happy ending. Colin advised me to play out the fish for as long as possible in the hope that he could tail it from the boat once it was tired. The fish rolled around on the surface of the water a number of times only inches away from Colin’s outstretched hand. If only we had a net, the fish would have been ours by now. I managed to lift the fish’s head and steer it towards where Colin was standing at the stern of the boat. I don’t know how he did it but with one stealthy movement Colin grabbed the fish by the tail and brought it on board the boat. The fish was a lovely fresh autumn salmon of around thirteen pounds. After a quick photograph, the fish was returned safely.

My fish on the last day of the Tay season

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels When I called my husband at work to let him know, I could tell that he was genuinely delighted for me but was quick to point out that the fish he caught two days prior was twice the size. Men! For me, it was the cherry on the cake on what had been a great season on the River Tay. I had caught the first salmon in the UK from this magnificent river in January. Nine months later I had also caught a fish on the last day of the season. I am quite sure that I will never have a season of such firsts and lasts again. All I can say is, roll on opening day 2016, as you just never know!

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

 Alaska: Camille Egdorf with a beautiful, wild Rainbow Dave and Kim Egdorf's Western Alaska Sport Fishing Photo Credit: Matt McCormick / Seacat Creative

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

Opinion

Herring fishing action Sunday, March 22 in Spiller Channel on the central coast north of Bella Bella during a short commercial seine fishery. The fishery was contested by the Heiltsuk Tribal Council.

 Opinion: Herring fishery needs integrated management plan Time to mend fences: New government brings hope of better dialogue with DFO November 9, 2015 Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his diverse, representative cabinet on Nov. 4, with Nunavut MP Hunter Tootoo appointed as the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans. Will Minister Tootoo create fisheries policies “by looking at evidence and listening to scientists,” as Trudeau promised at a rally of supporters on that euphoric day after the federal election? It certainly would be a refreshing change from the ways of Tootoo’s predecessor, Gail Shea, in the Harper-led cabinet. I hope that this sea change in Ottawa will reverberate across the country to protect Pacific herring, a forage fish upon which, not only British Columbia marine ecosystems, but also coastal B.C. First Nations, such as the Haida, Heiltsuk, and Nuu-chah-nulth, depend.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels In 2014, former minister Shea reopened the commercial herring fishery around Haida Gwaii, after a decade of closure. This decision was made despite scientific evidence, including from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), indicating that herring populations had yet to recover from historical overfishing. That season, herring fishing was prevented only by an agreement between the Council of the Haida Nation (CHN) and commercial fishermen. In 2015, Shea again reopened the fishery. This time, the CHN filed for an injunction to the Federal Court against its reopening and won. In his decision, Justice Michael Manson cited two reasons: conservation, or the potential for irreparable harm to the herring stocks, and aboriginal rights and title, or the harm to the co-management relationship between the CHN and Ottawa for Gwaii Haanas, the protected area where many local herring populations aggregate to spawn.

The commercial herring fishery should not be reopened until stocks have recovered to ensure both the ecological and cultural value of herring. I lead a project that is exploring the values of Haida Gwaii communities and how they relate to herring fisheries management. We learned that local residents believe the DFO is not listening to them. This is blocking the trust and dialogue needed to resolve the herring conflict, creating a politically untenable situation: both the Haida and Nuu-chah-nulth have fought the DFO in the courts, while the Heiltsuk have staged sit-in protests in DFO offices and occupied Canfisco plants and Save-On Foods stores owned by Jim Pattison, one of Canada’s wealthiest men, who also owns the majority of herring licences. Haida Gwaii community members want more control in how herring are managed to ensure that they are managed in accordance with Haida values.

Consider the Haida value of Laa guu ga kanhllns, translated as responsibility, and the Haida ethic of Giid tll’juus, “The world is as sharp as the edge of a knife,” reflecting balance. Haida values and ethics, which encompass respect, interconnectedness, reciprocity, and seeking wise counsel, guide Haida thinking and their relationships with nature and each other. Are these principles really so different from how Canadian fishery resources should be managed? When DFO personnel talk about sustainability, conservation, precaution, and an ecosystem-based approach, do they mean something else or are they just speaking a different language? There is great utility in honest dialogue when conflicts arise and letting shared values guide our collective actions and policies, as Canadians amply demonstrated in the recent federal election.

Trudeau was elected for his leadership style and promise of a more collaborative and inclusive government. Will “Team Trudeau” dialogue respectfully with all concerned to translate herring from a story of conflict to one of recovery?

Fish are a vital source of food, income, culture, and recreation, representing diverse values to millions of Canadians.

Tootoo needs to collaborate with First Nations, communities, fishers, scientists, and other stakeholders to devise a management plan that considers both shared values and ecosystem-based science. Such responsible management would allow herring to recover and mend the strained relationships between the DFO and Canadians. I trust that Tootoo is listening and not hard of herring!

Mimi Lam is a researcher at the UBC Institute for Oceans and Fisheries and leads the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies Solutions Project Collaborative Solutions for Haida Gwaii Herring Fisheries.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

 Petronas and Lelu Island: The cutting edge of LNG in BC? (Commentary/Op Ed) November 25, 2015 Wrapped in north coast fog, a small island in the Skeena River estuary 15 km south of Prince Rupert has become a lightning rod for Christy Clark’s strained liquefied natural gas (LNG) ambitions.

“I’m really at the boiling point already,” says Yahaan (Donnie Wesley), Lax Kw’alaams hereditary chief of the Gitwilgyoots tribe, standing on the edge of Lelu Island, his traditional territory. “I am willing to take on that drilling boat and get arrested or whatever it is going to take to make the world know that this is going on. The salmon and seafood of the entire Skeena River are in jeopardy.”

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Salmon central The focus of Yahaan’s concern is the shallow Flora Bank next to Lelu Island, a sandy eelgrass bed that is one of the most vital habitats for juvenile salmon, steelhead and shellfish in the entire Skeena system.

Smolts exiting the river in spring migration instinctively turn north into Flora Bank for shelter, feeding ,and protection from predators for weeks at a time while they adapt from fresh to salt water.

Research reveals that 88 percent of Skeena salmon, or 330 million smolts per year, rely on Flora Bank. The majority of eelgrass in the estuary is on Flora Bank and 20 times more salmon use Flora Bank than other estuary eelgrass. Genetics show smolts from the entire watershed—the traditional territories of 10 First Nations—use Flora Bank.

This is of weighty importance, especially considering the Skeena supports the second largest salmon run in Canada, bringing in $100 million from commercial and sport fishing every year, not to mention being the cultural backbone of a dozen First Nations. Unfortunately, Flora Bank is also ground zero for the front-running LNG proposal in BC. LNG on Lelu Island An international consortium led by Malaysian oil giant Petronas is proposing to build the $11 billion Pacific Northwest (PNW) liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant on Lelu Island.

Responding to community feedback, PNW LNG revised its design in October 2014 to include less dredging, a 1.6-km bridge straddling the edge of Flora Bank and 1.3-km trestle to berth. The plant would fill a supertanker per day.

Significant concerns remain. A study commissioned by Lax Kw’alaams Band shows the sediments of Flora Bank are held in place by an equilibrium of complex river and tidal currents and that proposed bridge supports, trestle pilings and tanker traffic could disrupt this balance, eventually degrading and destroying the habitat by erosion or deposition.

The new bridge and jetty are wider (now 27 m, previously 15 m) and 300 m longer. Research shows that young salmon avoid swimming under bridges in estuaries. The planned PNW bridge lies directly across the young salmon migration path.

There was no public comment period for the revision, nor federal funds for independent review of it, as available in the first application.

A scathing report released in October by the Skeena Fisheries Commission and Simon Fraser University concludes that the updated PNW proposal “disregards science” and “poses significant and unacceptable risks to Skeena salmon and their fisheries.”

This is not the first time LNG has been proposed for Lelu. In 1977, Dome Petroleum’s plan for an LNG plant there was rejected based partly on 1973 DFO science that deemed development on Lelu Island an unacceptable risk to fish habitat.

“If you had to pick one place on the whole north coast that is more perilous to wild salmon, I’m not sure you could find one,” Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Nathan Cullen says.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Who is Petronas?

If we believe Clark’s vision for the “world’s cleanest and safest LNG,” Petronas is an eyebrow-raising partner.

In July, Andrew Nikiforuk reported in The Tyee that “BC’s gas export hopes face ‘scandal that ate Malaysia.’” thetyee.ca/News/2015/07/24/BC-Gas-Malaysia-Scandal/ According to the article, Petronas president Najib Razak, who is also Malaysia’s prime minister, was accused of stealing $700 million and covering up $11 billion in debt.

According to DeSmog Canada (“B.C. ought to consider Petronas’ human rights record before bowing to Malaysian company’s LNG demands”) www.desmog.ca/2014/10/23/bc-ought-consider-petronas-human-rights-bowing-malaysiancompanys-lng-demands, the company also has a dubious human rights record: in Borneo, gas pipeline route details were withheld from indigenous populations until construction.

In September, the Vancouver Sun ran the article “Energy giant Petronas faced ‘catastrophic’ safety issues,” www.vancouversun.com/energy+giant+petronas+faced+catastrophic+safety+issues/113540 54/story.html?__lsa=cc64-6d0e which reported that a leaked safety audit revealed offshore oilrigs in catastrophic states of disrepair up to 2013, routine inspections overdue 20 years and problems with the potential to cause human death. The same article reported that, last year, the above-mentioned Borneo gas pipeline exploded because it was built on unstable soil.

Lax Kw’alaams rejects $1.15 billion In early May, Petronas made an unprecedented offer to the small community of Lax Kw’alaams of just over $1 billion for permission to build on Lelu Island.

Given only a week to decide, community members rose from their chairs to unanimously reject the offer in each of three community votes. The Lax Kw’alaams Band named salmon protection as their motivation.

The bluntness of the company shocked Yahaan most: “We asked the representative, ‘Why are you building in the Skeena estuary? Why not in some little cove where it’s not going to harm anything?’

He didn’t care. He said, ‘It’s the cheapest location to put an LNG plant.’”

A red carpet for Petronas On June 11, Petronas announced a conditional final investment decision in the project. Following its attempt to buy First Nations’ consent, Petronas acted as if consent was irrelevant, as did the BC government, who on July 13 held a rare summer session to approve the project.

Designed as attractive amidst a depressed global gas market, the LNG Projects Agreements Act locked in an LNG tax rate of 3.5 percent, half that originally desired by Clark, with no taxes until after capital cost recovery—a process that could take some time. Australia’s Gorgon LNG plant has run $17 billion over budget, making critics worry it will never return profits. Further, should any future government change this agreement within 25 years, Petronas could collect damages. Former Liberal politician Martyn Brown trashed the plan as “environmentally reckless, fiscally foolhardy and socially irresponsible.”

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels BC has also agreed to allow foreign workers to build LNG plants. Petronas will use 40 percent foreign workers to build its $11 billion plant and $8 billion of this will be spent overseas.

It is hard to imagine a better deal for Petronas. For Clark, it’s a desperate plea to uphold a flagging election promise.

Perhaps most disturbing is that, of the 20 LNG proposals in BC, this is the only one with both a conditional final investment decision and legislative approval. Construction on this project could begin first.

Tsimshian re-occupy Lelu Island On Aug. 25, Yahaan and Tsimshian supporters moved onto Lax U’u’la to stop the rejected proposal from progressing. The camp has received overwhelming regional support.

Drilling boats have been turned away. The Prince Rupert Port Authority, a federal agency without local or provincial oversight, gave permission to Petronas to conduct geotechnical work for the Canadian environmental assessment process, the final regulatory hurdle facing Petronas.

Significantly, the Lax Kw’alaams Band announced a legal title action regarding Lelu on Sept. 16. If successful, this court case could trump Petronas’ proposal.

Madii Lii Luutkudziiwus, a Gitxsan hereditary house group, is fighting in court the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission (PRGT) pipeline, which would supply gas from northeast BC to the plant on Lelu.

Thirty-two km of the pipeline is proposed for Madii Lii territory, near Hazelton.

“We were not consulted on the project, nor was adequate data collected on cumulative impacts. We were given no acceptable means, funds or time to assess it,” Madii Lii spokesperson Richard Wright says.

If successful, the judicial review could cancel the Environmental Assessment Certificate and BC Oil and Gas Commission permit granted for the pipeline.

The Petronas mega-project The PNW plant would be supplied with gas from Petronas-owned fracking operations in northeastern BC via two pipelines Petronas contracted TransCanada to build—the 300 km North Montney Mainline pipeline feeding the 900 km PRGT pipeline. Total investment is $40 billion.

According to an article by Andrew Nikiforuk in The Tyee, the Harper government balked in 2012 when Petronas proposed to buy Calgary-based fracking company Progress Energy on the grounds that it is not in Canada’s “net interest” to have a single foreign company frack, pipe, liquefy and ship gas to Asia. In the end, the purchase was allowed.

Whether Petronas will move its terminal away from Flora Bank is unknown at this point.

What is clear is that the cutting edge of Christy Clark’s vision of clean, safe and prosperous LNG is a plan that puts the second largest wild salmon run in Canada at risk by a company with a spurious safety and corruption record, governed by a rock-bottom tax regime and blocked by two First Nations. This isn’t a great start to the LNG dream in BC. It sounds more like a nightmare.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

 ‘Record salmon runs’ actually a decline December 7, 2015

BY DON CHAPMAN Propagandists for the lower four Snake River dams like to depict recent salmon returns as “record runs.” Most recently, Lt. Col. Tim Vail, of the Corps of Engineers, spoke of “record” salmon runs when he touted dam benefits. This self-serving assessment demands careful review. “Record runs” cannot describe the status of ESA-listed spring/summer Chinook salmon in the Snake River.

The most unbiased assessment of the status of wild spring/summer Chinook salmon in the Snake basin derives from spawning nest (redd) counts by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game each year after 1956. The department has counted redds in the same index areas of the Middle Fork Salmon River from 1957 through 2015.

The average redd count for 1957-1961, before the four lower Snake River dams affected runs, was 2,420. In the most recent five years, the average count in the same spawning areas was 854, a reduction of 65 percent.

The two-thirds reduction in redd counts depicts only part of the population decline. From 1957 to ’61, fisheries in the Columbia River harvested half of all spring Chinook that entered the Columbia River.

In recent years the harvest of spring Chinook, mostly by Indian fisheries, has amounted to less than 10 percent. Adjusting for this half-century drop in harvest, I estimate that wild spring Chinook salmon have suffered a decline in abundance of 80 percent rather than 65 percent.

What accounts for a reduction of 80 percent in numbers of wild spring/summer Chinook salmon?

Most importantly, the National Marine Fisheries Service documented very low survival at dams in the lower Snake and main Columbia rivers for several decades. Even recently, only about 50 percent of wild juveniles that migrated in-river reached the tailrace of Bonneville Dam. When discussing dam passage in the Snake River, the NMFS persists in using a “dam passage survival” objective (across the concrete) of 96 percent. But NMFS data typically show a survival of about 92 percent per dam project (pool and dam combined) for wild spring Chinook smolts as they pass through the several lower Snake projects. “Project mortality” through each of the eight main stem hydro projects accounts for the 50 percent overall survival to Bonneville Dam. More juveniles die after they reach the estuary from injury or stress incurred while migrating through the hydropower system. Also, NMFS reports indicate that the smolt migration experience affects their upstream migration success when they return as adults. Thus, “across concrete” loss is only a part of total project-related mortality.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels To increase toward recovery, wild spring/summer Chinook salmon must survive from smolt to adult at 2 to 6 percent (average objective 4 percent). Recent survivals have been less than 1 percent. Steelhead survival has also remained far below the recovery objective. Lt. Col. Vail’s is just one voice among many that conveniently slide over that issue.

As the Columbia River basin continues to warm over the coming decades, natal streams will produce fewer ESA-listed wild spring Chinook and steelhead juveniles to migrate seaward. Yet the new NMFS Biological Opinion fails to anticipate a need for main-stem river management that would substantially reduce “project mortality.” It ignores studies of removal of the lower Snake Dams or increased spill, and relies on the wobbly crutch of habitat improvement. But habitat improvement has no utility for listed spring Chinook in tributaries in wilderness or primitive areas.

Readers of propaganda from federal hydro operators and Port of Lewiston should beware the siren songs of “record salmon runs.”

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

 The Biotech Industry Is Jeopardizing Our Health Consumers must demand labels on Genetically Modified Organisms December 1, 2015 The new movie Consumed tackles the controversial world of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) in unprecedented fashion, offering insight into their risks. Its message could not be more timely in the wake of the recent news that the Food and Drug Administration has approved the first genetically engineered salmon for human consumption.

The fish, like all genetically engineered ingredients in this country, will not be labeled, leaving American consumers in the dark. Like many food and environmental safety activists around the world, I’m outraged.

The biotech industry and the FDA have hijacked not only our basic rights as consumers, but also our fundamental human rights in the face of corporate monopolization of our food supply. They are jeopardizing our health and the environment more than ever before. When will the government agencies put in place to protect us stop servicing the bottom line of corporations?

The Center for Food Safety, a nonprofit environmental advocacy organization, has announced that it is going to sue the FDA over this unethical decision, citing opposition from more than 40 members of Congress, more than 300 environmental, consumer, health and animal welfare organizations, salmon and fishing groups and associations, food companies, chefs and restaurants, and about 2 million people who filed public comments, the most the FDA has ever received on a decision.

In detailed comments submitted to the FDA, Michael Hansen, senior scientist at Consumers Union, argues the FDA review process was based on “sloppy science” and the genetically engineered salmon could pose many risks. “Because FDA’s assessment is inadequate, we are particularly concerned that this salmon may pose an increased risk of severe, even life-threatening allergic reactions to sensitive individuals,” he writes.

Hansen also notes that “this analysis does not conform to FDA standard for assessment of a New Animal Drug.” That’s right, the genetically engineered salmon is being regulated as an “animal drug“—not a food, an “animal drug.” Here lies the inherent hypocrisy plaguing our regulatory agencies. The FDA does not label genetically engineered foods, including the newly approved salmon, because they have deemed them “substantially equivalent” to their non-genetically engineered counterparts. In essence, they are not different enough to be labeled.

Yet they are so different that they are the first organisms in history to be patented. The logic is confounding.

The FDA, whose mission is “protecting and promoting your health,” has failed consumers by approving the commercialization of genetically engineered salmon. Not only has it used inadequate science, but it has also turned its backs on the majority of Americans who believe they have a fundamental right to know what is in their food.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels A 2013 New York Times poll found that 93% of Americans want GMOs to be labeled. More than 60 countries label GMOs, and in some cases even ban them, but the U.S. still does not.

To my dismay, genetically modified seeds have not undergone any long-term safety testing by the FDA on animals or humans, and the scientific community remains divided on their safety. I’m shocked by those who think that to question GMOs is “anti-science.” This gross mischaracterization must be put into question if we are to ensure food democracy.

Some of the most respected scientific bodies in the world including Codex Alimentarius (jointly run by the World Health Organization and the Food and Agricultural organization of the U.N.), The American Medical Association, The British Medical Association and the American Public Health Association, have stated that, through pre-market safety assessments, more research needs to be done on GMOs before we can truthfully determine their safety.

In addition, since genetically modified crops are married to the chemicals sprayed on them, their consumption poses an overwhelming array of potential risks. According to a 2012 study published in Environmental Sciences Europe, GMO herbicide-tolerant crops have led to a 527 million pound increase in herbicide use in the U.S. between 1996 and 2011. The World Health Organization recently concluded that glyphosate, the main ingredient in the most-used herbicide on GMOs, is “probably carcinogenic to humans.” One study found glyphosate in 60% to 100% of the rain water in some agricultural areas. More than 3,200 elementary schools are within 1,000 feet of genetically modified corn or soybean fields—what will be the effects of these toxic chemicals on children?

With the FDA’s approval of the first genetically engineered animal now a reality, we have set a dangerous precedent for what is to come. As citizens, we must demand our voices to be heard at this crucial moment in our nation’s history. Tell your congressional representatives to stand up for your rights, spread the message on social media, and help spark a larger conversation about the food we are eating in this country.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

The Opinion Pages | EDITORIAL

Two salmon of the same age bred by AquaBounty Technologies. The larger fish was genetically modified to grow faster

ď ś Tell Consumers What They Are Eating December 1, 2015

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels In approving genetically engineered salmon as safe to eat and safe for the environment, the Food and Drug Administration rejected petitions from environmental and food safety groups asking that companies selling this salmon be required to label it as genetically engineered. Congress should overturn that decision. Consumers deserve to know what they are eating.

The salmon, made by AquaBounty Technologies of Maynard, Mass., has genes inserted that allow it to grow to market size twice as fast as wild salmon. The F.D.A.’s approval permits the engineered salmon to be raised only in land-based hatchery tanks in two facilities — one in Canada, where genes are injected into the eggs of Atlantic salmon, and a facility in Panama, where the fish are grown to market size. Each site has physical barriers to prevent the escape of eggs and fish.

(95% of the)The salmon will be made sterile so that should they escape, they will be unable to breed with other salmon or establish populations in the open sea. Still, such safeguards may not be 100 percent foolproof. The F.D.A. and the Canadian and Panamanian governments will conduct inspections to make sure the safeguards are working.

A major concern is what might happen if the technology spreads to larger-scale commercial operations around the world that might have weaker confinement barriers. At least one consumer group has announced plans to sue the F.D.A. to overturn its approval of the engineered salmon.

Editorial Comment: It is AquaBounty’s intention to sell this technology, eggs and fish far and wide; including to the problematic, ocean-based salmon fe3edlot industry.

It will take about two years for these salmon to reach market size, and the Panama facility can produce about 100 tons of fish a year, a tiny amount compared with more than 200,000 tons of Atlantic salmon imported each year. Some leading grocery chains, responding to consumer concerns, have said they won’t sell the genetically engineered salmon.

The F.D.A. said there is no reason to mandate labeling because there is no material difference between engineered and natural fish on qualities like nutritional content. But the value of that information should be left to consumers to decide.

Editorial Comment: 1. Consumers need to know how and where fish were grown, harvested and processed.

2. GE salmon nutrition was compared to that of other feedlot-raised Atlantic salmon; not wild!

Vermont enacted a law last year that will require labeling of genetically engineered foods starting next July unless a suit filed in June 2014 by four industry trade groups derails it. Other states with strong consumer movements may try to follow.

The House passed a bill on July 23, 2015, that would pre-empt states from requiring such labeling, and industry groups are pressing the Senate to attach similar language as a rider to an omnibus spending bill. The Senate should rebuff that tactic and allow states to adopt mandatory labeling laws if they wish.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

O P I NI O N

ď ś Looking ahead: commercial aquaculture November 23, 2015 The San Juan County Council is updating the Shoreline Master Program, with hearings beginning on Nov. 30. This update is this community's opportunity to address requirements for future aquaculture operations in San Juan County, including the types of commercial aquaculture we don't yet have.

There are two types of commercial aquaculture which would not be compatible with most San Juan County shorelines: fin fish net pens (for farmed Atlantic salmon) and commercial geoduck operations. Currently there are no fin fish net pens and no commercial geoduck operations in San Juan County, but that doesn't mean that there won't be interest in establishing them here in the future. For the most part, San Juan County's current commercial aquaculture operations are compatible with neighboring residences.

Editorial Comment: Ocean-based Atlantic salmon feedlots are nothing more than open cesspools along our magnificent coasts. The irresponsible operation of these weapons of mass destruction has led to devastation of irreplaceable ecosystems and all that rely on them everywhere they are sited around planet earth. Of course, there is no way ocean-based salmon feedlots should be sited along the San Juan Islands' vitally-important wild salmon migration routes.

As many expect, ocean-based salmon feedlots will soon be home to recently-approved GE Atlantic salmon. These operations are intended to be land-based, but they surely will expand into marine waters where they will directly impact wild salmon.

Shellfish farms in San Juan County tend to be of a type and scale that fit with our rural shorelines.

This is not true for many communities in Puget Sound where single family residences on the shoreline are impacted by fin fish net pens and commercial geoduck operations. In addition to potential environmental impacts, fin fish net pens and commercial geoduck operations could impact property values. Permits for these commercial aquaculture operations don't require ownership or the leasing of adjacent shoreline land. People buy shoreline and waterview properties in San Juan County with an investment-backed expectation that their shoreline access and marine views will remain largely intact. A geoduck operation's PVC tubes are visually impactful, obstruct beach and water access, and there's noise associated with the liquefaction used for harvesting. Fin fish net pen operations can include lights, noise, and odor.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Both commercial operations could include vehicle traffic that use shoreline access road ends which would further impact rural neighborhoods. The draft SMP update allows commercial geoduck operations in all shoreline designations except "Port, Marina and Marine Transportation" with a conditional use permit. SJC's critical areas could potentially justify prohibitions and buffers, but this option has not been addressed.

The draft SMP would allow fin fish net pens in rural, urban, natural, conservancy, and aquatic shoreline designations with a shoreline substantial development permit. Island County is also in the process of updating their SMP. San Juan County should adopt language similar to Island County's: "The county shall adopt a prohibition on new commercial fin fish net pen aquaculture operations to provide time for updated guidance addressing the protection of ecological functions and use conflicts."

State law identifies single family residences and aquaculture (as a water dependent industrial and commercial development) as preferred uses in the shoreline, with no preference given to one or the other shoreline use. Tourism and real estate in San Juan County depend upon our beautiful shorelines and water views. The San Juan County Council's update to the SMP should include every provision available to protect existing shoreline and waterview properties from future incompatible large-scale commercial aquaculture operations. The SMP must comply with state law and it can also protect the values and character of our islands community and this beautiful marine environment.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

 Salmon farms threatening B.C. wilderness November 28, 2015 Salmon farming is environmentally destructive and harmful to surrounding areas, aquatic life and their ecosystems.

B.C. has over 85 open net-cage salmon farms operating in our coastal waters. Yes, the salmon farming helps take pressure off the wild salmon stocks by providing a year-round supply of farmed salmon to the market, creating about 6,000 jobs in British Columbia alone, and contributing nearly $400 million in export sales.

In total, the industry is worth $800 million per year, and is B.C.’s most profitable agricultural industry.

However, farmed salmon waste builds up under the farm pens, smothering large portions of lush ocean floor, and contaminating the marine ecosystem and depriving species of oxygen.

Escaped Atlantic farmed salmon threaten to overtake Pacific wild salmon as they compete aggressively for food and habitat. Escaped farmed Atlantic salmon spread disease, sea lice and pathogens to wild fish. The Ministry of Agriculture and Lands is responsible for tracking escaped farmed salmon.

Over 1.5 million farmed salmon escaped in to B.C. waters between 1987 and 2008 (farmedanddangerous.org).

Death of seals, sea lions, porpoises, sea otters, (whales) and sea birds are one part of the devastation caused by farming salmon.

The creatures are caught in the nets surrounding the fish pens that are under water to protect the farmed fish. In cases of underwater entrapment, the animals usually drown and have to be cut out to prevent further predator damage. Furthermore, all this is withheld from ever being shared with media or consumers.

In a report released by Department of Fisheries and Oceans, the B.C. salmon farming industry, between 1989 and 2000 legally killed 6,243 seals and sea lions (via high-powered modern rifles).

Consequently, the number of deaths from drowning is unreported and unknown.

If the government doesn’t deal with these problems we risk losing our wild salmon.

Consequently, as more and more farms pop up on British Columbia’s West Coast, the negative footprint from the pollution and waste created from farm feed and salmon waste will kill mass amounts of lush ocean bottom and many ecosystems will be devastated. Our beautiful, lush West Coast full of wildlife will be changed forever.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

 Risky Leap to GM Don Stanford November 23, 2015

 Area Guides Call for Chehalis River to Be Reopened for Fishing November 27, 2015 Comment: Jim Wilcox (WGFCI) December 1, 2015 The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has a long history of over-estimating the numbers of salmon and steelhead expected to return to their natal streams and rivers while underestimating the numbers of these fish needed for escapement.

This “science-based” practice nearly always results in overfishing by treaty fishers, non-treaty commercial fishermen and recreational anglers.

This pattern suggests intentional exaggeration of the numbers of fish available for harvest in order to oversell expensive commercial, guide and recreational fishing licenses.

In the business world, this ongoing practice of selling licenses to the public to catch “paper fish” would most certainly be viewed as FRAUD.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

Special

 Obama awards medal of freedom to Billy Frank Jr. of Nisqually tribe Medal also goes to William Ruckelshaus, Seattle environmental activist Frank is honored for leading fight to restore tribal fishing rights Watch video HERE November 24, 2015 WASHINGTON - Nisqually tribal member Billy Frank Jr. was arrested for the first time at age 14. In the following 30 years, he would be arrested at least 50 more times.

But it was his peaceful protests and resilience while advocating for Native American treaty rights and fishery protections that brought his legacy to the White House on Tuesday afternoon.

President Barack Obama honored 17 Americans, including Frank, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor. The ceremony honored activists, composers, public servants, athletes, performers and scientists who have made significant contributions to national and security interests, world peace or cultural endeavors.

“This is an extraordinary group,” Obama said. “We are just reminded what an incredible tapestry this country is, what a great blessing to be in a nation where individuals immersed in wildly different backgrounds can help shape our dreams, how we live together, help define justice, freedom and love. They represent what’s best in us.”

Among those honored at the White House were professional baseball players Yogi Berra and Willie Mays, first African-American congresswoman Shirley Chisholm, musicians Gloria and Emilio Estefan, veterans health advocate Bonnie Carroll and renowned violinist Itzhak Perlman.

Also honored were lyricist Stephen Sondheim, film director Steven Spielberg, performer Barbra Streisand, recording artist James Taylor, Sen. Barbara Mikulski, policy expert Lee Hamilton, NASA mathematician Katherine G. Johnson and civil rights lawyer Minoru Yasui.

In presenting Frank’s medal, Obama recalled how the Nisqually activist used to say, “I wasn’t a policy guy, I was a getting-arrested guy.”

Frank died in May 2014. His niece accepted on his behalf.

“We are so grateful that President Obama is recognizing him,” his son Willie Frank III said. “It’s such a great honor for the family to see this award in my dad’s name.”

Frank worked tirelessly to protect salmon habitat and fishing rights for Native American communities in the Pacific Northwest, even when faced with violence and jail time.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels “He saved the salmon that had fed his family for generations,” Obama said. “He was spat on, shot at, chased, clubbed and cast as an outlaw, but Billy kept fighting because he knew he was right.”

Frank’s activism, which included “fish-ins” to protest state laws restricting Indian fishing access and creating the political group Survival of the American Indian Association, was instrumental in the Boldt decision, a landmark court case that restored Native American rights to fishing grounds as specified in treaties more than 100 years old.

“He didn’t do it just for the tribe, he did it for everybody,” Frank III said. “Salmon is very important for our way of life, traditions and our culture, if it wasn’t for the warriors back in the 50s, 60s and 70s, I don’t know where the tribes in Washington would be today.”

In 1974, Frank founded the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission to unite the 20 treaty Indian tribes that the decision by federal Judge George Boldt established as natural resource co-managers with Washington state. He served as the chairman for 30 years until his death in May 2014. He was 83.

Frank always considered the salmon essential to his family and tribe’s livelihood, culture and tradition, his son said, which fueled his fight for state and federal recognition of the treaties from the 1850s that protected tribal fishing practices in “usual and accustomed” places, whether on reservation or off.

“Billy went on to become a national voice for Indian country, a warrior for the natural war,” Obama said.

In his later years, Frank often worked with previous EPA Administrator William “Bill” Ruckelshaus, who also received the Presidential Freedom Award. Ruckelshaus founded and serves as the chairman of the Ruckelshaus Center, a joint effort by Washington’s two research universities to assist public, private, tribal, non-profit and other community leaders in public policy issues in the Pacific Northwest. They both have worked extensively to restore and protect the Puget Sound along Washington’s coast.

“Under Bill’s leadership the EPA set a powerful precedent, protecting our environment is something we must come together to do as a country,” Obama said of Ruckelshaus.

Frank’s legacy was also celebrated in his home state Tuesday, where Bellingham officially changed a street name to Billy Frank Jr. Street. Frank also has received the Martin Luther King, Jr. Distinguished Service Award for Humanitarian Achievement, and in May Congress introduced a bill that would rename the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge in Washington State as the Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge.

“His message about protecting our treaty rights, sovereignty, natural resources that never changed,” Frank III said. “He saw the main picture, the big goal. There’s never going to be anyone like my dad.”

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

Billy Frank Jr. near Frank’s Landing on the Nisqually River. Frank, a Nisqually tribal elder who was arrested dozens of times while trying to assert his native fishing rights in the 1960’s.

 U.S.

House votes to rename Nisqually Refuge after Native-American leader Billy Frank Jr. December 1, 2015

We honor and cherish today those we put in jail years ago.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted late Monday to rename the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge after Billy Frank Jr., the champion of Native-American treaty rights arrested more than 50 times in the 1950’s and 1960’s for illegally fishing on the river.

The vote honoring Frank came on the 60th anniversary of the day when an African-American woman, weary from a long day’s work, refused to surrender her seat to a white man on a Montgomery, Ala., city bus. The arrest of Rosa Parks helped trigger a civil rights movement that changed America.

“What Martin Luther King Jr., meant to civil rights, what Nelson Mandela meant to South Africa, Billy Frank Jr., meant to the entire Northwest,” Rep. Denny Heck, D-Wash., a friend of Frank, said in an emotional House floor speech.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Heck explained that Frank not only championed fishing rights, guaranteed under the 1854 Medicine Creek treaty, but also worked to restore decimated salmon runs. (The Northwest is defined as every place to which a salmon can swim, author Timothy Egan once wrote.)

“He got along with everyone: He was open and inclusive,” said Heck. “His story is in the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge.”

The House did a roll call vote on renaming of the refuge. It passed on a vote of 413-2. The two “No” votes were cast by Reps. James Sensebrenner, R-Wis., and Justin Amash, R-Mich.

One of the few House members to miss the vote was Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Wash., who represents a Southwest Washington district that formerly included the Nisqually.

Rep. Denny Heck, D-Wash.: “I loved him like a beloved uncle.

The legislation calls for erection of a national memorial to mark signing of the Medicine Creek Treaty, the first Indian treaty signed in the state of Washington.

The wildlife refuge, just off Interstate 5 north of Olympia, has become a laboratory of salmon restoration. With money secured by then-U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Wash., old dikes at the mouth of the river were removed in the last decade, re-creating salt water estuaries where young salmon can grow up before migrating to the Pacific Ocean.

Even the Bush administration’s notoriously unresponsive Interior Secretary Gale Norton seemed impressed when she witnessed the reborn estuary. The current U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell listened to Frank at a symposium in Suquamish less than two weeks before his death.

Companion legislation has been introduced in the Senate by U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash. It is expected to pass as early as this week.

Last week, President Obama bestowed the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Frank, who died in the spring of last year. An estimated 10,000 people attended Frank’s memorial service.

“I loved him like a beloved uncle,” said Heck. “We’ll give thanks for Billy Frank for the rest of our lives.”

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

 FDA’s

Approval of GE Salmon Based on Bad Science, Say Consumer Advocates Agency’s move sets a low bar for future approvals of genetically engineered animals for human consumption November 25, 2015

More than 20 years after the first genetically engineered plant hit American grocery stores, the FDA has approved the first transgenic animal for human consumption: a salmon.

The AquaBounty Salmon, as it is known, is an Atlantic salmon genetically engineered to grow more rapidly than its non-GE counterpart, allowing it to reach market size in just 18 to 20 months, compared to the standard 28 to 36 months.

FDA received roughly 2 million public comments in opposition to the approval of GE salmon.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels The FDA’s announcement last week was met with frustration, if not surprise, by environmental and consumer groups, who point to inadequate information regarding the potential impacts of GE salmon on both the environment and human health.

“We were very disappointed in the FDA for this approval,” says Michael Hansen, senior scientist with the Consumers Union, a nonprofit that works for a fair and safe marketplace for consumers. “We think it’s based on bad science.”

The GE fish was approved based on FDA findings that it is safe to eat, that the introduced gene is safe for the fish itself, and that the engineered salmon meets claims that it is faster growing than nonGE salmon. The approval pertains to two land-based salmon facilities: one in Prince Edward Island, Canada, where eggs will be produced, and one in Panama, where fish will be raised. The salmon raised in Panama will then be shipped back to the US for sale.

Hansen and other advocates have pointed to several areas in which the research relied upon by the FDA was severely wanting, including the impact of genetic engineering on human health, the impact of genetic engineering on the health of the fish, and the potential implications for wild fish populations.

Take, for example, the AquaAdvantage salmon’s potential impact on wild fish. In its environmental assessment, the FDA found that the GE salmon would not have a significant environmental impact because they could not escape the Panama or Prince Edward Island facilities. Even if they did somehow escape, the FDA concluded the fish couldn’t survive in the surrounding environments due to water temperatures.

However, the FDA did not conduct an analysis of the environmental impacts should the fish actually escape and survive in the wild.

According to Hansen, that was a big oversight.

The Prince Edward Island salmon facility is located near a stream, and there is a risk that fish could escape into nearby water bodies.

Editorial Opinion: This makes the wrong assumption that AquaBounty will not: 1. transfer young fish from freshwater hatcheries to be reared in ocean-based salmon feedlots, 2. sell genetically engineered eggs and fish to other salmon farmers to be rear in ocean-based salmon feedlots.

Each of these scenarios will result in genetically engineered Atlantic salmon around planet Earth escaping from their feedlots to: 1. breed with wild trout and salmon 2. spread diseases and parasites 3. compete for food and other resources

“They didn’t do a failure mode analysis,” Hansen says. “Normally you say, ‘what happens if the safeguards fail?’”

JayDee Hanson, senior policy analyst with the Center for Food Safety, agrees that this was a major shortcoming of the FDA’s analysis, especially given the proximity of the Prince Edward Island facility to endangered Atlantic salmon populations.

“Prince Edward Island does still have wild Atlantic salmon — not too many, they are hanging on,” he says. “But they don’t need really hungry genetically engineered fish eating up the food that they should be eating… We would be worried about [the GE salmon] literally decimating what is a barely hanging on wild population right now.”

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels There is also a risk of cross-breeding. Although fish at the Panama facility will be sterilized, the Consumers Union asserts that up to five percent of the salmon could remain fertile. And, as Hansen points out, the fish producing eggs at the Canadian facility will not be sterile. If GE fish somehow escape the facilities, that could present an issue: A 2013 study found that genetically modified Atlantic salmon can hybridize with wild brown trout, a species that is common in areas surrounding the two approved AquaBounty facilities.

The health of wild salmon populations isn’t the only thing at stake. Food advocates are also worried that, because GE salmon are engineered to grow more quickly, they will have higher levels of the growth hormone known as IGF-1, which has been linked to an increased risk of several cancers, including prostate, breast, colorectal, and lung. AquaBounty Technologies, the company that developed the fish, conducted a study comparing the IGF-1 levels between non-GE salmon and GE salmon — submitted to the FDA as part of the approval process — which concluded that “no biologically relevant differences were detected” in the levels of the growth hormone.

However, according to Hansen, the results of AquaBounty’s test were troubling, due to insufficiently sensitive testing methods: “Here is an animal you engineer with a trait, a growth hormone, and you can’t detect the trait in the animal at all,” he says. The Consumers Union, in its September 2010 comments on genetically engineered salmon, contended that this result was “like the police using a radar gun that cannot detect speeds below 120 mph and concluding there is no ‘relevant difference’ in the speed of cars versus bicycles.”

Consumer advocates are also concerned about the allergenic risks associated with GE salmon, and again point to insufficient and inadequate research on the part of AquaBounty. JayDee Hanson, senior policy analyst with the Center for Food Safety, says that AquaBounty was required to do two allergy-related tests: one for general allergenic reaction, and a second for salmon allergens.

However, the sample sizes were “abysmally small,” he says. They tested only six fertile fish for the general allergenic reaction study. “Six fish — that’s below high school level statistics,” he adds.

On top of the hormone and allergy concerns, the AquaAdvantage salmon may not have the same nutritional value as wild salmon. Specifically, studies indicate that it has significantly lower levels of healthy Omega 3 fatty acids.

The health of the GE salmon themselves could also be an issue. The fish in Panama will be triploid — which means they have three sets of chromosomes, instead of two — making them sterile.

JayDee Hanson, of the Center for Food Safety, notes that triploid fish frequently have genetic defects, and that when they are engineered to grow more quickly, “the problems with triploid fish seem to be magnified.” Specifically, they are more likely to have gill deformations, skeletal deformation, and focal inflammation of tissues.

“What bothers me about this is that this is a more sickly fish,” Hanson adds. “To keep production up, the company might be tempted to add more antibiotics to the feed.”

The FDA did not review the GE salmon under the regulatory framework for foods. Instead, in what Hanson calls a “bizarre fiction,” the FDA regulates GE animals as new animal drugs, under the reasoning that, as the FDA puts it, the “recombinant DNA (rDNA) construct introduced into the animals meets the definition of a drug.”

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Adding insult to injury for anti-GE activists is the FDA’s decision to adopt a voluntary labeling scheme, rather than requiring AquaBounty to label genetically engineered fish as such.

“Consumers have a right to know what they are eating,” says the Consumers Union’s Hansen. “This is information that is important to consumers.”

Both decisions — to approve the fish and to adopt a voluntary labeling scheme — were made despite the fact that the FDA received roughly 2 million public comments in opposition to the approval of GE salmon, the largest number the agency has ever received on an action.

Environmental and consumer rights groups are concerned about the precedent the approval will have for other GE animals. AquaBounty has expressed interest in building a salmon hatchery in the United States, and is already developing GE trout and tilapia in addition to salmon, though it is unclear whether the company has submitted these fish to the FDA for approval yet.

“This sets a precedent for every engineered animal that comes after it,” Hansen says. “It sets the bar for how stringent the approval [process] is going to be. And they just set the bar basically on the floor.”

The Center for Food Safety has announced that it will sue the FDA over its approval of AquaBounty salmon. Environmental groups in Canada are also suing the Canadian government for approving the use of the Prince Edward Island facility for GE salmon egg production. And in the meantime, 59 retailers running 4,663 grocery stores in the US have said they will not sell genetically engineered seafood.

GE salmon won’t be hitting the shelves tomorrow — it will likely be about two years before the fish even reach the market, if consumer advocates don’t stop AquaBounty first. However, if the FDA’s recent approval is any indication of how it will review GE animals in the future, these salmon could be the first of many GE animals that Americans may soon find on their dinner plates.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

 Kristi Miller: Unmuzzled

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

Community Activism, Education and Outreach

ď ś Stopping Farmed Salmon at the Cash Register

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

 Climate Flotilla – Paris Ta’kaiya Blaney Interview

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

 Ta’Kaiya Blaney, 14-Year-Old First Nations Activist: "Turn the World Around"

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

 Farmed Salmon Boycott: Superstore – Abbottsford, British Columbia November 22, 2015

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

 GAAIA: Farmed Salmon – Sealed with a Kiss of Death

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

ď ś Massive turnout for Global Climate March in Vancouver, BC November 29, 2015

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

ď ś Global Climat March - Gabriola Island and Nanaimo, BC November 29, 2015

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

 Site C Dam – No Justification Now

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

Climate

Thousands of people rally at the Vancouver Art Gallery and march through the city to bring attention to the global climate change issue Sunday November 29, 2015

 Thousands take to Vancouver's streets for Global Climate March Watch video HERE November 29, 2015 VANCOUVER — First Nations drummers led the way as a crowd of thousands wound through downtown Vancouver on a frigid Sunday afternoon for the Global Climate March.

People across Canada marched in similar demonstrations this weekend ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Summit in Paris, where world leaders will discuss greenhouse gas reduction targets.

Indigenous speakers dominated the stage in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery, which Audrey Siegl of the Musqueam Nation described as an important gesture.

“First Nations voices need to be prioritized here, because we are the original keepers of this land, we are still the caretakers of this land. That’s why we’re out there, on the front lines,” she said in an interview before the march.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels She said she hoped that the talks in Paris would bring real action on emissions, instead of promises of further negotiations.

“There’s no more compromises to made, there are no more studies that need to be done before the time for action starts. Not just cutting back on the fossil fuels, but cutting them,” Siegl said.

Grand Chief Stewart Phillip of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs shivered as he waited to take the stage, warming himself with a cup of coffee.

“I’m here because I’ve been blessed with 15 grandchildren, the most beautiful grandchildren in the entire universe, and I know that their future is in peril with respect to global warming and climate change,” he said.

“We’re in a state of crisis here. Every year we watch the southwest completely incinerate and this year we suffered unprecedented drought conditions…. I watched our rivers and streams completely disappear.”

The climate march was put together by a coalition of environmentalists, First Nations and other organizations, and it attracted a motley crowd of activists.

Anti-fish farming protesters dressed like wild salmon and pretended to swim down Georgia Street. A small crew of vegans wore cow costumes and held signs breaking down the environmental costs of cattle farming.

At the Esso gas station at Davie and Burrard, four activists scrambled onto the shelter above the gas pumps and unfurled a banner reading “Climb it change” as police officers watched and waited below.

And it wouldn’t be a protest without the Raging Grannies, those social justice activists in their long skirts and outlandish hats. Granny Barbara Siefred held a bright pink sign reading “Climate Action: New Paris Fashion.”

“I used to go to Paris for fashion, because I was in the fashion business,” she explained.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Premier Christy Clark and Mayor Gregor Robertson will all be in France for the talks this week.

Robertson met with Trudeau on Sunday, and the mayor said he was hopeful that Canada would be able to “help secure a bold and comprehensive agreement to reduce emissions and to fight climate change with every resource available to the global community.”

Vancouver councillors recently voted on a broad plan for the city to phase out fossil fuels by 2050 and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent.

The talks in Paris begin just days after B.C.’s government-appointed climate leadership team released its recommendations for dealing with reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The team called for the expansion of the carbon tax and a 40-per-cent reduction in emissions from 2007 levels by 2030. That means the province would back away from the previously legislated target of a 33-per-cent drop below 2007 levels by 2020, which the climate team described as too ambitious to reach.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels The carbon tax, on the other hand, has been frozen at $30/tonne until 2018, and the government has said that it will only consider an increase if “emission-intensive, trade-exposed industries” are exempt.

Some environmentalists have criticized the recommendations, saying they’re a good start but they don’t go far enough.

“It is a sad day for British Columbia when failing to meet legislated targets is what passes for climate leadership,” Sierra Club BC’s campaign director Caitlyn Vernon said in a press release.

The province is set to begin consultations in January with industry and the public on the next phase of the climate plan.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

Canada's Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna in Paris last week

 Canada shocks COP21 with big new climate goal December 7, 2015 Sunday night, Canada surprised a world of nations and negotiators in closed-door climate talks in Paris by endorsing a bolder, more ambitious target for cutting greenhouse gases than the UN climate change summit is officially aiming for.

Canada’s Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna told a stunned crowd that she wants the Paris agreement to restrict planetary warming to just 1.5 Celsius warming —not two degrees. It was the first time she has made such a statement.

In the room was former CBC meteorologist Claire Martin, a Green Party observer at the talks. “I was freaking out,” she said. "I was writing it all down like a nut."

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Reading from her notes, Martin reported the minister’s remarks like so: "'We want to send a strong political signal.’ The necessity, that she sees, is one in which we transition sustainably.”

“But she was quite clear —‘I support the goals of 1.5’— and echoed the comments of another party about human rights and indigenous peoples. Canada supports legally binding provisions, and we are committed to following through.”

"She wants a five-year review, and it must be 'ambitious' and 'accountable.'"

"Adaptation is 'incredibly important' and she has full support for the ambitious nature of this agreement," Martin added, about the minister's remarks.

McKenna's office confirms it Minister McKenna's spokesperson confirmed Monday that she supports "including reference in the Paris Agreement to the recognition of the need to striving to limit global warming to 1.5, as other parties have said."

"Canada wants an agreement that is ambitious and that is signed by the greatest number of countries possible."

And crucially, “the most important thing is that each country should be legally required to submit a target. And to report on progress on that target on a regular basis."

This is not the same as legally binding countries to reach their target, as many reports have noted.

Countries’ targets will still be outside the agreement. But McKenna’s office added: "There should also be a legally binding requirement in the agreement that countries improve their targets regularly."

'I am over the moon' Green leader Elizabeth May said: “I am over the moon. It’s fantastic news!”

“It creates a very ambitious trajectory for reduction of emissions, but it’s what’s required. If we’re going to keep low-lying island states from going under water, that’s what’s required.”

“If we want to have a reasonable prospect of not having the Greenland ice sheet create five- to eightmetre sea level rise, it’s what’s required.”

“It’s a safer zone than two [degrees] which represents a lot of irreparable, irreversible damage to large parts of the world. So 1.5 is good.”

The moves come just one week after Prime Minister Trudeau promised the world in his speech to the UN climate gathering that climate change would be a "top priority" for Ottawa.

But this latest statement about aiming for 1.5 Celsius has environmentalists —who haven't been in the habit of congratulating their federal government after nine years of Harper rule —rushing to issue happy-with-Canada press releases.

“This is an incredibly promising signal that Canada really is ready to lead when it comes to ambition and securing a strong global climate deal. Now Canada has a chance to leverage this leadership across key pieces of this agreement and this is what we hope to see over the coming days," said Steven Guilbeault of Montreal’s Équiterre in Paris.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Likewise, Karen Mahon, of ForestEthics, said: “Action and a strong deal in Paris will help Canada as it returns home and works closely with provinces to develop a plan that puts Paris promises into action.”

“Canada is redefining itself in Paris, but it will need to take its leadership home to prove that they really are back.”

Dale Marshall, of Environmental Defence, added Canada would confirm its climate leadership if it put in a "credible financing package” for a developing-country "Loss and Damage fund," and continued work to get an ambitious mechanism that allows reviews of targets and financing before 2020.

Trudeau: 'no time to waste' It remains to be seen if the world's nations agree to Canada's urging to cap dangerous global warming at 1.5 C. But praises for Canada come on top of heaps of laudings from Canadian First Nations leaders for backing the inclusion of Indigenous rights in the climate treaty process too. It's a move opposed by the European Union and United States over fears it could leave them liable for climate damages.

Prime Minister Trudeau said last week in Paris: "Indigenous people have known for thousands of years about how to care of our planet. The rest of us have a lot to learn, and no time to waste.”

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

Paula Swedeen, a forest policy specialist for the Washington Environmental Council, poses for a photo next to a forest land boundary marker adjacent to Mount Rainier National Park on Monday near Ashford.

 Washington project aims to ensure forest stores carbon for decades November 25, 2015 SEATTLE — Half a small forest still standing near Mount Rainier faced clear-cutting before an effort in Washington state saved the decades-old trees and allowed Microsoft to help finance the project to offset its carbon footprint.

The effort by two environmental groups keeps 520 acres of Douglas fir and western hemlocks intact so the trees can store carbon dioxide for an additional 100 years.

These types of projects, which can range from wind farms to projects that capture methane from landfills, allow companies and individuals to buy credits to offset the amount of greenhouse gas they send into the atmosphere.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Role in climate change “We think forests play a huge role in combating climate change,” said Paula Swedeen, forest policy specialist for the Washington Environmental Council, which partnered with the Nisqually Land Trust on the project.

For every metric ton of carbon dioxide that the forest stores, for example, project developers can sell a certificate for the same amount to willing buyers to help finance the conservation and restoration of the forest.

Redmond-based Microsoft Corp. agreed to buy the vast majority of the first round of credits.

It has agreed to buy roughly 35,000 credits as part of its own initiative to be carbon-neutral in its data centers, offices, software development labs, and employee air travel.

“We were excited to be able to do something in our home state,” said Rob Bernard, chief environmental strategist at Microsoft, which employs more than 42,000 workers in Washington.

The credits from the Nisqually Carbon Project represent a drop in the bucket for the software company, which has offset more than 1.5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent from projects around the world since 2012.

Bernard said Microsoft wanted to make a significant impact on a local project.

But some critics worry whether offset projects deliver the benefits they claim.

The project’s developers said they chose to verify it to California’s rigorous carbon offset standards, which require long-term monitoring and reporting, so there would be very few questions about its validity.

“To have a project that’s at home that you can see and walk around is a real breakthrough,” said Joe Kane, executive director of the Olympia-based Nisqually Land Trust, which will use proceeds from the sale of the credits to finance long-term stewardship of the land.

Neither Microsoft nor the trust would disclose what the software company agreed to pay.

Credits are issued based on the number of metric tons of carbon stored in trees that is above what would be stored if the commercial timberland had been logged as usual.

“It was definitely worth our while to do it,” Kane said, who added that it was risky because the land is expensive to buy and it took two years to get the project verified through a third party.

The trust, which owns the land, will use the money from the sale of credits to manage the forest for ecological restoration. Younger trees that were previously harvested will be allowed to grow, along with older trees that are between 50 and 100 years.

The property, purchased from Hancock Timber Resources Group, is also important habitat for endangered spotted owls and marbled murrelets, a tiny seabird that nests in old-growth trees.

Officials said the project also protects the landscape.

The site is above the town of Ashford and can be seen from the road on the main route into Mount Rainier National Park.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

Habitat

 No charges under B.C.’s mining laws for failure of Mount Polley mine dam December 17, 2015

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels No charges will be issued under the province’s mining laws against Imperial Metals after the catastrophic failure of its Mount Polley gold and copper mine tailings dam.

B.C.’s chief inspector of mines decided not to forward charges to Crown counsel involving the Aug. 4, 2014 incident.

“Although there were poor practices, there were no non-compliances we could find,” B.C. chief inspector of mines Al Hoffman said Thursday in releasing a report into the investigation, which took more than a year.

The province said Hoffman had advice from the B.C. Ministry of Justice in making his decision.

There will also be no fines issued because B.C.’s mining laws do not allow for administrative penalties, as do other natural resource ministries and agencies such as WorkSafeBC. Hoffman said he didn’t believe the company was getting “off the hook” because it already had to spend $70 million on cleanup at the mine site in the Interior, about 100 kilometres northeast of Williams Lake.

He made 19 recommendations to ensure, he said, another dam collapse does not occur. Those include that a dam safety manager be designated at mine sites and that mines be required to appoint independent review boards as a second pair of eyes on dam designs and operation. He also recommended establishing a dedicated investigation and enforcement team within the mines ministry led by a newly-created position of deputy chief inspector of mines.

B.C. Energy and Mines Minister Bill Bennett said all 19 recommendations will be implemented and he will be requesting government funding to backstop the changes.

Bennett also said he hopes to introduce legislation this spring to give the mines ministry the power to levy administrative penalties to encourage compliance, which is not among the recommendations from the mines inspector.

Imperial Metals officials said they would not be responding to the investigation report until they’ve had a chance to read and digest it.

The decision to not forward charges was met with disbelief and disappointment by the NDP and environmental groups.

The fact that there is no consequence under B.C.’s mining laws for the Mount Polley dam collapse is a regulatory failure, said NDP mining critic Norm Macdonald.

He said the government’s reliance on professional engineers hired by companies is not working, and it is time for the province to take more control of safety.

Northern Confluence director Nikki Skuce said the investigation’s outcome shows B.C.’s regulatory system is completely inept.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels “Obviously B.C.’s mining regulations and laws are too weak if the main conclusion drawn is that it was the soil’s fault,” she said.

MiningWatch Canada coordinator Ugo Lapointe said they want to see the chief inspector of mines delivers the file to Crown counsel so they can make a decision on charges.

The chief inspector’s investigation found the cause of the failure was a design problem that failed to account for a weak glacial soil layer beneath the foundation of the dam.

His investigation also found other factors including the slope of the perimeter embankment, inadequate water management, insufficient beaches and a sub-excavation at the outside toe of the dam exacerbated the collapse of the dam and the ensuing environmental damage.

Noting the mine did not operate using best practices, Hoffman said the company could not pass off responsibility of dam management to its engineers.

The chief inspector’s finding is similar to that of a B.C. government-appointed engineering panel that delivered its conclusions and recommendations last January.

Bennett, the mines minister, said he believed implementing both sets of recommendations would create significant improvement in regulatory oversight.

“I think when we are done, I think we are going to be able to say we learned from a horrible experience and we’ve made it a lot better,” Bennet said in an interview.

The remaining investigation into the Mount Polley dam failure is being conducted by the B.C. Conservation Officer Service and the federal government’s Department of Fisheries over potential violations of environmental laws.

It’s expected to be completed next year — and could result in charges or fines.

The mining industry in B.C. and Canada was shaken by the Mount Polley dam failure, one of the largest failures in the past 50 years, which released millions of cubic metres of water and finely ground rock containing potentially toxic metals.

It sparked concerns among the public, environmental groups and First Nations that aquatic life would be harmed, particularly salmon that use the Quesnel Lake system to spawn. Studies on the effect of the spill are expected to continue for years.

The catastrophic collapse last month of a tailings dam at a Brazilian mine owned by global mining heavyweights BHP Billiton and Vale SA has only exacerbated concerns.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

 Above Alaska’s Lake Iliamna Watch the importance of a healthy watershed HERE

Fly high above Lake Iliamna in Alaska following the crew of the Alaska Salmon Program as they conduct sockeye salmon surveys during one of the largest salmon returns in years.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

 SQUAXIN ISLAND TRIBE WRITES PLAN FOR COHO RECOVERY December 11, 2015 Two out of every three years, coho are basically extinct in the Deschutes River. But the Squaxin Island Tribe knows how to bring them back.

The tribe recently completed a recovery plan for coho salmon in the Deschutes. It found that a combination of habitat restoration in the upper watershed and the removal of a lower river dam to improve marine survival would recover the run within a few decades.

Restoring the river’s estuary would increase the number of coho that would return from the ocean as adults. “Estuaries are vital transition areas for salmon to go from fresh to salt water,” said Scott Steltzner, salmon biologist for the tribe. “If they don’t get what they need there, their ability to survive in the ocean plummets.”

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Deschutes River coho runs were healthy through the late 1980s. A combination of declining ocean conditions and landslides in the upper Deschutes drove down the productivity of the run.

“Coho return every three years, so each year in a three-year cycle is a separate population of fish,” Steltzner said. “Only one of those age classes for Deschutes fish return in any numbers anymore; the other two are functionally extinct.”

The formation of a series of waterfalls centuries ago prevented salmon populations from establishing until the 1950s, when the state built a few fish ladders.

The recovery plan outlines habitat restoration projects that would reduce sediment, develop more complex habitat and lower temperatures. “There are a lot of problems in the watershed, mostly in the upper reaches of the river and its tributaries,” Steltzner said.

Restoring the river’s estuary is key to the effort.

“We could do everything else, be as aggressive as we can be in the upper watershed, and we wouldn’t see decent results until we increase the number of fish that come back from the ocean,” said Andy Whitener, natural resources director for the tribe. “The most logical way to do this is to restore the river’s estuary.”

Without restoring the estuary, the strongest age class of fish would top out at about 3,000 fish. The other two age classes would recover, but remain extremely low for decades.

According to the tribe’s model, a 1 percent increase in marine survival would triple the strongest age class in size. Within a couple of decades, the smallest age classes would be in triple digits.

“The Deschutes River is the largest and most important river in our treaty-reserved fishing area,” Whitener said. “By working hard to restore lost and degraded salmon habitat, we can bring back this run for the benefit of the tribe and our neighbors.”

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

ď ś Environmental tragedy in Brazil from the air November 25, 2015 The considered most serious environmental tragedy in Brazil was caused by the rupture of the levees of two water tanks and mineral waste from a mine in Samarco, a company controlled by Brazil's Vale and Anglo-Australian BHP, two of the three largest mining world.

After seven villages drown and contaminate the entire Rio Doce, one of the largest in the southeast of Brazil, about 62 million cubic meters of landfill arrived Sunday the Atlantic Ocean.

"The scale of the environmental damage is equivalent to 16,000 Olympic swimming pools of toxic sludge waste contaminating soil, rivers and the water system in an area of over 850 kilometers and" warned the UN. In total we estimate that 40 billion gallons of sludge were released.

What does the toxic sludge?

In addition to sand and clay substances such as aluminum, iron, copper, magnesium and mercury among others they were identified.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

As reported in Folha do Sao Paulo, the Minister of Environment of Brazil, Izabella Teixeira, river pollution will have a devastating effect on future species and flora. The official said that a decade will need to be able to return to fish in River Doce.

"The accident did not end, is still alive (...) people have no notion of what it means," said the secretary of state.

Another major problem that caused the rupture of the dam, is the lack of drinking water in the disaster area. The town is without water since last November 18, prompting several protests.

The efforts are not enough

The UN considered "clearly insufficient" measures taken by the Brazilian government and the mining company Samarco to alleviate the damage caused by the dumping of sludge and mineral waste left on November 5 at least twelve dead and a dozen missing.

"It is unacceptable to have had to spend three weeks that have come to light information on toxic risks of catastrophe," said the UN office in Brazil in a statement.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Therefore, the UN urged the Brazilian government and companies responsible to "do everything in their power to prevent further damage, including exposure to heavy metals and other toxic substances."

The UN also said that "the authorities must assess whether the laws of Brazil for mining are consistent with international human rights standards, including the right to information".

Read also: The worst environmental disaster in Brazil about which little is known Sanctions the company

After the disaster, technicians Samarco opened a channel at the mouth of the Rio Doce and installed booms to try that the discharge is directed directly open into the Atlantic ocean, but the measures did not work and the toxic material reached the beaches on both sides of the estuary.

Meanwhile, the Credit rating agency Standard & Poor's (S & P) today downgraded the rating of the Samarco mine, controlled by Brazil's Vale and Anglo-Australian BHP, following the environmental disaster caused in Brazil by the rupture of two mountains .

S & P said in a statement that downgraded the rating on a global scale, from "BB +" to "BB-" with a negative outlook, considering that the stoppage of production in mining after the accident and the fines imposed on it the affect financially.

"The action of downgrade reflects the increased liquidity risks of the company because the deadline to resume production is uncertain," the rating agency.

S & P noted that the cash flow of the company is "very limited" after the cessation of operations following the accident, which occurred on November 5, in which at least twelve people died, while ten is still missing .

Samarco has been fined for now, with more than 350 million reais ($93.7 million) and has signed a 1.000 billion reais ($267 million) to finance the recovery of damaged areas and compensate the affected families, many of whom lost their homes.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

ď ś Water discharge permit approved for Mount Polley Mine November 30, 2015 Mount Polley Mine's short-term permit to treat and discharge water from the mine site has been approved by the Ministry of Environment.

The permit is needed because it is estimated that, under normal precipitation conditions, water levels in the Springer Pit will reach permitted capacity in April 2016, the ministry said Monday.

Treated water will be discharged into Hazeltine Creek and flow approximately seven kilometres to a sediment pond.

From the sediment pond, the treated water will enter a pipeline for discharge through diffusers approximately 30 to 40 metres below the surface of Quesnel Lake.

Wrong on every Level!

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Imperial Metals vice-president of corporate affairs Steve Robertson said the government signed off on the monitoring plan that the company has proposed late Monday.

"Now that it is approved we can begin to discharge the water," Robertson said, noting the company has faith in the permitting process. "We live in an environment where there is a tough regulatory regime, but it works."

With the temporary water discharge permit, the mine will only be able to store tailings in the Springer Pit and cannot use the tailings storage impoundment that breached in August 2014, Robertson added.

United Steelworkers Union president Paul French said the union is happy the permit happened sooner than later.

"We watched the process as it unfolded and saw it come out with positive results for the discharge of the water," French said. "People are worried it's going to be tailings water going into the lake, but it's going to be treated water, and it's basically groundwater."

It was unfortunate the water discharge permit wasn't approved five or six years ago, French added.

Of the 300 people working at Mount Polley, about 250 of them are unionized, French confirmed.

Final approval of the permit was made by a statutory decision maker from the MOE after a 30-day public consultation and comment period and a comprehensive technical review by the Cariboo Mine Development Review Committee.

The committee includes representatives from provincial agencies, First Nations, City of Williams Lake and Cariboo Regional District, community of Likely, and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and Environment Canada.

Cariboo Regional District Chair Al Richmond said it was a good day for the region.

"We are pleased and relieved the mine can get on with the next steps of what needs to be done," Richmond said. "We were worried because the water level in the Springer Pit was getting high, but the mine will have to manage that as it sees fit."

Williams Lake Mayor Walt Cobb echoed Richmond saying the news was an early perfect Christmas present.

"I am pleased they got to this stage," Cobb said.

The ministry also said there was extensive engagement with the Williams Lake Indian Band and Soda Creek Indian Band as well as the residents of Likely.

Next week Mount Polley Mine will host two public meetings to present an application for the resumption of full-time operations it submitted mid-November.

The meetings take place Monday, Dec. 7 at the Likely community hall from 7 to 9 p.m. and Wednesday, Dec. 9 in Williams Lake at the Gibraltar Room from 7 to 9 p.m.

"There is a lot of work to figure out the details for the resuming full-time operations," Robertson said.

"Part of the permitting process is to be able to allow the plan to be perfected."

It is expected the mine will submit its completed plan by June 2016.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

 Stop Mount Polley – What legacy are we leaving?

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

Harvest

ď ś Lawsuit would force feds to act on wild steelhead recovery December 9, 2015 FISHERIES -- The Wild Fish Conservancy and four other conservation organizations today issued a 60-day notice that they intend to sue the National Marine Fisheries Service for violating the Endangered Species Act by failing to complete and implement a recovery plan for the Puget Sound steelhead.

This suit would be the latest of several legal actions to force management decisions to protect wild steelhead stocks.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels The Wild Fish Conservancy filed a lawsuit on Nov. 3 against federal environmental and fisheries managers for allowing commercial salmon farms in Puget Sound. The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle says infectious viruses in salmon farms are threatening wild fish in the region.

Initial lawsuits have forced the Washington Fish and Wildlife into a Nov. 2014 agreement to stop stocking hatchery steelhead in Puget South Rivers resulting in hundreds of thousands of young steelhead being stocked in trout fishing lakes to avoid wasting them altogether. Washington Fish and Wildlife officials explained the suit and their response in a statement.

Ripple effects of the earlier lawsuits can be seen in proposals for Washington steelhead fishing regulations that will be considered this by the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission.

The five groups proposing another lawsuit include The Conservation Angler, International Federation of Fly Fishers Steelhead Committee, Washington Fly Fishing Club, and Wild Steelhead Coalition.

In justifying the latest intent to sue, the groups said in a media release: NMFS has not completed a recovery plan for Puget Sound steelhead despite listing the species as threatened under the ESA in 2007 and assigning them a recovery priority number of 1—the highest priority.

The ESA requires NMFS to prepare and implement recovery plans for species listed under the statue in a timely manner. Final recovery plans should generally be completed within 2.5 years of listing.

“It’s been over eight years since Puget Sound steelhead were listed as threatened under the ESA, “said Kurt Beardslee, executive director of Wild Fish Conservancy. “NOAA just announced it will be at least another four years, making it twelve years in total until they have completed the final recovery plan. That’s much too long of a delay given the status of the species.

"Major decisions are already being made in the absence of this plan such as on what levels of harm are acceptable from hatcheries, what rivers are going to be managed for wild steelhead, and which critical habitats will be protected and restored. A recovery plan is urgently needed to inform ongoing efforts to protect and recover Puget Sound steelhead, Washington’s official State fish. Without a plan, recovery efforts are flying blind.”

A recovery plan is essential to determine what is necessary to prevent the extinction of Puget Sound steelhead and to ensure that ongoing and future projects and management actions are consistent with recovery of the species. As a result of NMFS’ delay, funds are not being allocated to projects aimed at protecting and restoring important steelhead habitat, and ongoing projects like the Chambers Creek hatchery programs that are harming the species continue to move forward.

Puget Sound wild steelhead numbers are approximately 1% to 4% of their historical abundance and most of its component populations face a high risk of extinction.

Estimates of mean population growth rates are declining for most populations—typically 3% to 10% annually.

The groups are represented by Kampmeier & Knutsen, PLLC of Portland and Seattle.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

 Area Guides Call for Chehalis River to Be Reopened for Fishing CLOSED: Economic Hit, ‘Political Hot Potato’ With Tribes, State Causes Frustration for Anglers November 27, 2015 Watch KING5 video HERE Several guides who fish the Chehalis River, which has been closed since Oct. 26 to salmon fishing, are calling for the state to open the river as well as others that remain closed in the area so they can salvage what is left of the coho season.

Along with losing money for their guiding businesses and the local economy, area guides told The Chronicle that their frustrations go beyond the money lost to the politics of the situation, with tribes being allowed to harvest while their boats sit idle.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Chuck Wicken, who lives in Centralia and guides on the Chehalis, Cowlitz and Columbia rivers, said if there’s enough fish for a tribal fishery, there should be enough for a sport fishery.

“This is a world-class fishery and by golly if there’s enough for one user group to participate, there should be enough for all user groups to participate,” Wicken said.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife closed the Chehalis River and others because “coho run sizes are significantly below pre-season forecasts.”

Wicken and other guides told The Chronicle the Chehalis Tribe has been fishing and the Quinault Indian Nation is scheduled to go in on Sunday after fishing early in the season.

“It’s a political hot potato with Fish and Wildlife and the tribes and the sportfishermen,” said guide Bret Ferris.

The Quinaults are scheduled to begin commercial gillnet fishing in the Chehalis River and some Grays Harbor County waterways on Sunday through Wednesday for steelhead.

However, due to the effectiveness of gillnetting, they’ll likely pull in a lot of silver salmon, too, Ferris said, as records show more wild coho are caught in the nets than steelhead.

“We call it the curtain of death,” Ferris said.

Wicken said the guides aren’t trying to “bash” the tribes; they just want to get on the water.

“We want a piece of the pie too,” Wicken said.

Ferris, who previously served on the Grays Harbor Advisory Board for two years, thinks if it’s an issue of conservation, no one should be fishing.

In an email to The Chronicle, guide Brian Oldfield wrote that he and some other guides have been trying to contact Fish and Wildlife in the past few days to request an emergency meeting to discuss the current closure.

He said one of the biggest issues the group of guides has is the lack of transparency from Fish and Wildlife.

In the past, Oldfield said if the tribes believed it’s OK to fish, then the state opens the rivers back up to others.

“Because the tribes are going fishing, they feel it’s safe to fish and yet we haven’t heard anything about us or any reasoning why they’re keeping us closed,” Oldfield said.

While Oldfield said he’s experienced similar issues in the past with Fish and Wildlife, it’s never been nearly this “drastic.”

The Chronicle’s attempts to connect with Fish and Wildlife for comments about the closure for this story were unsuccessful, but Ferris said his understanding after talking with officials from the department is that a meeting on the issue will be held Monday.

“The Borst parking lot here in Centralia behind the school right now should have 15, 20 boat trailers in it everyday,” Wicken said.

Wicken estimates his business, Chucks Outdoor Adventures, has lost $7,000 to $10,000.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Ferris said his business, Ferris Northwest Guide Service, has lost $10,000 to $14,000 due to the closure.

Oldfield runs his guide business, Brian’s Fishing Company, out of Olympia, but primarily fishes the Chehalis River.

Oldfield, who guided for 14 years off and on before going full-time four years ago, hasn’t been able to fish for salmon for the past month, told The Chronicle he’s lost an estimated $20,000.

The business is Oldfield’s livelihood, and for the past about six weeks he and his wife have been living solely off of his wife’s teacher salary.

“We need to be able to get fishing on December 1 in order to salvage our fishing season because the run is basically over by December 20,” Oldfield wrote in an email to The Chronicle. “Many of the area guides, including myself, have not been working in a month or they have had to travel away from home and their families to find work,” he said.

Ferris said along with guide businesses, hotels and restaurants where anglers spend their money are getting hit by the closure as well.

Editorial Comment: The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has a long history of over-estimating the numbers of salmon and steelhead expected to return to their natal streams and rivers while underestimating the numbers of these fish needed for escapement. This “science-based” practice nearly always results in overfishing by treaty fishers, non-treaty commercial fishermen and recreational anglers.

“I put people up in hotels in Centralia. I put them up in Montesano, and the other guides do too. It affects everybody,” Ferris said.

This pattern suggests intentional exaggeration of the numbers of fish available for harvest in order to oversell expensive commercial, guide and recreational fishing licenses.

Having to tell clients the river is closed, so their trip is canceled, deters some from coming to Western Washington to fish in the future, Ferris said.

In the business world, this ongoing practice of selling licenses to the public to catch “paper fish” would most certainly be viewed as FRAUD.

Ferris thinks the department should have opened test fisheries for sportsfishermen to catch and record whether the silvers caught are hatchery or wild, and then release the fish back into the river.

He said in September and October, the sportfishermen did have a fishery, but anglers reported low numbers to the department.

“Nobody knows how many fish are in the river. I think they probably showed up with this last high water,” Ferris said. “... That’s kind of the frustrating part, sitting back knowing there’s fish in the river and not being able to fish.”

Oldfield said if Fish and Wildlife is concerned about wild coho, the guides could fish for hatchery salmon.

“The other thing is there is an abundance of hatchery fish, which we could target as well,” Oldfield said. “And if they’re worried about the wild fish then we could leave them alone with minimal impacts to the wild fish.”

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

VICTORY

 FISH COMMISSION ENDS WILD WINTER STEELHEAD RETENTION IN WA December 15, 2015

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Washington steelhead overseers have voted to end the retention of wild winter-runs on the last eight WDFW-regulated streams it’s allowed on, part of a momentous set of changes affecting most of the state’s last best stocks.

Starting next season, all unclipped steelhead must be released on the Bogachiel, Calawah, Clearwater, Dickey, Hoh, Quillayute, upper Quinault and Sol Duc Rivers, where anglers have been able to keep a single one annually.

Also on those streams, the Fish and Wildlife Commission banned treble and barbed hooks, reduced bait fishing to waters and months where hatchery fish are present and ended retention of rainbow trout, among other tweaks as it set rules last Friday for the 2016-17 season and which take effect July 1.

While cooperation from coastal tribes on harvest issues will be needed to realize maximum effect, proponents applauded the citizen panel’s decision, calling it a big victory for the fish.

“Wild steelhead face many hurdles on their way to the spawning grounds. Limiting our impact as anglers is an important step to protecting these fish,” said Wild Steelheaders United in a thank-you message to supporters.

“The commission’s decision to implement these rule changes comes at a critical time as wild steelhead populations on Washington’s famed Olympic Peninsula slip toward collapse. The status quo has been failing our wild steelhead for years. However, today’s decision marks a stark change of course and signals a shared desire to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past,” posted the Wild Steelhead Coalition.

The new regulations were boiled down from more sweeping changes that were initially proposed and run through WDFW’s North Coast Steelhead Advisory Group, comprised of Forks guides, Seattlearea anglers and others.

Following public comment, they were approved unanimously by the nine-member citizen panel.

Still, not everyone agrees with the changes. In a news link he posted widely about the commission’s vote, Terry Wiest of Steelhead University used the headline “Terrible news for sports anglers,” sparking many comments.

Asked to expand on that afterwards, Wiest actually called ending wild steelhead retention “long overdue” and said he didn’t have a problem with barbless hooks only, which are easier to remove from a fish’s mouth, requiring less handling.

But while he didn’t mind forgoing the chance to fish with sand shrimp or eggs outside hatchery-run timing (generally October through mid-February), he said setting up a test no-boat-fishing zone on the upper Hoh River between Morgan’s Crossing and Olympic National Park “crossed the line.”

Worrying about how it might affect mobility-challenged anglers and pointing to injuries he himself suffered getting out of a boat while fighting a fish, Wiest suggested it sets a precedent that may be taken to more rivers, not to mention bars the most effective ways to hook trophy winter-runs.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels “This eliminates many of the best techniques that guides use to get their clients on fish. It also impacts the tackle companies, especially those that produce plugs,” he said. “No more pulling plugs, no more side-drifting, no more free drifting, no more bobber-doggin’.”

West End rivers are renown as the place to go in Washington to catch big wild winter steelhead, and as Buzz Ramsey of Yakima Bait writes in the January 2016 issue of Northwest Sportsman, one of the most effective ways to hook a trophy is with a plug.

Most effectively used from a boat, with their fish-annoying shimmy, the lures have the unique ability to get large aggressive bucks to bite, though are not the sole way to catch them, as expert jig and spoon fishermen will attest.

Before their vote, Commissioner Miranda Wecker said that the boat ban was portrayed to fellow board members as the most controversial of the steelheading proposals, as well as a pilot project.

“It could have gone either way, but we need to try new strategies to get us out of this position,” said the Naselle resident and longest-serving commissioner.

Wecker said the citizen panel is taking a “portfolio approach” to steelhead management, one that also includes gene banks and hatchery production.

Behind the scenes, she’s also been working on a “guidance” document to address larger questions such as escapement goals, guiding and dealing with pressure on the rivers, enforcement and comanagement.

Even as those policies are still being shaped in a commission subcommittee, Wecker says the retention ban passed “because so much of the public was ready for it.”

The end of steelhead harvest in Washington has been coming for awhile, what with massive habitat alteration, overfishing, declining returns, run failures and increasing advocacy for native stocks.

The last season to kill unclipped winter-runs in Puget Sound rivers came in the early 2000s when returns to the Sky, Stilly and Skagit began dipping below escapement goals.

Numbers have since increased on the Skagit to above spawning benchmarks, but the trend was clear.

In 2004, the Fish and Wildlife Commission adopted a two-year statewide harvest moratorium for the 2004-05 season, then reversed itself, but said only one a year could be taken on 11 OlyPen rivers (plus unmarked summer-runs on King County’s Green).

That allowance has gradually been reduced to just the eight rivers in late winter and early spring.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

Salmon feedlots

FARMED SALMON are killing our wild salmon as well as being a threat to the environment and your health

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

 Congress to require labeling of ‘Frankenfish,’ genetically engineered salmon December 16, 2015 The Food and Drug Administration must lay out guidelines for mandatory labeling of genetically engineered salmon and interstate commerce of the fish will not be allowed without guidelines in place, according to a provision inserted in Congress’ new omnibus spending bill.

“Consumers have a right to know whether they are buying Washington’s world-class salmon or Frankenfish engineered in a lab,” said Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash.

The Food and Drug Administration approved genetically engineered salmon earlier this fall, saying there is “no biologically relevant difference in the nutritional profile of (modified) salmon compared to that of other farm-raised Atlantic salmon.”

Editorial Comment: Farm-raised Atlantic salmon and Frankensalmon are equally bad nutritionally and environmentally – neither should be approved for human consumption.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels It is the first genetically engineered food fish or animal to be approved for sale. A Massachusettsbased firm called AquaBounty has developed the salmon, using a growth hormone from Chinook salmon as well as a gene from eel-like ocean pout. The gene activates the salmon’s growth hormone year-round, producing salmon that reach market size in 16 to 18 months.

The two “Gentle ladies” atop the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, its chair Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and ranking Democrat Maria Cantwell, are at odds on a variety of issues. Murkowski backs and Cantwell opposes oil drilling in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Murkowski has tried to overturn the EPA’s right to curb greenhouse gas emissions by power plants. Cantwell has defended the cleanup rules.

They are, however, at one on “Frankenfish.”

“The FDA’s genetically engineered salmon decision is bad for consumers and potentially bad for our environment,” Cantwell said. “If the FDA doesn’t reverse its decision, it’s critical the agency develop clear and transparent labeling requirements for genetically engineered salmon.”

Last month, Murkowski declared: “Genetically modified salmon is messing with nature’s perfect brain food. The real thing is not only the same choice, but it is the best thing.”

“I will not stand back and just watch these genetically engineered creatures be placed in our kitchens and on our tables without a fight,” Murkowski added. “I am furious about this (FDA) decision but now I must do everything I can to make sure it is labeled.”

The FDA fueled Murkowski’s anger by blindsiding her, giving no advance notice of its controversial action.

Editorial Comment: A leading Northwest retailer, Costco, has announced it will not sell “Frankenfish.” So have Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, Safeway and Kroger.

These retailers must also refrain from selling Atlantic salmon raised in ocean-based feedlots to remove their risks to human health and our environment.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

ď ś Irish groups call for Christmas farmed salmon boycott

Dr. Claudette Bethune: Along with the detection, it would be interesting to see the levels of the compounds. The levels found may not only be alarming to consumers, but unlawful by exceeding the established EU maximum levels for certain contaminants.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

 Major

Japanese and American Consumer Groups Oppose Genetically Engineered Salmon December 8, 2015

TOKYO, JAPAN - Today, Center for Food Safety and the Seikatsu Club Consumers’ Co-operative Union (SCCCU) of Japan, jointly opposed the commercialization of the genetically engineered (GE) salmon recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The novel fish is the first ever GE animal approved for human consumption, and many concerns over risks to human and environmental health remain. Collectively, the two organizations represent over a million members straddling both sides of the Pacific. Center for Food Safety experts were recently in Japan discussing the need for mandatory GE food labeling and the harms of increased pesticide use on GE crops.

“We are determined to urge the Japanese government not to approve this GE salmon. Japanese consumers will firmly reject any GE salmon,” said Koichi Kato, president of Seikatsu Club Consumers’ Co-operative Union (SCCCU) of Japan. SCCCU has 350,000 members all over Japan.

“Of course, our co-op will never sell such salmon.”

Japan is one of the largest importers of seafood in the world. Above all, salmon is very popular among Japanese consumers. Japan imported nearly 200 billion yen (approximately 2 billion U.S. dollars) worth of salmon and trout in 2014. “If the Japanese government also approves GE salmon, it will be labeled as GE when sold at grocery stores. The GE salmon is sure to get a cold reception,” said Kato. On the other hand, restaurants and most processed foods are exempted from Japanese GE food labeling law. “I am concerned that people will be forced to eat GE salmon without noticing that it is GE,” added Kato.

“FDA’s decision to approve this GE salmon was irresponsible and unlawful, and it will have global repercussions,” said George Kimbrell, senior attorney at Center for Food Safety, who recently met with partners in Tokyo. “We are honored to join with our colleagues in Japan in opposing GE fish and the Aquabounty salmon. Together we will work to stop its expansion in order to preserve our native fisheries and protect the markets so many depend on around the world.”

In the U.S., public rejection of the GE salmon has also been strong. Leading up to the FDA’s approval, over 2 million people filed public comments with the FDA opposing it, the largest number of comments the FDA has ever received on an action. In addition, over 9,500 U.S. grocery stores and numerous restaurants have vowed not to sell the GE fish.

GE salmon has the potential to cause environmental harms, and also poses a risk for consumers. In particular, the FDA did very limited testing for allergenicity problems in its approval of the fish. In addition, AquaBounty has faced criticism for failing to follow basic environmental regulations in Panama, where the experimental fish are being raised. Environmental groups in Canada have sued that country’s government for allowing the GE salmon eggs to be produced there, potentially putting ecosystems and species such as wild salmon at risk.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

 Farmed steelhead fillets available at Costco You’ve got to love toxic fat bars and artificial coloring – NOT! Likely Rainbows raised in fresh or marine water – Deceptive Marketing/Fraud

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

 Ecology

Action Centre calling for Nova Scotia to continue fish farm moratorium Wild salmon rivers and environmentally sensitive areas should be off limits or labelled as "red zones," the report says.

December 9, 2015

HALIFAX — An environmental group says Nova Scotia's new aquaculture rules are "far below expectations" after releasing an analysis Wednesday of the regulations affecting fish farms.

The Ecology Action Centre wants a moratorium on new fish farms to continue until the regulations are improved.

The organization says its review of the regulations finds they fall short of the recommendations in a 2014 report prepared by Dalhousie University legal experts Meinhard Doelle and Bill Lahey on the $60-million industry.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels "We've concluded that the new regulations omit critical aspects of the Doelle-Lahey report's recommendations and frankly, falls far below expectations of regulatory excellence," said Susanna Fuller, marine co-ordinator for the Ecology Action Centre, in a news release.

In October, Nova Scotia's Liberal government released new rules for fish farms and created an agency to regulate the approval of new licenses.

The rules create an independent Aquaculture Review Board and also provide the industry with a fresh set of regulations to follow when they expand or transfer ownership.

The new regulations also introduce mandatory reporting of any fish diseases.

The Ecology Action Centre says one of the most important parts of the Doelle-Lahey report was to establish zones where aquaculture could and couldn't exist, but the government's new rules are limited in addressing those recommendations.

Wild salmon rivers and environmentally sensitive areas should be off limits or labelled as "red zones," the report says.

"This is completely missing from the new government regulations and instead the power is given to the minister to designate large areas of our coast as approved 'Aquaculture Development Areas' — basically creating green zones but there are no corresponding red or no-go zones," said Fuller.

The group also says the new regulations set no clear parameters or minimum standards when determining where fish farms can be located.

"There are no such protections for these important values in the new government regulations," said Raymond Plourde, wilderness co-ordinator with the Ecology Action Centre.

"Our entire coastline is still wide open to industrial scale fish farms."

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

Well boats have for years dumped hydrogen peroxide illegally into the sea after lice treatment. The picture was taken earlier and shows delousing with hydrogen peroxide at Rørvik - with feed Stig Skarstad at Val secondary school.

 Dumps chemicals without permission December 6, 2015

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels For years wellboats dumped thousands of tons of hydrogen peroxide in the ocean after delousing of farms. Only now beats Environment Agency states that the practice is actually illegal.

Last year spent aquaculture 31,000 tons of hydrogen peroxide in the fight against sea lice and salmon disease AGD. There are probably at least as much this year.

The chemicals used largely for bath treatment of farmed fish aboard wellboats. After debugging dumps well boats lusevannet sea..

Illegal Despite the fact that dumping has taken place entirely open along much of the coast and a number of reports of concern from amongst others shrimp fishermen who believes dumping kills prawn fields, it is only now that the Environment Agency has considered the practice and concluded that dumping requires a discharge permit. Well boats have no such permission and has not had it before.

We had a meeting last Monday with wellboat shipowners where among others the FSA and Fisheries participated, says Bjørn Bjørnstad, Director for The supervisory and environmental data department of Environment Directorate.

- Among other things, discussed the dumping of lusevann / hydrogen peroxide and whether there are provisions of international agreements that provide exceptions for such emissions. We have concluded that these emissions are not within the rules allow for the opening, he said.

- But is not it so simple that well boats shall be required to follow the regulations and that this dumping is illegal?

- We must look at the big picture. If this prohibited, they overall environmental impact could be even greater if lusemengdene increases sharply or if farmers choose when debugging in cages and emission there from greatly increased. But this is also what we're going out together with the other authorities, he said.

- But you've known for years that well boats dumps hydrogen peroxide after lice treatment?

- We have considered that this did not have major environmental consequences. The point here is that we want farming and we will take care of the wild salmon and the environment. And industry must occasionally use delousing agents. But has then aquaculture industry has grown very much in a short time, and we must try to limit lusemiddelbruken so it does not harm the environment. When it comes to hydrogen peroxide we have considered this drug as little problematic, but on the quantities increased immensely and it has come more concern messages and signals that we are taking seriously to be absolutely confident that the consequences are not negative.

- Other ships are required to supply ballast water cleaning on land?

- It is a topic we are discussing and which wellboat industry is now watching. One can also envision the use of treatment technology on board the ships, says Bjørnstad.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Surprised Wellboat shipowners traded for a total of some 1.5 billion last year. The fish farmers' increasing disease and luseutfordringer makes it unlikely to be less this year.

- It was a very big surprise to get the conclusion. It is completely new for us that well boats must have a separate license. Emissions of lusevann of well boats is the established practice for many years, in collaboration with both farmers and the FSA, said Jan Harald Hauvik, chairman of Brønnbåtservice owners' Association.

- We have all the way had an understanding that well boats have to avail itself of the farms' emissions permits. It may therefore prove to be wrong, and we need to get sorted out soon.We would of course not to be caught in such an untenable situation, says Hauvik.

"General Blunder" - How will this be resolved?

- It must clarify the appropriate authorities. It is evident that precisely this issue of discharge permits for wellboats simply have not been taken care of an otherwise comprehensive legislation. Everybody has known about emissions practice, but no one has responded until now. So now the Environment Agency, the Food Safety Authority and Fisheries finding a solution. It is very important both for us and aquaculture industry, he says.

Maren Esmark, Secretary General of Friends of the Earth, believes this issue all too clearly shows that the environmental and fisheries authorities have not done their job.

- It is completely unacceptable that the authorities have only seen condone this practice.There is a general mistake. In addition, the industry constantly just said that hydrogen peroxide is not harmful to the environment. Of course it is harmful. That's why it is used; to damage lice. There is now no way around getting reduced biomass sharply along the coast. If not, the entire industry totally ridiculous, she says.

- Absolutely incredible - Environmental authorities cannot say that this is new to them when dumping has been going on for over 30 years, says Professor Are Nylund.- This shows that this industry has become so big that no one so far has dared to challenge it, he says.

- As I see it, the only thing that can save the Norwegian aquaculture industry now, to bring down biomass significantly to gain control of sea lice. It's a shame it has gone so far. Norwegian authorities should long ago have come up with substantial funds for research on environmental challenges of aquaculture, says Nylund.

- Here we are in a situation where the industry has been able to release toxins in the ocean while Norwegian authorities have been watching. Both government and industry have apparently not been aware of its responsibilities, says Head Hallstein Havåg the environmental organization Bellona.

- This just cannot continue. We must get to the bottom of what happened and who is responsible for this have been able to take place for so many years without any intervention, he says.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Norwegian Fishermen's Association on behalf of its members repeatedly raised the issue of dumping of lusevann / hydrogen peroxide from well boats.

- Fishermen have seen major changes in stress fields, says Secretary General Otto Gregussen.

DN also requested Climate and Environment Ministry comment on the illegal dumping of chemicals into the sea.

"Environment Directorate is responsible for any regulation by the Pollution Control Act and has recently had a meeting with wellboat shipowners there too FSA, Fisheries, NMD and NOMA participated. This is a process that is underway and the Climate and Environment Ministry therefore has no comments at this time, "writes communications manager Jon Berg in an email.

- Must clean up Oslo: - Now environmental authorities show action and clean up, says Ola Elvestuen, deputy head of the Liberal Party and head of the energy and environment committee of the Parliament. .- This will be a test of whether it is large built resistance in the industry or if you show the necessary will and action to solve an untenable situation, says Elvestuen.

- We are dealing here with a strong industry with strong players who have the financial ability to implement the measures needed to regain control, he said.

Elvestuen adds that the solution is not to allow more lice.

- Louse limits are set based on a purely professional environmental assessment. Neither wild salmon or sea trout can tolerate more lice.

Recommend shrimp fishermen sue Oslo: Peter Ă˜rebech, Professor of Law at the University of Tromso, believes fishermen who are experiencing stress fields are destroyed by discharges from aquaculture, have special rights.

- If it can be demonstrated correlation between emissions and fishing grounds that are lost, they claim compensation for the losses they suffer, 'he says, referring to two judgments. One is from Frostating Court in 1967 where a lime works dumped fillers Trondheimsfjorden and destroyed a seine field, the other a Supreme Court ruling from 1985 on Troms Kraft called gutter project that brought large amounts of fresh water into KĂĽfjorden so that the former ice-free fjord was blocked by ice in winter and so ruined fishing in the winter months.

- In both cases, seizure triggering the liability developer gets for the damage that can be proven, he said.

- What about emissions from farming?

- It is astonishing that well boats do not have a discharge permit. It is both very serious with potentially major consequences because emissions can affect a whole industry branch. But the question is therefore whether it can provide evidence of a causal relationship. I think shrimp fishermen could go together and take legal action to get tried this for the court. The aquaculture industry is the happening fast, so it has definitely afford to pay compensation if it should be the result, he says.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

 Seal Killing at Scotland Salmon Farms Read Entire GAAIA Letter (with photographs) HERE December 7, 2015

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

Photo by Sabra Woodworth

ď ś Is Salmon Farming

B.C.'s Version Of The Tar Sands?

When you are a multi-billion dollar, foreign-owned industry continuously mired in controversy over your environmental record, you have but two options: you clean up your act, or you clean up your image. The latest public relations offensive from B.C. salmon farmers leaves little doubt that for them, image is everything.

The problems with open-pen salmon farming are numerous and well-documented. Their issues with sea lice, the spread of disease to wild salmon, antibiotic and pesticide overuse and impacts upon other marine life (to name just a few) endure, despite decades of industry reassurances to the contrary.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Public resistance to salmon farms has also remained steadfast in B.C. One needs to look no further than last week's Global Climate March in Vancouver, where a veritable sea of homemade signs featuring sockeye salmon and anti-fish farm messages swam above the crowd of thousands. While marches in the rest of the world largely targeted the fossil fuel industry, in B.C., salmon farming is viewed as our own version of the tar sands, as despised as big oil.

The similarities aren't just in public perception. The salmon farming industry is increasingly using the same tactics as the fossil fuel industry to attempt to hide the reality of their environmental and social impact.

So when they are not silencing teenage girls from voicing concerns about their dirty business, salmon farmers are publishing self-congratulating paid advertorials(marketing masked as journalism) that paint a comically flattering portrait of the industry.

In one, they actually celebrate that less than three per cent of B.C. salmon farms have managed to meet their own, industry-defined standards for sustainability. Three per cent. A more truthful representation might be to say that more than 97 per cent do not meet their own goals for sustainability.

But it hardly matters. Such certification schemes are rarely effective -- they are designed by industry, with standards set by industry, for the benefit of industry. In fact, the latest certification program B.C. salmon farmers are touting actually removed the word 'sustainability' from its claims after realizing there was no workable intersection between sustainability and salmon farming.

And B.C. salmon farmers have a longer way to go towards sustainability than most. The B.C. industry was recently singled out as the second highest user of antibiotics in the world, behind only Chile, whose fish were recently removed from Costco stores because of high antibiotic use.

One wonders where B.C. salmon farmers rank in terms of pesticide use, given theiri nability to control their sea lice problem. Sea lice are well known to rapidly develop resistance to pesticides including the B.C. industry's stand-by treatment, SLICE. The DFO's recent approval of an alternate treatment against the pests, hydrogen peroxide baths, should raise concerns that SLICE use has also increased to world-leading levels.

Even less transparent than their claims of sustainability are the best-case estimates of the economic impact of salmon farming in B.C. that the salmon farmers try to sell us. Their estimates, of course, do not factor in the $50 million in government subsidies the industry received last year as payment for dead fish when disease outbreaks occur.

Nor do they factor in that, economically, wild salmon contribute eight times that of farmed salmon and create higher paying jobs than salmon farming -- a vibrant and local wild salmon economy that their feedlots put at risk. But it is not just salmon at risk.

We hear less often about the impacts of salmon farms on other fisheries, but the impacts are undoubtedly real, and serious. For instance, new reports out of Norwayindicate that hydrogen peroxide use on salmon farms may be destroying shrimp populations.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Is it simply a coincidence then, that Grieg Seafood, the Norwegian-owned salmon farming giant, recently attempted (unsuccessfully) to pay off B.C. shrimp fishermen with compensation for loss of income for allowing their feedlot operations to expand?

What is clear is that salmon farmers have no shame when it comes to green-washing their public image. The last of their recent paid advertorials attempts to glorify their relationship with B.C.'s First Nations, which despite their claims, is anything but harmonious.

Take, for example, last fall's two week stand-off at a newly sited salmon farm in Ahousaht First Nation territory, where Japanese-owned Cermaq was forced to remove the farm over concerns about its impact on wild salmon and traditional clam beds. And it is not just the Ahousaht for whom salmon farms are contentious.

The First Nations Wild Salmon Alliance, representing over a dozen nations, has clearly voiced its concerns about the industry, even leading a request for a NAFTA review of the harm to wild salmon from salmon farms in B.C. The FNWSA has also raised what may be the most critically overlooked issue in the salmon farming debate: while coastal First Nations may have influence over siting of salmon farms in their waters, inland First Nations, who have depended upon the return wild salmon for generations and who are harmed most by the loss of wild salmon, have no say whatsoever. Divide and conquer is a strategy we have seen big oil use against First Nations in the past.

Like their corporate cousins in big oil, the multinational salmon farming corporations operating in B.C. think that glossy PR campaigns and toothless certification schemes are a substitute for real, responsible action. But putting style over substance will not help B.C.'s already struggling wild salmon. It is doubtful that they will be able to survive the combined threats of climate change and disease from open-pen salmon feedlots.

We are already locked into two or more degrees of global temperature rise. Salmon farmers have had decades to clean up their act and have failed to do so.

It is time for them to go, to give our wild salmon a fighting chance.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

ď ś There is something wrong with these

Editorial Comment: Is this sick Atlantic salmon from one of the ocean-based feedlots recently ordered to harvest their diseased, dead and dying fish?

Truly unethical to see these sick fish available for human consumption.

Alexandra Morton: Whoever's territory these were raised in is at risk.

Sending an Atlantic salmon to market at this size is a significant loss to the company.

There is something wrong with these fish and under the current rules no one is allowed to find out. Are these fish shedding disease? Only the companies know... I don't think that is right, safe or fair.

What is wrong with this fish and all the others in markets across BC that look like this?

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

 Norwegian animal welfare – NOT!

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

VICTORY

The lovely Gaula Valley in Norway. The river’s fish have bred with salmon farm escapees. Salmon farming has been going on here since the 1970s.

 A victory for wild salmon December 1, 2015 Pressure from environmentalists nets results A couple of weeks ago, I had another go at writing about salmon farming, specifically the new proposal for a big aquaculture operation in Placentia Bay. As most of you know, I’m against salmon farming in sea cages in the open ocean. There’s just too much evidence telling us that it is a threat to wild salmon and sea trout. You all surely know how much I love wild fish and free flowing rivers, and that’s the ultimate show-stopper for me.

I was expecting plenty of feedback on that piece, but surprisingly little manifested itself. In the past I’ve been swamped with emails after saying anything negative about salmon farming. I’ve been insulted and called all sorts of names. It really gets folks riled up.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels On the other hand, I get a lot of support from fellow anglers and people that are a part of the environmentally aware community. I don’t mind the full-on flak — it’s mostly from industry folks who I figure have a self-serving agenda anyway. There are folks on the side of sea farming who argue their points sensibly and respectfully. I always read with interest what they have to say, and reply to their emails.

This time around I had one of the most interesting emails ever. This guy emailed me and told me in no uncertain terms that none of the criticisms levelled at sea cage salmon farming are true. Not a shred of truth did he see in all of what has been documented and written. He was a self-proclaimed expert and that was that. Then he went on to say: “People get upset about the impact of cows, pigs and chickens on the land ecosystem. Why not put them in the sea? There their waste will be assimilated and they will not smell so bad. As you can imagine, I’m just kidding, but you get my drift.”

I really did not get the drift. Anyway, he sent me a section out of a book he had written, and it turns out he is a salmon farmer himself and a spokesman for the industry. He’s not from Newfoundland, by the way.

The book was mostly about British Columbia salmon farming, so I dug a little further. On YouTube I discovered him speaking against climate change. He argues that carbon dioxide is not a pollutant and that it is not affecting our weather. I wonder whose payroll this guy is on?

And there’s more. He is all for nuclear energy as a way to power our future in a green and sustainable way. There was a time when I might have agreed with that — decades ago — but to utter those words after what happened in Japan at the Fukushima site is nothing short of ridiculous.

Nuclear power is just too damn dangerous.

And here’s the kicker: the man who emailed me and took a firm stand on salmon farming and its environmental cleanliness was once a member of Greenpeace. As a matter of fact, he protested actively against the Newfoundland seal hunt. He bragged about it while on a recent speaking engagement. He said that their efforts on the seal hunt brought about extremely positive changes in the industry and forced us Newfoundlanders not to kill seals in an inhumane fashion.

What a load of salmon pooh! This guy is an opportunist of the highest order. But he did entertain me for an hour.

On a more serious and sensible note, there’s been a major development in the Placentia Bay aquaculture proposal. The whole thing is delayed pending a full environmental assessment of the project and infrastructure. Initially, our government was only requiring that the hatchery building itself undergo assessment. Now the whole works has to be assessed — the hatchery, the new farms and cages and the plan to introduce foreign strains of fish. It’s an important victory for wild salmon folks.

The Atlantic Salmon Federation, through its Newfoundland director, Don Ivany, had been pressuring the government to adhere to the guidelines of its own environmental assessment legislation. The government finally took heed and now a full assessment is required. I don’t think this would have happened in a million years if wild salmon folks hadn’t gotten noisy.

Give yourselves a couple of pats on the back.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

 Toxin-laden fat bars in “organic” Atlantic salmon from Norway’s ocean-based salmon feedlots; packaged in Canada – Don’t buy it!

 PCBs,

PCDD/Fs, and organochlorine pesticides in farmed Atlantic salmon from Maine, eastern Canada, and Norway, and wild salmon from Alaska.

June 1, 2014

Abstract Farmed Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) from Maine and eastern Canada, wild Alaskan Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), and organically farmed Norwegian salmon samples were analyzed for the presence of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dioxin-like PCBs, polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), dibenzo-p-furans (PCDFs), and chlorinated pesticides. PCDD and PCDF congeners were not detected in > 80% of the samples analyzed. Total PCB concentrations (7.2-29.5 ng/g, wet weight, ww) in the farmed salmon were significantly higher than those in the wild Alaskan Chinook samples (3.9-8.1 ng/g, ww). Concentrations of PCBs, WHO PCB TEQs, and chlorinated pesticides varied significantly by region. PCB and WHO PCB TEQ concentrations in farmed salmon from eastern Canada were lower than those reported in samples collected two years earlier, possibly reflecting recent industry efforts to lower contaminant concentrations in feed.

Organically farmed Norwegian salmon had the highest concentrations of PCBs (mean: 27 ng/g, ww) and WHO PCB TEQs (2.85 pg/g, ww); their TEQ values are in the higher range of those reported in farmed salmon from around the world. Removal of skin from salmon fillets resulted in highly variable reductions of lipids and contaminants, and in some skin-off samples, contaminant levels were higher, suggesting that skin removal does not protect the consumer from health risks associated with consumption of farmed salmon.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

 What’s in Farmed Salmon?

Watch slideshow HERE

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

 Vancouver, BC Atlantic Salmon Feedlots: Lice and Escapes

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

ď ś Ina (38) was horrified when she opened the package with smoked salmon When Ina Arild (38) and family to enjoy a slice of bread with salmon for supper, she discovered that smoked salmon was full of lice.

December 1, 2015 It was Monday afternoon that her husband had visited the store and shopped a smoked salmon fillet on offer at Coop Extra in hook.

When the family a little later would have a slice of bread, then Ina Arild to his consternation that there were lice on salmon.

- When I turned the salmon with the skin up, I saw that there were lots of small and large salmon lice on it. I've never experienced anything like that before. The whole fish was full of lice and it was visible on the skin, says 38-year-old.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels - Unpleasant experience Arild think most people are aware that lice are widespread in the aquaculture industry, but she says that customers should not have to find parasites in the food they bought.

- It was an unpleasant experience. I always use to check the salmon before I buy it because I'm concerned about it, and because I think it's disgusting. Today I noticed it because it looked unusual, but my husband did not know what it was, and most customers do certainly not there either, she elaborates.

38-year-old adds that package with smoked salmon was delivered back to the store, and the family got the money back.

- Now I hope they check into their routines so that this does not happen again, she says.

Rare sight in shop counter Roar Kristoffersen, professor of Arctic and Marine Biology at the University of Tromsø, is in no doubt that there are lice when he sees pictures of salmon.

- There is no doubt that there are lice. This salmon has many brands of lice and lusebitt. It sucks getting stuck, and although it usually loosens its grip and fall when the salmon are dead, we have seen that it can sit on the fish for a while, said Kristoffersen, who works extensively with freshwater ecology and parasitology.

He believes it is rare that the salmon louse sitting on fish throughout the smoking process.

- Lice are common, but that it should hang on the way into the shop counter is unusual. It's very strange, and I never experienced or heard of it before.

Harmless to humans Kristoffersen believe the reason may be that there is talk of fresh fish that have not been washed properly.

- In salmon slaughterhouse yesterday salmon through a process of harvesting, washing and smoking. It's pretty amazing that it has managed to be stuck through all that. It is very rare.

He adds that lice are completely harmless to humans, and that it is a parasite that only manages the sea salmon.

- It has no adverse effect on humans. Although we had eaten it alive so had lice died immediately. It does no harm to humans, and is much like eating a fly, says Kristoffersen.

- Untenable Vice president of Coop, Bjørn Takle Friis, is aware that such instances should not occur their stores.

- It is completely untenable. It should not happen that customers find lice in food. Now we have been sent pictures of salmon and we will have the seal of the store. Tomorrow we will contact the vendor and ask them to go through their routines to find out what has happened, says Friis to iTromsø Monday night.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

Fawn Sharp, the president of the Quinault Nation of Washington.

ď ś Quinault Nation slams approval of genetically modified salmon NOVEMBER 23, 2015 A prominent Pacific Northwest tribal leader is speaking out against the approval of the first genetically modified organism in the United States.

The Food and Drug Administration last week said AquAdvantage Salmonis safe to eat. But Fawn Sharp, the president of the Quinault Nation of Washington, said the decision prevents consumers from learning how the fish was produced.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels “Beyond the fact that FDA is essentially forbidding the public the freedom of choice, its decisions run roughshod over both tribal and non-tribal fishing culture, a culture that dates back centuries and in our case thousands of years,” said Sharp, who also serves as president of the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians, which represents 57 tribes in six Northwest states.

A Massachusetts company called AquaBounty takes eggs from Atlantic salmon and inserts a growth hormone gene from a Chinook salmon and another gene from the ocean pout, an eel-like species.

The resulting fish are raised in Canada and Panama and can grow to large sizes in 18 months instead of three years for wild or hatchery salmon.

"People need to realize that when wild salmon are managed properly, which it is, impetus is placed on habitat protection and restoration. It helps prioritize, and fund, clean water, healthy streams and rivers as well as forests, wetlands and other uplands," Sharp noted. "It helps us emphasize the clean up and prevention of pollution. It also encourages better treatment of our ocean and even our air, as well as helps safeguard our tribal sacred sites and resources."

Salmon has played an important role in Northwest tribal life for tens of thousands of years, serving as an important subsistence food and as a cornerstone of tribal economies. Ensuring the right to fish was a key component of treaty negotiations in the late 1800s.

“Speaking personally, I also oppose the idea of us, as humans, genetically modifying life as the Creator provided it," Sharp said.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

VICTORY Dan Bregg, president of Buy-Low Foods, left and Kurtis Hayne from SeaChoice.org inspect some of the new sustainable seafood choices now available at Buy Low Food.

 Buy-Low Foods makes switch to more sustainable seafood November 25, 2015 Jim Pattison’s Buy-Low Foods chain is the first major grocer in North America to successfully replace all the “red-listed” species (ie Atlantic salmon) in its fresh and frozen seafood selection, according to SeaChoice.

The chain of 37 grocery stores — which includes Nester’s Markets — has stopped selling seafood species on the SeaChoice avoid list of unsustainable fisheries in just two years.

A handful of other chains, including Safeway, had also committed to removing avoid-listed seafood from their shelves by the end of 2015, said SeaChoice national manager Lana Brandt.

SeaChoice works in cooperation with U.S.-based Seafood Watch to rate food fisheries for sustainability through recognized eco-certification programs and their own scientific assessments.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

Legal Sea Foods CEO Roger Berkowitz

 Legal Sea Foods boss says no to genetically modified salmon November 20, 2015 Put Legal Sea Foods president Roger Berkowitz in the skeptics’ camp when it comes to genetically modified seafood.

After news that the FDA has approved genetically altered salmon, Berkowitz described himself as a “purist at heart” and “until proven otherwise, I’ll remain skeptical as to whether these fish are perfectly OK to eat.’’

“I would not serve it in our restaurants, as I’m personally not convinced of its impact on our bodies, either long- or short-term,’’ he said in an e-mail interview Thursday night.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Berkowitz indicated he’s torn on the question, saying that fish are healthy, protein-rich food, so providing more fish via genetic modified fish would be a good thing.

“So [it’s] certainly an interesting development in the science of food, and I’ll be watching with great interest from the sidelines. Just don’t expect to see genetically modified fish on a Legal Sea Foods menu,’’ he said by e-mail.

The FDA found that the controversial gene-altering procedure to make salmon grow faster, developed in recent years by AquaBounty Technologies of Maynard, makes the fish no less nutritious or safe to consume than any other (farm-raised) Atlantic salmon.

“The FDA has thoroughly analyzed and evaluated the data . . . and determined that they have met the regulatory requirements for approval, including that food from the fish is safe to eat,” Bernadette Dunham, director of the agency’s Center for Veterinary Medicine, said in a prepared statement.

Editorial Comment: Testing via the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine is far less rigorous than testing via Human Medicine protocols. These tests regarded product safety for human consumption.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

 What’s Grosser than Gross? GMO Salmon with FDA Approval December 2, 2015

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Some of you may remember the game, “What’s Grosser than Gross?” from junior high or high school. The goal was to out-do your competition by coming up with the grossest thing. Today, we’re going to play a short round of that old game. What’s grosser than gross? GMO salmon with FDA approval.

Just before Thanksgiving, the FDA announced its approval of the first GMO animal meant for human consumption. AquaBounty Technologies’ AquAdvantage salmon is the lucky recipient. Critics allege that the FDA didn’t do enough to properly assess the possible environmental impact of this latest “frankenfood.”

According to the FDA, these critics can go suck a fish egg. The agency is comfortable with the GMO salmon as presented by AquaBounty. It also examined peer-reviewed data it believes shows the frankenfish to be just as nutritious and safe to eat as non-GMO Atlantic salmon.

The agency applied a few conditions to its approval. The GMO salmon cannot be bred in the U.S. by request of AquaBounty. The company specifically asked that the two approved locations, one located in Panama, the other in Canada, be the only ones allowed to “grow” the fish. These facilities were specifically engineered to make the salmon grow faster.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels The director of the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Susan Mayne said, “The approval is only for conditions that were specified in the application. They did not expressly ask for other facilities. If AquaBounty wants to build another facility, then they must file a supplemental application, and we’d have to do another environmental assessment.”

What about the criticized assessment already conducted?

The FDA is sure that the GMO salmon wouldn’t negatively impact the environment. AquaBounty’s facilities, claims the agency, have strict containment rules that must be followed. Funny, I’ll bet the nuclear engineers at Chernobyl said the same thing about their power plant.

These rules state that the fish can only be grown in “land-based, contained hatchery tanks” that are equipped with “multiple and redundant” physical barriers in both the plumbing and the tanks to keep the GMO salmon and eggs from reaching an outside water source.

Ronald Stotish, AquaBounty’s CEO, issued the following statement. “AquAdvantage Salmon is a game-changer that brings healthy and nutritious food to consumers in an environmentally responsible manner without damaging the ocean and other marine habitats. Using land-based aquaculture systems, this rich source of protein and other nutrients can be farmed close to major consumer markets in a more sustainable manner.”

The Center for Food Safety, a food advocacy group, is planning to sue the FDA over it approval of the GMO salmon. The Center has serious issues with AquaBounty’s – and the FDA’s – claims.

For instance, both proponents of the frankenfish insist that they cannot reproduce on their own.

Neither are they able to interbreed with wild salmon should the “foolproof” containment measures fail.

Not true, according to the Center for Food Safety. It cites at least one Canadian study that proves the GMO salmon can interbreed with brown trout.

Andrew Kimbrell, the Center’s executive director said, “The review process by FDA was inadequate, failed to fully examine the likely impacts of the salmon’s introduction, and lacked a comprehensive analysis. This decision sets a dangerous precedent, lowering the standards of safety in this country.”

Here’s a question for you: what about the impact of GMO salmon on the humans who ultimately consume it?

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels According to Pamela Bailey, CEO of the industry group the Grocery Manufacturers Association, “The FDA made the right decision for the right reasons, standing with sound science and recognizing that the world’s most respected and authoritative scientific and regulatory bodies have repeatedly found genetically engineered (GE) ingredients to be safe. We look forward to continuing to work with Congress to enact a uniform national standard for food labeling that would prevent a costly and confusing patchwork of state labeling mandates.”

Um. Sure. Because no one ever got sick from GMO corn treated with Roundup®…

At least we have the choice to not buy GMO salmon, right? That’s a qualified “maybe.”

The FDA doesn’t currently require mandatory labeling of GMO “food” products. The FDA’s Mayne said that food manufacturers would only need to state on their labels how the GMO salmon differs (if at all) from non-GMO salmon. However, they don’t necessarily need to state that those differences are due solely to genetic engineering.

I do not find this very comforting.

Of course, one frankenanimal could well pave the way for more. The FDA said it would decide the status of new applications on a “case by case basis.” It did not, however, say how many such applications it is currently reviewing.

So, if your daughter or son ever comes home from school and says, “Hey! What’s grosser than gross?” you now have the perfect answer: sort of sterile, genetically engineered salmon that can only be “grown” in special tanks.

Suggestion: don’t serve fish that night.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

 Costco says it won’t sell genetically modified salmon The company adds itself to the list of other retail giants that say selling the fish is not in their plans.

November 20, 2015 Costco said Friday it does not intend to sell genetically modified salmon at this time, joining a list of retailers that say they will not sell the fish despite the approval Thursday by the federal Food and Drug Administration of such fish for human consumption.

“Although the FDA has approved the sale of GM salmon, Costco has not sold and does not intend to sell GM salmon at this time,” the warehouse store chain said in a statement Friday.

The FDA cleared for sale AquAdvantage Salmon, the genetically modified fish that grows twice as fast as normal salmon, saying “there are no biologically relevant differences in the nutritional profile of AquAdvantage Salmon compared to that of other farm-raised Atlantic salmon.”

Editorial Comment: The issues associated with “Frankensalmon” have little to do with their nutritional profile.

Instead. they regard human health and environmental risks, which when also compared to Atlantic salmon are similarly REALLY BAD.

AquAdvantage Salmon is engineered by the Massachusetts-based company AquaBounty, which said the fish could be on grocery store shelves in about two years.

The FDA says the law does not require the fish, when it hits store shelves, to be labeled as engineered because there are no material differences between an engineered and a normal salmon. But the FDA also set guidelines for retailers who do want to label the fish.

Editorial Comment: What is there to risk by informing customers of the product’s origin? SALES! There are differences between engineered and “normal” wild salmon: fat content, diseases, toxicity, color, taste, irreversible environmental damage, culture, economy and on and on.

Critics have pressured retailers to reject the salmon, which they have labeled “Frankenfish.” They worry it could cause human allergies and the eventual decimation of the natural- salmon population if it escapes into the wild.

Retailers including Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, Target and Kroger have all said they are not planning to sell AquAdvantage Salmon.

Protesters urged Costco to make a similar pledge back in June.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

This is Inge Bergs havfarm: 430 meters long, at a cost of nearly $700 million apiece

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

 Nordlaks taking salmon offshore HADSEL: Nordlaks will invest billions in massive breeding vessels that can deal with escapes, sea lice, land conflicts and emissions. If fisheries minister will. - We can create a new era in Norwegian aquaculture, says Inge Berg in the company.

November 25, 2015 Friday promised Fisheries Elisabeth Aspaker (H) lights out free licenses of breeders who will make major investments in new technology to overcome the industry's challenges with environmental and land use.

Also read: Ingeberg alerts fighting efforts Even before the weekend warned Berg that Nordlaks had big plans in response to Aspaker measures. Now he explains what they are.

Inge Berg and Nordlaks together with north Norwegian partners worked long quietly with new technology that can take your breath away each.

The application is passed Now the application is passed from Nordlaks of Trade and the Ministry of Fisheries in four development licenses to initiate.

He hired NSK Ship Design, formerly North Norwegian Skipskonsult, with myre Væring Kjartan Karlsen last summer. There they have developed in layers, is sensational.

Breeder ship in open sea Getting Nordlaks law, the Group takes the leap from aquaculture cages to the most closely resembling the farming ships in the open sea.

On the drawing board is a 430 meter long and 54 meter wide "ship" that will lie at anchor, anchored at the bottom with technological solutions from the offshore industry.

For comparison, the Hurtigruten vessel MS "Trollfjord" 135 meters.

One such "ship" will have capacity for 10,000 tonnes of salmon - over 2 million fish. By comparison butcher Nordlaks-slaughterhouse Børøya 70,000 tons a year.

- We call it Havfarm, says Inge Berg to Bladet Vesterålen on plants, which are designed to withstand ten meters significant wave height and can be raised to four meters in storms. The havfarmen will drop ten meters into the sea.

Havfarmen becomes like a steel frame for six "cage" that is 50 times 50 meters large on the surface with 60 meters deep nets.

Will spend billions One such facility will cost between 600 and 700 million.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels - We seek Industry and Fisheries Ministry for permission to build more, says Inge Berg.

Bay with lice and emissions With ten meters deep luseskjørt of steel shall be lice prehistory. And when the "ship" lies at anchor, will spredearealet for wastes be 27 times as large as that of conventional cages, all 472,000 square meters. It may move within a circle with a diameter of one kilometer.

- We will not release that provides a basis for increased bioproduction. The design protects against external influences such escape danger is minimal. And we expect to keep lice away, turn Ingeberg firm.

To the extent that it will occur lice on salmon, add the plant to facilitate manual removal of lice.

Without chemicals - Thus, we get completely chemical-free production. Chemicals for lusefjerning is both a theme in the environmental debate and a huge expense for the industry, he says.

Jernbanevogner The giant plants will have a built-in feed storage of thousands of tons, fixed cranes and hoists related to "rail cars" on rails along the side and garage in the stern, where there also are "docked" for service boats. The plant will be equipped with closed dødfiskanlegg as removing dead fish every day. It will be easy connectivity for fôrbåt and wellboat.

Here it should also be permanently stationed mini submarine maintenance and controls below the surface.

Lift the entire region - This is industrial development, says Inge Berg.

- May we take to build three to four such structures, it will be a boost for the entire region, for ships and shipbuilding and in turn for well boats, onshore facilities and other industries, he says.

And he means, of course, that this could be a revolution for the aquaculture industry.

- It provides an incredible number of opportunities. Here are engines with two propellers that can rotate 360 degrees and is used to add facility in the position you want in relation to weather and waves, ensure water flow to the cages, and position throughout the facility as needed.

Known technology The plan is to start with énkilos salmon in the facility. The short production time of 12 months. It will reduce both problems with lice and also streamline the use of facilities and land.

The plant will be located in the open sea, at least ten kilometers of other installations.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Havfarmen will have a permanent crew of five to six men who will have a separate living unit on board.

Anchoring solution will be suction anchors, which are sourced from offshore.

- We use the known technology from the aquaculture industry, shipping and offshore. This we can undertake. We have skilled and committed professionals with us, and Norway has the best knowledge in all these areas, emphasizes oppdrettts-founder.

- Required boost for aquaculture He believes it is necessary for the industry to take new steps.

- This is what we must be allowed. If we get to do something like that in industrial scale, it will generate enormous value creation, both through export of technology and exploitation of new space, says Inge Berg.

- We must be allowed to make an effort. Today industry galloping costs partly because of lice. It is announced reductions in production in Norway that next year will be equal to all cod fishing in VesterĂĽlen and Lofoten. Although we have budgeted decrease of 3,000 tons this year and 7,000 tons next year. When it is about jobs. If we can get reasonable growth in production, the effect will be tremendous. With this we hope to lay the foundations for sustainable growth, he said.

- And so this is a completely north Norwegian alternative, he adds.

HAVFARM Developed by Nordlaks in collaboration with, among others NSK Ship Design, formerly North Norwegian Skipskonsult.

Length: 431 meters. Width: 54 meters. Deepest draft: 10 meters. Depth of nets: 60 meters.

Shall lie at anchor in open water, anchored by technology from the offshore industry.

Should have two rotatable propeller for propulsion and positioning.

Will improve discharges into the environment, animal welfare, premiums and treatment of lice, escapes danger, cost efficiency and safety.

Price: 600-700000000 kroner.

- For industrially?

At the same time he admits that it is not given that the fisheries minister say yes to this application for development licenses.

- I expect that someone will find the industrial thinking is a challenge. But are you going out in the ocean, you need to have structures that are suitable to be there. We can not put out with a fishing boat, either for reasons of safety or economy.

Taking risks Inge Berg does not deny that such large investments in a whole new type of plant means a risk.

- But the concessions we can make, making it possible to take such a risk. And then we have the strong belief in success. It would have been so funny!

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

Energy Generation: Oil, Coal, Geothermal, Hydropower, Natural Gas, Solar, Tidal, Wind

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

Petroleum – Drilled, Refined, Tar Sands, Fracked

 Petropolis - Rape and pillage of Canada and Canadians for toxic bitumen Watch video HERE

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

ď ś At Least 32 Dead in Worst Offshore Disaster since Piper Alpha December 5, 2015 Oil and Gas People has learned that at least 32 People are dead in what has been hailed one of the worst offshore disasters since Piper Alpha.

The incident in the Caspian Sea yesterday happened on Platform 10 on the Guneshli field offshore Azerbaijan. It is believed severe weather ruptured a gas line causing an explosion and huge fire that engulfed the platform.

Rescue was hindered due to 8m waves and strong winds. Just a few hours after the incident and as Oil and Gas People were getting reports of people trapped in lifeboats blown against the platform, a spokesman for the State Oil Company (SOCAR) went on record saying that everyone had been safely evacuated. The region is notorious for controlling the media and very little information has been released by SOCAR who have declined to take our calls.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels An Independent committee has now issued a statement saying that they believe at least 32 people have died whilst 42 workers were rescued. Mirvari Gakhramanly, head of Azerbaijan’s Oil Workers Rights Protection Committee also confirmed the platform fire has finally been extinguished.

Several eye witnesses have contacted Oil and Gas People with horrific accounts of bodies floating in the water as rescue vessels struggled to get close to the burning platform.

SOCAR have issued three emergency response numbers but Oil and Gas People has been unable to get an answer on two of the numbers with the third repeatedly hanging up when we call.

The numbers are: +994 12 5211019, +994 50 2293521 ,+994 50 2457005

SOCAR said on its Facebook page on Saturday that 26 workers had been rescued from the platform.

It did not give details on whether there had been any deaths or how many people were initially on the platform.

Around 60% of SOCAR's oil production passes via the platform where the fire broke out, meaning that the company's output will be hit.

The bulk of Azerbaijan's oil is produced elsewhere, however, including on fields operated by British oil major BP. The tragic incident follows another incident on another SOCAR platform earlier in the day. In that incident an accommodation module is reported to have collapsed to sea and it is believed 3 people have been killed.

The region has been battered by some of the worst weather in recent years with reports of 12m waves in areas. Another incident last night seen a flotel lose at least 3 anchors and there is reports that the BP platform it was linked to may be down manned today as no vessels can get close due to the anchors in the water.

Oil and Gas People are relying heavily on reports from people in the area and we urge anyone with information to contact our news team in confidence. news@oilandgaspeople.com

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

ď ś Unique Hazards of Tar Sands Oil Spills Confirmed by National Academies of Sciences Oil companies need to inform regulators which type of oil they are transporting in pipelines and tailor response plans accordingly, the report recommends.

December 9, 2015

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels A sobering critique of America's pipeline spill response efforts was delivered in a new study released Tuesday, concluding they aren't adequate when it comes to spills involving sludgy crude oil pumped from the Canadian tar sands.

The 144-page report's main message is that the thick type of oil called diluted bitumen, or "dilbit," initially behaves like conventional oil in the first few days following a spill but then quickly degrades, or weathers, into a substance so chemically and physically different that it defies standard spill responses.

The report recommends tailoring spill response plans by oil type, a stark contrast to the reassurances often uttered by energy companies that dilbit doesn't need special regulations. In recent years, the volume of dilbit coursing through American pipelines has increased steadily, from 250 million barrels in 2013 to 300 million barrels in 2014.

Conducted by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, the investigation released Tuesday offers the most comprehensive analysis to date of dilbit spill properties, environmental and health impacts and effectiveness of response methods.

"We feel that we have put forward practical and pragmatic recommendations and we are optimistic that these recommendations will be taken in that spirit," said Diane McKnight, chair of the National Academies committee that developed this report.

The report, requested in May 2014 by regulators at the U.S. Department of Transportation in response to a Congressional inquiry, comes more than five years after the destruction of dilbit spills first hit the national spotlight, following the country's largest inland oil spill in Michigan. An Enbridge pipeline rupture in July 2010 released more than 1 million gallons of dilbit, mostly in the Kalamazoo River, where it dirtied the water and impacted the surrounding vegetation and wildlife. The massive spill displaced 150 families, forced a two-year closure of a section of the river and cost pipeline operator Enbridge at least $1.2 billion to clean up.

An InsideClimate News investigation of the accident—"The Dilbit Disaster: Inside the Biggest Spill You've Never Heard Of"—won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting. In 2013, another pipeline ruptured in Mayflower, Ark., fouling a suburban neighborhood.

"The National Academy of Sciences is skewering the industry's 'oil is oil' talking point—making it clear that diluted bitumen is a different beast altogether and needs to be treated as such," Anthony Swift, Canada program director for the green group Natural Resources Defense Council, said in a statement Tuesday.

"Canadian oil sands crudes have been transported safely in the U.S. for more than 40 years," Sabrina Fang, a spokeswoman for the industry trade group American Petroleum Institute, wrote in an email to InsideClimate News. "All crude oils have to meet the same criteria when put in a pipeline, which protects the pipeline and the quality of all transported crudes.... If a release does occur, pipeline operators are prepared to respond quickly and effectively, working with local emergency responders."

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels "The prospect of a release of crude oil into the environment through a pipeline failure inherently raises a number of concerns," wrote the study authors, a collection of nearly a dozen oil spill experts from academia and industry in the U.S. and Canada.

"These concerns include not only minimizing a number of possible long-term environmental impacts but also protecting the safety of responders and the public during and after the spill response," the study continued. "When all risks are considered systematically, there must be a greater level of concern associated with spills of diluted bitumen compared to spills of commonly transported crude oils."

'Act Quickly and Decisively' When a pipeline ruptures, often the people impacted do not know it is dilbit.

"In the U.S, and many other places, once the oil spills, the first responders do not know what it is," said Merv Fingas, a study author and an Alberta-based energy consultant. "They are told it is crude," not what kind of crude.

Once on the scene, the oil cleanup crew still won’t know the oil type by looking at it, explained Fingas, because dilbit and the more commonly transported oil, called conventional medium and light crude, look exactly the same—"until a few days pass."

Dilbit is a mix of heavy bitumen, or oil sands, extracted from the Alberta oil patch. It emerges with the consistency of peanut butter and it is then thinned with diluents to make it easier to transport. If dilbit spills, the diluents evaporate, leaving behind a tarry goo that sinks in water and is very sticky.

Here's the rub: once it becomes clear to responders that the oil at hand is dilbit—because it has visibly started to degrade—it is likely already too late to effectively clean it up, according to the recent report.

"The big message is to act quickly and decisively," said Bob Sussman, an environmental consultant at Sussman and Associates and one of the study authors. "In the hours and days following a dilbit spill, it is critical to contain and remove as much of the material as possible."

The narrow window of time when dilbit most looks and acts like conventional oil offers the best opportunity to employ conventional response methods, such as burning it or using equipment called booms and skims to contain and collect oil from water.

Once dilbit starts to weather, it sinks in the water, rendering most oil recovery methods useless.

"This important study from the National Academy of Sciences confirms what the tragic spills in Michigan’s Kalamazoo River and Mayflower, Arkansas have already shown us: transporting heavy tar sands oil crude presents unique and unacceptable risks to wildlife and habitat," Jim Murphy, the National Wildlife Federation's senior counsel, said in a statement.

The report also highlighted several key scientific gaps concerning weathered dilbit, including how little is known about its threat to public health due to long-term exposure by air and water.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Better Communication Is a Must The study authors detailed several policy recommendations aimed at improving dilbit spill preparedness, response and cleanup.

Oil companies need to inform regulators which type of crude oil they are transporting in every pipeline segment before a spill occurs, the report recommended.

Operators should also design different spill response plans depending on the oil type, the authors advised. And when a spill does occur, operators must identify the oil type—by industry name—within six hours and, if requested, analyze a sample within 24 hours.

"We are really pleased with the depth the committee went to and the specificity of its recommendations particularly...governing spill response plans," said Rebecca Craven, program manager at the watchdog group Pipeline Safety Trust.

The National Academies committee had previously published a related report in 2013, responding to a Congressional inquiry, that concluded that dilbit is not more prone to spillage than conventional crudes.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

Black smoke billows over the Willamette River near the St. Johns Bridge following a railcar fire.

ď ś Firefighters battling large fire near Highway 30 in industrial NW Portland December 13, 2015 Firefighters are battling a large fire in Northwest Portland that is sending enormous clouds of black smoke into the sky.

The fire began after a commercial truck carrying fuel veered off of a road and crashed into a line of train cars at about 8:45 a.m. on rail track next to Highway 30, near the St. Johns Bridge, officials said.

The train cars were not moving.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Eight tanker rail cars containing tar or asphalt were damaged, said Jesse Altig, a Portland Fire & Rescue spokesman. Altig said fire officials are not classifying any of the burning material as especially dangerous.

"It's not super hazardous, but we are concerned enough that we've evacuated local businesses and we're telling people to shelter from the smoke in the St. Johns area."

Rail car fire in Northwest Portland Video by Nick Olson of the semitrailer truck crash near a Portland railroad yard, which sparked a rail car fire.

Highway 30 and the St. Johns Bridge have been closed to traffic.

Firefighters are trying to prevent contaminants from reaching the Willamette River.

Residents of the Cathedral Park neighborhood across the river say they heard loud explosions. Fire officials say they are working to move rail cars out of the area to prevent further damage.

Firefighters have stationed near 7300 St. Helens Road. They have called for extensive back-up personnel and supplies -- including special fire-suppression foam from the Portland International Airport and Vancouver Fire Department.

Fire commanders were ordering firefighters to be cautious and wear appropriate protective gear because of the potential for additional explosions. Commanders were activating crews to respond to the fire from land, air and the river.

Resident Tamara Webb, who lives on the Cathedral Park side of the river, said she awoke to the sound of an explosion Sunday morning. She estimated that she heard four explosions in all.

"There was a 'Boom!' and then a little later, a "Boom!'" Webb said.

She stepped out onto her balcony and looked across the river to see flames on the Northwest Portland side of the river.

She estimated that the flames reached at least 40 feet into the air, and covered several hundred yards of land.

"I can't see a thing because we're absolutely just shrouded in dense smoke," Webb told The Oregonian/OregonLive, about 30 minutes after the fire started. "I can't even see the river, and I live about three blocks from it."

Rail car Fire Along U.S. 30Just before 9AM fire erupted after a collision between a truck and train along U.S. 30 just east of the St. John's bridge.

Webb said she has closed all of the doors and windows in her home, hoping to seal out what she worries might be hazardous smoke.

Daniel Hansen said he was fishing from a dock in Cathedral Park when he saw a "flicker of light" across the river. He saw some smoke, then flames. He heard six "big bangs."

"It was so loud, all the ducks in the area took off," Hansen said. "It happened really fast. The flames were way high."

The Foot Traffic Holiday Half Marathon was shut down before all runners could finish, due to the volume of black smoke blowing over the race course.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

 WHAT THE NORTHWEST NEEDS TO KNOW ABOUT THE CRUDE OIL EXPORT BAN LIFT The Thin Green Line just grew more important than ever.

December 16, 2015 In the wake of a historic agreement at this month’s Paris Climate Change Conference, the United States is expected to take the significantly regressive step of lifting a 40-year ban on crude oil exports, and the Northwest will find itself directly in the path of the oil industry’s plans to dramatically increase crude oil production for overseas export.

Since 1975, the Energy Policy and Conservation Act has banned the export of domestic crude oil supplies, with some exemptions for certain classifications of oil products.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Congress passed the act after an oil embargo by the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) against the US, Canada, and three other nations caused the per-barrel price of oil to quadruple between October 1973 and March of the following year. In pursuit of energy independence for the US, the act created petroleum reserves, extended oil price controls, and mandated fuel economy standards.

In recent years, oil industry lobbyists like the American Petroleum Institute have been aggressively chipping away at the oil export ban. Consistent lobbying efforts targeted the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), which has quietly granted crude oil export exemptions to select oil companies through rulings not disclosed to the public.

In February, the environmental law firm Earthjustice filed a formal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request on behalf of Sightline, asking the BIS to release information about its deals with oil exporters.

In order to keep those exemptions secret, the Bureau invoked theExport Administration Act of 1979, which allows for the withholding of certain types of export licensing information. That regulation lapsed in 2001, but George W. Bush renewed it by executive order, and it has been renewed annually since that time.

Our FOIA request was met with silence, so in June we sued the Obama Administration. We then received some documents in late July and mid-October of 2015. The documents indicate that the Bureau was reviewing reports prepared by the oil industry, and redacted emails suggest meetings with oil industry officials. The documents also note that the Bureau’s 2014 decisions, including new commodity codes affecting how petroleum products are classified, would notably increase exports of condensate (condensate is a lightweight grade of oil that the industry has worked hard to exempt from the ban).

A March 2014 poll by Reuters found that nearly 60 percent of Americans support the restriction on oil exports. That number increases to 72 percent when the restriction protects US gas prices. Yet now it seems that the Bureau will no longer need to issue secret exemptions to the ban, because the Obama administration and Congress are preparing to lift the ban entirely as part of a budget deal announced yesterday evening.

Lifting the ban will increase crude oil exports with steep costs to average Americans, including loss of public lands to large-scale drilling, increased carbon pollution in our already struggling climate, and greater numbers of dangerous oil trains moving through our communities. And if the oil industry can bypass domestic refineries, the move may also threaten the livelihoods of the union workers who currently process America’s crude oil into useable consumer products.

For some regions of the country, including the Gulf Coast and the Pacific Northwest, it could mean an even larger flood of crude oil moved by train or pipeline, increasing the risks of local fires and spills. The Pacific Northwest has become a target for fossil fuel projects, including oil, coal, and fracked natural gas, primarily because it is cheaper to ship to Asia from the Northwest than from other regions.

If the oil export ban is lifted, it will become even more important for the Northwest to stand strong against the oil industry as the Thin Green Line.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

ď ś US Senator Maria Cantwell: US Crude Oil December 2, 2015

Dear Mr. Wilcox, Thank you for contacting me about the prohibition against the export of domestic crude oil. I appreciate hearing from you on this important issue.

As you may know, in response to the 1973 oil embargo from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) -- which significantly raised U.S. gasoline prices - Congress enacted the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975. This legislation outlawed most domestic crude oil exports. A provision in the law allows for the President to alter the ban if it is deemed to be in the nation's interest.

On October 9, 2015, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 702, a bill that would repeal these restrictions on domestic crude oil exports, by a vote of 261-159. The bill would also bar federal officials from imposing or enforcing any future restrictions on crude oil exports. Although H.R. 702 has not yet been considered by the Senate, earlier this year I opposed S. 2011, the Offshore Production and Energizing National Security Act, when it was considered for a vote before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. That legislation sought to remove the ban on crude oil exports, among other provisions. S.2011 passed the Committee by a 12-10 vote, but has not yet been considered by the full Senate.

While I have focused on ways to provide relief at the pump in the short-term, we also need to focus on lasting long-term solutions. America simply does not have enough petroleum supply to impact global prices significantly. Even though U.S. oil production in the contiguous states has more than doubled since 2008, the Energy Information Administration concluded that after 2020 oil production in the United States will decline as drilling is forced to move in to less productive areas. In this environment of short-term vulnerability to world oil price spikes and long-term vulnerability to oil supply shortages, I am very concerned about the effects of lifting the crude oil export ban. That is why, along with Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), I sent a letter to the Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration asking it to investigate the impacts lifting the ban would have on American consumers.

I also have concerns about the safety of moving additional volumes of crude oil across the state.

Incidents like the tragic 2010 Tesoro refinery explosion in our home state of Washington and more recent accidents involving crude oil transported by railroad remind us that oil can be dangerous if not handled correctly. Please be assured that as Ranking Member of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources I will keep your thoughts in mind as we explore opportunities and challenges associated with lifting the crude oil export ban.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels One thing is clear, we need to take decisive action to limit our reliance on fossil fuels. By positioning the United States as a global leader in clean energy technology we can reduce our need for foreign oil and protect consumers from dramatic energy price increases, while creating jobs, modernizing our nation's aging infrastructure, and strengthening our international competitiveness. The longer we wait to tackle energy independence the greater the economic and social costs of adapting to climate change will be.

That is why on September 9, 2015 Senator Lisa Murkowski and I introduced S. 2012, the Energy Policy Modernization Act. This legislation is a product of bipartisan efforts to build on recent technological breakthroughs and promises to bring substantial benefits to American families and businesses while protecting the environment, expanding domestic supplies, investing in critical infrastructure, and renewing programs that have proven effective.

Our time of renewal is now, and I plan to continue pushing the most effective policies to create a cleaner, more diverse and secure 21st century energy system. Please be assured that I will work with my colleagues to ensure that we seize every opportunity to move towards creating a cleaner, more diverse and secure 21st Century energy system.

Thank you again for contacting me to share your thoughts on this matter. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future if I can be of further assistance.

Sincerely, Maria Cantwell United States Senator

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

ď ś US Senator Patty Murray: US Crude Oil December 4, 2015

Dear Mr. Wilcox: Thank you for contacting me regarding the 1975 crude oil export ban. I appreciate hearing from you on this important matter.

As you may know, the United States has had a ban on crude oil exports for 40 years. This ban was originally established in order to retain domestically produced crude oil within the United States in an effort to reduce our nation's dependence on foreign oil. While the United States has begun to produce more oil domestically, we are still heavily dependent on foreign oil.

I believe it is important that we keep the crude oil export ban in place to support American consumers and protect the environment.

Several proposals to lift the crude oil export ban have been introduced in the Senate. S. 2011, the Offshore Production and Energizing National Security Act, would lift the ban and open new areas in the Arctic, Atlantic, and Gulf of Mexico to offshore drilling. On July 30, 2015, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee voted to approve S. 2011 by a vote of 12 to 10. In addition, S. 1372, the American Crude Oil Export Equality Act, which would also lift the ban, was approved by the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee by a vote of 13 to 9 on October 1, 2015. Please know that I am monitoring efforts to lift the ban closely, and should legislation come before the full Senate for consideration I will keep your thoughts in mind.

On June 26, 2015, I joined with 12 of my colleagues in a letter to President Obama expressing concern with proposals to lift the crude oil export ban. I believe that lifting this ban could have adverse effects on our national security, economy, consumers, and the environment.

If you would like to know more about my work in the Senate, please feel free to sign up for my updates at http://murray.senate.gov/updates. Thank you again for contacting me, and please keep in touch.

Sincerely, Patty Murray United States Senator

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

The Douglas Channel is the proposed shipping route for oil tankers in the Enbridge Northern Gateway Project, which is increasingly unlikely as the federal government is banning all oil tanker traffic on the north coast.

ď ś Enbridge taking time to decide on Northern Gateway pipeline December 3, 2015

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels CALGARY - Enbridge's CEO says a decision on whether or not to build the controversial Northern Gateway pipeline across British Columbia may come in late 2016, though the company is not concerned with sticking to a certain timeline.

Al Monaco also says a ban on tanker traffic along B.C.'s north coast, made official by the new Trudeau Liberal government last month, does not mean Enbridge is giving up — even though many critics have said the ban effectively kills the project.

Monaco says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr have both shown they're open to listen to Enbridge's point of view and have talked about the importance of opening new markets for Canadian crude.

Northern Gateway would ship more than half a million barrels a day of Alberta crude to the port of Kitimat, B.C., with the aim of sending tankers to lucrative markets across the Pacific.

Enbridge has had its permit to build Northern Gateway, with 209 conditions attached, since mid-2014. Instead of laying down pipe straight away, Enbridge has opted to take the time necessary to build First Nations support.

Editorial Comment: 1. Products to be transported via twin pipelines across British Columbia are condensate (chemical cocktail) imported via tankers from Asia and diluted bitumen (dilbit), a combination of Alberta’s asphalt-like material with Asian condensate to be exported via tankers to Asian markets.

2. Dilbit is very explosive and impossible to clean up after spills – it sinks in water

There has been vocal First Nations opposition to Northern Gateway in B.C., where most land is not covered by treaties, but Monaco says 28 aboriginal communities have signed on to the project as equity partners.

Monaco said the downturn in oil prices has meant a lower level of production growth in Alberta, meaning Enbridge should be able to serve customers without Northern Gateway for the next little while.

"So in a way, the timing isn't too concerning to us. We continue to work on the kind of things we need to as far as communities, First Nations and governments," he said on a conference call to discuss the company's targets for 2016.

Earlier Thursday, Enbridge said shareholders will get a 14 per cent increase to their quarterly dividend, starting with the March 1 payment.

The new dividend rate will be 53 cents per common share (TSX:ENB), up from 46.5 cents.

Enbridge, which operates a pipeline system throughout Canada and the United States, also provided 2016 estimates for cash flow and pre-tax earnings.

It estimates between $4.4 billion and $4.8 billion of adjusted earnings before interest and taxes next year, and between $3.80 and $4.50 per share of available cash flow from operations.

The company said last month in its third-quarter earnings report that 2015 available cash flow from operations is estimated at between $3.30 and $4 per common share.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

ď ś State analysis forecasts derailment every other year if Vancouver oil terminal is built Port of Vancouver facility would receive 4 oil trains a day Empty trains returning east would travel through Pierce and Thurston counties Study predicts empty trains would derail more often than full ones November 26, 2015 Washington - A proposal to build the largest oil train terminal in the Pacific Northwest would send empty oil trains through Pierce and Thurston counties that are forecast to derail once every 20 months, according to a new report.

Editorial Comment: This data is in addition to the existing oil train traffic on these same rails along with the trains associated with the proposed Grays Harbor terminal.

This report intentionally does not discuss the expected marine traffic spills associated with the export to Asian markets of these two products nor does it discuss the increased impacts to the very air we breath..

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels The draft analysis by a Washington state agency, released Tuesday, also indicates that the project could result in a derailment of loaded oil trains traveling along the Columbia River every two years and an oil spill from a derailment once every 12.

The document indicates that most fire departments along the oil trains’ rail route are not prepared for a spill or fire that could accompany a derailment. Out of the 12 departments that responded to the survey request, only one indicated its firefighters are trained and equipped for such an incident.

Editorial Comment: The explosive nature and intense heat associated with these derailments often results in the first responders allowing the fire to burn itself out. Diluted bitumen (dilbit) usually sinks in water making it all but impossible to reclaim.

Further, only half the departments said they knew the locations of BNSF Railway’s specialized firefighting equipment closest to their jurisdiction. And while three-quarters of them reported having access to personal protective equipment, firefighting foam and foam applicators, only a quarter said they had access to oil spill containment booms.

The draft environmental impact statement from the Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council said that BNSF would bring four oil trains a day to the Vancouver Energy facility at the Port of Vancouver with the loaded trains mostly following the path of the Columbia River and the empty trains returning east via the Olympia area, Tacoma, Auburn and Stampede Pass.

The forecast of derailments once every two years with a loaded train and once every 20 months with an empty train was based on four daily trains, carrying 100 or more cars each of either light crude from North Dakota or diluted heavy crude from western Canada.

The document noted, however, that not all derailments would result in a spill.

Tina Barbee, a spokeswoman for Vancouver Energy, said the company was reviewing the document and “will be able to address specific issues and respond to more detailed questions over the coming weeks.”

Courtney Wallace, a spokeswoman for BNSF, said the railroad had trained 800 firefighters in Washington state this year, and that included giving them the location of BNSF’s specialized firefighting resources.

She said BNSF has equipment and personnel staged in Everett, Seattle, Longview, Wishram, Pasco and Spokane.

“We will continue to work with first responders to ensure they have information about BNSF’s resources,” Wallace said.

There have been seven derailments of oil trains in North America this year that have resulted in spills or fires. Though none of those events took place in Washington state, derailments in West Virginia, Illinois, North Dakota and Montana released hundreds of thousands of gallons of crude oil.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels The rail spill analysis portion of the Washington state draft document was written in part by three consultants who are former employees of BNSF and its predecessor, Burlington Northern. In addition to the state agency for which they prepared the analysis, their clients include BNSF and the Port of Vancouver.

Neither the state agency, nor its consultants could be reached to comment late Tuesday.

Wallace, the BNSF spokeswoman, said she knew of no work or input from the railroad on the rail spill analysis.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

Rail cars line up inside the entrance of Westway Terminals' Port of Grays Harbor property on Wednesday afternoon. The state Utilities and Transportation Commission sent a public letter to the Department of Ecology outlining a list of concerns following the draft environmental impact statements Ecology released in August for proposed crude-by-rail storage facilities on the Westway and adjacent REG properties.

ď ś UTC pens list of recommendations for oil projects December 3, 2015

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels A letter from the state Utilities and Transportation Commission to the Department of Ecology outlines a plethora of railroad safety concerns the commission has over the crude-by-rail storage facilities proposed for the Port of Grays Harbor.

The letter, dated Nov. 30, came on the final day of the Department of Ecology’s public comment period following the release of the draft environmental impact statements for the projects, which was released on Aug. 31. The statements outlined potential environmental and economic impacts of two crude-oil-storage facilities proposed for Westway and Imperium’s Port properties.

Imperium’s facility was purchased this summer by Iowa-based Renewable Energy Group.

The commission’s letter breaks down its safety concerns by category, including bridges, public and private railroad crossings, signage along the track, issues with sections of the track itself and switching operations.

The letter also outlines recommendations for the Department of Ecology to address the various concerns.

The commission’s general functions include regulating businesses in the electric, telecommunications, natural gas and water industries, and overseeing costs of those services to ensure fairness to both the companies and the consumers, according to the commission’s mission statement.

The commission’s first section of concern centers on the load capacity of the 52 bridges that sit along the Puget Sound & Pacific rail line between Centralia and the Port. The draft statements from Ecology, the commission’s letter says, do not address this concern thoroughly enough.

“The draft statements of both Westway and Imperium project proposals provide very brief and general descriptions of the 52 bridges on this line, and equally brief reference to a future maintenance project to upgrade three steel bridges,” the letter says, providing citations from Ecology’s draft. “This lack of detail is insufficient to determine whether the infrastructure can safely accommodate the increased loads envisioned in the proposed projects.”

The commission’s recommendations include demonstrating that a “qualified inspector” verify the 52 bridges’ load capacities, and to make the inspection reports publicly accessible. It also calls for inspections to occur annually and describe which bridges are due for upgrades.

The letter also calls into question the safety of public and private crossings along the line, adding that the draft statements do not make mention of many of the private crossings in the Federal Railroad Administration’s crossing inventory. Seventeen public crossings the commission has identified as “at risk” crossings — crossings “that require further study and field analysis” before taking on rail cars carrying crude oil — were also omitted from the draft statements, the letter says.

Of the 17 at-risk public crossings listed in the letter, 16 are in Grays Harbor County.

“The draft statements must address more fully how the companies intend to address safety at these crossings,” the letter says.

The letter recommends that Puget Sound &Pacific be required to conduct on-site diagnostic reviews of those 17 crossings with commission staff and either city or county officials.

For the concerns in regard to the private crossings, the letter recommends the railroad be required to provide a list of private crossings along the line and comply with regulations outlined in House Bill 1449, which, since taking effect on July 1, has given “the commission limited authority over private crossings on crude-oil transportation routes,” according to the letter.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels The letter also pointed to language in the draft statements it deemed “unnecessary,” specifically pointing to a section on crossing signage that would require the rail line to display a toll-free telephone number and unique crossing code for drivers to report accidents or malfunctions at the crossings.

“These measures are already mandated by federal regulation, which required PS&P to install such signage by Sept. 1, 2015,” the letter says. “If the railroad has not yet installed the required signage, the commission will address this as a compliance issue before any oil is transported on this line.”

The letter ultimately recommends not including such language about such signage in the final statement.

The letter also points to issues with the track itself, particularly in regard to a 1,000-foot section about 4 miles west of Montesano, where three trains derailed in 2014 “due to poor soil conditions” the letter says. The speed limit along that section of the line has since been brought down from 25 mph to 10 mph.

The letter recommends Ecology “require PS&P to address the underlying soil issues before it transports volatile Bakken crude oil, regardless of the speed at which the trains travel.”

The letter was also critical of how the statement addressed blocked crossings. Though the letter says the commission ultimately has no jurisdiction over blocked public grade crossings, it said it “has significant concerns about blocked crossings from the cumulative effect of both the Westway and Imperium proposals.”

The commission aimed some of its most critical language at the issue of the railroad’s switching operations — the switching of rail cars from one line to another. The switching operations planned for crudeoil cars along the line, according to the letter — which cites sections of the draft statements — would “occupy public crossings longer than other feasible switching movements,” the letter says.

The draft statement for the Imperium Renewable project “states that although other switching movements may block the crossings for a shorter period, they are not the ‘most time-efficient and cost-efficient,’” the letter says, citing language from the statement.

The commission, in its letter, adds: Choosing to inconvenience businesses and citizens and create unnecessary safety problems related to blocked public crossings because it is more ‘time-efficient and costefficient’ to the railroad is not acceptable.”

Ultimately, the letter recommends that the applicants, the Port and Puget Sound &Pacific resolve the issue with the City of Aberdeen, local businesses and residents before moving forward with the projects.

The final recommendation suggests the state require Puget Sound &Pacific be financially responsible for a potential oil spill.

Comments on the draft statements are still being sorted by ICF International, the consultant the state used to conduct the environmental impact statements, said Department of Ecology spokesman Chase Gallagher. The number of comments from private individuals, organizations and local, state and federal agencies, Gallagher added, were approaching 100,000.

The final environmental impact statements are expected to be released sometime in 2016.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

Coal

 Save the Chuitna

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

 Beijing smog ‘red alert’: Schools and businesses to completely shut down as Chinese capital issues first ever extreme warning The ruling will bring in sweeping new restrictions in industry and business, in an attempt to curb the deadly smog December 8, 2015

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Beijing has issued its first ever “red alert” over the city’s smog, with the Chinese capital going into shutdown in an attempt to protect people from the deadly air.

It is the first time ever that the highest possible state of caution has been declared in the city, which has more than 21 million residents.

The warning means schools will have to close down and construction and other industry in the capital will be limited.

Smog levels are actually lower than they have been in recent weeks. But authorities expect an extreme amount of pollution over the coming days, and have imposed the order to ensure safety during that time.

The order will last from Tuesday morning local time until midday on Thursday, when the weather is expected to change and blow away the smog.

The city had already been in a state of orange alert, which meant some construction and industry was being curbed. The city had also issued a ruling that said cars with odd and even number plates would be stopped from driving on alternate days.

In some parts of Beijing, people can only see around 200m. The air is also packed with poisonous particles that mean that people could become ill simply from being outside.

Air pollution monitors showed areas of Beijing had more than 256 micrograms per cubic metre of the poisonous particles. The World Health Organisation (WHO) says anything over 25 micrograms is considered unsafe.

The poisonous smog in Beijing is caused by the burning of coal for industry and heating, and huge amounts of dust from the city’s many construction sites. The problem is being made yet worse by high humidity and low wind.

Last week, Greenpeace called on Beijing to issue a red alert, after four days of what it called “Airpocalypse”.

“The city is blanketed in a thick, choking smog that has covered an area of North China the size of Spain and Beijing’s most famous landmarks have been completely obscured by the yellow haze,” wrote Zhang Kai on the group’s blog.

Greenpeace praised the Orange Alert that had been declared for putting restrictions on construction and industry, but said that it was “clearly not enough”.

“At this level of response, schools and kindergartens can remain open, meaning that children are risking their health in order to attend class and car emissions haven’t been restricted at all,” the group wrote.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

Hydropower / Water Retention

ď ś Video: Fight over dams in the Northwest Costs of maintaining dams along the Snake River could outweigh their benefits November 26, 2015

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

 Site

C Opponents Call for Action from New Liberal Government as Construction Ramps Up November 19, 2015

Heavy machinery is muddying the waters of the Peace River and trees are being felled in preparation for construction of B.C.’s controversial Site C dam, but First Nations and area residents believe the $9-billion dam can still be stopped in its tracks.

The hydroelectric megaproject will wipe out prime farmland and flood 107 kilometres of river valley bottom and, at a rally outside Victoria Courthouse Wednesday, George Desjarlais, a West Moberly First Nation elder, said the court challenges will continue and the battle has only just begun.

“We don’t know how to quit, we don’t back away, we don’t stop, we do not give up,” he said to cheers and drumming from the crowd of about 200 people.

In addition to an application by West Moberly and Prophet Lake First Nations, asking the B.C. Supreme Court to quash construction permits, First Nations are appealing the granting of provincial and federal environmental assessment certificates, arguing the decisions infringe on treaty rights.

A decision on the West Moberly and Prophet Lake application is likely to take several weeks, said lawyer Matthew Nefstead.

Requests for judicial reviews were previously turned down and efforts by the Peace Valley Landowner Association to obtain a judicial review were also rejected.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels But Site C opponents believe the tide is about to turn.

Bolstering their hopes is the new federal Liberal government and promises by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to respect treaties, strengthen environmental assessment processes and restore environmental regulations.

“I think we are a long way from the point of no return when it comes to shutting this project down,” Ken Boon, president of the Peace Valley Landowner Association, said in an interview.

“We are not planning on Site C destroying this valley and, with the new federal government, there’s still a need for a lot of federal permits for this to proceed,” he said.

A bonus is that Canada’s new Justice Minister, Jody Wilson-Raybould, a member of the Kwakwaka’wakw First Nation, has twice taken part in the annual Paddle for the Peace, Boon said.

“When we saw her appointment we all said ‘yes.’ We all have great expectations. She understands the situation of Site C better than any former Conservative minister and understands the huge First Nations issues around Site C,” he said.

Wilson-Raybould could not be reached Wednesday.

Opponents of the dam are also buoyed by the provincial NDP energy plan, released this week, that makes no mention of Site C and instead looks at energy efficiency retrofits, upgrades to facilities such as the existing Revelstoke Dam and emerging energy sources such as wind and solar.

The NDP want Site C referred to the B.C. Utilities Commission and George Heyman, New Democrat spokesperson for the green economy and clean energy, said in an interview that a project that will have such a serious impact on First Nations should not go ahead without serious review.

Heyman stopped short of saying Site C would be cancelled if the NDP forms government, but pointed to the possibility that the courts will halt construction.

“We don’t know where the project will be at that point with the court cases. The project may be stopped either permanently or by injunction,” he said.

“On top of that we have said there’s a better way for British Columbians to deal with our power needs and capacity needs into the future without spending $9-billion and putting all the eggs in one basket,” he said.

Despite misgivings from some unions, the caucus is united behind the energy plan, Heyman said.

“There are twice as many jobs in retrofits and energy conservation than dam construction,” he said.

In the meantime, Heyman said no irreversible work should be taking place around the Peace River.

Boon has complained to BC Hydro about merchantable timber being mulched instead of harvested and sold and contractors walking machines across the water, sending silt and debris into the river, instead of building temporary bridges or using barges.

The construction activities violate regulatory conditions, he said.

“There are a lot of options and walking equipment through the river is not one of them. There’s a kind of wild west atmosphere down there and they know they have the full backing of government.”

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

 Let’s quit pretending dams like Site C are good for the climate December 2, 2015 There are many good reasons not to build Site C Dam: destruction of farmland and wildlife habitat, the violation of First Nations’ rights, the likely $15 Billion tab for taxpayers, and the fact that we simply don’t need the power. But you can add one very important item to the list: CLIMATE. Hydro full of hot air I raise this now because we have climate on the brain with the Paris talks and because it’s the final fig leaf clung to by defenders of this bogus project. People like BC Hydro’s Siobahn Jackson – Environmental and Community Mitigation Manager for Site C – perpetuate the myth that hydro dams, while ecologically devastating, are somehow “clean”.

In a recent op-ed in the Vancouver Sun, Jackson acknowledged, then quickly downplayed the GHGs that would be produced by the project.

“Site C, after an initial burst of expenditure, would lock in low rates for many decades, and would produce fewer greenhouse gas emissions per unit of energy than any source save nuclear,” she says. From a strictly GHG perspective dams may be better than coal. But there are two big problems with this argument.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Inflating demand to justify Site C First, it’s a false dichotomy. Hydro’s own numbers, recently submitted to the BC Utilities Commission, show we won’t need the electricity from Site C until at least 2029 – unless we use it to power the cooling of gas into LNG, in which case the climate rationale just went right out the window, since even a few LNG plants would require a massive ramping up of fracked natural gas in northeast BC, which is a huge climate problem. Jackson contradicts her own people, repeating the old saw that we will simply need more power – 40% in 20 years – a figure pulled straight from between her butt cheeks.

The truth is Hydro has always and severely overestimated future power demands, as we have repeatedly demonstrated in these pages. The fact is we’re using essentially the same amount of electricity today in BC as we did at the turn of the millennium, despite population increases and new gadgetry (which is increasingly efficient).

So the choice between flooding another 80 km of the Peace Valley for a third hydro dam and relying on coal-fired energy is an absolutely false one. Here’s what is true: Site C is a lot worse for the environment than the very real alternative of continued conservation.

Ignoring the latest science The other big problem with Jackson’s argument is it soft-pedals the serious climate impacts of Hydro dams. She claims the research and methodology relied on by Hydro to measure Site C’s GHG footprint is top-notch. I beg to differ. New research is showing that dams produce far more greenhouse gases than previously thought.

For instance, this peer-reviewed study in Science Daily notes: Researchers have documented an underappreciated suite of players in global warming: dams, the water reservoirs behind them, and surges of greenhouse gases as water levels go up and down. In separate studies, researchers saw methane levels jump 20- and 36-fold during draw downs.

Methane is a far worse greenhouse gas than CO2 – 86 times worse, in fact, over a 20-year period, according to Dr. Robert Howarth from Cornell University, an acknowledged global expert on the subject. This is the same reason fracking is so bad for the climate – pure “natural gas” is methane and far more of it leaks into the atmosphere during the extraction, treatment and piping processes than we once thought. We call these “fugitive methane emissions”. The unnatural water bodies we call dam reservoirs accumulate dead biomass from all those trees cut down and hillsides unearthed, which in turn rots and emits the same methane into the atmosphere, producing serious GHGs over the entire life of a project.

This explains why a study in the journal Water, Air and Soil Pollution determined that “one Amazonian dam, Tucurui, was once calculated to have greater emissions than Sao Paulo, Brazil’s largest city and among the 10 most populous in the world,” as this 2013 story on Brazil’s exploding carbon footprint explains.

A whole lot of concrete This is, of course, on top of the enormous emissions associated with construction, from all that concrete poured and heavy machinery operating for a decade.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Ms. Jackson acknowledges this as an “initial burst of expenditure” (if you can call ten years of construction “initial”, that is). In a particularly insightful article on the subject in EcoWatch, author Gary Wocker notes: For one medium-sized dam project proposed for the Cache la Poudre River in Colorado, it is estimated that the construction would emit 218,000 metric tons CO2-equivalents which equals the emissions from almost 46,000 automobiles on the road for one year. Larger dams, such as Hoover Dam which contains 4.36 million cubic yards of concrete, would have exponentially higher climate change impacts from construction. The largest hydro-electric dam on the planet—the Three Gorges Dam in China—contains 27.15 million cubic meters of cement.

Lesser of two evils So Jackson and co. breeze by the ten-year construction phase, instead landing on the argument that Site C will have a smaller reservoir than the existing Williston, therefore fewer GHGs from dead biomass by comparison. Okay – but that’s a lesser of two evils argument. The important question is not how many GHGs Site C will produce compared to larger reservoirs,but rather how it would fare compared with other renewable technologies; and, even more importantly, do we even need it at all? Since the answer to that is “no”, the whole conversation is moot.

Even if we did need more power in 30 years, the technologies available will be exponentially better and cheaper, so what’s the rush to plunk down $15 billion of your scarce tax dollars now and destroy a whole valley in the process? Moreover, the climate crisis is such that adding a comparatively small degree of new emissions to existing ones is no longer an acceptable argument. We need to be going in the opposite direction – i.e. cutting emissions and total energy consumption. These are things that our new Prime Minister – as he jostles with provinces like ours over their climate plans and the loopholes they build into them – would do well to bear in mind as he’s petitioned to reconsider federal permits for the project issued by his predecessor. Site C has no place in Mr. Trudeau’s federal energy strategy.

Nothing “Clean” about Site C Calling an 80 km-long dam that will flood or disturb 30,000 acres of some of the best farmland we have left in Canada, contaminate fish with absolutely toxic levels of mercury for decades to come, destroy some of the best remaining wildlife habitat in an already industriallydevastated region and produce massive greenhouse gas emissions hardly qualifies this as a “clean energy project.”

Make what arguments you will for Site C, Ms. Jackson, Premier Clark. Tell us it will produce construction jobs (many of which are already going to Albertans). Try to convince that us that awarding mega-contracts to your construction pals and political backers will be good for the whole BC economy. But don’t try to dupe British Columbians into believing that Site C Dam is somehow a “climate solution”.

That’s just a whole lot of hot air.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

The Xayaburi Dam under construction in Laos. It is an example of how public comment can lead to changes that are intended to reduce the potential harm of hydroelectric projects. In the Mekong River Basin, 12 dams are planned for the main stem of the river and 78 on its tributaries.

ď ś Heading Off Negative Impacts of Dam Projects December 8, 2015

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Hydroelectric dams grace bank notes in developing countries, from Mozambique to Laos, Kyrgyzstan to Sri Lanka, a place of honor reflecting their reputation as harbingers of prosperity.

That esteem, now enhanced by hydropower’s presumed low-carbon profile, continues to overrule concerns about environmental consequences and displaced people, as evidenced by a surge in dam-building in the developing world.

The phenomenon is perhaps most intense in the Mekong River Basin, in Southeast Asia, where 12 more dams are planned for the main stem of the river and 78 on its tributaries.

Because many of these projects seem inevitable, institutions, nongovernmental organizations and academics worldwide, from the World Bank to the German Corporation for International Development to the Nature Conservancy, are developing strategies for dams with softer environmental footprints.

The Mekong is the richest inland fishery in the world, with more than 60 million people who live along it surviving on subsistence fishing.

The dams would have “catastrophic impacts” on fish productivity and biodiversity, including species such as the Irrawaddy dolphin, according to a 2012 paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Sediment mobility is also a concern. Vietnam, despite its own dams, is concerned that new upstream dams would deprive its low-lying delta — the country’s rice basket and home to millions — of critical sediment replenishment in the face of sea-level increases and saltwater intrusion.

Nevertheless, the countries along the Mekong — China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam — are eager to develop, and for now that means large dams.

Historically, dam builders sought to maximize hydroelectricity and profits. Aquatic scientists came in at the tail end of the planning process to assess the environmental impacts and try to mitigate them to some degree.

A recent paper in the journal Nature Climate Change suggests a seemingly obvious yet novel approach: Bring in aquatic scientists at the beginning so that engineers can consider ecological principles first, not last.

The paper came out of meetings organized by the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center in Annapolis, Md., in 2013. Engineers and aquatic scientists discussed their core requirements for a hypothetical case study of the Iowa River in the United States.

For the engineers, it was revolutionary to get quantitative environmental variables at the beginning of the process that they could put into a model to address ecosystem issues. “I can work with that,” said Casey Brown, an engineering professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a co-author of the paper.

John H. Matthews, an ecologist and secretariat coordinator for the Alliance for Global Water Adaptation and a co-author of the paper, said: “Engineers are native problem solvers. If you can define a problem accurately and broadly, they will come up with a solution.”

Called ecological engineering decision scaling, the framework models tradeoffs between power loss and environmental gain to find the sweet spot.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels That approach can work especially well if planners consider the entire river basin rather than just a single dam, a strategy that is also atypical, Mr. Brown said.

For example, a 2012 study considered 26 dams proposed for the Mekong’s tributaries and found that building them all would reduce migratory fish by 20 percent. Forgoing just a few dams could minimize fish losses to 3 percent, while still producing 75 percent of the energy, according to the study.

Taking a holistic look at the river system is also economically advisable because multiple dams have a cumulative impact not just on the environment but also on energy performance. “Projects can end up interfering with each other,” said Jeff Opperman, senior freshwater scientist with the Nature Conservancy.

Nevertheless, there are ways to reduce the impact of a single dam by softening the barrier it creates to fish and sediment moving through the river.

After the Xayaburi Dam in Laos came under heavy public criticism, planners widened the fish passage channel, put switchbacks in the fish ladder to make it easier to climb, and added several entry points at different flow velocities to attract different species of fish, according to a report from the Stimson Center, a public policy institute in Washington.

To allow sediment through the proposed Sambor Dam in Cambodia, the Natural Heritage Institute in San Francisco advocates a bypass channel for environmental releases of water to help river ecology and the full opening of dam gates in certain seasons to flush sediment.

The way a dam is operated can also soften its impact. Typically, dam operators respond to energy demand by moving a lot of water through, then rapidly cutting off the flow when demand drops.

“It’s a very unnatural stream flow that has many negative impacts to the ecosystem,” said N. LeRoy Poff, professor of biology at Colorado State University in Fort Collins and a co-author of the Nature Climate Change paper. One remedy is “a second dam downstream that re-regulates the river flows out of the dam, mimicking on the downstream side the flow of water that’s coming in on the upstream side.”

Dam developers may be growing more receptive to some of these strategies because water flows are becoming more unreliable as the climate changes, said Mr. Matthews, the ecologist. That raises questions about the risk of such large investments.

Increasingly organized social and environmental opposition to large dam projects are also raising financial risks.

Reducing the risk of controversy by engaging stakeholders in early planning and environmental impact studies can lower risk for investors, reducing financing costs, said Mr. Opperman, at the Nature Conservancy.

Nevertheless, even as hydropower booms, its days may be numbered because of the rapidly decreasing price of more agile alternatives like wind and solar.

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

Natural Gas

 500 million to 1 billion young salmon use the Skeena River estuary each year – unacceptable for Liquified Natural Gas export facilities

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

ď ś Earthquake in Northern B.C. caused by fracking, says regulator 'This seismic event was caused by hydraulic fracturing,' says regulator's CEO British Columbia's energy regulator has confirmed that a 4.6 magnitude earthquake in northeast B.C. in August of this year was caused by a nearby fracking operation.

"This seismic event was caused by hydraulic fracturing," said Ken Paulson, CEO of the B.C. Oil and Gas Commission. Paulson said fewer than one per cent of fracking operations trigger seismic activity, and those quakes tend to be low magnitude and cause little damage.

Fracking halted temporarily after 4.6magnitude earthquake near Fort St. John

Editorial Comment: Far too many variables to evaluate to support this general statement.

Seismic history, nearby fault lines, closeness to cities and other infrastructure...

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels The quake struck in August, about 110 kilometres northwest of Fort St. John, near a gas fracking site operated by Progress Energy.

Hydraulic fracturing or "fracking" is a process that involves pumping a mixture of water, sand and chemicals underground at high pressure to fracture rock and release trapped natural gas.

Studies have linked fracking with earthquakes in the U.K., Oklahoma, and in B.C. Largest fracking-related quake The epicentre of the August quake was three kilometres from the Progress Energy fracking site. The operation shut temporarily immediately after the quake but soon restarted with continued monitoring.

Fracking operations have previously triggered small earthquakes in B.C. In the U.S., the disposal of frack waste has triggered larger quakes. But scientists said last summer that the 4.6 magnitude August quake may be the largest in the world caused by hydraulic fracturing.

No one was injured in the earthquake and there was no damage reported, but shaking could be felt for several kilometres.

Experts say it is unlikely any fracking-related earthquakes in the future will cause damage.

"This level of earthquake, although sounds scary, but in terms of the actual seismic damage, magnitude 4.6 is very unlikely to cause significant damage," said Honn Kao, a research scientist with the Geological Survey of Canada.

Editorial Comment: 1. Chemical cocktails used in fracking enter aquifers (drinking and irrigation water) 2. Pressurized natural gas enters aquifers (private and public wells) 3.

Reclaimed fracking fluids irresponsibly discarded (underground, crop irrigation, etc.)

4.

Earthquakes due to fracking will become more numerous and more damaging

In a written statement, Progress Energy says it takes the incident very seriously, and is closely monitoring seismic activity near its frack sites.

Meanwhile, B.C.'s energy regulator says it continues to closely monitor seismic activity and B.C.'s gas fields, and that it's still business as usual.

Balance between development and public safety Kao says there are existing industry protocols in place regarding fracking-caused earthquakes.

"We've already had a meeting together — workshop together with everybody to discuss the best practice protocol that's currently in place."

He says the regulator's acknowledgement that this 4.6 earthquake was caused by fracking means those protocols can now be updated to better protect the public.

"The key issue really is if we have all the necessary practice protocol in place so that we can set the level to a certain acceptable risk. Then the community will feel much less afraid and therefore we can reach a very nice balanced approach between the development and the public safety

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels

Solar

ď ś Tesla says Australian utility Origin to market solar battery December 8, 2015

January 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA.O) on Thursday listed Australia's largest power and gas retailer Origin Energy (ORG.AX) as one of the distributors for its solar battery storage product which the company is launching globally in two other countries.

Australia has the world's highest per capita penetration of rooftop solar technology, and Tesla's Powerwall is part of a green power system the company launched in May that would allow consumers to use solar panels to power their homes and recharge electric car batteries.

Tesla also announced other Powerwall distributors in Australia, where soaring electricity prices, high solar panel uptake and plenty of sunshine make an ideal market for solar battery storage products.

"Tesla Energy is working with solar installers, electricity retailers and network providers to sell Powerwall in Australia. This allows for customer choice and great reach to all interested households," Tesla spokesman Heath Walker said.

Origin CEO Frank Calabria said the company would bundle the Powerwall with solar panels from Chinese firm Trina Solar Ltd (TSL.N) and inverters from Israel-based SolarEdge Technologies (SEDG.O) to form a "turnkey home energy solution".

The product will be available for installation from February 2016, he said in a statement.

Natural Solar, one of Australia's largest solar power installers, was named as an initial partner.

"We see this opportunity as a chance to educate the public on this ground-breaking technology and more. Australians are among the world's early adopters of renewable energy technology," Natural Solar Managing Director Chris Williams said in a statement.

More than 15 percent of Australia's 8.4 million households have rooftop solar technology, Energy Supply Association of Australia figures show.

Tesla is also launching the Powerwall in Germany and the United States.