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Published by: Wild Game Fish Conservation
On the cover: Adams River Sockeye
International
Reba Rose DeGuevara
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Legacy Wild Game Fish Conservation International Wild Game Fish Conservation International (WGFCI): Established 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 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, fishing adventures, wildlife art, accommodations, equipment 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 efforts around planet earth 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
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Contents WGFCI Outreach via Legacy and Facebook _________________________________________________________ 5 Conservationist Extraordinaire – Walking the Walk __________________________________________________ 6 Joe Durham __________________________________________________________________________________________ 6
Featured Fishing Adventures, Photos, “Funnies” and Not so Funny: __________________________________ 9 Fish for Peacock Bass on Brazil’s Aqua Boa River with host Camille Egdorf _______________________________ 9 Fly Gal Ventures Hosted Travel: New Zealand – December 2014 _________________________________________ 10
Seafood consumption: Public health risks and benefits _____________________________________________ 11
Warning: Eating Farmed Salmon May Affect Your Baby _________________________________________________ Enjoy seasonal wild salmon dinners at these fine restaurants:___________________________________________ Fish tale: New study evaluates antibiotic content in farm-raised fish _____________________________________ Sushi lover's entire body left riddled with WORMS after eating contaminated sashimi _____________________
11 12 13 16
WGFCI: Writing to protect what needs protected ___________________________________________________ 18 Commission for Environmental Cooperation ___________________________________________________________ 18 Preliminary examination of contaminant loadings in farmed salmon, wild salmon and commercial salmon feed _________________________________________________________________________________________ 18 Barak Obama ________________________________________________________________________________________ 22 Randi Thurston ______________________________________________________________________________________ 22
Community Activism, Education, Litigation and Outreach ___________________________________________ 23
Recommended reading: “Great Bear Wild” _____________________________________________________________ Stopping Farmed Salmon at the Cash Register _________________________________________________________ Wild Salmon Warrior Radio with Jay Peachy – Tuesday Mornings________________________________________ Wild Salmon Warrior Radio – Recent Archives _________________________________________________________ FISHING WILLAPA BAY FOR FALL SALMON ___________________________________________________________
24 25 26 27 28
Salmon feedlots__________________________________________________________________________________ 29 GM salmon company Aquabounty fined by Panama ____________________________________________________ 30 TUC Responds to Proposed Aquaculture Activities Regulations _________________________________________ 33 Salmon Farms can have Significant Impact on Wild Salmon and Sea Trout Stocks ________________________ 34
Energy Generation: Oil, Coal, Geothermal, Hydropower, Natural Gas, Solar, Tidal, Wind _______________ 35 Petroleum – Drilled, Refined, Tar Sands, Fracked _________________________________________________________ Petropolis - Rape and pillage of Canada and Canadians for toxic bitumen ________________________________ U.S. and China Reach Climate Accord After Months of Talks ____________________________________________ The oil boom in one slick infographic __________________________________________________________________ Study questions benefits of Kinder Morgan's proposed Trans Mountain expansion _______________________ U.S. Tribes To Canada: Please Don’t Allow Tar Sands Pipeline To Pollute Our Waters _____________________ Harper government under fire after ‘blind luck’ keeps drifting ship afloat near Haida Gwaii ________________ Crude oil spills into Caddo bayou, kills wildlife _________________________________________________________
36 36 37 37 41 43 45 47
Port has valid concerns about oil trains ________________________________________________________________ 50 Citizens say no oil by rail during Olympia public hearing ________________________________________________ 52 Coal ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ 55 TransAlta Power Plant Leads State in Greenhouse Gas Pollution ________________________________________ 55 Hydropower ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 57 Pe Ell Meeting Addresses Potential Dam _______________________________________________________________ 57 Solar __________________________________________________________________________________________________ 60
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Wild Game Fish Management _____________________________________________________________________ 61 3 ANGLERS BUSTED ON TAHUYA FOR SNAGGING, WASTING WILD COHO ______________________________ 61
Wildlife Artists: __________________________________________________________________________________ 64 Derek DeYoung Art: “Dream Double 2” (SOLD) _________________________________________________________ 65 Diane Michelin - Fly Fishing Fine Art: "GET’EM" ________________________________________________________ 66 Dan Wallace: Passion for Authenticity _________________________________________________________________ 67
Conservation-minded businesses – please support these fine businesses ___________________________ 68 Kingfish West Coast Adventure Tours _________________________________________________________________ 68 Dave and Kim Egdorf's Western Alaska Sport Fishing __________________________________________________ 69 Spirit Bear Coffee Company___________________________________________________________________________ 70 Hidden Paths - Slovenia ______________________________________________________________________________ 71 ProFishGuide: Coastal Fishing at its Best ______________________________________________________________ 72 Silversides Fishing Adventures _______________________________________________________________________ 73
UWET "STAY-DRY" UNDERWATER TOURS ____________________________________________________________ Rhett Weber’s Charterboat “Slammer” _________________________________________________________________ Riverman Guide Service – since 1969 __________________________________________________________________ Learn to fish: experienced, conservation-minded professional instructors________________________________
Forward The December 2014 issue of Legacy marks thirty eight consecutive months of our complimentary eMagazine; the no-holds-barred, watchdog journal published by Wild Game Fish Conservation International. Legacy is published each month to expose risks to the future of wild game fish and their fragile ecosystems around planet earth. This unique magazine also introduces leading edge alternatives to today’s unsustainable practices. Each month Legacy selects wildlife artists to feature, several conservation-minded businesses to promote and several fishing photos from around planet Earth. We continue to urge our readers to speak out passionately and to demonstrate peacefully for wild game fish and their ecosystems; ecosystems that we are but one small component of. As recreational fishermen, 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 for safekeeping to our generation.
Bruce Treichler James E. Wilcox Wild Game Fish Conservation International
74 75 76 77
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
WGFCI Outreach via Legacy and Facebook
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Conservationist Extraordinaire – Walking the Walk
Joe Durham
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Featured Fishing Adventures, Photos, “Funnies” and Not so Funny: Fish for Peacock Bass on Brazil’s Aqua Boa River with host Camille Egdorf Base camp: Aqua Boa Amazon Lodge Dates: December 18-27. 2014 Book your Peacock Bass fishing adventure with Fishing with Larry
Est. cost: $4,000
I'm hosting another group to the Amazon in December 2014! Who wants to join me? Camille You can land 30 to 100+ peacock bass per day. Some will be huge. The lodge has exclusive rights to over 100miles of the Agua Boa River so you literally have an entire river to yourself. There is a giant reserve area – birds, wildlife, no people, no mosquitoes. There is one guide per two anglers per boat. Includes: airport reception, all transfers in Brazil, 240-mile deluxe roundtrip flight Manaus, Brazil to lodge, lodging, daily laundry service, meals, soft drinks, beer, wine, and local liquor, fishing license, free copy of Larry’s 40-page book Fly fishing for Peacock Bass. We also supply all flies, and fly patterns. Plus, courtesy of Agua Boa Amazon Lodge - Free 8-day Global Rescue Insurance, a $119.00 value. Does not include: international airfare, Brazilian visa, satellite telephone calls, liquor, airport taxes, overnight hotel and meals in Manaus, and tackle. (Our hosted groups usually stay together at a nicer hotel in Manaus.)
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Fly Gal Ventures Hosted Travel: New Zealand – December 2014
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Seafood consumption: Public health risks and benefits
Warning: Eating Farmed Salmon May Affect Your Baby
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Enjoy seasonal wild salmon dinners at these fine restaurants:
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
ď ś Fish tale: New study evaluates antibiotic content in farm-raised fish October 20, 2014 Antibiotics -- one of modernity's great success stories -- are charms that come with a curse. Their overuse in human and animal populations can lead to the development of resistant microbial strains, posing a dire threat to global health. In a new study, Hanna Done, PhD candidate, and Rolf Halden, PhD, researchers at Arizona State University's Biodesign Institute, examine antibiotic use in the rapidly expanding world of global aquaculture. Done and Halden measured the presence of antibiotics in shrimp, salmon, catfish, trout, tilapia and swai, originating from 11 countries. Data showed traces of 5 of the 47 antibiotics evaluated. The research findings and a discussion of their implications appear in the current issue of the Journal of Hazardous Materials. Charting resistance The menace of germs bearing resistance to our best medical defenses is reaching crisis proportions. Each year, resistant microbes sicken some 2 million people in the U.S. alone and kill about 23, 000, according to the Infectious Diseases Society of America. On September 18, President Obama proposed the first governmental steps to address the problem, establishing a task force to be co-chaired by the secretaries of Health and Human Services, the Department of Defense and the Department of Agriculture. The new initiative to reign in antibiotic overuse has been welcomed in the medical community, though many believe that much more needs to be done to safeguard society. The chief complaint is that the proposed measures largely ignore the largest consumers of antibiotics -- animals farmed for human consumption, including fish. "The threat of living in a post-antibiotic era cannot be avoided without revising current practices in the use of antibiotics in animal husbandry, including in aquaculture," says Halden. Halden, who directs the Biodesign Institute's Center for Environmental Security, is a leading authority on the human and environmental impact of chemicals, (particularly their fate once their useful life has ended). In previous research, he has explored the intricate pathways from production to postconsumption fate of antimicrobials and the risks posed. The new study examines the persistence of antibiotics in seafood raised by modern aquaculture. The research area is largely unexplored, as the primary focus of studies of antibiotics has been on drugs used in human medicine.
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters The current research is the first to evaluate previously unmonitored antibiotics; it represents the largest reconnaissance conducted to date on antibiotics present in seafood. Farming lifestyle Aquaculture has undergone rapid growth to meet the burgeoning global demand, nearly tripling over the past 20 years to an estimated 83 million metric tons in 2013. The large increase has led to widespread antibiotic use, applied both to prevent and treat pathogens known to infect fish. The broad effects on health and the environment associated with these practices remain speculative. Several natural mechanisms exist to help pathogenic microbes evade immune responses or develop drug resistance over time. The overuse of antibiotics, whether for human ingestion in hospitals or for agricultural or aquacultural use, can seriously exacerbate this problem, enriching microbes that bear particular genetic mutations, rendering them antibiotic resistant. In a biological arms race, antibiotics applied to combat disease run the risk of producing multi-drug resistant organisms that are increasingly difficult to kill. In the new study, 27 seafood samples were examined for the presence of antibiotics. The samples represent five of the top 10 most consumed seafood varieties in the U.S.: shrimp, tilapia, catfish, swai, and Atlantic salmon. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) acquired the samples from stores in Arizona and California. Five antibiotics were present in detectable amounts: oxytetracycline in wild shrimp, farmed tilapia, farmed salmon and farmed trout; 4-epioxytetracycline in farmed salmon, sulfadimethoxine in farmed shrimp, ormetoprim in farmed salmon, and virginiamycin in farmed salmon that had been marketed as antibiotic-free. Oxytetracycline, the most commonly used antibiotic in aquaculture, was the most prevalent in the study samples. Surprisingly, the study also detected this antibiotic in wild-caught shrimp imported from Mexico, which the authors suggest may be due to mislabeling, coastal pollution from sewage contamination, or cross-contamination during handling and processing. On the bright side, all seafood analyzed was found to be in compliance with U.S. FDA regulations; however, the authors note that sub-regulatory antibiotic levels can promote resistance development, according to their extensive meta-analysis of existing literature. (Publications linking aquaculture with antibiotic resistance have increased more than 8-fold from 1991-2013.) Antibiotics also have the potential to affect the animals themselves, producing alterations in how genes are turned on or off and physiological anomalies. (The latter may include malformations of the spine in trout exposed to the antibiotic oxytetracycline, though more work will be needed to clarify this association.) Proper monitoring of antibiotic residues in seafood is particularly critical, due to the fact that many antibiotics used in aquaculture are also used in human medicine, for example amoxicillin and ampicillin -- common therapeutics for the treatment of bacterial infections, including pneumonia and gastroenteritis.
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters The future of fish The use of antibiotics in aquaculture can produce a variety of unintended consequences in addition to antibiotic resistance, including antibiotic dissemination into the surrounding environment, residual concentrations remaining in seafood, and high antibiotic exposure for personnel working in aquaculture facilities. Changes in aquaculture are needed to ensure the practice can be carried out on a large scale in a sustainable manner. Currently, massive aquaculture operations threaten the health of seas, due to large volumes of fish waste emitted, containing excess nutrients, large amounts of pathogens, and drug resistance genes. Additionally, many types of farmed fish rely on fishmeal produced from by-catch caught in fishing nets. Several pounds of fishmeal are often required to raise a single pound of farmed fish, thereby contributing to the overfishing of the seas and depletion of ocean diversity. The current study offers a warning that antibiotics present at levels well below regulatory limits can still promote the development of drug-resistant microorganisms. The dramatic increase in resistant and multi-drug resistant bacterial strains documented over the past three decades indicates that much more thorough monitoring of seafood supplies is needed and a better scientific understanding of the nexus of global aquaculture, antibiotic use, drug resistance emergence, and regulatory measures.
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Sushi lover's entire body left riddled with WORMS after eating contaminated sashimi Chinese man went to his doctor with stomach ache and itchy skin. Scans revealed his entire body had been infected with tapeworm Doctors say this is due to the large amount of raw fish he had eaten. Cases such as this have increased due to the soaring popularity of sushi
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters It is the most expensive - and many would argue delicious - part of a sushi menu. But one man's love of sashimi nearly killed him after it led to his body becoming riddled with tapeworm. The Chinese man had gone to his doctor complaining of stomach ache and itchy skin. To his horror, scans revealed his entire body had been infected with tapeworm after eating too much sashimi - raw slices of fish. Doctors believe some of the uncooked Japanese delicacy of raw meat or fish must have become contaminated. He was treated at the Guangzhou No. 8 People's Hospital in Guangdong Province, in eastern China. Research has shown that eating raw or undercooked fish can lead to a variety of parasitic infections. Tapeworm infections occur after ingesting the larvae of diphyllobothrium, found in freshwater fish such as salmon, although marinated and smoked fish can also transmit the worm. While cases have increased in poorer areas due to improved sanitation, cases have increased in more developed countries,. More... Eating five portions of fruit and veg a day is also good for the BRAIN and helps prevent depression Young mother died from cervical cancer after visiting doctors NINE times complaining of bloating, tiredness and stomach pain - but was told she was 'too young' to have the disease What do YOUR symptoms mean? New 'calculator' tells you which condition you're most likely suffering from Overweight? Don't count on a fat pay packet: Obese teenagers earn up to 18% less than their slimmer counterparts This is most likely due to the soaring popularity of sushi, say doctors writing in the journal Canadian Family Physician. Study author Nancy Craig wrote: 'The widespread popularity of Japanese sushi and sashimi (slices of raw fish) is a contributor. 'But other popular dishes might also be implicated, such as raw salted or marinated fillets - which originate from Baltic and Scandinavian countries - carpaccio - very thin slices of raw fish common in Italy, raw salmon and ceviche - lightly marinated fish.' Dr Yin, of Guangzhou No. 8 People’s Hospital, told the website that'smags.com that eating uncooked food contaminated with tapeworms' eggs could eventually cause cysticercosis, when the adult worms enters a person’s blood stream. This type of infection is life-threatening once it reaches the brain.
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
WGFCI: Writing to protect what needs protected October 27, 2014
Commission for Environmental Cooperation Anne Berns (United States) Lainy Destin (Canada) Rodrigo García Galindo (Mexico) Re: Vote on Factual Record for BC Salmon Farms Submittal (SEM-12-001) On February 10, 2012, the Center for Biological Diversity (U.S.), Pacific Coast Wild Salmon Society (Canada), Kwikwasu’tinuxw Haxwa’mis First Nation (Canada), and Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations (U.S.) filed Submission SEM-12-001 (BC Salmon Farms) with the Secretariat of the CEC, a submission on enforcement matters pursuant to Article 14 of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation On May 12, 2014 the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (“CEC”) Council responded to this submission recommending that a formal investigation be conducted into whether Canada is failing in its responsibility to NAFTA to protect wild salmon from disease and parasites from industrial salmon farms. Article 15(2) of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation provided the commission 60 days to vote on whether to instruct the Secretariat to prepare a factual record regarding submittal SEM-12-001(BC Salmon Farms). Reporting on this vote is now 2 months overdue; in all it has been 32 months since the petition was filed. Submission SEM-12-001 documented the Government of Canada’s failure to effectively enforce sections 35 and 36 of the federal Fisheries Act in relation to salmon aquaculture operations, allowing harmful pollutants, viruses and parasites from industrial fish farms to pollute waters used by wild salmon in British Columbia. On May 7, 2014 the Secretariat issued a determination that it was proceeding with its consideration, pursuant to Article 15(1), in relation to the Submitters’ assertions involving section 36 (but not section 35) of the Fisheries Act. On May 12, 2014 The CEC Secretariat issued a determination that the preparation of a factual record is warranted in order to gather additional information concerning the matters raised in the submission. “The preparation of a factual record is therefore warranted in order to gather additional information concerning the matters raised in Submission SEM-12-001 (BC Salmon Farms), and is necessary for a thorough consideration of the assertions that Canada is failing to effectively enforce section 36 of Canada’s Fisheries Act.” The CEC Secretariat noted that in accordance with Article 15(2) and Guideline 19.4 the Council had 60 working days, that is, until 12 August, 2014, to vote on whether to instruct the Secretariat to prepare a factual record.
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters The CEC Secretariat specifically noted CEC Council guidelines, including target deadlines for completing various steps in the submissions process to “improve the timeliness, accessibility, and transparency of the SEM process.” Since Submission SEM-12-001 was filed:
More than half a million Atlantic salmon were culled and quarantined in BC due to an IHN viral outbreak.
The Cohen Commission of Inquiry into the Decline of Sockeye Salmon in the Fraser River concluded that salmon farms have the potential for “serious or irreversible” harm to wild salmon through disease transfer.
The Cohen Commission recommended a freeze on farmed salmon production along part of the Fraser sockeye migration route until 2020, at which time all farms should be removed unless Canada produces hard evidence that the farms are doing no more than minimal harm.
Research was published reporting a Norwegian strain of piscine virus that appears to have entered BC around 2007. This virus, known to spread easily and associated with a disease that weakens the heart muscle of salmon, has been identified in nearly 100% of farmed salmon raised and sold in BC.
In a letter to one of the petitioners, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency revealed that there had been no follow-up testing on the internationally reportable ISA virus, despite positive test results in BC farmed salmon.
In January 2014, without any response to the Cohen Commission recommendations, Canada opened the BC coast to more salmon farms.
Canada is considering removal of section 36 from the Fisheries Act to accommodate the salmon farmers’ need for stronger de-lousing drugs.
In June 2014, Canada’s Aquaculture Licence was challenged in federal court to determine if it is in fact legal to give salmon farming companies the power to transfer diseased salmon into net pens in the ocean. A decision is pending.
The undersigned BC Indian Nations, petitioning organizations and Canadian and U.S. fishing and salmon conservation groups respectfully request that the CEC Council vote to instruct the Secretariat to prepare a factual record in this matter, as soon as possible. Sincerely, Chief Bob Chamberlin Kwikwasu'tinuxw Haxwa'mis First Nation Grand Chief Stewart Phillip President Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs Chief Judy Wilson Neskonlith Indian Band
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Chief Darrell Bob Xaxli'p Chief Michelle Edwards Cayoose Creek Indian Band Kukpi7 Wunuxtsin (Chief Wayne Christian) Splatsin te Secwepemc Chief Fred Sam Nak’azdli Whut’en Chief Bev Sellars Xat'sull (Soda Creek) First Nation Chief James Hobart Spuzzum First Nation Denise Alexis, MA Executive Governance Facilitator Gerald Michel Lands and Resource Coordinator/Councilor Bridge River Indian Band Ed Hall Councilor Kwikwetlem First Nation Bruce Burrows Fisheries Coordinator Musgamagw Dzawda'enuxw Tribal Council Alexandra Morton Pacific Coast Wild Salmon Society Jeff Miller Center for Biological Diversity Zeke Grader Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations Gordon Becker Center for Ecosystem Management and Restoration Bonny Glambeck, Dan Lewis Clayoquot Action
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Beatrice Olivastri Chief Executive Officer Executive Friends of the Earth Canada Christianne Wilhelmson Director Georgia Strait Alliance Don Staniford Director Global Alliance Against Industrial Aquaculture Karen G. Wristen Executive Director Living Oceans Society Ian McAllister Pacific Wild.org Chris Genovali Raincoast Conservation Don McEnhill Russian Riverkeeper Todd Steiner Executive Director Turtle Island Restoration Network Professor Kevin Lynch Environmental Law Clinic University of Denver Sturm College of Law Craig Orr, Ph.D. Watershed Watch Salmon Society James E. Wilcox Wild Game Fish Conservation International
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Barak Obama President United States of America We urge you and your administration to oppose the Keystone XL pipeline. Given cause-and-effect issues associated with burning fossil fuels it is irresponsible for the United States of America to not expedite the transition to clean energy while conserving fossil fuels. The very sustainability of planet Earth’s life-supporting water, land and air relies on the wise use of our God-given, natural resources. You have the unique opportunity to lead the USA and the world in the desperately needed transition to a livable future, a future supported by renewable clean energy.
Randi Thurston Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife I'm writing as a concerned Washington state citizen and co-founder of Wild Game Fish Conservation International to ask you how Washington's recently adopted Hydraulic Code will be incorporated into the processes associated with the proposed Chehalis River dam.
Response from Randi Thurston I know of the Chehalis River dam project but I don't know the specifics. WDFW staff from another division is providing technical assistance on the dam project. New hydraulic projects would have to comply with the revised rules. If an agreement or HPA permit has already issued for the project then those conditions would apply. We will not modify current agreements/documents. These were negotiated in good faith with the applicant so we will stand behind those agreements/permits. If there is a specific project/activity associated with the project you have a question about, I can provide more specifics
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Community Activism, Education, Litigation and Outreach
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Recommended reading: “Great Bear Wild” Watch introduction HERE For Book Tour schedule please visit: pacificwild.org/site/events/1409757487.html
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Stopping Farmed Salmon at the Cash Register
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Wild Salmon Warrior Radio with Jay Peachy – Tuesday Mornings “Streaming like wild Pacific salmon” http://wildsalmonwarriorradio.org/
CJSF 90.1 FM is Simon Fraser University's arts, public affairs and indie music radio station! CJSF strives to provide points of view that are rarely expressed in mainstream media.
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Wild Salmon Warrior Radio – Recent Archives October 28, 2014: November 4, 2014: November 11, 2014: November 18, 2014:
Spirit Bears, Seafood traceability Kinder Morgan litigation, Great Bear Rain Forest Social responsibility, Kinder Morgan litigation Kinder Morgan pipeline resistance – Do something
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters OLYMPIA CHAPTER OF TROUT UNLIMITED NOVEMBER 19, 2014 7:00PM NORTH OLYMPIA FIRE STATION 5046 BOSTON HARBOR ROAD NE
FISHING WILLAPA BAY FOR FALL SALMON
The public is invited to attend the November 19th meeting of the Olympia Chapter of Trout Unlimited for a presentation by LeeRoy Wisner on Fishing Willapa Bay for Fall Salmon. With his many years of experience fishing for salmon, specializing in estuary fishing, he has developed many techniques that consistently put fish in a fish-box. He has introduced and taught many people to this realm of protected water salmon fishing. Much of his knowledge is found through his website, www.leeroysramblings which contains over 300 fishing, hunting, gunsmithing and outboard motor repair articles. LeeRoy’s presentation will include where to go, when to be there, how to fish those waters, what lures work, even tips on how to rig your boat if time admits. The rigging he developed and uses in these estuaries has now become pretty well standard among most fishermen who ply these waters in search of salmon. He will also cover how to best successfully land/net your salmon when fishing solo. If these methods sound like they could be new to you come to the meeting and get all your questions answered. Refreshments and a raffle will follow. Bio: LeeRoy Wisner LeeRoy Wisner is 78 years old, lived in Washington State all his life and fished/hunted since boyhood. His profession was maintenance mechanic-machinist spending 14 years with Washington State Dept of Institutions before leaving to run his own Gunsmithing Business. During the early 1990s, he had the largest gunsmithing shop on the US west coast, and provided factory warranty for 8 major firearms manufacturers. He built many fishing boats, one of which he used as a commercial salmon troller out of Westport in the late 1960s and into the mid 1970s. He has made over 1,000 bar crossing as skipper on major rivers of the Pacific Northwest. He has fished extensively from Mexico to Alaska. LeeRoy has been very involved in fishing. He was appointed by the WDFW to the Grays Harbor and Willapa Bay advisory committees. He also is involved in the North Of Falcon season setting process.
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Salmon feedlots
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Fresh salmon. US company AquaBounty has applied to the US government to sell GM salmon in the US. If approved it would set a precedent for the GM meat and seafood market there.
GM salmon company Aquabounty fined by Panama US GM salmon company AquaBounty has been fined for regulatory failures at its Panama plant in a move that could set back approval of GM meat and fish in the US, reports IPS October 29, 2014 Officials in Panama have fined the local facility of a US biotechnology company for a series of permitting and regulatory failures around a pioneering attempt to create genetically modified salmon. The experiments are being carried out by researchers for AquaBounty Technologies, which currently has an application with the US government to sell genetically modified (GM) salmon filets in this country. If regulators approve that application, AquaBounty’s salmon would be the first genetically modified meat sold for human consumption anywhere in the world. Further, companies in the United States and around the globe are said to be actively watching US regulators’ response to AquaBounty’s application as a critical indication of whether to proceed with other GM meat projects. “AquaBounty is really out front on this – the current case will set an important precedent,” Dana Perls, a food and technology campaigner at Friends of the Earth told IPS. “From what we know, there are about 35 other genetically modified species in the development pipelines in other companies.
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters So depending on what happens in this case, we’ll likely either see a flow of other permits or this will demonstrate that there isn’t room on the market for GM meat or seafood.” AquaBounty’s application with the US government would involve getting filets of the new GM salmon from the company’s breeding facility in Panama and into the US market. Advocates are now pointing to the Panamanian authorities’ findings of regulations violations as an indication that the US regulatory process is proceeding too quickly in considering the salmon application. “The impacts GM foods will have on health and the environment have not been sufficiently assessed to approve human consumption of this salmon,” Luisa Arauz Arredondo, an attorney with the Panama Centre for Environmental Advocacy, which filed the administrative complaint against AquaBounty, told IPS. She notes that while AquaBounty’s facilities in Panama have permission to run experiments on the salmon, the country has not approved anything further. “The salmon would not be sold to Panamanian consumers,” she says, “since the human consumption of GM salmon has not been approved by Panama or the US.” Repeat violations The Panamanian regulatory decision, which was made public on Tuesday, actually stems from a 2012 investigation of AquaBounty’s facilities and was decided in July of this year. It found that the company had failed to secure necessary permits, particularly around its use of water and pollution of the local environment – potentially important, advocates say, given the possibility of contamination of natural systems. The authorities noted their view that the company had “repeatedly violated” these regulations, and stated that these problems persisted into 2013. They deemed the transgressions significant enough to levy almost the maximum fine allowable against the company. AquaBounty Technologies suggests that the concerns outlined by Panama’s government were largely administrative in nature and notes that any problems have all been dealt with already. “It is important to emphasize that none of the issues in the Resolution questioned the containment, health of the fish, or the environmental safety of the facility,” the company said in a statement sent to IPS. “When AquaBounty was informed of issues at our Panama facility, we immediately contacted Anam, the Panamanian agency for the environment. We initiated a program to remedy the deficiencies and the issues were formally resolved in August of 2014.” The company notes that its Panama facility “continues to operate with no sanctions or restrictions.” Whether the actions on the part of Panama’s government will impact on the ongoing consideration of AquaBounty’s application by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) remains to be seen. A spokesperson for the FDA likewise pointed out that AquaBounty’s violations were based on a 2012 inspection, but also said the agency would “consider all relevant information as part of the decisionmaking process”.
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters The spokesperson noted that the agency is in the process of completing its review of the company’s application, but declined to provide a timeline on when that decision will be made. Shoehorning regulation For environmentalists, public interest groups and anti-GMO advocates, the Panama findings underscore a potential weakness in the FDA’s regulatory process. “This decision is also even further proof that FDA is dangerously out of touch with the facts on the ground, advancing AquaBounty’s application based on its promises, not reality,” George Kimbrell, a senior attorney with the Center for Food Safety, a Washington-based advocacy group, said Tuesday. Friends of the Earth’s Perls says that the FDA’s current regulatory review of the GM salmon application is based solely on the single AquaBounty facility in Panama. “The FDA is going forward with its review based on the premise that this facility will be in compliance with regulations, yet now we’re seeing it’s not,” she says. “It is increasingly clear that there is inadequate regulation: the FDA is trying to shoehorn this new genetically engineered animal into a completely ill-fitting regulatory process.” Much of the concern here revolves around the potential for genetically modified hybrids to escape into the wild, potentially outcompeting wild populations or introducing new diseases. Yet the issue also runs up against the skepticism that continues to colour consumer response to genetically modified foods – and the sense that regulators are moving too quickly to approve these products. When the FDA in 2012 asked the public to weigh in on the AquaBounty salmon application, it received some 1.8 million comments expressing overwhelming opposition. Members of the US Congress have likewise expressed their concern, and legislation has been proposed that would require the labelling of genetically modified fish. As yet, there is no legal requirement in the US to label any genetically modified food or ingredient, though the state of Vermont could soon impose such a mandate. According to a media poll conducted last year, some 93% of people in the US support the labelling of genetically modified foods, and three-quarters said they would not eat GM fish. Yet perhaps the most significant indication of public sentiment on this issue has come from the retailers that have pre-emptively stated that they would not sell genetically modified fish and seafood – regardless of whether the FDA approves its sale. According to data compiled by Friends of the Earth, some 60 major US food retailers have already pledged to do so, including several of the country’s largest grocery chains. “Should GE [GM] salmon come to market, we are not considering nor do we have any plans to carry GE salmon,” Safeway, the second-largest grocer in the US, said in a policy statement released in February. “Safeway’s [policy] calls for all of our fresh and frozen seafood to be responsibly sourced and traceable or be in a time-bound improvement process by the end of 2015.”
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
TUC Responds to Proposed Aquaculture Activities Regulations On October 3, 2014 the Department of Fisheries and Oceans provided proposed regulation changes and amendments to the Aquaculture Activities Regulations (Please click here to read the proposed changes). Trout Unlimited Canada, along with other conservation organizations is concerned with these changes and the long term effects fish farming has Canada's coldwater ecosystems. Upon reviewing the proposed regulations, TUC is concerned that Canada's aquatic resources may be compromised due to:
Loss of accuracy and diligence with a change to self-reporting
Lack of inspections
Lack of assessments regarding cumulative impacts on receiving waters
Delayed reporting
Industry self-regulation
TUC understands the need for an efficient process for both government and industry, but stresses that the protection of the natural water is of the utmost importance. The long term health and stability of Canada’s natural ecosystems are critical to the health and wellbeing of our communities. TUC is concerned that the proposed change to industry self-regulation puts sustainability of the wild fisheries and their habitats at risk. Trout Unlimited Canada has asked on behalf of its chapters, members, supporters and volunteers for clarity on how DFO will balance private economic gain against the protection of Canadian resources TUC urges all chapters, members, supporters and volunteers to submit their own comments to D.F.O. no later than October 22, 2014 by email or by fax to 613-993-8607 or by mail to:
Department of Fisheries and Oceans C/O Ed Porter Manager, Aquaculture Policy and Regulatory Initiatives 200 Kent Street, Room 8N187 Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0E6.
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Salmon
Farms can have Significant Impact on Wild Salmon and Sea Trout
Stocks September 18, 2014 The Chairman and Board of Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) have today (18.09.14) welcomed a definitive review of over 300 scientific publications, which has just been published, on the effects sea lice can have on sea trout stocks. A team of top international scientists from Norway, Scotland and Ireland reviewed all available published studies on the effects of sea lice and have now concluded that sea lice have negatively impacted wild sea trout stocks in salmon farming areas in Ireland, Scotland and Norway. Previously research was based on individually published studies but this new review reached its conclusions based on comprehensive studies of the effects of salmon lice from over 300 scientific publications. The project was funded by the Norwegian Seafood Research Fund which provides investment in Norwegian seafood industry-based R&D with the objective of creating added value for the seafood industry. The study also examined the potential effect of sea lice on salmon and concluded that sea lice have a potential significant and detrimental effect on marine survival of Atlantic salmon with potentially 1244% fewer salmon spawning in salmon farming areas. Chairman Brendan O’Mahony commented, “These conclusions concur with previously published Inland Fisheries Ireland research on the potential impact of sea lice from marine salmon farms on salmon survival.” The studies reviewed indicate that salmon farming increases the abundance of lice in marine habitats and that sea lice in intensively farmed areas have negatively impacted wild sea trout populations. The effects of sea lice on sea trout are increased marine mortality and reduced marine growth. This new study confirms the evidence collected since the early 1990’s in Ireland regarding the impact of sea lice on wild sea trout stocks, particularly in relation to the collapse of Connemara’s sea trout stocks. The Board of IFI has consistently called for marine salmon farms to maintain sea lice levels close to zero prior to and during the wild sea trout and salmon smolt migration period in spring. IFI has also raised concerns regarding the location of salmon farms in the estuaries of salmon and sea trout rivers. The Board of IFI believes this new review confirms the need for very tight regulation of sea lice levels on salmon farms and raises legitimate concerns with regard to the potential impact of new, large scale salmon farms, proposed along Ireland’s west coast, on salmon and sea trout stocks. Regulators will now need to consider the results of this comprehensive review when making decisions on the sustainability and approval of future marine salmon aquaculture licences and the regulation of sea lice at existing sites so as to ensure no negative impact on salmon and sea trout stocks.
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Energy Generation: Oil, Coal, Geothermal, Hydropower, Natural Gas, Solar, Tidal, Wind
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Petroleum – Drilled, Refined, Tar Sands, Fracked
Petropolis - Rape and pillage of Canada and Canadians for toxic bitumen Watch video HERE
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
President Obama and President Xi Jinping of China, with their delegations, met inside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Wednesday
U.S. and China Reach Climate Accord After Months of Talks November 11, 2014 BEIJING — China and the United States made common cause on Wednesday against the threat of climate change, staking out an ambitious joint plan to curb carbon emissions as a way to spur nations around the world to make their own cuts in greenhouse gases. The landmark agreement, jointly announced here by President Obama and President Xi Jinping, includes new targets for carbon emissions reductions by the United States and a first-ever commitment by China to stop its emissions from growing by 2030.
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Administration officials said the agreement, which was worked out quietly between the United States and China over nine months and included a letter from Mr. Obama to Mr. Xi proposing a joint approach, could galvanize efforts to negotiate a new global climate agreement by 2015. It was the signature achievement of an unexpectedly productive two days of meetings between the leaders. Mr. Obama and Mr. Xi also agreed to a military accord designed to avert clashes between Chinese and American planes and warships in the tense waters off the Chinese coast, as well as an understanding to cut tariffs for technology products. A climate deal between China and the United States, the world’s No. 1 and No. 2 carbon polluters, is viewed as essential to concluding a new global accord. Unless Beijing and Washington can resolve their differences, climate experts say, few other countries will agree to mandatory cuts in emissions, and any meaningful worldwide pact will be likely to founder. “The United States and China have often been seen as antagonists,” said a senior official, speaking in advance of Mr. Obama’s remarks. “We hope that this announcement can usher in a new day in which China and the U.S. can act much more as partners.” As part of the agreement, Mr. Obama announced that the United States would emit 26 percent to 28 percent less carbon in 2025 than it did in 2005. That is double the pace of reduction it targeted for the period from 2005 to 2020. China’s pledge to reach peak carbon emissions by 2030, if not sooner, is even more remarkable. To reach that goal, Mr. Xi pledged that so-called clean energy sources, like solar power and windmills, would account for 20 percent of China’s total energy production by 2030. Administration officials acknowledged that Mr. Obama could face opposition to his plans from a Republican-controlled Congress. While the agreement with China needs no congressional ratification, lawmakers could try to roll back Mr. Obama’s initiatives, undermining the United States’ ability to meet the new reduction targets. Still, Mr. Obama’s visit, which came days after a setback in the midterm elections, allowed him to reclaim some of the momentum he lost at home. As the campaign was turning against the Democrats last month, Mr. Obama quietly dispatched John Podesta, a senior adviser who oversees climate policy, to Beijing to try to finalize a deal. For all the talk of collaboration, the United States and China also displayed why they are still fierce rivals for global economic primacy, promoting competing free-trade blocs for the Asian region even as they reached climate and security deals. The maneuvering came during a conference of Pacific Rim economies held in Beijing that has showcased China’s growing dominance in Asia, but also the determination of the United States, riding a resurgent economy, to reclaim its historical role as a Pacific power. Adding to the historic nature of the visit, Mr. Obama and Mr. Xi were scheduled to give a joint news conference on Wednesday that will include questions from reporters — a rare concession by the Chinese leader to a visiting American president.
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters On Tuesday evening, Mr. Xi invited Mr. Obama to dinner at his official residence, telling his guest he hoped they had laid the foundation for a collaborative relationship — or, as he more metaphorically put it, “A pool begins with many drops of water.” Greeting Mr. Obama at the gate of the walled leadership compound next to the Forbidden City, Mr. Xi squired him across a brightly lighted stone bridge and into the residence. Mr. Obama told the Chinese president that he wanted to take the relationship “to a new level.” It's not about whether China will honor its promise or not ... it's about Obama accomplishing what seemed to be impossible and Xi's eagerness to be seen as a peer to Obama on the world stage. “When the U.S. and China are able to work together effectively,” he added, “the whole world benefits.” But as the world witnessed this week, it is more complicated than that. Mr. Xi won approval Tuesday from the 21 countries of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum to study the creation of a China-led free-trade zone that would be an alternative to Mr. Obama’s Trans-Pacific Partnership, a 12-nation trading bloc that excludes China. On Monday, Mr. Obama met with members of that group here and claimed progress in negotiating the partnership, a centerpiece of his strategic shift to Asia. Negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership are much further along than those for the nascent Chinese plan, known as the Free Trade Area of Asia Pacific, and some analysts said the approval by the Pacific Rim nations of a two-year study was mainly a gesture to the Chinese hosts to give them something to announce at the meeting. For all the jockeying, the biggest trade headline was a breakthrough in negotiations with China to eliminate tariffs on information technology products, from video-game consoles and computer software to medical equipment and semiconductors. The understanding, American officials said, opens the door to expanding a World Trade Organization agreement on these products, assuming other countries can be persuaded to accept the same terms. With China on board, officials predicted a broader deal would be reached swiftly. “We’re going to take what’s been achieved here in Beijing back to Geneva to work with our W.T.O. partners,” said Michael B. Froman, the United States trade representative. “While we don’t take anything for granted, we’re hopeful that we’ll be able to work quickly” to conclude an expansion of the agreement, known as the Information Technology Agreement. On Wednesday morning, Mr. Xi formally welcomed Mr. Obama at a ceremony in the Great Hall of the People; they later toasted each other at a state banquet. Administration officials said Mr. Obama had pressed Mr. Xi to resume a United States-China working group on cyber security issues, which abruptly stopped its discussions after the United States charged several Chinese military officers with hacking. “We did see a chill in the cyber dialogue,” said Benjamin J. Rhodes, the deputy national security adviser. “We do believe it’s better if there’s a mechanism for dialogue.”
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters On Tuesday, Mr. Obama credited APEC with originating the work on reducing tariffs, saying, “The United States and China have reached an understanding that we hope will contribute to a rapid conclusion of the broader negotiations in Geneva.” Talks with China over expanding the 1997 accord on information technology broke down last year over the scope of the products covered by the agreement. But after intensive negotiations leading up to Mr. Obama’s visit, Mr. Froman said, the Americans and the Chinese agreed Monday evening to eliminate more than 200 categories of tariffs. While the United States still exports many high-technology goods, China is the world’s dominant exporter of electronics and has much to gain from an elimination of tariffs. Taiwan, South Korea and Japan increasingly find themselves supplying China’s huge electronics industry, deepening their dependence on decisions made in Beijing. The administration estimated that expanding the Information Technology Agreement would create up to 60,000 jobs in the United States by eliminating tariffs on goods that generate $1 trillion in sales a year. About $100 billion of those products are American-made. The administration faces a longer path on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, including whether Mr. Obama will obtain fast-track trade authority from Congress. That could make it easier for the United States to extract concessions from other countries, since they would have more confidence that the treaty would be ratified by Congress. While Mr. Froman conceded that sticking points remained, he said, “It’s become clearer and clearer what the landing zones are.” He said that Mr. Obama would seek fast-track authority, but that the best way for him to win congressional passage of the Trans-Pacific Partnership would be to negotiate the best deal.
Beijing, China
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
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The tank farm on Burnaby Mountain at the terminus of the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline on Sept. 4, 2014.
Study questions benefits of Kinder Morgan's proposed Trans Mountain expansion November 10, 2014 CALGARY - A new report says Kinder Morgan is overplaying the economic benefits, and downplaying the costs of its proposed Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. Simon Fraser University's Centre for Public Policy Research teamed with The Goodman Group Ltd., a California-based consulting firm, to examine the estimated impacts of the project. The authors dispute Kinder Morgan's claim that 36,000 person-years of employment would be created in British Columbia during the project's development. More like 12,000, tops, they say — which is less than 0.2 per cent of total provincial employment. "We correctly anticipated that the benefits from the pipeline would be small in the context of the overall B.C. economy and mostly short-term," said Ian Goodman, president of the Goodman Group. "But we were very surprised that the company has exaggerated the short-term jobs associated with building the pipeline by a factor of three."
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters The long-term jobs are also overstated, according to the report. Kinder Morgan has projected 50 direct full-time jobs once the pipeline is up and running, with 2,000 resulting from the project's spinoff benefits. The report pegs the spinoff jobs at closer to 800. The report's authors say B.C. government coffers will get a "tiny" benefit from the Trans Mountain expansion, with Alberta and oilsands producers the main beneficiaries. Property tax benefits for B.C. communities along the route would average less than one per cent of current total municipal revenues. Editorial Comment: On the cost side, the report also takes issue North America must transition away from with Kinder Morgan's numbers. The company's fossil fuels exploration, extraction, most expensive spill scenario puts the cost at transportation and burning. $100 million to $300 million. Goodman and Simon Fraser figure it would be in the The asphalt-like material (bitumen) "multibillion-dollar range" if oil spills in a extracted from Alberta is impossible to populated area. clean up in the event of leaks, spills and "KM has vastly underestimated the worst-case costs for a catastrophic pipeline rupture. Contrary to KM's findings, damage and cleanup costs for major accidents are highly correlated with population density," said Brigid Rowan, Senior Energy Economist at The Goodman Group, Ltd and co-author of the report.
wrecks (trains, trucks, shipping).
Costs identified in this report do not address transportation mishaps or the infrastructure to prevent/minimize them.
Continued reliance on burning fossil fuels is not in planet earth’s best interest
"So a worst-case scenario for TMX would involve a major accident in a more densely populated area (such as Metro Vancouver) damaging and disrupting key infrastructure, and possibly resulting in a spill to water and losses of human life." Doug McArthur, director of the graduate school of public policy at SFU, said the project is "highly questionable from a public policy point of view." "These findings, along with the increasing evidence from interveners in the NEB pipeline hearings that Kinder Morgan is not providing accurate and complete data and information about the pipeline, make it difficult to see how the NEB can approve this pipeline while fulfilling its obligation to uphold the public interest." The Trans Mountain pipeline currently ships 300,000 barrels of petroleum products per day from the Edmonton area to the West Coast. The $5.4-billion expansion would nearly triple its capacity to 890,000 barrels a day. Past research by The Goodman Group has taken aim at other projects' stated economic benefits, such as Enbridge Inc.'s (TSX:ENB) Line 9 reversal between southern Ontario and Montreal and TransCanada Corp.'s (TSX:TRP) Keystone XL pipeline to the U.S.
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Tribal canoes maneuver into position to be formally welcomed by members of the Muckleshoot tribe on their arrival Wednesday, July 20, 2011, at Seattle’s Alki Beach. Pacific Northwest tribes revived the canoe tradition in 1989 of bringing together to celebrate the connection to salmon, water and each other
U.S. Tribes To Canada: Please Don’t Allow Tar Sands Pipeline To Pollute Our Waters October 23, 2014 The leaders of several Pacific Northwest Native American tribes are asking Canadian regulators not to approve a huge expansion of Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain tar sands pipeline, saying approval would result in a huge increase of oil tankers coming through tribal waters every day, increasing the risk of a devastating spill. Tribal leaders from the Washington-state based Swinomish Indian Tribal Community and the Suquamish Tribe on the Kitsap Peninsula testified before Canada’s National Energy Board in Chilliwack, B.C. on Wednesday, and leaders from two more U.S.-based tribes are expected to testify Thursday. All four groups’ testimonies are in opposition to the $5.4 billion Trans Mountain project, which would nearly triple the flow of oil through the existing Trans Mountain pipeline from Edmonton to the British Columbia coast.
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters If the pipeline is approved, the number of oil tankers coming through the Salish Sea — a marine ecosystem that sustains a number of First Nations and Native American tribes on the west coast — would increase from five oil tankers a month to 34 oil tankers a month. “It’s not if, but when, one of these tankers run aground somewhere,” Brian Cladoosby, chairman of the Swinomish Community, told the panel. “We are salmon people and [the water] is very, very important to us. It’s central to our culture.” This is the first time U.S. tribes have testified before Canadian energy regulators, according to the AP. The U.S.-based tribes testifying to Canadian regulators this week are Coast Salish peoples, indigenous people from both Washington state and Canada who base their living off the Salish Sea. More than seven tribes of Coast Salish peoples announced their intention to intervene in the legal proceedings regarding Kinder Morgan’s proposed pipeline in February. The proposed pipeline expansion would increase the capacity of the Trans Mountain pipeline system from 300,000 to 890,000 barrels per day, — more than the 830,000 barrels that the controversial Keystone XL pipeline would carry from Canada to the Gulf Coast. Environmental law firm Earthjustice is representing the tribes in the legal proceedings. Their case is based on the assertion that the Salish Sea is already ecologically stressed, and that the pipeline expansion opens up unacceptable risks of a pollution event that could wipe out the tribes’ way of life. “The fishing grounds of the Salish Sea are the lifeblood of our peoples,” Mel Sheldon, chairman of the Tulalip Tribes, said in a statement. “We cannot sit idly by while these waters are threatened by reckless increases in oil tanker traffic and increased risk of catastrophic oil spill.” Trans Mountain’s head of aboriginal engagement told the Associated Press that the company would respectfully consider the tribes’ input and that it values its relationship with U.S. native tribes. “We will continue to be committed to minimizing impact and protecting the marine environment,” he told the AP. As tar sands oil production booms, Native American and First Nation opposition to proposed pipeline projects has grown with it. In a movement called “No Keystone XL pipeline will cross Lakota lands,” the Honor the Earth, the Oglala Sioux Nation, Owe Aku, and Protect the Sacred tribes are peacefully resisting the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, which many tribes are calling “The Black Snake.” Native groups at the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota also held a blockade in 2012 to stop trucks from bringing parts of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline through the reservation. Months later, another tribe blockaded Idaho’s Highway 12 to the Alberta tar sands fields, preventing trucks carrying mining equipment from coming through. Tar sands oil is controversial because of its unique, thick, gooey makeup. Because of this quality, producers must use “non-conventional” methods of getting the oil out of the ground and making it viscous enough to use, such as pumping superheated steam underground to make the sand-laced oil easier to extract. Those methods are more carbon-intensive, meaning they emit more greenhouse gases than conventional oil production.
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Harper government under fire after ‘blind luck’ keeps drifting ship afloat near Haida Gwaii October 21, 2014 OTTAWA - B.C.’s northern coast dodged a bullet this week when a disabled cargo ship drifted dangerously close to the shores of Haida Gwaii, opposition critics charged Monday in the House of Commons. The Russian-flagged Simushir has been safely towed to Prince Rupert by a commercial U.S. tug but New Democrats and Liberals say the incident doesn’t bode well for a dramatic increase in supertankers plying the same waters. NDP finance critic Nathan Cullen demanded in the Commons to know whether the Conservative government is comfortable with a marine safety plan he said is based on “blind luck” and American intervention. Fisheries Minister Gail Shea responded that “luck had nothing to do with the situation.” Shea thanked the Canadian Coast Guard, which took just under 14 hours to reach the disabled ship, and noted the Conservatives have promised a $6.8 billion shipbuilding program for the future.
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Cullen says a truly grateful government wouldn’t have cut the coast guard budget by $20 million and let go 300 personnel. A Canadian Coast Guard vessel that first reached the Simushir had its tow line break three times in stormy seas, but did manage to move the disabled ship away from the marine sanctuary off the Haida Gwaii islands. The Fisheries minister repeatedly stressed that the Simushir had become disabled in international waters. “The private sector provides towing service to the marine industry but we are grateful that the Canadian Coast Guard was able to keep the situation under control, which was in very difficult conditions, until the (U.S.) tug arrived from Prince Rupert,” said Shea. According to the U.S. company, the tug Barbara Foss usually tows a cargo barge between Prince Rupert and Whittier, Alaska, and was arriving back in Rupert when the Simushir call came in. It dropped its barge and headed out to aid the stricken vessel, a trip that took it almost two days. “Foss left soon after getting the call and travelled as fast and as safely as they could in poor weather conditions,” company spokeswoman Megan Aukema said in an email. Mary Polak, B.C.’s environment minister, was less reassuring about how the incident played out than her federal counterpart in Ottawa. “We’ve said that there is more that needs to be done on our West Coast, we know that, we’ve said that from the beginning and it’s been a consistent position of ours, we continue to hold that view,” Polak said at the B.C. legislature in Victoria. “This incident underlines the fact that we need to do more on our West Coast to be prepared.” The Conservatives have conditionally approved a plan by Enbridge to build the Northern Gateway pipeline to Kitimat, B.C., which will send hundreds of supertankers annually down the same stormtossed coast. Kinder Morgan’s proposed expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline to Vancouver, and a proposed LNG plant in the province, would further increase marine traffic. Cullen, who represents a northern B.C. riding, demanded to know how anyone can back a “government plan to put hundreds of oil supertankers off the B.C. coast when we don’t even have the capacity to protect ourselves right now?” Liberal MP Joyce Murray said the lesson from the incident is that “we cannot ever say that a major oil spill will not occur on the coast of British Columbia.” The Vancouver MP called it “pathetic” that Shea repeatedly cited future ship building, given the government’s record on major military and naval procurement projects. Cullen maintains that only good fortune prevented a disaster before help could arrive. Local fishermen say the usual wind patterns following storms in the region are westerlies. “If that had happened like it normally does, that ship would have run aground and we’d be having a very different conversation this morning,” said Cullen. “If dodging a bullet doesn’t wake you up, I don’t know what will. It’s important for Canadians to understand how close this was.”
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Workers clean up the 4,000 barrels of crude oil that spilled in Tete Bayou. Sunoco Logistics, operator of the Mid-Valley Pipeline, has responded with more than 250 personnel to the site to contain and recover the oil, which entered Tete Bayou but did not reach Caddo Lake
Crude oil spills into Caddo bayou, kills wildlife October 18, 2014
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters MOORINGSPORT – A major crude oil spill discovered near here Monday that stopped just shy of Caddo Lake has already killed dozens of fish and some reptiles and will keep cleanup crews and regulatory agencies on site likely for months to come. "I would call it a significant size spill," Bill Rhotenberry, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's federal on-scene coordinator said of the oil that leaked in a rural Caddo Parish bayou from a MidValley Pipeline. The pipeline's owner, Sunoco Logistics, roughly estimated 4,000 barrels of crude oil had flowed into Tete Bayou when control operators noticed a drop in pressure around 8 a.m. Monday. The line, stretching 1,000 miles from Longview, Texas, to major oil refineries in Ohio and Michigan, was shut down within 20 minutes, Sunoco spokesman Jeff Shields said. Shortly before noon, contractors searching from air and by foot tracked the source of the leak and began immediate efforts to stop if from getting into Caddo Lake. "That was a priority," Shields said. No oil sheens have been detected on the lake, but it will be monitored by air and boat as the cleanup continues. The spill area off Hereford Road, which dead ends at the lake, is sparsely inhabited where workers are concentrating their efforts. Evacuations were not ordered; however, three families voluntarily left. Sunoco is paying their expenses for the duration of the time they want to be away from their homes. The company has approximately 250 contractors on scene mopping up the spilled crude. To work in the area, the contractors must wear flame retardant clothing, hard hats, safety goggles and respirators. The pungent odor of oil fills the air closer to the work site. Air monitors are spaced throughout the heavily wooded area and readings are taken to make sure the volatile organic contaminants, or VOCs, do not reach a certain level to where it would cause a health risk. EPA is monitoring the air quality independent of Sunoco. "The only risk of VOCs is in the immediate area of the oil," Rhotenberry said. "Out of the spill's pathway it's not as much of an issue." Readings have been low so far. Shields estimates about 1,900 barrels of crude had been recovered from the bayou through Saturday. Neither he nor Rhotenberry could offer a timeline for full removal, other than said it will take months. A spill from the same pipeline in March in Cincinnati is still in the remediation phase. Once the majority of the oil is removed then the focus will turn to remediation and restoration. Jeffrey Meyers, spill response specialist with the Louisiana Oil Spill Coordinator's Office, said the timeconsuming task moving forward will be to locate the pockets of residual oil that can become trapped in the soil and even in crawfish holes. "After we get the black up we'll be looking for the sheen," Meyers said. Natural bacteria aids in eating the oil but it's not as effective in the fall and winter months. So the maintenance phase will include constant placement and exchange of oil-absorbing materials.
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters It will take a joint effort of Louisiana Natural Resource Damage Assessment, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, the oil spill coordinator's office and the Louisiana Department of Environment Quality to keep an eye on the area long term. Trees, vegetation and wildlife in a neighboring bayou will be used as a baseline to determine if Tete Bayou is showing any unusual signs of damage. Through Saturday, the spill has proven deadly to about 66 animals, Shields said, including 30 fish, crawfish and 10 reptiles. A wood duck was rescued and is in the hands of a wildlife specialist that will stay on scene to assist with animal rehabilitation needs. Sunoco "understands its obligations well and understands it is liable for the cost," Shields said. The U.S. Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration regulates pipeline spills and will oversee the investigation into how the leak occurred and if any action will be taken against Sonoco. The line was built in 1949-50. For the short term and long term Sonoco will have to mitigate, Meyers said. "Nobody is walking away from this so to speak." Fortunately, the weather is cooperating. Heavy rains or warmer temperatures would only add to the cleanup woes by increasing the harmful vapors. In the meantime, travel on Hereford Road has limited access as workers are moving around in ATVs, pickups and large trucks from the bridge to a staging area. Louisiana State Police Troop G spokesman Matt Harris also cautions hunters to stay away because of the number of people who are working in the woods. "It's a safety concern, also because of their equipment," he said.
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Rail shipments of crude oil from North Dakota in black tank cars are adding to the volume of rail traffic on Washington's rail network sit at the train yard
Port has valid concerns about oil trains October 23, 2014 The Washington Public Ports Association publicly spanked the Olympia Port Commission for urging the Port of Grays Harbor to reconsider its plan to build three new oil-by-rail terminals in Hoquiam. The WPPA apparently objects to one port raising concerns about another port’s business. But the Port of Olympia has a right to be concerned. In fact, all South Sound residents should worry about the environmental and economic impacts of building terminals that could bring dangerous oil tanker trains moving 175,000 barrels of highly flammable Bakken crude oil per day through Thurston County. There are many valid reasons for Thurston County jurisdictions and residents to be concerned about increased train traffic carrying hazardous cargoes. The City of Olympia’s recently completed project to move its water supply uphill from the BNSF’s main line was partly based on concerns that a catastrophic spill would pollute the city’s water source.
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters The state Department of Ecology has started to prepare an emergency response plan for potential oil spills into the Nisqually River. Gov. Jay Inslee has urged the federal Transportation Department to quickly phase out outdated tanker cars and impose a 30 mile-per-hour speed limit on oil trains that cross the state of Washington. Oil tanker cars in use today were designed for heavy crude oil extracted primarily in Texas. But the Bakken oil is more volatile; it has vapors that ignite at a lower temperature. That requires thicker tank shells, puncture-resistant shields and stronger valve fittings to prevent spills that could easily explode. The railway industry has agreed to retrofit its older cars and build new ones to higher standards, but they want a 10-year timeline to complete the expensive process. That’s too long, considering the skyrocketing growth in oil shipments. The governor wants a more reasonable one-year deadline. Every taxpayer should also be concerned because we will pay the bill for oil spill prevention and emergency cleanup. That’s something the Legislature should fix by adopting California’s 6.5-centper-barrel fee on oil crossing the state by train. Oil shippers pay nothing now. Oil train safety is everybody’s concerns, regardless of what the state port association thinks.
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Citizens say no oil by rail during Olympia public hearing October 31, 2014 More than 600 people gathered in Olympia on Thursday night to show state regulators they’re against rail shipments of crude oil and coal throughout the state. A hearing at the Red Lion Hotel was preceded by a rally outside where concerned citizens gathered to first speak their piece and encourage each other before staring down the Department of Ecology representatives. The hearing is part of a directive to the Department of Ecology put forth by Gov. Jay Inslee in June, following what he saw as slow progress from a Legislature-directed and funded study on marine and rail oil transportation. Preliminary findings and recommendations were released on Oct. 1 and two public hearings were held — last night’s and the first one on Tuesday in Spokane. During the rally preceding the hearing, people gathered with large signs sporting slogans including “No oil trains no way,” “Big oil riding the rails at our expense,” and “Turn back the trains.” Guest speakers included Olympia Mayor Stephen Buxbaum, Quinault Indian Nation representative Ed Johnstone and Washington State Dungeness Crab Fishermen’s Association representative Larry Thevik of Ocean Shores. Buxbaum commended the governor for putting the directive into motion, but wants to ensure things don’t slow anytime soon. “Let’s join our voices to urge state lawmakers to act swiftly on these recommendations and enact provisions that keep our communities safe,” he said. He also questioned why communities had to pay for their own oil spill response equipment and training. “The cost to protect our communities and our transportation systems should fall on the oil industry,” he said. “It shouldn’t be a burden that’s placed on the taxpayer.” Buxbaum also advocated for clean energy. Johnstone spoke for the Quinault Nation. “We’re here to stand with all of the tribal nations and say we will not get on board with and we are opposed to oil by rail — not now, not ever,” he said. Thevik pointed out that more than 30 percent of the Grays Harbor workforce is employed in marine resource related jobs. Potential oil spills from rail transport could mean pollution to the resource.
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters “Our members have witnessed firsthand the difficult task of recovery of oil on water and shorelines,” he said. “While there are many plans for a response in the case of spills, the practical reality is recovery is daunting, desperate and it’s most often overwhelming.” The jobs that could be created from the proposed terminals in Grays Harbor (three companies — Imperium, Westway, and U.S. Development — currently are undergoing environmental impact statements for terminals on the Harbor) are not enough to justify the dangers posed to the natural resource, Thevik said. “Proponents of the unprecedented expansion of crude by rail and the transport of oil through our communities and waterways, knowingly or not, are systematically placing all the elements necessary for one of the worst man-made disasters we could suffer,” he said. Everybody then moved inside for the hearing. Those wishing to comment were asked to sign up. About 150 people signed up, from throughout Washington and northern Oregon. Department of Ecology Program Manager Dale Jensen opened the meeting with a presentation recapping the preliminary report. After about 20 minutes, the crowd started to call out at him. “You’ve talked long enough,” one person shouted from the back of the room to the applause of the audience. He rushed through the report’s recommendations, which include:
Adequately fund the state’s spill prevention, preparedness and response program.
The hiring of eight full-time employees for additional inspection.
Allow inspectors to enter a private shipper’s property.
Hire three full-time Ecology planners to develop and maintain response plans.
Continue funding for assessing oil transportation risks.
Enhance and provide oil spill response and first responder firefighter equipment.
Require local authorities to submit hazardous materials plans and updates every four years.
Allow designated first-class cities to opt in to the railroad crossing inspection and enforcement program.
Provide funding for railroad and road reviews of high-risk crossings.
Issue certificates of financial responsibility to ensure that those transporting oil can pay for cleanup costs and damages resulting from oil spills.
Providing comments to the department during the hearing were State Rep. Sam Hunt and Port of Olympia Commissioner George Barner. Barner and fellow commissioner Sue Gunn pushed through a resolution from their port commission urging the Port of Grays Harbor to reconsider the proposed oil terminals.
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters It also urged the City of Hoquiam to deny permits for the terminals and requested action from state lawmakers regarding rail transportation. The Washington Public Ports Association later censured Barner and Gunn for the resolution. Most of the public comments called for a moratorium on crude by rail and oil terminals statewide. Those who didn’t specifically ask for a moratorium criticized the recommendations for not going far enough. Like Buxbaum, many want oil companies to prepare communities (supplying both equipment and training) for possible spills. Safety was the biggest issue. Proximity of “blast zone” to populated areas and schools, proximity of rail to waterways, natural disasters and their effects on terminals and rail, and the chance of cars derailing while shipping crude oil. Damage to infrastructure from heavy oil cars, and the age of current infrastructure also was concerning. Many worry about the greater impact of oil in and of itself, citing their concerns about climate change. Aberdeen City Councilman Alan Richrod told regulators: “We’ve had four derailments — strike that, we had three because the first one wasn’t technically a derailment,” he said. “The cars were sitting in the yard not hooked up to a train, and they fell over.” The audience broke into laughter. The hearing lasted about five hours, but many people left well before the last comments were heard. Many who had signed up also left, and by the end of the meeting, a lot of time was consumed with name cards being read aloud. When each name card was either read or discarded because the person no longer was present, the Department of Ecology allowed those remaining in the audience to give comments if they hadn’t signed up. The public hearing was just one of several steps in the process. A final report will be submitted to the Legislature on March 1, 2015. Between then and now, the Department of Ecology will continue to hold workshops, intergovernmental meetings and public meetings. Comments for the public hearing still can be made at www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/spills/OilMovement/StudyComments.html. Comments close on Dec. 1.
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Coal
TransAlta Power Plant Leads State in Greenhouse Gas Pollution October 16, 2014
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters SEATTLE (AP) — Washington state's major industrial sources released about 6 million more metric tons of greenhouse gases in 2013, a 30 percent jump from the previous year, according to the latest data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The state's only coal burning power plant in Centralia topped the list, emitting 7.5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide and other gases blamed for global warming. Emissions from the plant spiked up about 82 percent from 2012, after experiencing a big drop the previous year. TransAlta spokeswoman Leanne Yohemas said in an email that carbon dioxide emissions at the company's Centralia plant were substantially below normal levels in 2012, which explains the increase. In that year, she said, hydropower production was running high in the Northwest and the Centralia plant also experienced "extended downtime" as a result of poor market conditions driven by low natural gas prices. Yohemas said the plant's emissions in 2013 were closer to normal levels and reduced from prior years. The Centralia power plant, the single largest source of carbon pollution in the state, is scheduled to completely shut down by 2025 under a state law passed in 2011. Facilities that release 25,000 metric tons or more of carbon dioxide or its equivalent are required to report emissions to the EPA each year. The federal agency has collected such data for four years. Last year in Washington state, 92 large facilities such as power plants, pulp and paper mills and steel mills released a total of 25.7 million metric tons of greenhouse gases, compared with 19.6 million metric tons in 2012. Total emissions from reporting facilities increased about 18 percent between 2011 and 2013. The state's 14 power plants accounted for about 46 percent of that pollution. Many of them also reported some of the largest emission hikes between 2012 and 2013. Puget Sound Energy's generating stations in Ferndale, Bellingham and near Mount Vernon, for example, more than doubled in emissions last year, after posting previous declines. PSE spokesman Ray Lane said the utility reported much lower emissions in 2011 and 2012 because hydropower operations were running high, well beyond normal levels. When hydroelectric power is up, emissions are low, he said. "We're currently running at more normal levels, which are similar to the figures seen in 2013," Lane said in an email. BP's Cherry Point Refinery was the second-highest single source of emissions in the state. It was followed by Shell Puget Sound Refinery in Anacortes, Alcoa Intalco Works in Ferndale, Tesoro Refinery in Anacortes, Phillips 66 refinery in Ferndale, Berkshire Hathaway's Chehalis Generation plant, Clark Public Utilities River Road plant in Vancouver, and Puget Sound Energy's Mint Farm power plant in Longview, Wash. A Washington state law requires facilities that emit more than 10,000 metric tons of greenhouse gases per year to report their pollution to the state Department of Ecology. Those sources have reported their 2012 emissions to the Department of Ecology. Reports for 2013 emissions are due later this month.
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Hydropower
Pe Ell Meeting Addresses Potential Dam Community Input: Attendants Voice Opinions on Water Retention Facility on Chehalis River October 16, 2014 Tensions ran high and residents filled the Pe Ell School’s small gymnasium Tuesday during a presentation that depicted a strategy for reducing flood damage and restoring aquatic life in the Chehalis River Basin. The highly contentious topic that filled the gymnasium to standing room only was the possibility of a dam that may be built near Pe Ell. Jim Kramer, project manager for the research conducted by the William D. Ruckelshaus Center, presented information to those in attendance on the history of flood damage in the area, and the habitat degradation taking place affecting salmon. “There has been a lot of information produced in the last couple of years and this is a brief summary of that information with the focus for the end part of the presentation on the specifics of the potential dam that is being considered upstream from the town of Pe Ell,” Kramer said. There are three possibilities to the types of dam that may potentially be built. If the decision to build a dam is approved by Gov. Jay Inslee, options are a flood retention dam, a multi-purpose dam or a multipurpose rockfill dam. Kramer said the problem is the Chehalis Basin continues to see large floods with little to no action preventing future damage. “You can see the trend … is that the five largest floods in the historical record of the basin have occurred in the last 25 years or so,” he said, adding that the increasing magnitude of floods is changing the prediction of what the largest floods in the basin are likely to be in the future. With the prediction of future climate change, the range of possible changes in the magnitude of floods is anywhere from an 18 to 90 percent increase in the size of floods predicted in the basin. Not only is the basin plagued with flooding, but in recent years a significant decline in salmon populations and other species has been noted, said Kramer. He said it is a problem that needs to be addressed.
Editorial Comment: Many who rely on Chehalis River basin flooding rightly believe that flooding is a blessing as Chehalis River floods deliver vital nutrients to fertile farmlands and replenish aquifers.
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters There is potential to increase salmon populations by 50 percent through habitat restoration actions that would include the removal of barriers to fish passage and would reap the benefits of riparian enhancement, Kramer said. The discussion is timely because the Governor’s Chehalis Basin Work Group, a sub-group of the Chehalis River Basin Flood Authority, is tasked with providing the governor a recommendation for a long-term strategy and budget that will help reduce flood damage and enhance aquatic species. The recommendations are due by mid-November. A variety of options were presented to reduce flooding, some of which proved cost prohibitive, such as protecting Interstate 5 with walls and levees. Flood proofing was found to be one of the most costeffective measures that could be taken, although Kramer said the question remains of whether it would be a sufficient enough action. The objectives of a potential dam were listed as providing a reduction to flooding downstream, while minimizing fish and downstream environmental impacts. The smallest of the dams, the flood retention only dam would have a height of 227 feet and the reservoir would stretch almost 7 miles, covering an area of 860 acres. This dam would only hold water at times of flooding, creating a reservoir only 1 percent of the time based on the historic record. The dam would cost $300 million to build. The multipurpose dam would be 60 feet taller. The reservoir would be almost a mile longer and would cover an extra 500 acres, but would also store water during the winter months, slowly releasing it in the spring and summer. A multipurpose rockfill dam has a much larger footprint and would have to include a separate bypass structure, Kramer said. The potential dam would help reduce flooding, although he said it is important to note that it would not eliminate flooding. A dam would decrease fish populations by a total of 2 percent; however, if a dam was combined with a high level of restoration, populations of returning adult salmon would increase by 42 percent, Kramer said.
Editorial Comment:
With no effective fish passage designed for these proposed dams, salmon and steelhead that rely on upper Chehalis River spawning and rearing habitat will be forever lost.
Participants at the meeting both supported and opposed the proposed dam. “One thing to say, which is concerning to the people who live in Pe Ell, which is part of this whole process, that for us to wake up every morning and look south and see a big concrete structure, a rock structure, whatever you got that is holding that river back from inundating us, I think that everyone else downstream ought to give us a little bit,” one audience member said.
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters “How are you going to help us? How does this dam help the people who live in the city of Pe Ell, but have never been affected by this? That is my major issue.” Other audience members noted the large cost of the project would be better spent on funding education instead. While some opposed the idea of a dam, many spoke out in support of the ongoing research into the possibility. “I don’t want to lose my property to a flood, but there are ways to save our livelihood, our children’s future and our property,” said one attendee. “Why wouldn’t we explore those opportunities?” If a dam is approved, the permit process from both the state and federal government would take approximately three to five years at a minimum, and the construction of the dam, depending on the type, would take another two to four years.
Editorial Comment: These time estimates don’t take funding, tribal opposition, conservationist opposition, litigation, etc. into consideration
Kramer said next month’s recommendations will be provided by the work group to the governor and all the comments voiced in the meeting would be considered before a decision is made.
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Solar
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Wild Game Fish Management
3 ANGLERS BUSTED ON TAHUYA FOR SNAGGING, WASTING WILD COHO October 24, 2014
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Three men are in trouble — apparently yet again — after being caught with dozens of skeins of eggs allegedly stripped from bright wild coho they snagged out of a closed stretch of a Hood Canal river. And then left the fish to waste. Washington game wardens say they cited the trio on the Tahuya River, which at the time was running very low but full of nice fish, creating ideal conditions for snaggers to take advantage of holed-up salmon. If WDFW’s allegations are true, it appears they thought they could collect a stash of eggs for winterrun steelhead fishing later this year, but with poor angler behavior on the Tahuya in recent falls — not to mention a slowly recovering salmon run — officers have been monitoring the river more closely. Last week trail cam images told Officer Jeff Summit that three men had headed into a section of the southwest Kitsap Peninsula river open for fishing but closed to retention, according to a WDFW post on Facebook, so he waited for them to return. Half an hour later they came out with rods rigged for salmon, and when asked what they had been up to, said they’d been catching and releasing fish, according to the agency’s writeup. The Tahuya from the North Shore Road Bridge upstream 1 mile to what’s known as the Steel Bridge is open in October for up two coho a day in October, but the waters above the Steel Bridge aren’t. Summit wasn’t quite convinced it had been a C&R outing. The officer asked one to open his backpack for an inspection. “The subject became very nervous and attempted to conceal the contents multiple times, unzipping the same compartment repeatedly,” WDFW reported. When the angler was finally able to figure out how to operate his pack correctly, Summit allegedly discovered three gallon-sized ziplock bags full of salmon eggs. He marched the men back to the Tahuya and had them retrieve 16 of 20 coho carcasses allegedly tossed into the forest and log jams in the river. “In my 20 years as a game warden, I don’t recall anyone taking eggs and discarding the carcasses like that,” said Summit’s sergeant, Ted Jackson. The thing is, if they snagged 20 coho hens, how many bucks did they also hook in the back, tail, side? As if somehow it could explain away the sickening wastage, the three claimed to be “avid” steelheaders who were just going to use the eggs for bait, according to WDFW. As an editorial aside, an “avid” angler is one who actually cares about the resource, who doesn’t waste fish, who only takes what they’re going to eat, who gives back to the fish and habitat, who packs out litter, who pays attention to a water’s issues, who educates others. And who doesn’t break fishing laws. That doesn’t appear to be the case here. The trio are frequent customers of local game wardens’ citation books, having been written up “multiple times for numerous fish and wildlife violations,” according to WDFW.
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters This episode added several more to their rap sheet — second-degree trespassing, failure to submit to a field inspection, possessing salmon eggs without the carcass of the fish, first-degree overlimits, retention in a closed area, snagging and wastage. I’d add the word wanton in front of wastage. “I was surprised — discarding such good meat,” said Jackson of the still-fresh-from-the-salt coho. Sadly, there was no food bank in the area to take the fish, he said, so they had to be disposed of. No doubt the trio have more rods, but at least those used in this alleged crime were seized. Besides issues of littering and trespassing, which led to a landowner on the river shutting down access to their property, WDFW is also focusing law enforcement on the Tahuya because it is home to federally listed summer chum salmon. Once extinct in the stream, the run is slowly recovering thanks to a unique hatchery program using eggs from fish collected on the nearby Union River. Summit’s work drew widespread praise on WDFW’s Facebook page, and the case was noted on several local fishing forums. Jackson hopes the Mason County Prosecutors Office follows through on charges.
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Wildlife Artists:
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Derek DeYoung Art: “Dream Double 2” (SOLD)
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Diane Michelin - Fly Fishing Fine Art: "GET’EM" Original watercolor 10" x 13"
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Dan Wallace: Passion for Authenticity
Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
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Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
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Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
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Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
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Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
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Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
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Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
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Legacy – December 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters