Legacy - February 2016

Legacy

…………………..

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Since 2011

eMagazine of Wild Game Fish Conservation International

Discovery variant in Canada

of a novel ISAV British Columbia,

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Cover: Each salmon farm in British Columbia holds ~ 600,000 Atlantic salmon in net pens.

They are sited on wild salmon migration routes.

The nets bring clean water to the farmed salmon, but allow viruses to pass easily back and forth between farmed and wild salmon.

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

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

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

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

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

Wild Game Fish Conservation International Founders

Bruce Treichler

Jim Wilcox

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

Contents Game Fishing Planet Earth – Now and Then _________________________________________________________ 7  Mike McEwen - Azores _________________________________________________________________________________ 7  Columbia River Chinook Salmon - 1910 _________________________________________________________________ 8  Some Scottish crackers caught in 2015. ________________________________________________________________ 9

Opinion __________________________________________________________________________________________ 10  Ocean Fish Farms – ISA Virus Bombs? ________________________________________________________________ 10  Three Fibs Premier Clark Uses to Sell LNG Dream ______________________________________________________ 11  Letter to the Editor: LNG plant on Lelu Island must be rejected __________________________________________ 17  Letter: Push back on the LNG assault__________________________________________________________________ 19  National Energy Board refuses to accept study on diluted bitumen ______________________________________ 21      

Oil trains: Rail safety has never been better ____________________________________________________________ In Our View: Risks Trump Any Rewards________________________________________________________________ Why First Nations oppose Site C ______________________________________________________________________ The real reason Clark and Co. are spending $9 billion on Site C__________________________________________ Opinion: Tanker ban is best way to protect North Pacific ________________________________________________ Dam project still a boondoggle ________________________________________________________________________

23 24 26 29 31 34

Special ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 35  Sacred salmon swimming slow________________________________________________________________________ 35  Lawsuit Launched Over New Pesticide's Danger to Salmon, Other Wildlife _______________________________ 36

Community Activism, Education and Outreach ______________________________________________________ 38  Stopping Farmed Salmon at the Cash Register _________________________________________________________ 38  Honoring the Sacred Waters and Wild Salmon __________________________________________________________ 39  Get Fish Farms Out of Our Ocean _____________________________________________________________________ 40  Ocean Fish Farms – Virus Bombs _____________________________________________________________________ 43           

Eddie Gardner: “Ocean Fish Farms – Virus Bombs? ____________________________________________________ Please don’t let Site C flood Peace River valley _________________________________________________________ Say “NO” to Site “C” Dam! ____________________________________________________________________________ The Site C Dam will be a Huge Black Eye _______________________________________________________________ Activists close Line 9 near Sarnia _____________________________________________________________________ Stop Kinder Morgan Rally, Vancouver, British Columbia ________________________________________________ BC Government says NO to Kinder Morgan Pipeline Expansion _________________________________________ Northwest tribes unite against giant coal, oil projects ___________________________________________________ Yurok Tribe adopts ordinance banning Frankenfish and GMOs __________________________________________ Nine arrested at Shawnigan protest site________________________________________________________________ MANAGEMENT AND STATUS OF OUR FISHERIES RESOURCES_________________________________________

44 45 46 47 48 50 51 52 60 63 65

Climate___________________________________________________________________________________________ 66  Idaho landscape could be safe haven for native fish ____________________________________________________ 66  Cuomo lays out aggressive energy goals, with key details pending ______________________________________ 68

Habitat ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 71  Proposed B.C. mine plans to reduce water content in waste but still use tailings dams ____________________ 73  DOWNSTREAM – Mine Waste and the Fraser River Watershed___________________________________________ 76

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels  Donation to the Chehalis River Basin Land Trust from the Weyerhaeuser Giving Foundation ______________ 77  Officials to consider alternative to Yellowstone dam over environmental concerns ________________________ 79  Planned soil dump near Chehalis River raises concerns ________________________________________________ 81

Harvest __________________________________________________________________________________________ 84  Request For A Reduction In Harvest Impacts on Southern Bound Natural Spawning Salmon Stocks _______ 84

Salmon feedlots __________________________________________________________________________________ 87  How does farmed salmon stack up? ___________________________________________________________________ 87  Wild Salmon Eaten Alive ______________________________________________________________________________ 88  Feared Atlantic Farm Salmon Virus Identified in British Columbia ________________________________________ 89  Trudeau Government Must Take Action on Deadly European Salmon Virus in British Columbia ____________ 91  What could ISA mean for BC? _________________________________________________________________________ 92  Grand Chief Stewart Phillip calls for independent First Nations testing of fish farms ______________________ 93  We challenge the newly elected government to no longer turn a blind eye ________________________________ 95    

Study finds virus in salmon ___________________________________________________________________________ 96 Deadly salmon virus may be in B.C. waters, study suggests _____________________________________________ 98 Alleged findings of ISA in BC salmon will not spur testing changes _____________________________________ 100 Researchers Detect Devastating Virus in Farmed Salmon ______________________________________________ 102

 TASTE THAT KILLS - WARNING excitotoxins__________________________________________________________ 104  Fish farm neighbours 'in shock' over Huon Aquaculture's nitrogen output breach _______________________ 108  Rare and chronic fish disease mycobacteriosis found for the first time in salmon farmed in Tasmania's Macquarie Harbour __________________________________________________________________________________  British Columbia Ends the Year Strong with Two ASC Certified Salmon Farms __________________________  Oversized packaging, “Organic”, artificial color, toxic-laden fat _________________________________________  Farmed Salmon Escapes ____________________________________________________________________________  How much pollution do we tolerate? __________________________________________________________________  RSPCA defend record as anti-seal cull campaigners allege salmon farms are not 'last resort' killers_______  Healthiest foods are raised in a natural environment ___________________________________________________  The salmon farm of the future? _______________________________________________________________________  Bord Iascaigh Mhara withdraws application for Galway Bay fish farm ___________________________________

110 114 115 116 117 120 123 125 126

 Petition to the FDA: Genetically Engineered Fish are a Danger__________________________________________ 127  Can Genetically Engineered Salmon Really Help Feed the Hungry and Save the Planet? __________________ 128  Aquabounty’s enhanced salmon boosted by Canada court ruling _______________________________________ 131

Energy Generation: Oil, Coal, Geothermal, Hydropower, Natural Gas, Solar, Tidal, Wind ______________ 133  Activists in Pacific Northwest Face Off Against Largest Oil-By-Rail Terminal in North America ____________ 134  REG abandons crude-oil storage _____________________________________________________________________ 139  Wind, solar power soaring in spite of bargain prices for fossil fuels _____________________________________  Energy development impacts for the Salish Sea _______________________________________________________ Petroleum – Drilled, Refined, Tar Sands, Fracked ________________________________________________________  Petropolis - Rape and pillage of Canada and Canadians for toxic bitumen _______________________________  Kinder Morgan Dilbit, Pipelines and Tankers Good for Orcas – NOT! ____________________________________  Interactive Map: Oil by Rail Across North America _____________________________________________________  Oil and Orca Don’t Mix _______________________________________________________________________________  Report questions safety of rusting, crumbling railroad bridges _________________________________________

142 145 147 147 148 149 150 151

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels  B.C. government formally opposes Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion __________________________________ 154  U.S. Not Prepared for Tar Sands Oil Spills, National Study Finds ________________________________________ 158  TransCanada Submits Updated Energy East Application, Confirming Risk of Massive Oil Tanker Traffic Increase Along U.S. East Coast ______________________________________________________________________ 160  Union Pacific Moving 1 Million Gallons of Oil Through Lewis County Weekly ____________________________ 164  Bakken Crude Oil Transport (BNSF) in Washington by County __________________________________________ 165 Coal __________________________________________________________________________________________________ 166  Save the Chuitna ____________________________________________________________________________________ 166  The oil boom in one slick infographic _________________________________________________________________ 166  China to Suspend New Coal Mine Approvals Amid Pollution Fight ______________________________________ 167 Hydropower / Water Retention __________________________________________________________________________ 169  Schematic methane emission pathways from a hydroelectric reservoir. _________________________________ 169  Water wars could return in Northwest as Congress dams deal __________________________________________ 170    

Environmental groups oppose Yakima water plan _____________________________________________________ Yakima River Basin Water Enhancement Project support letter – Jay Inslee – Governor, Washington ______ This is no joke. This is Site C_________________________________________________________________________ In Photos: The Destruction of the Peace River Valley for the Site C Dam _________________________________

173 175 177 178

 Site C – No “Dam” Way ______________________________________________________________________________  GRDA: People Below Pensacola, Kerr Dams Should Prepare To Evacuate _______________________________  Sizeable Investment From State on Flooding Would Pay Off, Leaders Say _______________________________  LAWSUIT TARGETS PUYALLUP RIVER SALMON PRODUCTIVITY ______________________________________ Natural Gas ___________________________________________________________________________________________  Salmon (not LNG) are the Lifeblood of British Columbia________________________________________________  No LNG on the Skeena estuary _______________________________________________________________________  Shell-led joint venture obtains key permit for LNG facility in Kitimat_____________________________________  Unstoppable California Gas Leak Being Called Worst Catastrophe Since BP Spill ________________________  Crews responded to a large Oklahoma fracking operation fire __________________________________________ Solar _________________________________________________________________________________________________  How an Australian Mining Town Became a Solar Power Trailblazer _____________________________________

183 184 185 187 189 189 190 191 193 196 197 198

 Now THAT'S how you do solar energy ________________________________________________________________ 203 Wind__________________________________________________________________________________________________ 205  Wind Power Continues Steady Growth Across The U.S. ________________________________________________ 205  Germany’s wind farms are now producing so much electricity they are paying users to take it ____________ 207

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

Forward The February 2016 issue of “Legacy” (Volume 5, Issue 4) marks fifty two consecutive months of our complimentary eMagazine; the no-holds-barred, watchdog journal published and distributed by Wild Game Fish Conservation International.

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

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

Sincerely,

Bruce Treichler James E. Wilcox Wild Game Fish Conservation International

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

Game Fishing Planet Earth – Now and Then

 Mike McEwen - Azores

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

 Columbia River Chinook Salmon - 1910

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

 Some Scottish crackers caught in 2015.

Scottish Salmon Fishing Surgery would like to wish all its readers a happy and prosperous New Year. May your rods be buckled in 2016!

Tight lines, Sandy & Sam

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

Opinion

 Ocean Fish Farms – ISA Virus Bombs?

Eddie Gardner, Wild Salmon Defenders Alliance Coordinator January 14, 2016 News of the first published evidence that a European variant of the infectious salmon anaemia virus (ISAV) is present in British Columbia is extremely disturbing. The peer-reviewed study was published in the Virology Journal, a scientific publication from BioMed Central, a leading academic open access publisher in the areas of biology, medicine and health. Co-author Dr. Rick Routledge said that the potential of the ISA virus to be contributing to widespread decline in sockeye salmon populations must not be taken lightly. Dr. Alexandra Morton, independent biologist with Raincoast Research Society, stated, “This work gives B.C. and our U.S. neighbors the opportunity to avoid tragic consequences.”

“I’m so glad to see this paper finally published. I produced a documentary about exactly this issue in 2013 called Salmon Confidential which documents evidence of dangerous European salmon viruses including ISAV which have been introduced to our wild Pacific salmon through farmed Atlantic salmon eggs imported from Europe ,” added filmmaker Twyla Roscovich. "The film is free to view online for anyone interested in the backstory.”

River First Nations titleholders have never given their consent to have fish farms sited on the migration routes of Fraser River wild salmon, and have made clear their opposition to ocean fish farms for many years. “We see too many wild salmon in our nets with open sores. Some look good on the outside but when we open them, we find numerous white and green balls that look like cancer cells. We burn these fish instead of throwing them back in the environment so the bears, eagles and other wild life don’t get sick. We witnessed too many pre-spawn deaths. This study adds to our grave concerns about fish farms, and they must be removed from the ocean,” asserted Shane John, a Katz First Nation fisher.

The Ahousaht First Nation made the historic decision in 2015 to have a fish farm removed from their territory. “By not allowing this fish farm in our territory, we gave the wild salmon of the Atleo river a fighting chance to survive, and we protected nearby clam beds to feed future generations,” said Lennie John of Ahousaht First Nation. “To me, this study reconfirms fish farms don’t belong in the ocean,” Lennie added.

This study warrants a call to action by all stakeholders. We must send a strong message to both the federal and provincial governments that we can no longer tolerate the ocean fish farm industry continuing to play Russian roulette with our endangered wild salmon. Too much is at stake.

Business as usual expansion must stop. Open-net fish farms could very well be ticking virus bombs, and raises the spectre of wild salmon vanishing, with devastating consequences for biodiversity and the wild salmon economy.

To prevent this, we need to honor the precautionary principle by removing open-net fish farms from the ocean. An emerging land-based aquaculture industry, properly regulated, would be a sustainable alternative to ocean fish farms, a solution whose time has come. Government regulations protecting wild salmon from all industrial harm is also imperative.

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

Why does Premier Clark keep saying LNG will bring a bonanza of jobs and revenues?

 Three Fibs Premier Clark Uses to Sell LNG Dream Sorry, it's not clean. It won't pay off. It's not popular. Here's why.

December 21, 2015

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels The more Christy Clark defends her dream of an LNG industry, the more she turns cold gas into hot air. The B.C. premier's interview with Andrew MacLeod published last week in The Tyee is a case in point. As MacLeod pressed with many LNG-related questions, Clark resorted to three big, bloated fibs.

Fib #1: LNG is 'clean' While making our documentary Fractured Land about fracking in B.C., co-director Fiona Rayher and I journeyed to Cornell University to interview Dr. Robert Howarth. He is a global expert on the climate impacts of fracking.

CLARK'S SITE C INCONSISTENCIES On the massive, taxpayer-funded Site C dam project, our premier remains where she's always been: all over the map.

First, she told us the power was needed for the enormously energy-intensive LNG industry.

Then she creatively interpreted the Clean Energy Act to mean that LNG plants could power themselves by burning some of their own gas, saving them money. That would produce three times the greenhouse gas emissions as would electric power. It also means her previous justification for Site C is gone.

Even BC Hydro recently admitted to the BC Utilities Commission that without powering LNG, we wouldn't need the electricity from Site C until at least 2029.

This dam is therefore an unnecessary taxpayer-funded boondoggle of at least $9 billion that would flood or disrupt 30,000 acres of some of the best farmland left in Canada, while violating First Nations' treaty rights. -- D.G. We told him our premier has affixed the label "Cleanest Fossil Fuel on the Planet" to B.C. LNG (derived almost entirely from a massive increase in fracking in the province's northeast).

Howarth chuckled and said: "Your premier has her facts wrong!"

It is true that "natural" gas, an old euphemism for methane, burns cleaner than coal when you turn on your stove or fireplace at the end of the line. But when it escapes into the atmosphere before it's burned, it's some 80 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than CO2 over a 20-year period.

What Dr. Howarth's research shows is that far more methane escapes while fracking, processing and piping it than we previously thought (3.5-7 per cent of it). And that makes fracked gas dirtier than coal.

Especially when you later turn it into LNG, which requires burning gas to power the energy-intensive cooling process, then burning even more to get the tanker to Japan or China. In fact, with just a handful of plants, we could double the entire province's carbon footprint.

There are also the billions of litres of freshwater contaminated each year for fracking in northeast B.C., plus the earthquakes stimulated by the pumping of toxic water deep underground. Add to that a whole lot of roads and well pads carved out of northern boreal forest, and you've got some sense of where this "clean" LNG really comes from.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Knowing this, it's high time we replace the term LNG with LFG: Liquefied Fracked Gas. Far from being "natural" or the "cleanest fossil fuel," it's more fair to call it "the dirtiest."

Fib #2: The business case for LNG is solid The Asian LNG market is in freefall. Prices that peaked at $18 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) just a few years ago are the reason we started down this path. Now they have plummeted to the $7 range today, with leading analysts forecasting $4-5 per MMBtu in 2016-17. Just to break even on gas fracked in northeast B.C., piped to the coast, compressed and loaded onto tankers bound for Asia, you need to fetch about $12 per MMBtu. It doesn't take a PhD in economics to figure out why. As The Tyee's MacLeod put to our premier, expert consultants like IHS Inc. predict "19 out of 20 planned gas export projects in the world won't be needed by 2025."

"The biggest story is the increase in LNG export capacity," explained Mike Fulwood, principal for global gas at Nexant Inc., to Bloomberg recently. With new plants from Australia and the U.S. coming online in 2016, coupled with decreased demand in China and Japan, prices show no sign of recovering for years to come.

Energy and Mines Minister Rich Coleman has spoken often of B.C. needing to "win the LNG race."

Well, it's over and we lost.

Premier Clark can crow all she wants about $20 billion of foreign investment thus far -- that's almost all upstream, in the acquisition and development of fracking plays. Not one of the 21 companies or conglomerates proposing an LNG terminal downstream has reached a final investment decision to spend the more than $10 billion required for plant construction. Nor are they likely to at this point.

Besides viable prices, another important component of good business is the quality and integrity of your partners. Here, our premier clearly lacks judgment. In the Tyee interview, she laughs off the $700 million corruption scandal in which Najib Razak, the prime minister of Malaysia and ultimate boss of state-owned Petronas, is embroiled. "Makes me feel like I went into business in the wrong country," Clark quips. "It's crazy. But you know, it's just a different way of doing business, I guess..."

She also seems unaware or unconcerned with the company's shoddy safety record -recently exposed in the Vancouver Sun. Meanwhile, Clark has embraced Woodfibre LNG -- the plant proposed for Howe Sound, near Squamish -- even though its Indonesian owner is Sukanto Tanoto, whose companies have been accused of tax fraud, environmental devastation and human rights abuses in Southeast Asia.

The way these foreign players do business is also at the root of another of Christy Clark's economic fibs. She insists she can still fulfill her election promise to create an LNG-fueled $100 billion "Prosperity Fund" and tens of thousands of jobs.

The reason we will never see those kind of numbers, even if a few plants wind up materializing, is that Clark and Coleman have already given away the farm.

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

Fracking play in Horn River Basin near Fort Nelson.

Under pressure from the likes of Petronas to cut the public's share of the LNG bounty amid diminishing profit margins, we've seen our export tax rate cut to virtually nothing. I was in the room when Shamsul Abbas, then-CEO of Petronas, wagged a finger at British Columbians, threatening to pull up stakes if we didn't slash public benefits and cut environmental "red tape."

Sure enough, the province soon rubber-stamped Petronas's project, even though the federal government remains concerned about impacts on salmon habitat and has yet to rule. Meanwhile, the deal dropped export taxes from seven per cent to 1.5 per cent. Even that came with a loophole big enough to drive an LNG tanker through. Companies can deduct tens of billions of dollars in plant construction costs from what would be already piddly export taxes.

After shackling her whole political future to this one idea, the only way Premier Clark can see fit to keep Petronas and co. on the line is by giving away everything she promised to the people of B.C. Talk about a Pyrrhic victory.

Fib #3: First Nations and communities broadly support LNG Premier Clark maintains, "We've got pretty broad agreement from First Nations and communities along the way [for LNG]." The Tsawwassen First Nation's recent rejection of an LNG plant on their reserve is just the latest example of why that's simply untrue.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels I recently toured our fracking documentary Fractured Land across the northwestern part of the province. The film drew sizeable crowds and lively discussion in many of the communities where the LNG pipelines and plants are planned. Such places included Hazelton, Smithers, Terrace and Kitimat. Also Prince Rupert, where I went to visit the Lax Kw'alaams hereditary and grassroots leaders battling Petronas's plans for Lelu Island. Their people voted overwhelmingly against one of the most lucrative agreements ever offered to a First Nation over a resource project -- $1.15 billion in economic benefits -- because of concerns about the project's impact on wild salmon.

At Madii Lii Camp, a few hundred kilometres up the Skeena River, Gitxsan hereditary chiefs have positioned themselves in the path of Petronas's proposed pipeline. They're also going to court to battle the pipeline -- one of four First Nations-led cases challenging various aspects of Petronas's plans.

Further south, on the Morice River, members of the Unist'ot'en Clan of the Wet'suwet'en Nation maintain a multi-year occupation of another pipeline corridor –- this one bound for Kitimat. Treaty 8 First Nations are also becoming more standoffish toward fracking in their territory. And they are dead set against the Site C dam, which they continue to battle in the courts.

Protesters line highway up Howe Sound to protest proposed Woofibre LNG plant in Squamish.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels It's not just First Nations who are increasingly opposed to LNG and fracking. Communities and their municipal governments up and down Howe Sound and the Sunshine Coast are rejecting the proposed Woodfibre plant. Up north, the residents of the Kispiox Valley -- many of them non-native doctors, nurses, farmers, loggers, guide outfitters and business owners -- have also banded together in defiance of Petronas's proposed pipeline.

Opportunity costs In the end, perhaps the most dangerous aspect of Christy Clark's LNG pipedream is the distraction it has become from other economic opportunities and important social priorities. Premier Clark assures us her government has a diverse economic vision -- yet everything seems somehow to come back to LNG and Site C. We can't even tackle child poverty, she says, unless we see economic growth first -presumably from these initiatives.

While our leaders remain fixated on LNG, we're missing the real energy revolution, green energy, which has created eight million new jobs over the last decade in places like Germany, the U.S., China, Brazil and Korea.

Take note of that list: They're the world's biggest economic powerhouses and they appear to have something we sorely lack here in B.C.: real economic vision. No lie.

LNG wells in British Columbia

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

 Letter to the Editor: LNG plant on Lelu Island must be rejected December 23, 2015 Can a liquefied natural gas export facility be built in the heart of the Skeena River estuary without seriously harming the second-largest wild salmon run in Canada?

A growing body of science — from Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Simon Fraser University, the Skeena Fisheries Commission, and others — suggests that industrial port development on Lelu Island near Prince Rupert is likely to damage Flora Bank, a shallow eelgrass bed next to Lelu that rears 300 million juvenile salmon every year as they graduate from fresh to salt water. The Skeena salmon fishery generates in excess of $110 million annually.

The only science that claims that the Pacific NorthWest LNG facility proposed for Lelu Island isn’t likely to significantly harm salmon is from the company proposing the project, and it is disturbingly problematic.

A submission to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency by consulting firm Stantec, working for Pacific NorthWest, included no field data on fish, yet inexplicably concluded that “salmon do not use Flora Bank eelgrass habitat for nursery habitat or other life dependent processes.” When asked about the baffling report, an anonymous Stantec employee told a news reporter that, “Internally, when it came out, there were quite a lot of people in our fisheries and marine group who were very, very unhappy with the report and could not believe that it had been produced.”

Similarly unsatisfactory, Pacific NorthWest’s 3D modelling of potential impacts was rejected by the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) based on “numerous and significant deficiencies and errors in the modelling procedures, input data, and assumptions.”

In light of these problems, scientists from Simon Fraser University and the Skeena Fisheries Commission recently concluded that the Pacific NorthWest LNG design “disregards science” and “poses significant and unacceptable risks to Skeena salmon and their fisheries.” These comments were based on work the researchers published in the prestigious peer-reviewed journal Science. If there ever was a gold-standard of scientific credibility, this is it.

In contrast, Pacific NorthWest is on their fourth try to provide credible science. Never mind publication, the company’s application to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency has been rejected three times by government scientists at DFO and Natural Resources Canada. Each time, the company has been asked to provide trustworthy information on potential impacts on fish. Each time, they have come up short.

Will Pacific NorthWest’s latest science, submitted on Nov. 10, fare any better? Not likely.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels One glaring concern is that Pacific NorthWest is overlooking key evidence that their LNG terminal may cause the vital Flora Bank salmon habitat to be demolished by erosion.

Patrick McLaren, one of the world’s leading geologists on sediment transport by water, has discovered that Flora Bank is a geological anomaly found nowhere else in B.C. It is relic sand from the last ice age, held in place by a delicate balance of opposing tidal, wave, and river currents.

McLaren concludes, in a peer-reviewed scientific publication, that building the LNG supertanker trestle would likely disrupt this balance, and cause the bank and the eelgrass to be lost to deep water by erosion. The result? The critical salmon habitat would be eliminated.

Yet, Pacific NorthWest is relying on a 3D computer model to try to show that the project will not erode Flora Bank. In response to DFO feedback, Pacific NorthWest updated their modelling on Nov. 10, yet it still has problems. The key prediction of the new 3D model — that currents on top of Flora Bank are weak — is incompatible with the empirical observation that there are sand waves on Flora Bank that only form under strong currents. Thus, the 3D modelling must still be deficient and therefore cannot be relied on for accurate predictions. If the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency continues to hold the company accountable, this submission too will be rejected.

Governments have known the significance of Flora Bank, one of the largest eelgrass beds in B.C., for over 40 years. In 1973, a report by DFO found that Flora Bank is “of high biological significance as a fish (especially juvenile salmon) rearing habitat,” and advised that “construction of a superport at the Kitson Island — Flora Bank site would destroy much of this critical salmon habitat.”

But the B.C. government’s gold-rush approach to LNG development has welcomed Petronas, a company notorious internationally for its “catastrophic” safety issues and financial scandals, to disregard established science and set up shop on Lelu Island.

Politicians and regulators should not let Pacific NorthWest LNG, led by Petronas, muddy the waters with faulty science that jeopardizes one of the most prolific wild salmon runs in the world.

The LNG plant on Lelu Island should be rejected.

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

 Letter: Push back on the LNG assault January 6, 2016 There is a toxic relationship between the fossil fuel industry and too many of the world’s powerful people who try desperately to protect a business model that has reaped billions of dollars in profit at the expense of our planet.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels I have been living in Squamish for 41 years, and thankfully for many of us here, there has been a huge shift in our thinking about the environment and our connections to it. Our trust in corporations has been fractured. I am thinking about the contamination of Howe Sound from mining, the mercury from former chemical plants, the filling in of large portions of the estuary, the loss of marine populations, and now the pipe dream some folks have of building a fossil fuel LNG facility in our midst.

It is not about the carrots of jobs and taxes anymore. Many of us realize that we are all actually on a spaceship called Earth and that it does have life-support systems for which we are responsible.

As former B.C. MLA, Gordon Wilson has said so eloquently in The Common Sense Canadian (Nov. 4, 2013) about liquefied natural gas (LNG), “The most compelling reason to be concerned about relying on this golden goose is the fact that the markets we are told will buy all we can supply may not materialize as we think, and even if they do, the price they are prepared to pay for our product may be well below what is anticipated.” And he also said, “The impact of an expanded hydrocarbon economy will certainly speed up global warming and cause us to build a dependency on a revenue stream that originates from processes that are poisoning our atmosphere.”

This push-back requires both personal changes and global system changes. It is next to impossible for you and I alone to lift ourselves out of the global warming quicksand by our bootstraps.

We need some bigger hooks at the local, provincial, national and international levels. We need more citizens to speak out firmly for a transition to renewable energies and to reject the idea of an archaic fossil fuel facility in Sea to Sky Country. We may also need an adherence to the teachings of David Thoreau and Gandhi in order to push back the LNG assault. So far, they do not have a social license.

Let us make sure they cannot manufacture our consent.

Lynn Wilbur Squamish

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

 National Energy Board refuses to accept study on diluted bitumen December 23, 2015 One of the most important reports submitted to the National Energy Board’s review of Kinder Morgan’s proposed Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion has been denied, according to a biologist with one of the hearing’s intervenors.

The Raincoast Conservation Foundation and the Living Oceans Society, both intervenors in the hearing, submitted a motion to the NEB on December 9 asking the board to accept a new study on diluted bitumen (also called dilbit), although the deadline for evidence had passed six months previous. The study, Spills of Diluted Bitumen From Pipelines, was released by the Washington, D.C.–based National Academy of Sciences (NAS) on December 8.

The City of Vancouver signed in support of the request, as did the Upper Nicola Band, the Tsawout First Nation, and two other nonprofits. On December 17, the NEB ruled against the request.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Raincoast biologist Misty MacDuffee told the Georgia Straight by phone that the U.S. report is “the most authoritative review on dilbit that’s ever been undertaken”. She said the study concludes that dilbit behaves very differently than other crude oils when spilled, therefore requiring a different spill response.

MacDuffee said such a response has yet to be established by B.C. officials. “Dismissing a report of this magnitude is what leaves the public with a lack of faith in the scientific rigour of the NEB’s process,” she said. “It’s chosen expediency over the rights, needs, and the safety of the public.”

NEB spokesperson Tara O’Donovan countered that although the NEB did not accept the study as evidence for the hearing, it’s still possible that the study’s conclusions will affect future NEB regulations. She said the NEB uses “the most recent scientific information in terms of how we regulate going forward”.

“It’s not like we just make a decision and then that’s the end of it for us,” O’Donovan said. “We have conditions that apply throughout the life cycle of the project that the company must meet in order to continue to operate.”

In its ruling, the NEB admitted that the report is relevant and the late filing is justified. However, it denied the application because the timing would be unfair to Trans Mountain, which wouldn’t have enough time to respond to the new evidence.

O’Donovan said that in the case of a late filing, “the board has the option of asking the [federal] minister for more time, and then it would be up to the minister to decide.” In this instance, she said, they didn’t ask for extra time because the “board feels it already has evidence on the record related to this issue”.

But opponents say this evidence is not enough. Karen Wristen, executive director of Living Oceans, said the evidence currently on the NEB’s record is “one expert against another expert”.

The NAS report combines knowledge from multiple scientific fields, Wristen said, and it “looked carefully at not just lab work but what has actually happened in the environment with spills…it [dilbit] is a novel substance and it’s behaving differently.”

Dilbit is bitumen diluted with hydrocarbons, a mixture that travels easily through pipelines.

Uncertainty about its properties attracted the attention of the U.S. Congress, which asked the private, nonprofit NAS to do a multidisciplinary study on the mixture. According to Wristen, the report’s conclusion that dilbit reacts differently than other crude oils “is completely at odds with the information that Kinder Morgan [and wholly-owned subsidiary Trans Mountain have] put before the National Energy Board”.

Wristen said the study concludes that within a matter of hours or days of an ocean spill, dilbit separates into its original components. The hydrocarbons evaporate, and the air around the spill becomes explosive. Meanwhile, the bitumen begins to sink below the surface and may attach to silt and other ocean particles.

“At that point, it becomes impossible to track or find,” Wristen said. “You can’t use spill-response technology on it; you can’t use dispersants; you can’t pick it up with a skimmer. You’ve gotta be able to get ahold of it first of all, so this means we need new technology to deal with spills.”

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

Letters to the Editor

 Oil trains: Rail safety has never been better December 31, 2015 The Seattle Times’ editorial “State leaders must act fast to prepare for more oil trains,” [Opinion, Dec. 23] raises important issues about transportation safety, but unnecessarily raises public alarm based on incorrect data.

For the record, there are currently 10 to 18 oil trains a week traveling through the state of Washington on Burlington Northern Santa Fe tracks.

We move our customers’ freight when and where markets demand. And as a common carrier, we are required by federal law to move all regulated products.

Oil shipments make up less than 5 percent of the cargo transported by BNSF. Consumer goods like furniture, refrigerators, mountain bikes, cars and trucks, and commodities like lumber and grain, make up a larger percentage of our total volume.

Rail safety has never been better. Train accidents per million train miles are down 80 percent since 1980 and the last three years were the safest on record for BNSF. Furthermore, since 2000, we’ve invested nearly $50 billion making our railroad safer and more efficient.

Operating safely for our employees and the communities we serve is the most important thing we do at BNSF. Ross Lane, regional director, public affairs, BNSF Railway

Editorial Comment: The concerns associated with transporting Bakken Formation crude oil by rail are many and significant: 1. Fracking to access Bakken crude poisons fresh water aquifers 2. Rail cars (DOT-111) used to transport Bakken crude are unsafe for this highly volatile product 3. 1 million gallons of Bakken crude per train through Washington’s most populated cities and her sensitive wildlife habitats is nothing short of insanity.

4. Forty or more mile-long trains in addition to existing rail traffic will further congest Washington’s growing traffic challenges 5. Transporting refined or crude Bakken oil on oil tankers via the Salish Sea and the Pacific Ocean will unnecessarily risk Washington and British Columbia marine life.

6. Resources in Washington are inadequate to respond to Bakken spills and explosions on land or water.

The risk is too great!

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

 In Our View: Risks Trump Any Rewards January 12, 2016 For many people, the issue of a proposed oil terminal at the Port of Vancouver comes down to risk vs. reward.

Proponents say the terminal, which would bring up to 360,000 barrels of oil per day into Vancouver by train, will provide necessary jobs and economic development. They also say they trust the ability of Tesoro Corp. and Savage Cos. — working jointly as Vancouver Energy — to safely operate the project. Critics say the terminal presents environmental dangers and the risk of train derailments and explosions, and that it would be a poor fit for the culture of Southwest Washington.

Both sides can come up with facts to support their arguments, which they presented last week to the state Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council. They can be expected to do so again at another public meeting from 5 to 11 p.m. tonight at the Clark County Event Center at the Fairgrounds. The council is finalizing an Environmental Impact Statement and will give a recommendation to Gov. Jay Inslee, who will have the final say regarding the proposal.

While public input is necessary and must be considered, at this point there are no new revelations about the terminal; the facts have been presented and those who have formed opinions are unlikely to change them. (It should be noted, by the way, that a vast majority of those who attended last week’s meeting are opposed to the terminal). So, as the debate continues, it comes back to risk vs. reward, and in that regard we must take issue with those who support the terminal.

“I urge everyone not to get distracted by misconceptions,” one proponent said Tuesday. “No risk has been identified that cannot be mitigated by the well-tested tech and good planning that Vancouver Energy is proposing.” The problem is that such planning has failed Tesoro in the past.

In April 2010, an explosion and fire at the company’s refinery in Anacortes killed seven workers. The company reportedly settled a lawsuit brought by the victims’ families out of court, and it received a $2.39 million fine — the largest ever handed out by the state Department of Labor & Industries. State regulators cited the company for 39 “willful” and five “serious” violations of workplace health and safety regulations, and the U.S. Chemical Safety Board traced the incident to “a deficient refinery safety culture, weak industry standards for safeguarding equipment, and a regulatory system that too often emphasizes activities rather than outcomes.”

In 2013, Tesoro agreed to pay $1.1 million in civil penalties for violations of the Clean Air Act at several refineries. And a 2010 study by researchers at California universities found that Tesoro “ranks worst in health impacts among all companies with refining operations in the state.”

Also in 2013, the rupture of a Tesoro pipeline flooded a North Dakota wheat field with more than 20,000 barrels of crude oil. A year later, farmer Steve Jensen told the Associated Press, “It’s a big cleanup, and it’s become part of our life. The ground is still saturated with oil. And they’re out there seven days a week, 24 hours a day.”

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Undoubtedly, any large industrial operation carries risks. But the risks posed by oil-bearing trains traveling through a densely populated city could be catastrophic. We believe that an oil terminal is a poor fit for the region and that a reputation as an oil town would create long-term damage for Vancouver. But for those who look at it as a risk-vs.-reward proposition, it is essential that such an evaluation is not skewed by unfounded optimism in Tesoro’s planning.

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

David Suzuki and Grand Chief Stewart Phillip participate in a meeting of First Nations members and local land owners in the Peace River Valley near the historic Rocky Mountain Fort.

 Why First Nations oppose Site C Treaty 8 ‘Stewards of the Land’ defend treaty rights and environment.

January 12, 2016 We recently travelled to northeastern B.C.’s Peace Valley to meet with First Nations members and local landowners camped out at a remote historic fort site slated for destruction by the Site C dam.

The Treaty 8 Stewards of the Land told media they’re willing to risk arrest to stop BC Hydro from clear cutting forests around Rocky Mountain Fort, on the west side of Moberly River. The site, selected by explorer Alexander Mackenzie as mainland B.C.’s first trading post, is on Treaty 8 First Nations’ traditional territory.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels As we sat around the fire beneath old-growth spruce and cottonwood trees, elders and community members explained that their action is not merely another environmental protest. They argued passionately that they are land stewards camped out in the forest despite bitterly cold weather to exercise their treaty rights, such as collecting medicinal plants, making prayers and tending nearby traplines.

When the Dunne-Zaa people joined Treaty 8 in 1900, a solemn and binding promise guaranteed their ability to continue to participate in these and other traditional activities such as hunting, trapping and fishing. The treaty explicitly guaranteed the Dunne-Zaa would be able to continue traditional practices “for as long as the sun shines, the rivers flow and the grass grows.” In return for the necessary consent to take up these beautiful, productive lands (the Site C flood zone includes prime agricultural land and is teeming with wild game), the Crown solemnly promised that practices Treaty 8 First Nations have continuously maintained for at least 11,000 years would be allowed to continue without forced interference or forced dependency on the Crown.

Yet since signing Treaty 8, First Nations in northeastern B.C. have seen their lands irrevocably damaged by logging, oil and gas extraction, mines, dams and other resource development. Research by the David Suzuki Foundation revealed that nearly two-thirds of their traditional territories have been affected by some form of industrial development, leaving little intact habitat for wildlife like moose and caribou, which have sustained communities for millennia.

The Peace Valley is one of the few remaining places where Treaty 8 First Nations can participate in traditional activities as their ancestors did for thousands of years before the treaty was signed — activities crucial to maintaining their cultural and spiritual identity and connection to the land.

The Peace Valley could be ripped away from First Nations who call this picturesque region of B.C. home. If built, the $9 billion Site C dam will flood 107 kilometres of the Peace River and its tributaries, including critical hunting and fishing grounds.

Site C would also obliterate hundreds of graves and ceremonial sites and directly hinder Treaty 8 First Nations’ cultural and ceremonial practices.

Years of case law, as well as the Supreme Court of Canada Tsilhqot’in decision, have drawn attention to the fact that treaty and aboriginal rights enshrined by Section 35 of the Canadian Constitution are effectively meaningless if First Nations don’t have access to traditional lands and waterways. The Crown must at least try to maintain the ecosystems critical to those rights so that First Nations can continue to live off healthy populations of wild game, fish and plants.

The Joint Review Panel convened by the federal and B.C. governments concluded Site C would significantly harm Treaty 8 First Nations without a definite need for the power it will produce.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels The panel found the dam would have “significant adverse effects” on fishing, hunting and trapping, and other traditional land uses not just in B.C., but also downstream where the Peace River enters Alberta. According to the panel, most of these adverse effects are impossible to mitigate.

If built, Site C will render First Nations’ rights guaranteed under Treaty 8 irrelevant to the point of mockery.

Two Treaty 8 First Nations, West Moberly and Prophet River, have launched court cases to stop the Site C dam on the grounds that it infringes on their treaty rights. BC Hydro, urged on by Premier Christy Clark, has decided to clear cut vast areas of the Peace Valley to make way for the dam and reservoir, in effect destroying it before First Nations even get their day in court.

As we left the Rocky Mountain Fort site, where Treaty 8 members are spending another night in -20 C temperatures in the snow, we were struck by the tragedy of the situation. While politicians are bandying about reconciliation as the salve that will heal centuries-old injustices, are treaty promises even worth anything, when hunting grounds will be under water, moose populations decimated and fish contaminated with toxic methyl mercury from decaying organic matter if the dam is built?

Government promises to uphold and respect treaty rights ring hollow when construction is green-lighted before ongoing First Nations’ court cases against the dam are finished. BC Hydro must stop its work immediately until the court cases are decided.

Grand Chief Stewart Phillip is president of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs. David Suzuki is a scientist, broadcaster, author and co-founder of the David Suzuki Foundation.

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

 The real reason Clark and Co. are spending $9 billion on Site C December 21, 2015 From a lookout high atop a windswept bluff, the scale of work already underway at the site of a third mega-dam across the Peace River is daunting. Large tracts of boreal forest are logged. Vast amounts of topsoil are stripped away for what could one day be a trailer city housing hundreds of workers. Gravel from the fish-bearing river continues to be excavated to build a roadbed that will eat up a portion of the north riverbank. And more.

Despite all this activity, actual construction of the Site C dam itself is far off. Only a tiny fraction of the projected $9 billion in funds needed to build the single most expensive megaproject in B.C.’s history has been spent. There is still plenty of time to halt this project and have the public discussion we should have had a long time ago: Why this questionable project at this time?

Nothing underscores the importance of this conversation more than the simple fact that we don’t need Site C’s power.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Nor will we for some time. BC Hydro itself has told the BC Utilities Commission (BCUC) that only by 2028 would our consumption exceed domestic production.

And that projection is based on outdated data. BC Hydro’s most recent quarterly report notes that forecasted hydro sales to large industrial and commercial users are falling. Slumping commodity prices have delayed mining projects. Questions also hang over some B.C. pulp mills: big power users who, ironically, are threatened by rising hydro prices as well as by looming shortfalls of available timber.

In other words, it could be well beyond 2028 before B.C. energy consumption meets or exceeds current hydro production. And that assumes nothing changes in the interim. If we install droves of additional wind turbines and solar panels or we build new geothermal power plants (B.C. currently has none) the date gets pushed back further still.

So what’s the rush? Why is our government pushing so hard for Site C? The answer lies in the theoretical emergence of a Liquefied Natural Gas industry in the province, a premise on which Premier Christy Clark has staked her political future. According to BC Hydro’s filings with the BCUC, only with LNG plants coming online would our hydro consumption begin to outstrip domestic supply, and only then in about eight years.

Despite the fact that fossil fuel giants like Shell and Petronas haven’t committed a cent to building LNG plants, the rush is on to supply them “clean” power to offset some of the emissions associated with producing fracked and potentially liquefied natural gas — which are among the dirtiest, most climate-unfriendly fossil fuels on earth.

Less known is that a related rush is also underway and linked to the Peace River’s two existing hydroelectric dams. That is a move to electrify the field operations of the likes of Shell and Petronas.

Already, one new major transmission line is nearing completion in the Dawson Creek/Chetwynd area.

BC Hydro reports the cost of that line to ratepayers now stands at $301 million. The line was explicitly built to furnish Shell and other natural gas producers with hydroelectricity, which will allow the companies to burn less natural gas to power their operations. Yet all hydro users will pay for it.

Two other major transmission line extensions are also in the works. They would furnish Petronas and other corporations with hydroelectricity so that they can burn less gas. Energy Minister Bill Bennett recently said that the government wants both projects exempt from review by the watchdog BCUC, meaning that hydro ratepayers and taxpayers will never know whether the province’s independent natural gas and electricity utility regulator considers either project to be justified. They will also never know what the regulator thinks of the proposed Site C dam, because the government has refused to submit that project to BCUC review as well.

All of this is exceedingly troubling from a public policy perspective, especially on the heels of the international climate change conference in Paris. During that conference, Premier Clark claimed that there is no “low hanging fruit” left in British Columbia as far as climate change fixes are concerned.

Really? How about saying no to an LNG industry that doesn’t and may never exist. And no to an unnecessary dam that will destroy some of the best farmland on earth so that fossil fuel companies can heat up our fast-warming planet even more.

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

 Opinion: Tanker ban is best way to protect North Pacific December 21, 2015 Legislating an oil tanker ban in the North Pacific is a decisive step to build the future British Columbians want. While there are other ways to stop Enbridge’s Northern Gateway project, a law prohibiting oil tanker traffic will address all oil tankers in the region, not just this one project, and remove all doubt about the federal moratorium, in place since 1972.

Editorial Comment: Crude oil is impossible to recover when spilled in marine environments.

Diluted Bitumen (Northern Gateway) sinks in water making it a unique environmental hazard for decades.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Passing such a law will uphold Canada’s tradition of acting to protect its ocean interests while working with other states to develop international law. It is also a critical step for a sustainable future for the region.

The five private member bills introduced by MPs Joyce Murray and Nathan Cullen are a blueprint for action, and can be tailored to address past critiques, such as by exempting existing shipments of fuel to coastal communities in both B.C. and Alaska.

Concerns about how our neighbours to the south may react should not be overblown. Like all coastal nations, the U.S. juggles marine environmental protection and shipping rules such as innocent passage, and acts when necessary, as Canada should in this case. The U.S. restricts shipping through domestic law in environmentally sensitive areas such as Puget Sound, and through numerous internationally sanctioned limits. Just this past July, the International Maritime Organization approved a U.S. proposal to limit shipping close to the Alaskan Aleutian Islands due to concerns about potential damage to local communities reliant on fisheries.

It is similarly in Canada’s interests to eliminate the risk of catastrophic spills and other harmful impacts from oil tankers by prohibiting their passage in B.C.’s north coast, almost half of which is classified as “Ecologically or Biologically Significant Areas”, according to criteria adopted by the Convention on Biological Diversity. The proposed tanker routes pass by critical habitat for fish, shellfish, endangered whales, and protected areas like Gwaii Hanaas National Marine Conservation Area Reserve and Haida Heritage Site, and Sgaan Kinghlas/Bowie Seamount, an underwater volcano protected under Canada’s Oceans Act. Canada’s interests in legislating a north coast oil tanker ban are also economic — industries such as fishing, aquaculture and tourism depend on a healthy ocean. A study from UBC’s Fisheries Centre found that the costs of a major oil spill would outweigh the benefits that Enbridge itself calculated would flow from the Northern Gateway project.

Editorial Comment: We’ve been waiting for the inevitable – the ocean-based salmon feedlot industry concerned about pollution impacts to their facilities and crops due to oil spills – very ironic, to say the least!

The researchers conservatively estimated that a large-scale spill could cost local fishermen, the Port of Prince Rupert, BC Ferries and marine tourism operators roughly $300 million, 4,000 full-time jobs, and $200 million in contribution to GDP over 50 years, not including damage to social, cultural and ecological values. Each year, ocean-based industries on the north coast of B.C. generate about $1.2 billion, provide employment for more than 9,000 people, and contribute approximately $700 million to GDP. A legislated oil tanker ban would further protect Canada’s interests by according with the declarations of First Nations that have banned oil tanker traffic from the waters in their territories as a matter of their own laws. Eight First Nations are among the litigants now awaiting a ruling from the Federal Court of Appeal on the legality of the government’s Northern Gateway approval.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Earlier this fall, the courtroom for the hearings was packed with community members and elders in regalia who were among those who had travelled from distant communities to show the depth of their opposition to this project.

A tanker ban is consistent with the “constitution for the oceans”, the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which confirms Canada’s full sovereignty over its internal waters, and its right to make laws for environmental protection in its territorial seas. The tanker ban law can be crafted to align with Canada’s support for freedom of navigation, consistent with environmental protection and coastal state security, building on our long-standing leadership in developing the law of the sea.

This would not be the first time Canada has acted to protect its waters from oil tankers. In the 1980s, Canada passed regulations limiting oil tankers in the waters within Head Harbour Passage, New Brunswick due to navigational risks and the value of fisheries and aquatic bird resources. (The regulations were later rescinded when the U.S. withdrew a proposal for an oil refinery in the area.)

Canada also negotiated the “Arctic exception” clause in UNCLOS, giving international legal recognition to Canada’s unilateral action in passing the Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act in 1972.

Finally, a tanker ban law can open up much-needed political space for a dialogue with the federal government about future directions for B.C.’s north coast that can build on marine spatial plans recently signed by the government of B.C. and 18 First Nations which establish marine zones and set directions for sustainable economic development. The need for a holistic approach to development that accounts for cumulative impacts has never been higher, as overall ocean health deteriorates, large fish dwindle, acidification weakens shellfish, and warming seas and rising sea levels portend damaging ecological consequences. But there is little hope for this to occur while relations between key actors remain soured as a result of prolonged controversy surrounding the potential introduction of oil tankers.

Formalizing the moratorium is rightly considered a top priority by a federal government committed to development that meets the needs of today and those of our grandchildren.

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

 Dam project still a boondoggle When Snohomish County PUD General Manager Steve Klein disappeared in a vapor of smelly gas a year before his planned retirement, I was so hoping to see a new light shining at PUD headquarters.

Yes, as in solar, among many other — but not new hydropower; calling it green or clean every time you are in front of the microphone does not make it true. The new PUD GM Mr. Craig Collar seemed surprised at the last commissioner's meeting when the room filled to overflowing with opponents to the ridiculously re-named “Sunset Fish Passage and Energy Project.” That really is a creative name for a massive industrial hydropower project on a protected section of the pristine Skykomish River.

It is past time to “get real.” Shell Oil can figure out when the pipeline is a bust. Our own president has been reviewing the Paris Climate Conference every night on the news and I have not once heard the word “hydropower” mentioned. Are you listening, PUD? It boils down to simple cost vs benefit and you have seen the math.

Steve Klein hoped his last hurrah would be a dam on the Skykomish and he watched his proposal flap all over his desk like a freshly caught salmon in the bottom of a boat. Mr. Collar should please consider letting his legacy someday be that he turned things around at PUD and left behind boondoggles and unnecessary construction and smashing a PUD footprint on every last mile of freerunning rivers in our state.

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

Special

ď ś Sacred salmon swimming slow Leanne Hodges

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

 Lawsuit Launched Over New Pesticide's Danger to Salmon, Other Wildlife EPA Continues to Ignore Science and Approve New Toxic Pesticides WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity submitted a formal notice of intent to sue the Environmental Protection Agency today for approving cuprous iodide, a new antimicrobial pesticide that is highly toxic to fish and aquatic invertebrates. The pesticide is applied during the manufacture of clothing, bedding and other products. When washed, these products will leach copper into waterways.

Cuprous iodide poses a particular danger to salmon in the Pacific Northwest. Studies have shown that even a small increase in copper levels can impair salmon feeding, migration, spawning and ability to avoid predators.

Despite the threat to salmon and other endangered species, the EPA approved the pesticide for use without consulting with expert wildlife agencies as required by the Act. “There are decades of studies showing that copper is one of the most toxic elements for salmon and other aquatic wildlife — and yet the EPA approved this dangerous new pesticide anyway,” said Stephanie Parent, senior attorney at the Center. “This approval is part of a troubling pattern of the EPA greenlighting pesticides without bothering to fully understand how they might hurt people or wildlife. That has to change.”

On Oct. 6, 2015, the EPA granted broad approval for use of cuprous iodide formulated into an antimicrobial pesticide applied to a wide range of products, including apparel, bedding, carpets, furniture and personal hygiene products. Copper will leach from these materials into rivers, streams and other waterways. Already more than 600 waterways nationwide do not meet copper water quality standards and are listed as “impaired.”

Studies show that coho salmon with limited copper exposure cannot detect predators, an impairment that can be lethal.

“In approving this toxic pesticide without considering its effects on salmon, the EPA appears to be oblivious to the decades of work and billions of dollars that have been put into recovering salmon,” said Parent.

It isn’t just salmon that are threatened. Copper from this pesticide will hurt many waterways that host other endangered species such as freshwater mussels. More than 70 percent of North America’s 302 mussel species — which rely on clean water — are extinct or imperiled.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels “The trend is to eliminate copper pollution, like phasing out copper in vehicle brake pads, but the EPA is heading in the opposite direction by approving cuprous iodide,” said Parent.

The Center will ask the court to order the EPA to consult with federal wildlife biologists on cuprous iodide’s effects on endangered species and to put in place interim protections necessary to protect wildlife until the consultation is complete.

The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 900,000 members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.

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

Community Activism, Education and Outreach

ď ś Stopping Farmed Salmon at the Cash Register

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

ď ś Honoring the Sacred Waters and Wild Salmon January 1, 2016

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

 Get Fish Farms Out of Our Ocean Farmed Salmon Boycott – Chilliwack, BC Decenber 19, 2015

We held a net-pen farmed salmon boycott rally at Walmart, Eagle Landing in Chilliwack. Wild Salmon Defenders were able to attract a lot of attention to the health issues, and the unsustainability of ocean fish farms. This was the 12th rally we had this year. We celebrated the fact we new have a new Liberal government in Ottawa that is willing to hear the voices of people who are opposed to ocean fish farms smack on the migration routes of wild salmon.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels We continue to support the First Nations Wild Salmon Alliance, and we are in solidarity with Alex Morton's Salmon Are Sacred efforts to bring out the ugly truth about net-pen farmed salmon, and have them ousted from the oceans. We are willing to work together with all who want to save farmed salmon from fish farms.

Dr. Alexandra Morton sent a message to the Wild Salmon Defenders Alliance, expressing her gratitude for what we are doing, and indicating it is not only appreciated, but it is essential for boycotts to happen in all urban centres to raise public awareness about the issues. Alex said she supports the Trudeau Liberals and is willing to work with them. We understand the liberals are committed to implementing the Cohen Commission recommendations, and have chosen to not approve seven year licences to ocean fish farms, as the Harper conservatives intended to do. This is encouraging, as the federal liberals appear to want to take a hard look at what is going on with open fish farms.

At the rally, Tracy Lyster pointed out that it is impossible for open-net fish farms to protect their farmed fish from sea lice, because sea lice only become more resistant to chemicals and drugs used to kill them. They always spring back in larger numbers. This has been the experience in both Norway and Canada!

We congratulate once again the Ahousaht First Nation for making history earlier this year by not allowing a new fish farm get established in their territory.

We will be holding a Wild Salmon Justice Concert in Chilliwack on April 30 2016. Stay tuned for more details. We are also going to participate in the Wild Salmon Caravan that will take place in June 2016, travelling to various communities from the headwaters to the Ahousaht community on Vancouver Island. We will be announcing more news on this soon as well.

The Wild Salmon Defenders Alliance will be holding a ceremony to honour the sacred waters and our precious wild salmon on January 1, 2016 at the Vedder bridge in Chilliwack. Everyone welcome!

We will not quit until ocean fish farms are out of the oceans! OCM! My heart felt gratitude goes out to all the Wild Salmon Defenders across BC, especially the ones who participate regularly at our boycott rallies in front of stores in the Fraser Valley. Thanks to Chris Gadsden and Gary Haggquist who do such excellent photography on the boycotts! Gary will be doing a 12-15 minute video/slide show on the boycott rallies we have been holding over the last couple of years or so. We will screen this at the Wild Salmon Justice Concert April 30. We will also feature a 45 minute set of music by Holly Arntzen and Kevin Wright, Bear Dancers from Lillooet, and drummers and singers. We will also do a screening of a 12-14 minute video on the 2015 Wild Salmon Caravan at the concert.

We are very happy that Cyril Spinks of the Lytton First Nation stopped by to add his strength to the rally by singing with us and holding signs!

We are so excited about the great potential to get fish farms out of the ocean in 2016! Lots of action and converging of efforts will do the trick! OCM!

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

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

 Ocean Fish Farms – Virus Bombs Rally: Vancouver, BC January 14, 2016

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

 Eddie Gardner: “Ocean Fish Farms – Virus Bombs?

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

 Please don’t let Site C flood Peace River valley

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

 Say “NO” to Site “C” Dam!

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

 The Site C Dam will be a Huge Black Eye

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

 Activists close Line 9 near Sarnia December 21, 2015 Activists closed a valve on Enbridge’s Line 9 oil pipeline just west of Sarnia today stopping oil transport on the controversial pipeline for several hours before they were arrested and removed.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels According to a press release, the activists closed the valve at 7:30 this morning and then locked themselves to it with bicycle locks.

From the press release: “Line 9 is a highly contested tar sands pipeline that began shipping crude earlier this month between Sarnia and Montreal. Those involved assert that the operation of line 9 is a violation of indigenous sovereignty and treaty rights. “It’s clear that tar sands projects represent an ongoing cultural and environmental genocide.”

Vanessa Gray asserts. “I defend the land and water because it is sacred. I have the right to defend against anything that threatens my traditions and culture.”

Vanessa Gray was a guest speaker at our annual general meeting in Windsor in October.

The press release continues: “The tarsands are known to be the second leading cause of deforestation in the world and permanently contaminate over 7 million barrels of water every day. Locally Aamjiwnaang first nation experiences skewed sex ratios and high rates of respiratory illness because of nearby petrochemical refineries.”

Line 9 passes through 99 towns and cities and 14 Indigenous communities in Ontario and Quebec.

A pipeline safety expert with over forty years of experience in the energy sector, Richard Kuprewicz, has stated that the probability of Line 9 rupturing is over 90% in the first five years of operation. This is due to the large number of fractures in the aging pipeline and the fact that Line 9 will carry various different kinds of crude- including diluted bitumen- which adds additional stresses to the pipeline.

The Council of Canadians has grave concerns about the likelihood of Line 9 rupturing and the consequences of a diluted bitumen spill in the heart of the Great Lakes region. In July 2010, Enbridge’s Line 6 in Michigan ruptured, spilling millions of litres of diluted bitumen from the tar sands into the Kalamazoo River system. After five years and more than $1.5 billion dollars in cleanup costs, the river is still significantly polluted and Enbridge argues that further cleanup will do more harm than good- essentially admitting that tar sands oil cannot be effectively cleaned up in the case of a spill.

The Chippewas of the Thames First Nation plan to appeal the National Energy Board’s approval of Enbridge’s Line 9 pipeline at the Supreme Court due to the lack of free, prior and informed consent to the pipeline reversal.

Council of Canadians chapters in London, Hamilton, Guelph, Peel, Toronto, Peterborough and Northumberland have also taken direct action against the reversal of Line 9.

Two weeks ago, activists in Quebec shut down Line 9 for an entire day: http://canadians.org/blog/activists-shut-down-line-9-qu%C3%A9bec The three people arrested were charged several counts including Mischief over $5000 (max sentence 10 years in prison) and Mischief endangering life which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. This is the first time I have heard of anyone being charged with Mischief endangering life and it strikes me as a heavy handed attempt to intimidate anyone who is considering taking similar actions.

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

ď ś Stop Kinder Morgan Rally, Vancouver, British Columbia January 1, 2016

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

ď ś BC Government says NO to Kinder Morgan Pipeline Expansion

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

Lummi hereditary chief Bill James, on the beach at Cherry Point, says saving it is to preserve “the tribe’s very way of life.” It’s the site of an ancient Lummi village.

 Northwest tribes unite against giant coal, oil projects In a high-stakes power play, tribal nations are taking up the fight against fuel-transport proposals, from the biggest coal-export terminal in North America at Cherry Point to oilpipeline expansions in British Columbia January 16, 2016 .CHERRY POINT, Whatcom County — On this last bit of undeveloped coast between a smelter and two oil refineries, SSA Marine wants to build the biggest coal export terminal in North America, to load up some of the largest ships afloat arriving up to 487 times a year, mostly from Asian ports.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels The blockbuster $665 million proposal is one of many fossil fuel transport projects under review in the region — from oil pipeline expansions in B.C., to oil-by-rail facilities in Southwest Washington and another coal port in Longview.

And while thousands of people have turned out to protest Washington turning into one of the largest fossil fuel hubs in the country, Northwest tribes appear best positioned to win the fight.

“This is different from an environmental group coming in and saying ‘you shouldn’t do this.’ Here, agencies’ discretion is limited,” said Robert Anderson, director of the Native American Law Center at the University of Washington School of Law. “Tribes have treaty rights and the U.S. has trust responsibility to uphold those rights. That is the game-changing possibility here.”

It’s a high-stakes power play. There’s already been blowback in Congress from Republican lawmakers and, if the tribes lose, that could create a bad precedent for them in future battles.

But tribes are standing together against the projects.

“Coal is black death,” said Brian Cladoosby, chairman at the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community near La Conner who, as president of the National Congress of American Indians, has brought a national voice to the opposition.

“There is no mitigation,” Cladoosby said. “We have to make a stand before this very destructive poison they want to introduce into our backyards. We say no.”

The Lummi Nation has demanded the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is reviewing the socalled Gateway Pacific Terminal project, deny SSA’s permit application because it endangers the tribe’s treaty-protected fishing rights.

The Swinomish and Tulalip Tribes have sent similar letters to the Corps, and the Suquamish Tribe also is weighing in. “We have the same amount of commitment to treaty rights protection,” said Leonard Forsman chairman of the Suquamish tribe. “We are a team and we are working with them.

We are very concerned about impacts on our fishery.”

The project is proposed in a state aquatic reserve and treaty protected fishing areas of five Washington Tribes. The uplands and waters are utilized by a menagerie of state and federally protected species, and what was once the best herring run in Puget Sound, already imperiled and targeted for recovery. The project also overlaps Xwe’chi’eXen, a village site and cemetery for at least 3,500 years and thousands of ancestors of the Lummi Nation.

Bill James discusses the Lummi Nation’s opposition to the development of a coal port at Cherry Point. The Lummi are one of several Northwest tribes fighting the transport of fossil fuel through their lands. (Alan Berner / The Seattle Times) But Cherry Point near Bellingham is regarded by the industry as a prime location for a new coal port.

Already home to wharves for oil refineries and an aluminum smelter, the area’s deep water close to shore can accept the biggest ships afloat with no dredging, and has nearby rail access.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels The Gateway terminal would move up to 48 million metric tons of coal a year — enough to cover 80 acres in five open stockpiles by the water, each 2,100 feet long and up to 70 feet high. As many as nine trains a day more than a mile and a half long would travel to and from the terminal, all the way from Montana and Wyoming. Every 18 hours, ships, many nearly three football fields long, would load up on coal at the 3,000-foot-long wharf.

Booming across the water in a tribal fishing boat toward Cherry Point, Lummi carver Jewell Praying Wolf James said he traces his lineage to some of the first sockeye fishers with reef net sites here.

To him, and to tribal cultural leader Al Scott Johnnie, the fishery means more than money. “There is a sense of place, a sense of belonging and a culture of the water, the air, the plants, the fish, and how you conduct your relationships,” Johnnie said.

This painting in the new Lummi tribal center depicts a traditional Lummi village with cedar plank homes. The ancestral village at Cherry Point would have looked like this. (Courtesy of Lummi Nation) Community allies The Gateway project has become a referendum on the dirtiest fossil fuel of all: coal.

Burning coal creates pollution that harms human health and the environment. In addition to particulates, burning coal generates more carbon dioxide emissions than any other fuel, implicated as the number one source of human-caused climate change.

So while SSA Marine’s subsidiary, Pacific International Terminals, proposed its project way back in 1991, the issue didn’t blow up until the company revealed in 2011 that coal, not grain or potash, would be king at its terminal for the near future — just as the politics of coal and climate change detonated in the Northwest.

Thousands of people have turned out to oppose the Cherry Point coal port, and a second coal terminal proposed in Longview, Clark County. Even Coal Age News remarked in March 2011 on the “potentially defining regulatory battle to build the ports as legions of enraged enviro-zealots gird their hemp-laced loins at the thought of dirty American coal being sent to even dirtier Asian power plants across the blue sea.”

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Community residents who once felt powerless to stop the project say they took heart when the tribes weighed in.

“They are protecting their own culture and their children’s children, but they are also protecting everyone else,” said Beth Brownfield, a Bellingham resident whose church has made common cause with the Lummi. “In our political system, you have no voice, it’s write a letter or go to a meeting, you are like a drop of water. But with their treaty and their sovereignty and their history, people are looking at that and saying, that will make a difference.”

Lummi cultural leader Al Scott Johnnie with ancient reef net anchors, which are significant tribal artifacts at least 2,500 years old found at Cherry Point. The tribe has been using reef nets for fishing for untold generations. (Alan Berner/The Seattle Times) For SSA Marine, and backers of the project in the local community, the situation is profoundly frustrating.

“There are a lot of people who don’t want things to change,” said Bob Watters, senior vice president of the company, which operates in 22 countries and is the largest privately owned terminal and cargo handling operator in the world. “But things constantly change. The best way to make that happen is to sit down and figure out how to make it easiest for everyone involved.”

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels But times have changed for the company, too.

“The pivot point, when all this happened, was when coal became the major commodity” for the project, said Jim Waldo, the attorney hired by SSA to help the company get the necessary permits. “It just shut down any dialogue.”

Watters agreed. “It’s the toughest thing I’ve ever worked on,” he said. Now even the economics of the project have soured, with export markets in the tank and coal prices in a 15-month slide. But Watters says SSA is looking long, and expects coal to recover, providing company profits and jobs at its wharf for years to come.

John Munson, 74, a retired union longshoreman for more than 41 years, lives near Cherry Point and backs the project, and the high wage industrial union jobs it would bring in a community that keeps losing them.

“We absolutely need it,” Munson said of the project. “People are so upset that their children have to leave the community to find a job where they can make a living.”

Lummi tribal members Al Scott Johnnie, left, and Jewell Praying Wolf James aboard the Golden Eagle crab boat with Cherry Point in the background. (Alan Berner/The Seattle Times)

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels The tribe in 2011 accepted a $400,000 check from SSA Marine to help it gear up for a technical review of the proposal, said Tim Ballew II, tribal chairman. But that review convinced the tribe it must oppose the project, Ballew said.

Relations with SSA, founded in Bellingham in 1949 and based in Seattle, deteriorated after the company in 2011 drilled test borings at the site without proper permits and disturbed a shell midden.

Watters said the drilling was a mistake and recently sent a letter from SSA’s lawyers to the tribe threatening to sue for defamation if the tribe publicly says otherwise, another measure of how toxic relations have become.

“They won’t even talk to us,” Watters said of the Lummi.

“This is displacement” Meanwhile the Lummi and other tribes keep expanding the front of their fossil fuel fight.

After the drilling fiasco, the Lummi ceremonially burned a check on the beach at Cherry Point, declaring their unalterable opposition to the project, and embarked on rallying opposition at every Indian reservation between their homeland and the coal fields of the Powder River Basin.

Tribes around the northwest have proclaimed their support for the Lummi’s treaty rights fight, and joined in opposition to Northwest fossil fuel transport projects.

Although accepting a $400,000 check from SSA Marine in 2011 to help with a technical review of the project proposal, Lummi tribal members burn a symbolic check at Cherry Point in 2012 expressing the tribe’s opposition to coal trains and development at these ancestral grounds. (Alan Berner/The Seattle Times)

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Tribes also have reached across the border, with the Swinomish, Tulalip, Lummi and Suquamish Tribes joining three British Columbia first nations as intervenors opposed to Kinder Morgan’s proposed expansion of its TransMountain oil pipeline before Canada’s National Energy Board.

Swinomish has sued the BNSF in federal court to block transit of oil trains through its lands. On Washington’s outer coast, the Quinault Indian Nation is opposing the construction of oil train terminals in southwest Washington, including Tesoro’s Vancouver project, which would be one of the largest oil-by-rail unloading facilities in North America.

We have to make a stand before this very destructive poison they want to introduce into our backyards.” - Brian Cladoosby, chairman of the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community The exception is the Crow tribe in Montana, a part owner in the Gateway project. The tribe wants the money that mining the coal from its reservation lands would bring.

The Lummi’s treaty rights violation claims are the most developed, with hundreds of pages of objections now under review before the Corps. With the biggest native fishing fleet on the West Coast, the tribal fishermen filed objections that testify to their economic and cultural stake in these waters.

“This is displacement, no different from when they burned our villages,” one wrote. “We look like ants compared to these huge ships,” wrote another. “Our world is getting smaller and smaller,” wrote another fisherman, and “We can’t lose any more spots,” said another. “No means no. How many times do we have to say no?”

More than 150 boxes of unearthed archaeology from the village site curated at Western Washington University testify to the tribe’s deep history in these waters. A stone anchor weight kept at the Lummi’s tribal center dates back more than 3,000 years.

The corps could make a decision at any time as to whether the project, planned for full operation by 2019, poses more than a minor disruption to the tribe’s treaty protected fishing rights, and therefore must be denied. Watters argues the best track would be to let the ongoing environmental reviews play out, and resume negotiations.

This is displacement, no different from when they burned our villages.” - Tribal fisherman SSA in December submitted its final development proposal to the Corps with a reconfigured footprint to reduce destruction of wetlands by about half. The proposal also includes a range of measures SSA contends will lessen impacts on tribal fishing and make the waters safer than today.

For Bill James, hereditary chief at Lummi, this fight isn’t over only crab and salmon fishing grounds, but something bigger, schelangen, their people’s way of life. Mitigation here or there, of this or that impact, doesn’t capture what would be lost if the last of this cove was developed for industry, James said. And he remembers being personally charged by his elders to protect the spirits of the tribe’s first ancestors whose burials are at Cherry Point.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels He recently walked the beach at the proposed project site, picking his way along the cobble with a walking staff, as a loon called, and gulls massed over herring in the sun- silvered water. “Here comes Loon to listen,” James said. “And there’s Herring.

“It’s always wonderful to be here.”

A First Salmon Ceremony on Lummi Island in 1916. (Courtesy of Lummi Archives)

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

 Yurok Tribe adopts ordinance banning Frankenfish and GMOs The Yurok Tribe, the largest Indian Tribe in California with over 6,000 members, has banned genetically engineered salmon and all Genetically Engineered Organisms (GEOs) on their reservation on the Klamath River in the state's northwest region.

The Yurok ban comes in the wake of the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decision on November 19 to approve genetically engineered salmon, dubbed "Frankenfish," as being fit for human consumption, in spite of massive public opposition to the decision by fishermen, Tribes, environmental organizations and public interest organizations.

On December 10, 2015, the Yurok Tribal Council unanimously voted to enact the Yurok Tribe Genetically Engineered Organism (“GEO”) Ordinance. The vote took place after several months of committee drafting and opportunity for public comment, according to a news release from the Tribe and Northern California Tribal Court Coalition (NCTCC).

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels This ordinance is apparently the first of its kind in the U.S. to address the FDA's approval of AquaBounty Technologies’ application for AquAdvantage Salmon, an Atlantic salmon that reaches market size more quickly than non-GE farm-raised Atlantic salmon, as well as all GMOs. "The Tribal GEO Ordinance prohibits the propagation, raising, growing, spawning, incubating, or releasing genetically engineered organisms (such as growing GMO crops or releasing genetically engineered salmon) within the Tribe’s territory and declares the Yurok Reservation to be a GMO-free zone. While other Tribes, such as the Dine’ (Navajo) Nation, have declared GMO-free zones by resolution, this ordinance appears to be the first of its kind in the nation," the Tribe said.

"On April 11, 2013, the Yurok Tribe enacted a resolution opposing genetically engineered salmon, and then secured a grant from the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) to support the Tribe’s work in continuing to protect its ancestral lands, including: waters, traditional learning and teaching systems, seeds, animal-based foods, medicinal plants, salmon, sacred places, and the health and well-being of the Tribe’s families and villages. GMO farms, whether they are cultivating fish or for fresh produce, have a huge, negative impact on watersheds the world over," the Tribe stated.

"The Yurok People have managed and relied upon the abundance of salmon on the Klamath River since time immemorial. The Tribe has a vital interest in the viability and survival of the wild, native Klamath River salmon species and all other traditional food resources," the release said.

James Dunlap, Chairman of the Yurok Tribe, said, "The Yurok People have the responsibility to care for our natural world, including the plants and animals we use for our foods and medicines.This Ordinance is a necessary step to protect our food sovereignty and to ensure the spiritual, cultural and physical health of the Yurok People. GMO food production systems, which are inherently dependent on the overuse of herbicides, pesticides and antibiotics, are not our best interest."

The Ordinance allows for enforcement of violations through the Yurok Tribal Court. Yurok Chief Judge Abby Abinanti stated, 'It is the inherent sovereign right of the Yurok People to grow plants from natural traditional seeds and to sustainably harvest plants, salmon and other fish, animals, and other life-giving foods and medicines, in order to sustain our families and communities as we have successfully done since time immemorial; our Court will enforce any violations of these inherent, and now codified, rights."

The Yurok Tribe is working with other Tribes in a regional collaborative as part of the Northern California Tribal Court Coalition (NCTCC), and the Tribe and NCTCC are co-hosting an Indigenous Food Sovereignty Summit in Klamath in the spring of 2016.

A signed copy of the ordinance can be found on NCTCC’s website.

The Tribal Council passed the ordinance at a critical time for West Coast salmon and steelhead. The Klamath River, located on the Tribe's homeland, is plagued by massive algal blooms, exacerbated by agricultural runoff and antiquated hydroelectric dams, that turn the river toxic each summer.

The Tribe is working with other Tribes, environmentalists, fishing groups and elected officials to remove four dams on the Klamath River to restore the river's salmon, steelhead and other fish populations.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels The Tribe in September withdrew from the controversial Klamath Agreements and in December announced it "strongly opposes" draft legislation from US Representative Greg Walden of Oregon to address Klamath River Basin water issues.

The Klamath's salmon and other fish populations are also threatened by Jerry Brown's California Water Fix to build the Delta Tunnels. The massive tunnels proposed for construction under the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, the largest estuary on the West Coast of the Americas, would export water to corporate agribusiness interests, Southern California water agencies and oil companies conducting fracking and other extreme oil extraction methods in Kern County.

A large proportion of the water of the Trinity River, the Klamath's largest tributary, is diverted from Trinity Reservoir to the the Sacramento River basin via Whiskeytown Reservoir to irrigate almonds, pistachios and other crops on drainage impaired land in the Westlands Water District on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley.

The giant tunnels would imperil Chinook salmon, coho salmon, steelhead and lamprey populations on the Trinity and Klamath rivers, as well as hastening the extinction of Sacramento River winter-run Chinook salmon, Central Valley steelhead, Delta and longfin smelt, Sacramento splittail and green sturgeon populations.

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

ď ś Nine arrested at Shawnigan protest site There was a heavy police presence in Shawnigan Lake Tuesday morning as a large crowd of protesters blocked trucks from entering a contaminated soil dump site December 22, 2015

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels A crowd of protesters gathered before dawn on Stebbings Road in Shawnigan Lake near a contaminated soil dump site.

They formed a blockade, and prevented a line of dump trucks from making their deliveries to South Island Resource Management.

Armed with a new court injunction, a large contingent of RCMP officers arrived and started arresting anyone refusing to move from the blockade.

Nine people were arrested and released before the protesters conceded, and the crowd started to break up, allowing the trucks through.

“They just try to scare you that they’re going to arrest you and you’re going to have a criminal record, but it’s really nothing,” said protester Barbara Juurlink, who was arrested and released Tuesday morning.

Police warned those arrested that if they blocked the trucks again, they would be going to jail.

Still, many said they wouldn’t back down and would return to the protest site Wednesday at 6:30am.

South Island Resource Management said while it recognizes the right for people to protest, it will continue to call in the RCMP to stop behaviour that puts the company and its employees at risk.

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

OLYMPIA CHAPTER OF TROUT UNLIMITED JANUARY 27, 2016, 7:00PM NORTH OLYMPIA FIRE STATION 5046 BOSTON HARBOR ROAD NE

 MANAGEMENT AND STATUS OF OUR FISHERIES RESOURCES

Program: The public is invited to the January 27, 2016 meeting of the Olympia Chapter of Trout Unlimited for a presentation on key management programs and issues for 2016 by Jim Unsworth, Director of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW).

His presentation will include an update on steelhead fishery changes made recently by the Fish and Wildlife Commission, hatchery and genetic management plans, and Puget Sound wild steelhead gene banks, among other issues. So bring a pencil and note pad to jot down all the information you may need to make your next fishing trip more exciting.

We will have refreshments and a fishing equipment raffle following the presentation.

Bio: Dr Jim Unsworth became the Director of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) in 2015.

Prior to becoming the head of the WDFW, he spent more than 30 years in wildlife management with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. Unsworth held several management positions for the department, including deputy director, state big game manager and wildlife bureau chief.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in wildlife management from the University of Idaho, a master’s degree in fish and wildlife management from Montana State University and a doctorate in forestry, wildlife and range sciences from the University of Idaho.

Unsworth and his wife Michele have four adult children. He is an avid hunter and fisherman.

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

Climate

ď ś Idaho landscape could be safe haven for native fish January 1, 2016 LEWISTON, IDAHO - Idaho's vertical geography may give salmon, steelhead and other native fish a fighting chance as climate change continues to alter their habitat for the worse.

Scientists say resident fish such as cutthroat trout and to a lesser degree bull trout will still have plenty of clean, cool water in the Gem State. The mountain spawning grounds of anadromous fish like salmon and steelhead will still be productive. But the powerful sea-run fish will face uncertain conditions in the ocean and find it even more difficult to negotiate the heavily altered habitat in the Snake and Columbia rivers.

Most climate models show future Idaho receiving about the same or slightly more precipitation than it does now. With rising air temperatures, modeling predicts more of that moisture will fall as rain instead of snow. Spring floods that flush juvenile salmon and steelhead to the ocean and help them pass dams on the Snake and Columbia rivers will likely arrive earlier and be shorter in duration and volume.

Mountain streams that depend on melting snow to feed them throughout the summer will see lower flows and higher temperatures. That effect will cascade downstream where mainstem rivers will also see lower flows and higher temperatures.

Climate scientists are less certain about what will happen in the ocean. But they say there could be less of the upwelling that helps seed the upper layers with nutrients that feed the base of the food chain. The ocean also is expected to become more acidic, a problem for many lower-food-chain species.

To get an idea of what the climate might be like for salmon, steelhead and trout, look no further than last summer. The entire Pacific Northwest saw meager snowfall, much-reduced runoff and high summer stream temperatures. Sockeye salmon were hit the hardest. Returning adults faced unprecedented high water temperatures and the run melted away as the fish stalled or perished in the Snake and Columbia rivers.

"Redfish Lake sockeye are probably the most at risk," said Lisa Crozier, a research ecologist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Northwest Science Center in Seattle. "They are in the river at the worst time of year."

Ocean conditions were poor, which led to weak returns of fish like coho salmon.

"I think this summer in many ways was a climate change stress test on Northwest salmon habitat," said Nate Mantua, climate and fisheries scientist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Santa Cruz, Calif.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels "You could see which runs were especially vulnerable to a situation with much higher temperatures, much reduced snow pack in our mountains and about average precipitation for Northwest watersheds."

But Dan Isaak, a U.S. Forest Service fisheries biologist at Boise, said Idaho's salmon and trout may be better off than those in other Northwest states. Because Idaho is steep, ranging in elevation from 750 feet at the mouth of the Clearwater River in Lewiston to more that 12,600 feet at the top of Mount Borah in the Lost River Range, there is great hope that even if climate change shrinks the range of some native fish that enough cold water habitat will remain for the species to be viable.

"We are a really steep state, which creates a strong temperature gradient," he said. "So as things warm up the temperature isotherm doesn't shift nearly as far as it does in a flat place. That has a really dominating effect on how much the thermal habitat is going to shift."

In many cases, Isaak said cold water fish species may be able to simply move upstream, sometimes as little as a few kilometers. Fish that live in places where the habitat is on the verge of being too warm will be in trouble. But high mountain streams that are too cold today to promote adequate fish growth might become ideal in the future. For example, there are places where it is simply too frigid for cutthroat trout to thrive.

"They are going to gain (habitat) at about the same rate on the top end as they are going to lose it at the bottom end."

Bull trout also will likely find enough cold water to persist in Idaho, Isaak said. But they are likely to suffer more than cutthroat. The trout that is actually a char occur at low densities and need large expanses of cold water. They are not limited by frigid temperatures at the highest elevations. So as streams warm from the bottom up, bull trout habitat will be squeezed.

"Wherever it's warming up, they are gradually losing habitat," Isaak said.

The big problem for salmon and steelhead won't be the habitat where the adults spawn and the juveniles hatch and rear before going to the ocean. The pinch point will likely be the migration corridor when adults and juveniles will be forced to deal with less and warmer water in the damaltered Snake and Columbia rivers.

If the unprecedented conditions of last summer become more common by the middle of the century, Mantua said some species of salmon and steelhead will be hard-pressed to adjust.

"Some salmon have evolved a calendar that has worked for many centuries. But if the climate changes the way models suggest it will in the next 50, 60, 70 years, that life history becomes difficult and maybe untenable."

Mantua said salmon have displayed great adaptive capacity over thousands of years, and given a chance that ability will help them deal with climate change.

"If we can build what people talk about — resilience — just by providing more and more options for them on the fresh water and estuary side, I think that gives them a lot of hope for dealing with a future with a lot of change because that is what they have always done."

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

 Cuomo lays out aggressive energy goals, with key details pending January 13, 2016 ALBANY — New York is moving aggressively to a future powered by renewable energy, with an army of clean energy workers trained to install tens of thousands of solar panels and hundreds of wind turbines in the next few years. At the same time, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced in his annual State of the State speech on Wednesday, the state will phase out its dirtiest power plants.

Cuomo said clean energy is a business opportunity for the state, as well as an important step to address increasing climate challenges.

“The problem of climate change is finally being recognized by most world leaders, anyway,” he said.

“Here in New York we have already been actively working to address it. Now, New York State has a business and an environmental opportunity. Let’s become the international capital for clean and green energy products.”

But while Cuomo’s budget proposal included the most aggressive set of climate policies he has introduced during his tenure as governor, some key details about two particularly significant climate and energy initiatives remained vague.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Those initiatives — the $5 billion Clean Energy Fund, which will combine existing and new programs to grow renewable energy across the state, and the Clean Energy Standard, which will mandate more renewables in a tight timeframe — are an essential part of the state's effort to meet Cuomo's aggressive goals. The Clean Energy Fund will be the state's primary financial vehicle for promoting renewable energy products, and establishing the specific methodology and policy to help it grow.

Power providers, utilities, and renewable industry companies have all been eagerly awaiting the details on how to meet the state's needs under that program. And the Clean Energy Standard will further clarify policy and lay out the state's timeline for getting there.

But until those policies are clarified, it’s not clear exactly how either program will work, or what constituencies will ultimately bear the burden of subsidizing the transition to clean energy, or what enforcement mechanisms will be put in place. The administration provided no timeline for providing those details.

Still, the other elements of Cuomo's plan, if he follows through, will be significant.

Cuomo had already announced that he would mandate that New York get half of its power from renewable energy within 15 years, which is about double the current amount. Key to that effort is a newly announced plan to train 10,000 employees to fill the thousands of clean energy jobs the state expects to be created here over the next few years.

The administration will seek to phase out the two coal plants that will be remaining at the end of this year, by converting them to natural gas or shutting them down entirely. Coal only provides about 4 percent of the state's power, but closing down the dirtiest power plant is a symbolic victory for environmentalists.

“Governor Cuomo has enshrined himself as an international climate leader with today’s commitment to phase out all coal in the state by 2020,” said Lisa Dix, New York senior representative for the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign. “This measure, coupled with a transition plan for coal affected communities, will both protect the health of New Yorkers and the climate while finally putting an end to coal’s dirty legacy in the Empire State.”

And while New York’s renewable goals will be tremendously challenging to achieve and are reliant on billions of dollars in state and private investment, Cuomo outlined some of the specific ways the state will try to get there. To start, the State University of New York will get $15 million to create a clean energy training program to place new workers in the burgeoning solar industry across the state.

New York will add 150,000 solar panels on businesses and homes, as well as at State University of New York campuses. The state will also have a goal of making 500,000 new homes more energy efficient, including state-owned affordable housing units. Many of those panels will likely be manufactured in New York, after the $700 million SolarCity factory begins producing panels next year. In total, the New York Power Authority will finance $1.5 billion in clean energy projects across state-owned buildings as well as local and municipal projects by 2020.

Cuomo’s plan also calls for the construction of 300 wind turbines, a 40 percent increase, and create a plan to develop offshore wind resources. Developing an offshore wind market will be an essential step for New York to become more reliant on renewable energy.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Wind and solar are job growth areas in New York, with private companies ready to invest billions of dollars in capital, said Anne Reynolds, executive director of the Alliance for Clean Energy New York.

“We look forward to working with Governor Cuomo and the Public Service Commission to achieve New York’s visionary energy and climate goals,” she said. “Timing and details are crucial, but the clean energy industry is ready to respond and eagerly awaiting new opportunities to invest in a sustainable future.”

Cuomo wants to increase the Environmental Protection Fund to $300 million, almost doubling the current amount, to put toward farmland preservation and land conversation among other uses. The administration also wants to put an additional $100 million into a grant program for municipalities to replace their aging water pipes.

“We appreciate Governor Cuomo's clear understanding, reflected in his proposed 2016-2017 budget, that New York must lead on water and land protection, renewable energy and habitat restoration,” Riverkeeper president Paul Gallay said. “This sort of investment, and more of it, is the only way that our public drinking water stays safe, our waterways become better places to swim, boat and fish, and our energy demands get met sustainably.”

The initiatives fit with Cuomo’s shift toward a more aggressive position on climate issues in the last year, since he banned fracking. The budget proposal also includes $32 million for climate change mitigation and adaption. (Cuomo mentioned climate change four separate times during his State of the State speech.)

Environmental activists gathered on the steps of the Capital on Wednesday to ask Cuomo for more measures, including shutting down natural gas pipelines and oil trains.

“New York should not be permitting new methane gas pipelines and must shut down bomb trains' ability to transport dirty, dangerous fossil fuels through our communities,” said Catskill Mountainkeeper executive director Ramsey Adams. “We are excited by the proposals outlined today and look forward to working with Governor Cuomo to make sure 2016 is remembered as the year New York made good on its promise to build a clean energy future while leaving dirty fossil fuels behind."

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

Habitat

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

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

Geologist Renee Potvin and environmental scientist Rob Maciak looking over the site of KGHM International’s proposed Ajax copper and gold mine. The pit in the photograph is pre-existing from a past mining operation.

 Proposed

B.C. mine plans to reduce water content in waste but still use tailings dams Company’s plan meant to respond to recommendations following Mount Polley mine dam failure December 30, 2015

KGHM International’s proposed Ajax copper and gold project will be one of the first tests of the B.C. government’s approval of waste storage for large open pit mines after the Mount Polley mine dam failure in 2014.

The company, whose parent is Polish company KGHM Polska Miedz SA, plans to submit its project application early this month for review by the B.C. government. It will kick off an 180-day environmental assessment.

The $795-million project is controversial and has met with community resistance, in part, because of its proximity to Kamloops (and the Thompson River).

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels KGHM proposes to reduce water quantities in its mine-waste facility — and entirely buttress the large dams with rock — to increase safety at the planned mine.

However, it will not be using the dry-stacking technique to store mine waste as planned in its initial design. That method recommended by an engineering panel appointed by the B.C. government to investigate the Mount Polley failure.

Under the dry-stacking method, water is squeezed out of the finely ground rock that remains after the ore is processed. The waste rock is then transported to a storage area and compacted. The rock, which can contain toxic metals, is commonly called tailings.

The engineering panel’s report recommended the dry-stack method because there is no dam to fail, and if dry-stacked tailings shift, such as a result of an earthquake, they will not go as far as water-saturated tailings.

Among the largest spills in the world in the past 50 years, the catastrophic failure at the Imperial Metals’ Mount Polley mine released millions of cubic metres of tailings into the Quesnel Lake watershed, completely scouring a nine-kilometre creek.

Based on its own analysis of best-available technology, KGHM says it plans to thicken its tailings by squeezing out a lot of the water, increasing the solid content to 60 per cent from the 32 per cent typical of conventional mines tailings.

The tailings will be stored behind rock-andearth dams that will reach a height of 120 metres. Water will still be stored on top of the thickened tailings, but there will be less water than under the method used at Mount Polley.

Problematic

The use of thickened tailings will allow the mine to reduce the size of the mine waste storage facility, although with a capacity of 440 million tonnes, it will be much larger than the Mount Polley facility, which stored about 90 million cubic metres of tailings when the dam failed.

“I think what sets Ajax apart in the world of tailings embankment is the huge (rock) buttress and also that we are going to thicken our tailings,” says Clyde Gillespie, project development manager for Ajax.

Even though dry-stacking is considered well-suited to arid or semi-arid regions, Gillespie said they rejected dry stacking because it has not been proven at the large size of mine they will operate, which will process 65,000 tonnes of ore a day. The largest dry-stack operations are in the 20,000tonne-a-day range, he noted.

“There are a lot of challenges when you make that type of three-fold increase in throughput,” said Gillespie.

He said they also were responding to concerns from the community that dry-stacking would create dust and noise.

John Schleiermacher, a spokesman for the group Stop Ajax Mine, said they are not much impressed with the plan for thickened tailings. However, the group also had concerns with dry-stacking.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Schleiermacher said the proposed mine is simply too big and too close the city of Kamloops, with a population of 86,000.

“I am sure they are going to do best to protect the community from a tailings pond breach. But you can’t guarantee it’s not going to happen,” he said.

Thickening tailings goes part way to meeting the intent of the recommendations of the Mount Polley engineering panel, but ultimately the panel was talking about removing all water from the tailings, said David Chambers, a geophysicist who heads the U.S.-based Center for Science and Public Participation, a group that provides analysis and advice on environmental issues related to mining.

The group wrote a report last year on risk and public liability of tailings storage facilities following the Mount Polley failure.

“The big question for companies to answer is how are they meeting the overall recommendations from the Mount Polley engineering panel?” said Chambers. “You have to put safety over cost — because dewatering the tailings is a safety issue,” he said.

How the B.C. government will assess the KGHM’s analysis of its proposed mine waste storage plan and the alternatives they examined remains to be seen.

It is clear, though, the province has asked mining companies to examine, and in some cases, reexamine their mine-waste storage plans in light of the recommendations from the governmentcommissioned engineering panel.

Earlier this year, the province ordered Pacific Booker to re-examine its waste storage plans at its proposed $517-million Morris copper-gold-molybdenum-silver project in north-central B.C. Yellowhead Mining was ordered to do the same for its $1.03-billion Harper Creek copper-gold-sliver mine in the Interior.

Harper Creek asked for a suspension of its government environmental review to have time to gather more information and then announced in October it was postponing plans because of low metal prices.

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

 DOWNSTREAM – Mine Waste and the Fraser River Watershed January 13, 2016

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

 Donation

to the Chehalis River Basin Land Trust from the Weyerhaeuser Giving Foundation

The Chehalis River Basin Land Trust was recently awarded a $6,200 grant from the Weyerhaeuser Giving Fund. The mission of the land trust is to “conserve, protect, and restore ecologically significant lands in the Chehalis Basin.“ The donation will be used in two ways:

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels $5,000 will be used to provide the final matching funds needed to purchase 82 prime acres of protected wetlands and forest in the East Hoquiam River watershed, just outside the City of Hoquiam. “Protection of these lands will add to flood control, contribute to clean water in the Hoquiam River and Grays Harbor and will provide important habitat for migrating birds, salmon, and other wildlife,” noted Jan Robinson, Chehalis River Basin Land Trust President.

“The remaining $1,200 will be used to help steward the lands in the future.” said Jan Strong, current and founding board member with the land trust.

These surge plain lands experience a daily tidal influx of nutrient-rich marine waters which mix with East Hoquiam River waters. These waters provide vital rearing habitat for federally endangered bull trout and provide crucial rearing habitat for chinook, chum, coho, cutthroat and steelhead salmon. In addition, the new 82 acres are adjacent to close to 600 acres of currently protected lands. “This creates healthy and contiguous habitat for wildlife of all kinds, including fish, amphibians, birds, and mammals,” said Jan Strong.

For more information on how you can donate land to the Chehalis River Basin Land Trust or to volunteer to help the land trust steward it’s conserved and protected lands, please contact the Chehalis River Basin Land Trust at ChehalisLandTrust@yahoo.com.

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

From left, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks employees Dave Fuller, Chris Wesolek, and Matt Rugg release a pallid sturgeon after taking blood samples from the fish.

 Officials

to consider alternative to Yellowstone dam over environmental

concerns January 5, 2016 BILLINGS, Mont. – U.S. officials will consider an alternative to a dam proposed on the Yellowstone River over worries it could hurt an endangered fish species that dates to the time of dinosaurs, after a judge on Tuesday approved a settlement in a lawsuit over the project.

The agreement comes after environmental groups successfully sued to stop the $59 million dam along the Yellowstone near the Montana-North Dakota border. It was signed by attorneys for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Reclamation.

U.S. District Judge Brian Morris issued an order putting the lawsuit on hold pending a new environmental study of the project to be completed by the end of 2016.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels The low-profile, concrete dam was intended to replace a weir northeast of Glendive, Montana, that for more than a century has blocked about 125 endangered sturgeon from reaching their upstream spawning grounds. That weir, called the Intake Diversion Dam, is a porous, rock dam that diverts water for an irrigation system serving more than 50,000 acres of cropland in eastern Montana and western North Dakota.

Morris blocked construction of the new dam in September, just as work was set to begin. Attorneys for Defenders of Wildlife and the Natural Resources Defense Council had argued there was no proof a fish bypass channel included as part of the project would work.

Removing the dam would open up 165 river miles for sturgeon to spawn upstream of the existing weir.

"We're hoping the agencies take a real hard, realistic look at just taking that dam out of the river altogether," said McCrystie Adams, an attorney for Defenders of Wildlife. "There's no reason for that dam. You take out the dam, and you fix the problem."

Pallid sturgeon are known for a distinctive, long snout and can live 50 years, reaching 6 feet in length. Believed to date to the days when Tyrannosaurus Rex walked the Earth, the population declined sharply during the past century as dams were built along the Missouri River system. They were listed as an endangered species in 1990.

The sturgeon inhabiting the lower Yellowstone have been essentially trapped downstream of the rock weir since it was built in 1905. At least one female fish managed to swim around the structure during high water in 2014, but that was considered a rare occurrence.

The Bureau of Reclamation and Army Corps will take public comments for the next 45 days to determine the scope of their upcoming environmental study, including what alternatives will be considered. Whatever option is selected must balance mandatory protections for sturgeon under the Endangered Species Act with an irrigation project serving almost 400 farms that was authorized by Congress.

"You're trying to retrofit something that's 100 years-old for both the fish and the farmers," Reclamation spokesman Tyler Johnson said.

Three irrigation districts that would benefit from the project joined the case on the side of the government in June. They argued the dam and bypass would help sturgeon while protecting farms.

Those irrigators — the Savage Irrigation District, Intake Irrigation District and Lower Yellowstone Project — remain hesitant about removing the weir. It would require the installation of costly pumps and other equipment to keep water flowing to farmers, their attorney, Mark Stermitz, said Tuesday.

Nevertheless, Stermitz signed onto the agreement between the government and environmentalists.

He said he did not want to undermine future discussions about the project by pre-judging the outcome of the new environmental study that's been ordered.

"We're not afraid of where the science takes us," he said. "We felt the government was correct in not considering (removing the weir), but we support the agreement and feel that it should get a fair hearing."

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

Millions of fish were released into the Chehalis River in 2015, the latest federal statistics show.

 Planned soil dump near Chehalis River raises concerns Proposed site a ‘stupid’ location because of proximity to river, critic says January 2, 2016 A company is proposing to dump up to 1,000 tonnes of contaminated soil a day onto Crown land near the Chehalis River (British Columbia), one of the Lower Mainland’s prime fish streams and home to a major federal hatchery releasing millions of juvenile fish a year.

The proposed Statlu Resources dump site would be as close as 100 metres from Boulder Creek, a tributary of the Chehalis River, which, in turn, flows into the Harrison River upstream of Highway 7 west of Harrison Hot Springs.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Statlu Resources president Earl Wilder confirmed he has encountered strong opposition, but feels his plan for the site is misunderstood.

“We have a high social conscious,” he said. “We don’t want to damage anything.”

The proposal is drawing immediate skepticism from fish advocates.

Marvin Rosenau, a former provincial biologist who now teaches in BCIT’s Fish Wildlife and Recreation program, noted that heavy rainfall in the area raises concern about contaminants finding their way into the Chehalis, which he considers a critical salmon and steelhead stream.

“At face value, it seems like a stupid place for a contaminated-site disposal location in the light of the facts that the Chehalis flows through one of B.C.’s most important southern-coastal riverine/wetland aquatic ecosystems (including the Harrison/Chehalis confluence).”

According to the latest federal hatchery statistics, a total of about 500,000 chinook, 3.4 million chum and 700,000 coho salmon were released into the Chehalis River in 2015, as well as about 2.1 million pink salmon and 56,000 steelhead in 2014, and 21,000 cutthroat trout in 2012.

Wilder said the dump site would only accept remediated soils excavated from sites such as construction and industrial properties, leaving “low-level contaminants” such as residential hydrocarbons and heavy metals, but not domestic garbage or hazardous waste. The soil would meet the standard for commercial but not residential properties, although in theory in 12 years it could be used for any purpose. Statlu has no plans to move it off the site.

Protective liners would be installed and leachate collected and piped through an on-site treatment facility before safely going back into the forest. He argued the odds of winning the lottery are better than contaminants from the soil reaching the Chehalis and negatively impacting fish.

“We can’t say there’s no chance. There is a minimal chance something could happen.”

Wilder’s application to rezone about nine hectares of Crown land to resource industrial from institutional is before the Fraser Valley Regional District. The company holds a licence of occupation for investigation and assessment of the land.

In a letter to the company, Margaret Thornton, the district’s planning and development director, raised a number of issues, including the remoteness of the site and the potential for “unapproved materials” to be dumped on the property “with little chance of detection.”

The soil dump also threatens to “change the nature of the community and potentially impact the reputation” of nearby rural areas.

The project represents “a major impact in the region and warrants a high level of scrutiny,” she added.

Wilder wants the Chehalis River site because it is near a gravel pit he opened in 2009. An estimated 25 heavy-duty trucks a day would deliver contaminated soil to the site, then leave with loads of gravel — a total of 50 trips through the community.

The soil dump is located fewer than five kilometres upriver from the federal hatchery, but much closer to the Chehalis River.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Wilder said the site is situated as close as 340 metres from the Chehalis River, although closer to 600 metres based on the natural water flow on the land.

Vivian Thomas, Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resource Operations, noted that Boulder Creek, a tributary of the Chehalis, is 100 metres away.

The province has not objected to Statlu submitting a rezoning application for the site, but has not guaranteed a tenure for the project.

Wilder said information sessions held at both Lake Errock and the Sts’ailes First Nation did not go well, although the band has not yet formally rendered its opinion on the project.

Sts’ailes chief Harvey Paul could not be reached for comment.

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

Harvest Twin Harbors Fish & Wildlife Advocacy PO Box 179 McCleary, WA 9855 thfwa@comcast.net January 8, 2016 Pacific Salmon Commission via: email in PDF format 1155 Robson St. Vancouver, BC V6E 1B5, Canada

 Request

For A Reduction In Harvest Impacts on Southern Bound Natural Spawning Salmon Stocks

The Twin Harbors Fish & Wildlife Advocacy is a non-profit organization based in Washington State.

The purpose of the Advocacy is “Provide education, science, and other efforts that encourage the public, regulatory agencies and private businesses to manage or utilize fish, wildlife and other natural resources in a fashion that insures the sustainable of those resources on into the future for the benefit of future generations.” (www. thfwa.org).

Advocacy members and their family and neighbors have personally spent decades investing in salmon production through volunteer projects that have raised millions of Chinook, Coho, and Chum salmon that contribute to the pool of fish caught in the Pacific Ocean. Our members and supporters have joined with other Washington citizens and property owners in contributing billions of dollars in habitat restoration, state operated hatchery production, culvert replacements, property devaluation, loss of timber harvest, municipal or private sewage and stormwater improvements, etc. under government mandates wherein the stated primary purpose is the recovery or sustainability of natural spawning salmon stocks in WA streams.

With all this effort and investment, salmon recovery has struggled to succeed. Instate fishing has declined and ESA listings have plagued the state from the Columbia on the south to Puget Sound to the north.

Over the last 4 years, the Advocacy and others have invested thousands of hours in assisting the Washington Fish & Wildlife Commission in adoption of two new salmon management policies for the coastal terminals of Willapa Bay1 and Grays Harbor2 . The policies prioritize conservation over harvest, install hatchery reform and place an increased emphasis on achieving escapement goals for natural spawning stocks. In simple terms, an all out effort is underway to avoid further ESA designations and return natural spawning production to numbers adequate to sustain viable fisheries in the future.

The effort underway went forth with the knowledge that harvest inside the terminal has to be managed in a manner that could often require reduction of harvest inside the two terminals in order to achieve escapement goals. Using 2015 as an example, tribal and non-tribal commercial seasons 1 http://wdfw.wa.gov/conservation/fisheries/willapa_bay_salmon/ 2 http://wdfw.wa.gov/conservation/fisheries/grays_harbor_salmon/

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels were curtailed for Chinook in Willapa and Grays Harbor. Recreational fishers in both terminals were forced to forgo retention of un-marked Chinook. Then, the much smaller than expected 2015 coho return forced closures of tribal commercial, non-tribal commercial, and recreational seasons within both coastal terminals.

Even with all these measures and sacrifices, we believe it is clear escapement goals for natural spawning Chinook in Willapa Bay in 2015 were not reached. The adjustments in non-tribal and tribal fisheries inside the terminal, combined with a recent lowering of the escapement goal, might have allowed us to reach escapement goal for Chinook in Grays Harbor. We further predict that coho escapement goals will not be achieved in either terminal even with the closures as once again the conservation burden fell on the terminal fishers who waited patiently for their turn to fish as harvest continued on schedule on the ocean.

We recognize that the citizens who live on and around salmon bearing streams are stewards of those streams and will pay a significantly greater price than non-locals for the production of fish that are likely to be harvested on the open ocean. However, in providing this subsidy to fishers in other regions, the harvest rate applied outside the terminals by PSC should not make it nearly impossible to achieve escapement goals or threaten the locals with additional burdens from ESA listing of species resulting from a consistent failure to achieve spawning production at a rate that insures the viability of the stock for the future. Unfortunately, such was the case in 2015 for Chinook in the Willapa and for Coho in both coastal terminals.

As an example of the hardship placed on those inside the terminal, on page 51 of PSC’s annual report on Chinook harvest (TCCHINOOK15-1_V1, PSC.PDF) it states in 2014 “....on average 86% of fishery-related mortality on WA coastal stocks” results from PSC sanctioned fisheries located north of the Canadian/WA border. Relating that mortality to Willapa Bay, the returning run size of Chinook natural spawners coming across the bar into the Bay was below the escapement goal. In simple terms, the number of natural spawning Chinook heading for Willapa Bay was reduced by harvest in AK and BC to the point the run size into the Bay was well below escapement making achievement of the escapement goal impossible even if all fishing inside the terminal was canceled. It is important to note that this phenomena is not limited to 2014, but rather the norm in Willapa for over a decade.

Neither is it limited to just Chinook as the same shortfall in run size below escapement goal occurred in 2015 for coho in both terminals resulted in season cancellations though seasons on the ocean proceeded forward on the initial schedule.

In accordance with the Advocacy’s purpose referenced earlier, it is our belief that the elected officials and citizens of Washington state should have the opportunity to fully understand all the reasons why the billions already invested by Washingtonians have not produced the anticipated conservation results and the list of threatened or endangered stocks continue to grow in Puget Sound and elsewhere. It is therefore our intention to engage all in a long over-due discussion regarding the reasons why the state is plagued by the failure to recovery natural spawning salmon stocks.

The latest indicator of the need for such a broad based public discussion is the overfishing notice recently published by NOAA in the federal register for Willapa Bay and Grays Harbor fall Chinook and coho in the Hoh River further up the coast. We believe the citizens will quickly ask

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels “Where is all this fishing occurring?” With 86% of fishing mortality occurring north of the WA/ Canada border, we expect most eyes to then turn to the PFC processes. The question we expect to hear is “If we can’t get PFC to let enough back to the streams to meet escapement goals, where’s the incentive for Washingtonians to continue pouring billions of dollars in public and private resources into habitat restoration and hatchery production?” At this point, the Advocacy doesn’t have an answer that we are confident the majority of citizens of Washington would find acceptable. Especially when responding to the family living on Willapa Bay that recently lost a quarter of a million dollars in harvestable timber due to setbacks intended to protect habitat for natural spawners that have yet to materialized in the nearby stream due to harvest impacts.

As we move forward in our project to engage all in discussions about how we can restore natural spawning stocks in Washington, the Advocacy respectfully requests that the Pacific Salmon Commission consider seasons north of Washington’s border for 2016 forward that reduces the impacts on natural origin salmon stocks that have either struggled to meet escapement goals or noted under ESA guidelines. In the case of Willapa and Grays Harbor Chinook and Hoh River coho, we are requesting a decrease in northern impacts on natural spawners of 10% per year for five consecutive years or until such time as the number crossing over from the Pacific is expected to be at least 110% of the escapement goal for two consecutive years.

In presenting this request, we recognize that the Advocacy is not accustomed to the processes used within the Commission to establish qoutas and harvest rates and some might frown on our approach.

In our defense, at this point a relatively small percentage of Washingtonians even know the Commission exists let alone understand the impact the Commission has on the economic well-being of the state’s citizens. Then, the closed to the public meeting processes used by the Commission when establishing seasons north of WA do not provide the normal regulatory transparency we are accustomed to in the U.S. leaving one uncertain how to participate.

If anyone in the Commission has recommendations on how to participate in a more effective fashion, we will give all suggestions offered due consideration. In the meantime, we will be moving forward with our plans to engage the public and elected officials in a conversation about the difficulties and obstacles that need to be addressed to insure recovery of natural spawning salmon stocks in WA streams.

Respectfully,

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

Salmon feedlots

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

ď ś How does farmed salmon stack up?

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

ď ś Wild Salmon Eaten Alive

When wild salmon hang about the fish farms for bits of escaping food, this is what happens...the farmed fish are protected by chemicals but the lice can "smell" them and they hang about....the wild fish aren't protected and they literally get eaten alive!

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

 Feared Atlantic Farm Salmon Virus Identified in British Columbia Jan 7th, 2016 12:32 PM (BRITISH COLUMBIA) A scientific paper released on January 6, provides the first published evidence that a European variant of infectious salmon anaemia virus (ISAV) is present in British Columbia, Canada. The study, Discovery of variant infectious salmon anaemia virus (ISAV) of European genotype in British Columbia, Canada, tested over 1,000 farmed and wild fish. European ISAV is the most feared salmon virus in the salmon farming industry.

When ISAV spread to Chile in Atlantic salmon eggs, there was no response to contain it. In 2007, it spread rapidly, causing $2 billion in damages and outbreaks continue.

Unlike Chile, BC has wild salmon that contribute billions of dollars to the economy through tourism, commercial and sports fishing. The risk of an outbreak has the potential for severe consequences in BC, the Northwestern United States and Alaska.

“I have been following this work for many years. ISA virus is a serious matter,” says Dr. Daniel Pauly, one of the world’s leading fisheries scientists, based at the University of British Columbia (UBC). “A member of the influenza family in open ocean feedlots is a risk Canada should not be taking on the west coast.”

The researchers were not allowed access to Atlantic salmon from farms for testing and so all farmed salmon samples came from markets in British Columbia. Detection of the ISA virus was three-fold greater in farmed than wild salmon, but European ISA virus genetic sequence was detected in 72% of the cutthroat trout that reside in Cultus Lake, home to Canada’s most endangered Fraser River sockeye salmon population. Government attempts to restore Cultus Lake sockeye through fishing bans, enhancement and habitat restoration have been unsuccessful.

This raises the questions: Is ISA virus impacting Cultus sockeye and other BC wild salmon populations? And at what cost to Canadians?

"The potential that viruses such as ISAV are contributing to widespread decline in sockeye salmon populations cannot be taken lightly," states co-author Dr. Rick Routledge. "The findings in this paper should lead to development of more sensitive screening for this specific virus. This opportunity needs to be pursued with vigour."

The study also found evidence of ISA virus in sea lice.

“Finding ISA virus genetic material in a sea louse from a heavily salmon farmed region, the Discovery Islands, significantly elevates my concern that the pathogen release from the open net farming industry is far more serious than anyone knew,” says Dr. Craig Orr, Conservation Advisor for Watershed Watch.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels "This was a difficult strain of ISAV to detect, because of a small mutation," says co-author Alexandra Morton. "It is easy to see how it was missed, but we have cracked its code. It is critical that we learn from what happened to Chile. In my view, this work gives BC and our US neighbours the opportunity to avoid tragic consequences."

A lawsuit has been filed in the US against the US Environmental Protection Agency for allowing wild salmon to be put at risk from farmed salmon diseases.

The Virology Journal is a peer-reviewed scientific publication from BioMed Central, a leading academic open access publisher in the areas of biology, medicine and health. BioMed Central is part of global publishing house Springer Nature.

Backgrounder: http://discoverynewvariantisav.typepad.com/my-blog/

708 wild salmon were sampled from the green regions on this map. The red dots are salmon farms and the blue line is the largest wild salmon migration route in BC which passes through densely salmon farmed regions.

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

Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs NEWS RELEASE January 7, 2016

 Trudeau Government Must Take Action on Deadly European Salmon Virus in British Columbia Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver, B.C. - A recently released study, published in Virology Journal, reports evidence that the virus most feared by the international salmon farming industry is now present in our wild fish in British Columbia, Canada.

Chief Bob Chamberlin, Vice-President of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC), stated, “For years, we have warned the federal and provincial governments about our concerns with the imminent and devastating effect salmon farms have on wild salmon stocks.

Today these fears are heightened.

Wild salmon are integral to many First Nations’ cultures, well being and livelihood, and the protection of our wild salmon stocks is equally integral to the economic and environmental sustainability of the province and country as a whole.”

The ISA virus, a member of the influenza family, is appearing around the world where Atlantic salmon are farmed. When active, this virus can engulf the salmon farming industry, but here in BC we have the added risk of it spreading to wild salmon stocks that are already in decline. This virus has the potential for severe consequences to BC, the Northwestern United States and Alaska. ISAV caused billions of dollars in damage when accidentally introduced to Chile, because no action was taken when it was first detected.

We are extremely concerned that the study reports detection of a European strain of the ISA virus in the Fraser sockeye that spawn in Cultus Lake. These findings come as we face another year, where only an estimated two million sockeye have returned to the Fraser River, far short of the more than six million predicted in preseason forecasts.

Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, President of UBCIC, asserts, “With the newly released research, we have the opportunity to stop the ISA virus before it causes incalculable damage to wild salmon. UBCIC calls for the opening of fish farms to independent First Nations testing. Additionally, a test is needed that is specific to the new variant of European ISA virus and must be carried out on Atlantic salmon in the farms that are guests in our territories.”

The study represents a window of opportunity for the newly elected Trudeau government to take concrete steps to protect our wild salmon and rebuild the trust and respect that was lost under the Harper regime, which dismissed evidence-based scientific approaches and refused to enact the recommendations of the Cohen Commission of Inquiry into the Decline of Sockeye Salmon in the Fraser River. Given the critical importance of wild salmon the UBCIC remains fully committed to work with Minister Tootoo to help guide the new government’s commitments to reestablish transparent, science -based approaches and to renewing the relationship between the federal government and First Nations on a Nation-to-Nation basis, respecting our inherent Title and Rights.

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

 What could ISA mean for BC? Infectious Salmon Anemia (ISA), a deadly salmon virus, crippled the Chilean salmon farming industry and outbreaks have now been reported in Scotland. We asked Dr. Neil Frazer, Professor at the Department of Geology and Geophysics at the University of Hawaii, what a virus like ISA could mean for BC. What does this mean, scientifically, for a disease like ISA to be ‘endemic’?

It means that the disease is established and cannot be eradicated. The most one can hope for is to control it. Sea run trout can be a reservoir host for ISA. A recurrence of ISA is being reported in Shetland, Scotland. What are the steps needed to contain this kind of highly infectious disease in each jurisdiction?

It is necessary to kill infected fish and then dispose of them away from the marine environment.

Unfortunately, infection isn’t always immediately obvious, and farmers are understandably reluctant to kill fish until they are certain it is necessary.

Is there a threat of such an outbreak in BC? What would it mean for British Columbia’s wild salmon and coastal ecosystem if a similar outbreak were to happen here?

New Brunswick Canada is a good example. The ISA epidemic began there in 1996. By 1999, over 9.6 million farm salmon had been slaughtered for ISA control, and the provincial and federal governments had given salmon farmers $40 million for compensation and disease management. In 2006, the federal government gave the farmers another $10 million. ISA is now endemic there.

Similar outbreaks have occurred in Norway, Scotland, Maine, and (most recently) Chile.

As far as we know, Pacific salmon are resistant to ISA. However, nature has an effectively inexhaustible supply of viral diseases, of which ISA is just one example. In 2001-2003 there was an epidemic of infectious haematopoietic necrosis (IHN virus) in BC’s Broughton Archipelago, indicating that stocking levels exceeded the threshold for viral epidemics. BC’s Sockeye, Chinook and Steelhead salmon are susceptible to IHN, and stocking levels have increased since the 2001-2003 epidemic.

Is there any way possible for net-pen salmon aquaculture to expand (or exist) in BC without increasing our risks to the threat of ISA? Would closed containment systems effectively reduce this threat of disease for wild fish?

Even without expansion, stocking levels have already made BC a “sitting duck” for viral epidemics.

I believe that the costs of disease control will eventually force salmon farmers out of the ocean and into closed containment facilities. Whether BC will have any wild salmon left when that happens, is the important question, and I am not optimistic about the answer. Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) is obviously under extreme political pressure to promote aquaculture at the expense of wild fish, and it has a [total] budget of $1.5 billion dollars per year. With that amount of money, one could persuade the public that the moon is made of green cheese. Persuading the public that salmon farming is safe for wild salmon is easy by comparison.

The controversy on salmon farming reminds me of the controversies regarding the effects of lead, asbestos, tobacco and vinyl chloride on human health. In each case, governments were anxious to protect the industry, and since governments control the money for research, it took many decades for independent scientists to get the truth out. In the case of salmon farming, I am filled with admiration for scientists such as Alexandra Morton, John Volpe, Mark Lewis, and Marty Krkosek who have done such excellent work with shoestring budgets.

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

Grand Chief Stewart Phillip worries about the impact of the ISA virus on wild salmon stocks.

ď ś Grand Chief Stewart Phillip calls for independent First Nations testing of fish farms January 7, 2016 The Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs has urged the federal government to take action following a report of a new infectious salmon virus in B.C. Six researchers, including fish-farm critic Alexandra Morton, reported in Virology Journal today that they have detected infectious salmon anaemia virus sequences in fish from B.C. It's the first time this information has been published.

"The disease infectious salmon anaemia (ISA) is arguably the most feared viral disease of the marine farmed salmon industry because it has continued to cause the Atlantic salmon farming industry severe economic losses in an increasing number of countries for the past 30 years," the researchers wrote.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels In a subsequent news release, the UBCIC stated that there's a risk of this virus spreading to wild salmon stocks. It noted that a European strain has been detected in Fraser River sockeye that spawn in Cultus Lake.

"With the newly released research, we have the opportunity to stop the ISA virus before it causes incalculable damage to wild salmon," UBCIC president Grand Chief Stewart Phillip said. "UBCIC calls for the opening of fish farms to independent First Nations testing."

The UBCIC noted that the study "represents a window of opportunity for the newly elected Trudeau government to take concrete steps to protect our wild salmon and rebuild the trust and respect that was lost under the Harper regime".

UBCIC vice president Chief Bob Chamberlain pointed out in the news release that wild-salmon stocks are "integral to many First Nations' cultures, well being and livelihood".

The new fisheries minister, Hunter Tootoo, is of Inuk ancestry and represents the riding of Nunavut in Parliament.

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

ď ś We challenge the newly elected government to no longer turn a blind eye January 14, 2016

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

 Study finds virus in salmon January 9, 2016 A new study has identified a European variant of a virus present in farmed and wild salmon in British Columbia.

It was published Jan. 7 in the peer-reviewed journal Virology. The Raincoast Research Society, which helped produce the study, said that the presence of the infectious salmon anemia (ISA) virus in Atlantic farmed salmon puts wild salmon at risk.

Raincoast worked with biology and computer science researchers from the University of Prince Edward Island and a statistics researcher from Simon Fraser University.

The study includes salmon from waters along the West Coast, including this area.

“Some of those fish came from Squamish,” said Alexandra Morton, a biologist with the Raincoast Research Society.

She said they worked with a local guide in 2013 to look at fish that had made it to the Squamish River that were in the process of dying without having spawned.

“This is a common problems in these rivers,” she said.

For the study they tested more than 1,100 wild and farmed tissue samples from all wild varieties of Pacific salmon, as well as Atlantic salmon, cutthroat trout and other fish. Samples of farmed salmon came from stores and markets.

The report shows that segments of the virus were found in a higher proportion of the farmed samples than of the wild fish, especially among Atlantic salmon.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels The ISA virus has been associated with outbreaks in Atlantic salmon populations, as well as a destructive outbreak in Chile in 2007 that spread from Atlantic salmon eggs. The concern is that the disease can be spread to wild populations.

The problem, Morton said, is that wild salmon can be exposed to the run the waters of narrow channels where fish farms are adjacent.

The most alarming finding, she added, was the evidence of the virus in the Cultus Lake sockeye, a population that has long been under threat in spite of mitigating measures such fisheries closures and habitat restoration.

“There’s a run of fish that is highly studied,” she said. “They’ve tried everything to get those fish to come back.”

The research team also found evidence in the cutthroat trout at Cultus.

Morton said that while they cannot guarantee that the virus is killing salmon populations, there is a need for more inquiry into the issue, especially into the presence of ISA virus among farmed populations.

“This is very serious evidence that needs to be reviewed very thoroughly,” she said.

Opponents dismissed the report. Jeremy Dunn, a spokesperson for the B.C. Salmon Farmers Association, responded that thousands tests by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency have found no evidence of the ISA virus in B.C. Nor has the virus been found in Washington, Oregon and Alaska.

He added that farm-raised salmon in the province have shown no signs of illness and also criticized the researchers, citing a past history of reporting false positive results, which raises ethical questions.

"We have great concerns about the methodology,” Dunn said in a statement via email. “None of the results reported in this paper have been confirmed by an outside laboratory.”

According to its website, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has found no presence of ISAV in studies of farmed salmon on the West Coast, though the disease has been found among Atlantic salmon populations in Atlantic waters.

The most recent data on the CFIA website come from 2014. The Squamish Chief has called the agency but has not yet heard back.

Critics of the report also said that the report, itself, states that all attempts to find the isolated virus in the salmon were negative and considered “negative” in terms of the threshold for Canadian federal regulatory action.

Morton admits that the study detected segments of the virus rather than the virus in isolation, which she said would require fish to be caught alive.

For farmed salmon, the researchers could only test fish from stores rather than ones freshly caught.

Morton likens it to police having to rely on partial fingerprints when they do not have a whole print.

The farms, she added, could shed more light on the issue if the researchers could test the fish straight from the farms.

“They could clear this up. They have the power,” she said.

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

A new study has found evidence of infectious salmon anaemia — a deadly, infectious virus — in wild and farmed B.C. salmon.

 Deadly salmon virus may be in B.C. waters, study suggests Farmed salmon industry says findings of infectious salmon anaemia are false positives January 10, 2016

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Evidence of a deadly virus that has caused severe damage to the Atlantic salmon farming industry has been discovered in some farmed and wild B.C. salmon, according to a new study.

Biologist Alexandra Morton of the Raincoast Research Society worked with statistician Richard Routledge of Simon Fraser University and other researchers to test for the virus in more than 1,000 farmed and wild salmon of varying species.

The study published Jan. 6 in the peer-reviewed Virology Journal, found genetic matches for the European variant of the infectious salmon anaemia (ISA) virus in 79 cases.

'Pieces' of disease found "We never found the whole virus, we just found pieces of it, but the pieces of the virus can't exist by themselves, so it's concerning, because this is a member of the influenza family," Morton told On the Coast host Stephen Quinn.

The farmed fish used in the study were collected from markets, which Morton said is a limitation.

"We couldn't actually go to the fish farms and get the weaker, more diseased fish for testing," she said.

Morton said the virus was dominant in Chile's farmed Atlantic salmon stocks for years, until a mutation appeared in 2007 and "ripped through the industry and caused over $2 billion in damages."

Morton said wild salmon on B.C.'s coast are passing through areas where salmon are heavily farmed, and she worries what the virus may do to the wild fish.

"I'm hoping this work could be an early warning .. and we can get a handle on this before it mutates and does something," she said.

Salmon farmers dispute study ISA was previously suspected to be in the province in 2011, but at that time the Canadian Food Inspection Agency did not find any cases.

Jeremy Dunn, the executive director of the BC Salmon Farmers Association, criticized the methods used in the study published in Virology Journal, calling the results "false positives."

"The CFIA has been very definitive saying that ISA does not exist in British Columbia, and I can confirm that farm-raised salmon in British Columbia have never and are not showing any signs of sickness from this virus," he said.

To hear the full story listen to the audio labelled: Evidence of a deadly salmon virus found in B.C. waters, study suggests

Editorial Comment: During the three day extension of the Cohen Commission hearings, we learned that CFIA scientists were using less sensitive methods than DFO and other world-renowned scientists to detect ISAV presence.

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

 Alleged findings of ISA in BC salmon will not spur testing changes Make your informed decisions after watching “Salmon Confidential” January 12, 2016 A recently released scientific paper claiming that a sequence of infectious salmon anaemia (ISA) virus is present in British Columbia, Canada, will not prompt any changes to the already-vigorous ISA testing program, according to the B.C. Ministry of Agriculture's chief fish pathologist Gary Marty.

The report, published by six co-authors including independent biologist Alexandra Morton (pictured) in Virology Journal, provides the first published evidence of the ISA variant.

According to Morton, the variant described in the journal, although probably not pathogenic itself, will likely mutate and become a serious threat to the salmon population, and requires swift preventative action.

"This paper is an opportunity to do something before it mutates," she told Undercurrent.

According to Marty, however, the paper doesn't provide enough information "for [B.C.'s chief fish pathologist] to take any action, these are really preliminary results, they're unconfirmed, there's no evidence of disease".

Although the laboratory has a "good reputation for first finds" according to Marty, it has also been known to report false positives, which he suspects is the case with this study "most likely [due to] contamination in the laboratory".

"This research group and this laboratory in particular has a history of reporting false positives and reporting the sequence as ISA. They did it in 2011 and our opinion is that it seems to be that way again," Jeremy Dunn at the BC Salmon Farmers Association said.

Both Dunn and Marty said that the methods used do not measure up to standards set by the OIE -the World Organization for Animal Health, which fights animal diseases at a global level -- and pointed to past issues found with the lab's methods, including a 2012 OIE audit during which sample contamination was found.

"For the past four plus years, positive PCR [polymerase chain reaction, which amplifies sections of DNA or RNA] test results for ISAv from BC samples have been reported, primarily by Alexandra Morton and Kristi Miller.

None of these results have been confirmed using OIE standards, and none of these results have been confirmed by other standards of diagnostic medicine. The recent paper does not change this status," Dunn said.

100% Bovine Excrement

In 2012, Fred Kibenge's lab at the Atlantic Veterinary College, where the research for this study was conducted, was stripped of its international credentials after being audited following a similar claim that some Atlantic salmon were testing positive for ISA.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels One major criticism Marty has regarding the findings in the most recent paper is that they did not undergo confirmation by outside laboratories.

“The tests themselves are done properly, but there are a number of steps that need to be taken to confirm results, and those have not yet been done," Marty said. "It’s especially critical with a virus like this that’s internationally reportable."

Minimum confirmation, according to Marty, would be to go through the national reference lab, which the scientists in this study did not do.

"If you’ve published without confirmation from the national reference laboratory, you are essentially saying that…you feel they are incompetent, and I don’t think that’s the case,” he said.

According to Dunn, the existing testing program in B.C. is vigorous and highly capable of detecting ISA. “It’s important to remember that there are a significant amount of tests being done for ISA and Alexandra Morton’s history as an activist who will stop at nothing to discredit salmon farmers needs to be taken into account,” he said. "There is testing on an ongoing basis using internationally recognized methods…if there was ISA found it would legally have to be reported...as an industry we take ISA very seriously."

Marty also said that there is no reason that labs conducting regular tests, which "are constantly reporting ISA virus on the east coast" would be unable to detect ISA. "This is a very robust program," he said.

The BC government regularly sends government technicians to farms to conduct compulsory complete on fish that have recently died or are almost dead. Last year there were 820 fish sampled in BC alone.

One hypothesis offered by the paper for why this lab was able to detect the ISA variant while other tests have not is that there is a new mutation that allegedly decreases the sensitivity of other labs' tests, but Marty said this logic is faulty.

"The primer sequence for their PCR test actually contains the mutation. So the mutation is in their sequence because they put it in the sequence...it discredits the mutation hypothesis," Marty said.

"I don't think they realize the significance...it's just another example [that this] is very preliminary information that from my standpoint, shouldn't be published at this point."

The claim that there is risk of ISA in BC, Dunn said, is a grave one.

"ISA is very serious, [it's] an internationally reportable disease. If you detect ISA there are legislative and legal steps that you need to follow…there are hundreds if not thousands of tests on salmon in British Colombia…on a regular basis to ensure that there is no ISA. This is one of few farming regions that has not contracted ISA, and that’s incredibly important to the industry.”

Editorial Comment: Dunn and Marty appear to be “joined at the hip” when it comes to defending the health of foreignowned, Atlantic salmon being raised in ocean-based salmon feedlots sited along wild Pacific salmon migration routes along British Columbia’s coastline.

The transparency needed to protect wild Pacific salmon from potential impacts of these corporate-owned feedlots is sorely missing.

Mr. Marty is wrong to say that testing will not change – it must change to satisfy all involved.

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

 Researchers Detect Devastating Virus in Farmed Salmon January 11, 2016

Dr. Claudette Bethune: Good article!

The BC salmon farmer denial, ad hominem attacks, lack of transparency and inability to perform adequate testing sounds as bad as it really is here.

Even when given information that will help them protect their fish they just attack the messenger, even when the messenger states the obvious and carefully documents the scientific findings of the virus in a transparent and collaborative manner.

A pathogen that is “arguably the most feared viral disease of the marine farmed salmon industry” has turned up for the first time in farmed and wild fish in British Columbia, according to a new study in Virology Journal. The authors warn that the presence of the virus, called infectious salmon anemia virus, could greatly increase the risk of devastating outbreaks for salmon fisheries from Alaska down to the Pacific Northwest.

“This is first of all a salmon virus and a member of the influenza family, and it mutates easily and rapidly,” said coauthor Alexandra Morton, an independent marine biologist. “There is no place in the world where this virus has existed quietly. It has always caused a problem. It was detected in Chile in 1999, and nothing was done to contain it. They allowed it to reproduce and mutate, and in 2007 a form appeared that swept the coast and caused $2 billion in damage.”

The B.C. Salmon Farmers Association promptly responded to the new study with a fierce attack on its science. “We have great concerns about the methodology and the ethics of the researchers involved, given their history of reporting false positives with respect to ISA,” said Jeremy Dunn, executive director. “None of the results reported in this paper have been confirmed by an outside laboratory.”

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Morton called the response unhelpful. “This is a dangerous virus to the industry and to the wild salmon, and we need to deal with this in a scientific way,” she said, adding that the fish farmers had denied her group access to farmed salmon for testing. “They deny everybody access. It really inhibits the work. You have to go and get the dying fish out of these farms and test them.”

Instead, Morton and her coauthors tested more than 1,000 farmed and wild salmon from British Columbia supermarkets and found evidence of ISAV in 78. The virus also turned up in sea lice from the Discovery Islands, a region known for salmon farms, raising concern that the pathogen was introduced from open net fish farming.

The new study used PCR (polymerase chain reaction) technology, the standard technique for amplifying segments of DNA and identifying them to a particular species. But in a comment forwarded by the B.C. Salmon Farmers Association, Gary Marty, British Columbia’s chief fish pathologist, argued that the paper did not “provide a balanced review” of the thousands of past PCR studies on B.C. salmon that were negative for the virus. He also raised the “possibility of sample contamination” in the “cramped, untidy conditions” of the laboratory where the new PCR studies took place.

If there had been contamination, Morton replied, the ISAV found by the new study would have been an exact match for ISAV found elsewhere. Instead, the researchers found a mutation at a critical area sampled in PCR testing. “This is a difficult strain of ISAV to detect,” she said, “and it is easy to see how it was missed” in past studies. Different laboratories also use different methods, and they interpret the results using different standards.

But Morton said the new study had “cracked the code” for ISAV with a methodology that passed peer review in one of the top virology journals. “We not only got detection of the virus, we got pieces of the virus, and ran them through GenBank,” the National Institutes of Health genetic database, “which is like running a fingerprint.”

Morton conjectured that resistance to the new study was based mainly on the economic value of the wild and farmed salmon industry, worth perhaps $1 billion a year in British Columbia. ISAV is a “notifiable” disease, meaning that, if the finding is confirmed, Canada would be obliged to report it to the International Organization for Animal Health in Paris. That notification would permit other countries to block imports without fear of incurring trade penalties. “If B.C. is positive for ISAV,” said Morton, “the United States and other governments will in all likelihood close their borders to the export of farmed salmon” and salmon eggs.

“What needs to happen now,” she said, “is that all laboratories need to do the same test—so we don’t compare apples to oranges—and we need access to the farmed fish. So far no one has stepped up to accomplish that. It is critical that we learn from what happened to Chile.

In my view, this work gives B.C. the opportunity to avoid tragic consequences.”

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

ď ś

TASTE THAT KILLS - WARNING excitotoxins (Translated)

Farmed salmon contains several hundred times more of these toxins itself, than the poison added to food for salmon. There is no limit on how much they can have the food to salmon, than the toxins in food to salmon, so will not appear in the final product farmed fish. There is no mating of how much is in the finished salmon.

Source Alexandra Morton is one of the most famous scientists Regarding fish farming, a biologist, we praised for her wagers for living water and biodiversity.

If someone told you that a chemical substance that is added to food can cause brain damage in your children so that they later receive behavioral disorders, learning disabilities, obesity and infertility problems. If it can be shown that the substance is likely to exacerbate nerve diseases like Parkinson's, Huntingson, Alzheimer's and ALS. And that the substance would serve no nutritional function. How would you feel then?

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Yes, something like launching Russel Blaylock his book excitotoxins, The Taste that Kills, where most of this Article is taken. Blaylock is a brain surgeon who saw the damage to the brain and decided to thoroughly understand the causes. He has read countless research reports, and the book has 493 references.

The three most common excitotoxinerna is glutamate, aspartate (main ingredient of Aspartame) and L-cysteine. The use of these in the food industry is wide. Blaylock was warned by colleagues to write the book. Powerful industrial interests would make life miserable for him. That the book is based on well-made research reports that support his claims was therefore important. No one has been able to question his conclusions.

How excitotoxins works Glutamate and aspartate amino acids are naturally present in many proteins. When they started using them were therefore not a given that they could be dangerous. Man had discovered that if you split protein and concentrated free glutamate from there you could add it to the food and get a strengthening of the taste. Concentrating aspartame get something that is more than 100 times sweeter than sugar. But it so happens that glutamate and aspartate are also used by the brain that two of the approximately 50 different chemical neurotransmitters to transmit impulses from nerve to nerve. It is a very efficient system, it requires very small amounts. Exposed a glutamate-sensitive nerve for large amounts of glutamate becomes overexcited, working himself to death. The dies. In normal cases, there are enzymes that takes care of excess glutamate. But if the concentration of glutamate becomes too much time not to. If you are hungry and have low blood sugar function is impaired. If you have a lack of magnesium and antioxidants are the injuries that occur more extensive. The effect of aspartate is similar. Aspartame has also methanol as a metabolic product and there are carcinogens.

The blood brain barrier The blood brain barrier is to prevent unsuitable substances to enter the brain. This line prevents normal glutamate that you have eaten and ended up in the blood to enter the brain. But not always. In fetuses barrier is immature, it actually takes many years before it is fully formed. If the concentration of glutamate in the blood is high for a long time so delicious part glutamate through this happens if you eat glutamate several meals in a row. Other causes impaired barrier is, atherosclerosis, diabetes, hypertension, infections, concussions, tumors, and especially microstrokes (those that occur without noticing it). The possibilities for excitotoxins to get into the brain and cause damage are many.

Excitotoxins damage the brain Certain parts of the brain has no barrier, including hypothalamus. These parts are most often damaged by excitotoxins. Even if the damage occurs in the fetus or child age it may be long before it shows any symptoms. The hypothalamus is the body control systems for many of the hormones. These control including such as circadian rhythms, metabolism, fertility, etc. Although intelligence and behavior are affected. There is a loss here in an early stage of development, the function incorrectly programmed forever. Tests on animals have taken too much glutamate show abnormal behavior, lower intelligence, obesity (which is not going to slim away), infertility, etc.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels For ethical reasons, scientifically controlled experiments are not done on humans. When the child grows up, it can not handle social contacts, have been difficult to learn, become overweight, have difficulty getting children (both men and women).

Many also get acute symptoms after eating excitotoxins that could prove after two minutes up to two days in the form of headaches, fatigue, thirst, abdominal pain, dizziness, diarrhea, shortness of breath, palpitations, confusion and mood swings.

Later in life, excitotoxins also affect a number of nerve disorders, such as Parkinson's, Huntington's, Alzheimer's and ALS. It is not likely that these are caused by excitotoxins, but they contribute to the symptoms become worse and will sooner than they otherwise would. Symptoms include not until about 80 percent of the neurons for a particular function has died, so the damage may have been going on for a long time before. Iron, mercury and other heavy metals do excitotoxinerna even more toxic and over the years can have accumulated a lot of those.

Since the body's protection against excitotoxins is the worst in the beginning and end of life as directed Blaylock strongly encourages all pregnant women, children and elderly people it is especially important for them to avoid glutamate, aspartame and other excitotoxins.

How to avoid damage to health If you are not kids or elderly, is perfectly healthy, not hungry, eat nutritious food, sleep well and do not stress, the body is capable of excitotoxinerna without the need to produce brain damage. But if one of the conditions are not met, for example if you get a cold and fever, as can excitotoxinerna dead brain cells. Antioxidants may reduce the risk. The antioxidants vitamin C (fruits and berries) and vitamin E (fish, nuts, egg yolks) are most important in this context. Even long-chain omega-3 fats (fatty fish and free range meat) reduces the risk of injury, as well as small amounts of selenium and zinc (larger amounts are toxic).

Magnesium makes most today itself too little of, and magnesium deficiency does excitotoxins much more dangerous. Aluminum (aluminum pots, cereals) enhances the effect further, such as phosphate (Coca-Cola). Magnesium can be taken as pills but found naturally in nuts, rose hips, fish, meat and vegetables.

The impact of heavy metal Heavy metals, especially mercury, increases toxicity of excitotoxins manifold. It is enough to drink a hot drink, so releasing dangerous levels of amalgamplomber. Do not use amalgam tandfyllnad. One must also look out for fish from the lakes and the Baltic Sea that may have high mercury content. Although iron increases excitotoxiners toxicity. Menstruating women may need iron supplements, but most would rather have to do with iron. You can do that by being blood donors! There is a special antioxidant that also can bind metals and subsequently eliminate, namely alpha-lipoic acid. Can be taken as pills but are found naturally in spinach and broccoli.

It is best to not eat any excitotoxins at all. Considering the danger, they should not be allowed in food, but they are. They are empty of vaccines (in Germany it is forbidden).Swedish Food Administration has no opinion, without relying on WHO. WHO has no own opinion, but they follow the Food and Drug Administration in the United States.FDA is controlled too much by the food and drug industry, so there has not been any prohibition.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Beware of the light, diet and keyhole-labeled food There is a way to get rid of excitotoxins in our food. It is not to buy foods that contain them. So every time you pick a product, take a few seconds to read through the table of contents. Goods with any of the following ingredients contain excitotoxins: E 951 Aspartame, E620 Glutamic Acid, E621 glutamate (also called flavor enhancer), E622 potassium glutamate, E623 Kalciumdiglutamat, E624 Monoammoniumglutamat, E625 Magnesiumdiglutamat, hydrolyzed / digest protein, calcium caseinate, sodium caseinate, gelatine (E441) autolyzed yeast, yeast extract, seaweed extract, carrageenan (E407) and maltodextrin.

If an item has the text lite, diet or keyhole-marked - see it as a warning signal to carefully check the contents. Keyhole-labeled goods are always low in fat and easily becomes tasteless because fat is a carrier of flavor. Therefore poured it often excitotoxins as flavor enhancer, it's the cheapest way to get more flavor. While you are reading the table of contents, there is more food than excitotoxins should avoid or reduce the intake of.

Trans fats are not prohibited in Sweden, but there are those in Denmark and in the land of the United States. New York has held that the health risks are serious, and introduced a ban. Says hardened fat or vegetable fat contents and the content is not liquid, then there trans fat. Is often found in margarine, frying oils, cookies, popcorn, crackers, ice cream, chocolate, etc.

Omega-6 fatty inflammation driving and omega-3 fat are anti-inflammatory. A suitable ratio of omega6 / omega-3 is 3/1. In today's food becomes much bigger quota, which increases the risk of atherosclerosis, allergy, arthritis, cancer, etc.

High omega-6 intake exacerbates the effects of excitotoxins. Omega-6 declared content rarely, but cereals, maize, soya and most cooking oils have very high values, such as margarines. Butter and coconut fat, however healthy.

Foods high in carbohydrates provide high insulin levels and cause numerous health problems such as obesity, diabetes, atherosclerosis, poor immune system, cancer, etc. This also raises blood sugar fluctuations, and during periods for which the blood sugar is too low, the brain has a reduced protection against excitotoxins. Use food with more than 5 percent energy savings, as well as carbohydrates.

Sulphur dioxide (often in dried fruit) destroys vitamin B1, which upon failure, together with excitotoxins can cause Alzheimer's.

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

ď ś Fish

farm neighbours 'in shock' over Huon Aquaculture's nitrogen output breach A community group focused on the environmental impact of salmon farms is "in shock" over Huon Aquaculture's breach of its permitted nitrogen emissions into Tasmanian waters.

December 16, 2015

One of Tasmania's biggest salmon producers has been ordered to pay $260,000 for an environmental review, after exceeding its nitrogen flows into waterways by more than 270 tonnes in 12 months.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Huon Aquaculture reported to the state environment department (DPIPWE) that its nitrogen input into waters in the Huon River and Port Esperance area from fish feed was up by 42 per cent in the period.

Chrissie Rowlands from the group Neighbours of Fish Farming said she was "in shock" at the breach.

"We already know that we're seeing the impact of increased nutrients in the river recently, we've lost one of our small industries — our mussel industry at Port Esperance — because of increasing nutrients, and we've also seen an impact on the abalone," she said.

Salmonid marine farming operations in the Huon River and Port Esperance Marine Farming Development Plan 2002 are subject to an upper limit on the amount of dissolved nitrogen that can be released into the plan area.

Ms Rowlands said the industry and State Government plan to double the size of the industry by 2050 was not only "greedy" but "unsustainable".

The industry just needs to stop being so greedy, and the Government needs to stop supporting an industry that is so greedy.

Chrissie Rowlands, Neighbours of Fish Farming "It's not sustainable at all. We have Fisheries Research Corporation studies that show that the industry is not going to be viable long term because of increasing nutrients, increasing salinity [and] increasing water temperatures," she said.

"The industry just needs to stop being so greedy, and the Government needs to stop supporting an industry that is so greedy, and it's actually riding on a clean, green image of Tasmania and yet it's exceeding its nitrogen cap by 42 per cent with no penalty."

As a result of the breach, the Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies has been engaged by the Government to undertake an environmental assessment.

Huon Aquaculture will foot the full cost of the environmental bill, estimated to be $260,000.

Neighbours of Fish Farming was formed in July this year to voice the concerns of Huon Valley residents living near the operations of Huon Aquaculture and Tassal.

In a statement, Huon Aquaculture's chief executive Peter Bender said the growth rates of salmon had been unprecedented, and the bigger fish were eating more.

He said he did not expect there would be any significant impact on the health of the waterway.

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

Dr. Claudette Bethune: Fish tuberculosis was detected this Spring there, the diseases are likely to become much worse in the warmer waters of Summer... http://www.abc.net.au/.../tasmania-salmon.../6754900

ď ś Rare

and chronic fish disease mycobacteriosis found for the first time in salmon farmed in Tasmania's Macquarie Harbour A rare chronic disease called mycobacteriosis that can cause mortality in fish, has been found in farmed salmon in Macquarie Harbour, on Tasmania's west coast.

September 7, 2015

A Department of Primary Industries internal discussion paper, obtained by ABC Rural through Right to Information laws, reveals that an increased rate of the disease was recorded last year.

The paper links the disease to a degraded environment and warns Macquarie Harbour's low oxygen levels and complex marine environment increases the risk of disease spread among salmon.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Senior Lecturer in veterinary pathology at the University of Adelaide, Dr Stephen Pyecroft, said a degraded environment would worsen the incidence of the disease.

"You get an increased number of those bacteria if you have low dissolved oxygens, high levels of detritus, and you get into what we call an eutrophic environment (high amount of nutrients from fish waste)," he said. "[A degraded environment] would promote the presence of mycobacteria, [with] any degrading in the environment you're going to predispose animals to infection."

AUDIO: A report finding increased disease risks and low dissolved oxygen levels in Macquarie Harbour has sparked warnings from scientists about fish farming expansions(ABC Rural) A vet in the Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and the Environment (DPIPWE) in Tasmania wrote the discussion paper as advice for the Chief Veterinary Officer Rod Andrew-Arthur.

The paper said that producers began reporting increased incidence of inflammation in the kidneys of fish or 'granulomatous kidneys'; which was caused by an infection with Mycobacteria salmoniphilium.

The report, which had sections related to stocking density redacted before it was released under Right to Information laws, said that it was uncommon for the disease to be found in Atlantic salmon.

Report links disease to environmental conditions A Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and the Environment (DPIPWE) spokesperson, said mycobacteria is a common environment bacterium, found in soil and water.

"There has been an incidental recording of it in farmed salmon previously as well in the state’s south east," the spokesperson said.

"At this stage the incidence of its detection in samples from Macquarie Harbour is quite low, with seven of 79 submissions to the Animal Health Labs indicating its presence.

"The detection of this bacteria does not represent a disease outbreak, but rather that some fish have picked up this infection."

The disease is also commonly called "fish tuberculosis" and can spread between fish through contaminated water sources, consumption of contaminated feed, and cannibalism of infected or dead fish.

Fish can harbour the disease, which is not fatal in all cases, for long periods of time and it is possible for them to recover if the environmental conditions change.

Infection from fish to human is extremely rare and has been associated with infected cuts on hands or people with compromised immune systems.

The disease can be transferred to humans through breaks in the skins when in contact with contaminated water or infected fish.

Dr Pyecroft also worked for the Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and the Environment in Tasmania for 10 years until 2012 as a veterinary pathologist.

He said that it was difficult to link the emergence of mycobacteriosis to the expansion of fish farming in Macquarie Harbour.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels "Relating that to expansion of farming and other things is a bit of a leap of faith, because if you're managing those risks, then you should be okay," he said.

"But if you see increased incidence of this, you need to start looking at the bottom of the cages, what is the ground underneath the cages looking like? "[Do some] harbour management and harbour surveillance and say, 'Yes, we have an environment that is not looking as optimal as we would like'."

Warning against fish farming expansions in Macquarie Harbour Tasmania's half a billion-dollar salmon industry is rapidly expanding and is a major source of jobs in the state.

But concern among environmentalists and some scientists is also growing, and one of those flashpoints is the impact of fish farming in Macquarie Harbour, which is on the doorstep of the World Heritage Area.

Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson said information in the internal DPIPWE discussion paper about disease risks and low dissolved oxygen levels is concerning.

"It's just another piece of a jigsaw puzzle which suggests to us that unless we diffuse it Macquarie Harbour is a ticking time bomb for the salmon industry and for potentially the wider and broader eco-system," he said.

Mr Whish-Wilson said that it's disappointing the DPIPWE didn't provide this information to a recent Senate inquiry into the salmon industry in Tasmania.

"There is information out there, there are scientists conducting scientific studies now, there have been numerous over the last five years especially since the expansion...but all that science goes into the black hole that is DPIPWE," he said.

Professor of Marine Ecology and Director of the Centre of Environmental Sustainability at the University of Technology in Sydney, Dr David Booth, said Macquarie Harbour was a very vulnerable marine environment AUDIO: Tasmanian Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilsons says fish farming in Macquarie Harbour is a "ticking time bomb."(ABC Rural) "It's such a stratified estuary, the bottom layers of the water have incredibly low levels of oxygen, this means it's already a situation where it's almost at tipping point," he said.

"If the salmon farms aren't correctly managed not only could they damage themselves but it could have a flow on effect to the environment."

Three companies; Tassal, Huon Aquaculture, and Petuna have been expanding fish farming in Macquarie Harbour over the last five years.

This report comes after the leaked emails from Petuna and Huon Aquaculture from late year, revealed concerns about the health of Macquarie Harbour, plunging dissolved oxygen levels and disease risk among fish.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels The salmon industry has since reported that oxygen levels have improved, but the discussion paper obtained by ABC Rural, reveals that it remains an ongoing concern.

Dr Booth raised questions about continued expansions in Macquarie Harbour.

"It's already at the environmental carrying capacity or beyond, so with a bit of clever husbandry the current stocking and profit levels could be maintained," he said.

"But an expansion, from what I've read, could be disastrous for Macquarie Harbour."

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

 British Columbia Ends the Year Strong with Two ASC Certified Salmon Farms Warning: You may become physically ill while reading this bovine excrement December 31, 2015 CAMPBELL RIVER, British Columbia – As the year comes to a close, British Columbia achieves two more certifications by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council. Marine Harvest Canada has announced that two of its Port Hardy farm sites, Duncan Island and Doyle Island, are the latest salmon farms to attain ASC certification. Collectively, salmon farming companies in British Columbia have achieved five ASC certifications throughout 2015 – furthering their commitment to achieve 100% ‘Gold Standard’ third-party certification by 2020.

“Members of the BCSFA continue to demonstrate their progress towards world leading practices,” said BC Salmon Farmers Association Executive Director, Jeremy Dunn.

“They have made great strides this year to validate their commitment in achieving third party certification and will continue to do so into the future.”

Currently there are 85 ASC certified salmon farms around the world. The ASC standard is the most recently developed and most demanding global sustainability certification system. It was developed through a dialogue process led by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) that engaged over 2,000 representatives from the global aquaculture industry, retail and food service sector, NGOs, government and scientific community between 2004 and 2015.

Editorial Comment: “World Leading Practices” doesn’t say much given the nature of this filthy industry that impacts human health and environmental integrity.

ASC certification means little when considering the artificial nature, deceptive marketing and environmental risks directly associated with this industry that relies on free water flow, sewage disposal and food supplementation provided by wild species.

ASC certified (“Gold Standard” or not) does not relieve taxpayers from compensating salmon farmers for product loss due to disease outbreaks.

By 2020, B.C. aims to be the first region in the world to be certified by ‘Gold Standard’ environmental programs, which includes having all farm-raised Atlantic salmon ASC certified. British Columbia is the first and only salmon farming region to have all of its Atlantic salmon certified by the Global Aquaculture Alliance Best Aquaculture Practices program. The province is also home to North America’s first certified organic Chinook producer Creative Salmon. Today, over 50% of the world’s seafood is farmed, with projections showing this figure will explode to 75% in just 15 years.

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

 Oversized packaging, “Organic”, artificial color, toxic-laden fat Available at Canadian Superstore

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

ď ś Farmed Salmon Escapes Fish raised in aquaculture production can cause serious harm when unintentionally or intentionally released from aquaculture facilities. Escaped fish can harm wild fish populations, other species and the ecosystem.

Fish in open net pens escape in small numbers even during normal operations, and can escape in large quantities when nets are damaged by storms or predators, such as sharks and sea lions.

Atlantic salmon escapes on the U.S. and Canadian West Coasts are common; there were 350,000 known escapes in 1997 and farmed Atlantic salmon have been found thousands of miles away from the closest salmon aquaculture facilities.

In the Pacific Ocean, escaped non-native Atlantic salmon have already been found breeding near aquaculture operations in both British Columbia and South America. Escapes are a significant concern because they occur on a regular basis. Escaped fish potentially travel great distances and are a threat to the long-term health and fitness of native populations.

In early 2009, Oceana publicized a massive escape that took place on December 31, 2008. We revealed that the escape involved about 750,000 salmon and trout and that some of the escaped salmon were infected with the ISA virus.

Moreover, reports of salmon escapes in Chile range upwards of 10 million a year. The escape of farmed salmon from their cages is one of the most serious environmental problems resulting from open-water aquaculture operations.

Escaped salmon generate various ecological effects including predation and competition with native species, hybridization and transmission of diseases to native wild fish. Also, many of the native species affected by escaped salmon are the target species for artisanal fishing, causing economic losses in this sector estimated at $5 million annually.

Currently, regulation of salmon escape in Chile is very weak.

Essentially the only requirement is that farming companies prepare a contingency plan. This has proved to be ineffective in mitigating and even in reporting of escapes.

Some companies have insured themselves against escapes which some people believe have led the companies to seek reimbursement (when market prices are down) by negligently permitting massive escapes.

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

Dr. Claudette Bethune This is a wild cod caught in northern Norway. It's been eating salmon farm pellets.

This and other wild fish are ruined when they eat this feed.

The fishermen say it tastes awful and will not catch and eat them if they see signs they have eaten salmon feed.

SPY cod taken by Skjellesvika spewing aquaculture feed.

 How much pollution do we tolerate?

(Translated from Norwegian to English) December 15, 2015 To ride manufactured in the report was well this rather a lobby thrust towards the politicians who must decide how any new plants to be placed around Grytøy, Bjarkøy and Sandsøy. The report was incredibly one-sided in his description of an industry that must be considered in an environmental crisis.

Negative aspects forties The attacked today from many quarters for contamination around the plants, sea lice that destroys wild salmon and sea trout stocks and poisoning of the ocean with antilusmidler. These negative aspects of the industry was obviously not part of the program, but the journalist could always themselves tied a comment for Hallelujah descriptions of all the positives. There have been told that the initiative for this "information tour" was taken by Mayor Marianne Bremnes and leader in Harstad Labour Kari Anne Oppsal.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels The latter has also been county executive for nourishment, and on the basis of this position, there is reason to believe that she is on first name basis with all the salmon farmers in the area.

Priorities It seems so it is important to take into account 3-4 breeders who neither boron or taxes to Narvik municipality, than listening to 400-500 affected islanders who both live and taxes to the municipality. We do note that Marianne Bremnes also the mayor for us islanders. The vast majority of us, certainly over 95 percent, are opponents of new construction with old technology. Also we see that the aquaculture industry is an important industry for the country, but all the expansion in our area must be closed and contamination-free cages.

Death fjord The pollution is already too great. The mayor takes quite wrong when she thinks that it is the "yellow balloons" at sea we fear. When locality by Sandsøy was established was the former Bjarkøy council 2x unanimously against the establishment. This decision was made by people with great local knowledge, as with my own eyes had seen and experienced what over 20 years of breeding had made with wild fish in DYBING / Akkarnes area. This area has gone from being one of the richest fishing areas, to become an almost dead fjord.

On growing for a long time Here was council overrun by the county, and the facility was created. The plant at Sandsøya is centered on the best fishing spot in the area "Little Molvik reason". Here locals on Sandsøy and Grytøy sourced their fish for generations for hundreds of years. We wonder: Do we islanders no historical or legal rights? It is also located a facility at Kjøtta. This was first proposed positioned at Rogla. We all remember the terrible commotion there, then, were the people of the town. Then the Harstad council and moved it out to us instead.

Danger Threatening signs Two of our best fishing spots for redfish has for years been "Trubakken and Bratt Egga". Today spectator away from those spots. These are fishing spots located between the localities of Sandsøya and Kjøtta. Such observations are also made in the redfish-meer in Top Sundet. These are indications that pollution has occurred in these areas. We brought in experience that spectator is "red list" of endangered species. When the proposed new "Coastal zone Plan in South Troms" was lodged, was prepared statement to both for Skjellesvika and Top Sundet. Regarding Skjellesvika so we wonder whether consultation statement is read. There is a local coastal cod strain that spawns in the area Skjellesvika / river bend.

Completely unacceptable From January to April each year fishing both commercial fishermen and recreational fishermen in this area. In the past few years the catches declined.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels There is reason to believe that this is due to fish farms. One thing is sure, there comes a new plant in Skjellesvika, fish will disappear also from this area. Regarding Top Strait we see that the proposed areas are taken out of the plan, but we have to understand that municipal politician Kari Anne Oppsal requested postponing treatment in October meeting of the council. This because she wanted to get placed two new plants at Grytøysiden of Top Sundet. This is completely unacceptable.

Never out at sea If this happens, will also Top Sundet be destroyed. It is eternal enough with farming on one side of the strait !! We believe that Harstad council, for the most part, consists of people who rarely or never is at sea and fishing in our area. We therefore believe it is incredibly important that the mayor and party leaders ensures that all local politicians get a good and balanced knowledge of the aquaculture industry, not only from the industry itself, but also from people who have knowledge of all drawback supplied. This is almost a requirement for council honorably can deal with the case.

Quality of life and the desire to live We islanders would very much like to be involved in such an information process. If necessary, we believe that treating the matter be postponed until the New Year. If the three new plants the unlikely event, our quality of life and the desire to live can be reduced and the value of our properties deteriorate. Meanwhile, a few "laksebaroner" which taxes to our community, make millions. This we cannot accept archipelago !!!

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

ď ś RSPCA defend record as anti-seal cull campaigners allege salmon farms are not 'last resort' killers December 28, 2015

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels A major animal welfare organisation has defended its record on protecting seals amid claims that a scheme it backs has failed to stem killings by fish farms.

The RSPCA has always stipulated in its welfare standards for farmed Scottish salmon that the shooting of seals has to be a "last resort".

But campaigners allege seals are still being needlessly shot despite the rise in use of anti-predator nets that should protect salmon stocks from seals.

New Marine Scotland figures show the percentage of fish farms that had made use of anti-predator nets, seen as a way of deterring seals, has risen from 13 per cent in 2011/12 to 79 per cent in 2014/2015.

The percentage of those that made use of seal blinds, to prevent seals seeing fish that they can prey on, has fallen from 29 per cent in 2012/13 to 18 per cent in 2014/15.

It has coincided with a decline in the number of seals killed from 241 on 235 individual fish farms in 2011 to some 80 across 214 farms in 2014.

But the latest figures for 2015 show that salmon farming has been responsible for the shooting of 49 seals in the first half of 2015. That's eight more than the same period the last year.

Meanwhile the RSPCA's welfare standards that need to be complied with to become RSPCA approved state: "The repeated shooting of seals without having deployed all of the measures leading to a last resort scenario, will result in the site being suspended from the scheme pending further investigation."

Producers of farmed salmon are issued with licences which allow seals to be shot to protect fish stocks.

Salmon farmers say they sometimes need to kill seals as a last resort to prevent them attacking nets and eating fish. However, campaigners, argue that better nets and 'seal-scarers' should eliminate the need for killing.

The Global Alliance Against Industrial Aquaculture campaign group said in response to the figures: "The leap in use of anti-predator nets shows how easy (albeit expensive) it is to take steps to avoid shooting and killing seals.

"These figures blow out of the water the industry's claim that seals are shot as a 'last resort'. Even now, one in five salmon farms still don't use anti-predator nets.

"The RSPCA, who certify over 70% of Scottish farmed salmon as 'welfare friendly', must now tighten the net on salmon farms who shoot seals first rather than as a 'last resort'."

The RSPCA insisted it was "equally concerned" about the welfare of all animals whether they be farmed salmon and wild animals such as seals, which may prey upon them.

"The shooting of one seal is still one too many and the RSPCA and its RSPCA Assured scheme are working closely with the Salmon, Aquaculture and Seals Working Group (of which we were founder members) to find further new ways to reduce the use of a lethal method of predator control to zero as soon as practically possible. The group is made up of concerned animal welfarists, salmon farmers, academics specialising in sea mammals and retailers.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels "All members of the RSPCA Assured scheme must record and demonstrate that rigorous measures are taken at all times to deter predator attacks on their salmon. These measures must - in accordance with RSPCA standards - focus on physical exclusion, including the proper use of acoustic devices, properly tensioned and weighted nets and the efficient removal of dead and moribund fish from the bottom of the nets.

"However it is a sad reality of salmon farming - as it is with predator attacks on terrestrial livestock farming - that from time to time a determined predator may be able to bypass all efforts to exclude them and attack on the fish. Such attacks can cause serious welfare problems, with potentially hundreds of fish being killed and/or caused great suffering. In these cases, the predator must be dealt with in a humane way by a suitably trained and competent person. This method of control must only be enacted as a last resort.

"RSPCA Assured scheme members must report any incidents of seals being shot to the scheme management within 72 hours.

"If a member of the RSPCA Assured scheme cannot demonstrate that any lethal action was taken only as a last resort, and that all required non-lethal deterrents were in place and fully functional, then the member will automatically be suspended from the scheme."

The Scottish SPCA does not certify salmon farms but its chief superintendent Mike Flynn said: "All non-lethal control measures must be exhausted before any lethal measure is considered.�

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

 Healthiest foods are raised in a natural environment December 24, 2015 Last week’s column was about the first wellness-based principle of nutrition I was taught in chiropractic school; namely, that the processing of foods damages their nutritional value. The leading example is sugar, which is important in our diets as part of a whole food but poisonous when used in its highly processed form.

The second principle I was taught is that the quality of a food is affected by the conditions in which it was raised. Cows raised naturally are free to roam and eat whatever plants they encounter, and they naturally choose the foods that are best for them.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels By contrast, factory-farmed beef cattle are fed grains to “fatten them up.” This diet not only makes them overweight, it stresses their entire systems and makes them prone to infection. Because of this, many are kept on a steady diet of antibiotics. In addition, up to two-thirds of beef cattle are given growth hormones. They also are raised in pens where their movement is limited, often ankle-deep in their own waste, during the last few months when they are in a feedlot.

It only makes sense that the meat from these animals would not be as healthy as the meat from a grass-fed, active, drug-free, less-stressed animal. Looking at the composition of the meat, we can see this is true. Grass-fed beef has more vitamins E and A and a healthy balance of essential omega-3 fatty acids. Grain-fed beef has very little omega-3 and up to twice as much overall fat content.

The same is true for farmed salmon. For example, the meat from farmed salmon is gray, not orange; this is because the farmed fish are fed processed pellets of food instead of their natural diets. For this reason, the fish are fed chemicals to restore the color. Salmon is considered a very good source of healthy omega-3 fats. But just as with beef, farmed salmon has a lot less omega-3 than wild caught and, perhaps not surprisingly, many more toxins, such as PCBs. Based on this same principle, vegetables grown in healthy, organic soil will be more nutritious for you than veggies grown on depleted soil with artificial fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides. And while studies have shown mixed results in the nutritional value of organic veggies, a 2014 review of 343 previous studies showed organic crops to have significantly higher levels of some nutrients, especially antioxidants, and much lower levels of pesticides and herbicides.

Organic produce tends to be more expensive, according to the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association. This can be countered by joining a community supported agriculture program, an arrangement where individuals pay a farmer in advance for next year’s crops. For a list of CSAs in Maine, go to the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association website, mofga.net To reduce the costs associated with buying grass-fed beef, I recommend buying a portion of a cow.

Many farmers will sell a quarter of the meat from one of their animals once they get four people interested in buying it. This lowers the price considerably.

After years of working in wellness, I have found most shortcuts have too many unintended consequences. Factory farming does make for cheaper food, but it is of lower quality. Fertilizers do stimulate the growth of crops but at the expense of the nutritional value of the crops and the health of the soil.

It’s not that “factory farmed” foods are poisonous; they are just of lower nutritional quality, with poor fat and nutrient balance and much higher chemical and toxin levels. The basic principles of wellness — control stress, eat whole natural foods, and get plenty of exercise — applies to the foods we eat every bit as much as it does to our own health. The healthiest people eat the healthiest foods.

Next week, we will discuss GMO foods, including the new salmon that was just approved by the FDA.

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

ď ś The salmon farm of the future?

December 23, 2015

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

 Bord Iascaigh Mhara withdraws application for Galway Bay fish farm Project had hoped to create 500 jobs in farming organic salmon December 21, 2015 Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) has decided to withdraw its application for a 15,000 tonne fish farm in Galway Bay. The project, which aimed to generate 500 jobs in farming organic salmon, had been opposed by angling and environmental groups.

The board says it is reviewing the project in the light of the Government’s aquaculture strategy which sets scale limits on fish farm development.

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

 Petition to the FDA: Genetically Engineered Fish are a Danger

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

 Can

Genetically Engineered Salmon Really Help Feed the Hungry and Save the Planet?

December 23, 2015

Salmon has become the world’s first genetically engineered animal approved for human consumption, given the recent decision by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This action has reignited the debates about food, hunger, health, and the environment.

The prevailing questions that are circulating with the FDA announcement include: Are genetically engineered salmon safe for human consumption? Will they produce more food for the hungry? Can they reduce environmental costs associated with food production? These questions are important to consider. However, it is also necessary to ask: Why are we genetically engineering salmon at all?

When considering the issue from this perspective, we borrow from the great sociologist Eugene Rosa in suggesting that “context matters!” The socioeconomic context influences the development of biotechnology, and shapes how it is employed and for what end.

Producing genetically modified organisms involves transferring genes from one organism to another.

In this case, genes from the Atlantic salmon have been blended with an eel-like species called the ocean pout, and a salmon native to the Pacific Ocean, the Chinook. The result is a genetically engineered fish that grows at twice the rate of an Atlantic salmon, reaching a harvestable size in about eighteen months instead of three years.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Genetically engineered salmon did not develop in a social vacuum. The employment of this powerful technology to fish follows a pattern that is evident in the development of land-based agricultural crops, where the intensification of production led to genetic modification of plants to further agribusiness opportunities.

Previously, increasing the quality and quantity of agriculture crops relied on selective plant breeding.

This approach was followed by hybridization, which initiated farmers’ reliance on seed manufacturers, as hybrid seeds needed to be purchased year after year. The most recent step has been the widespread production of herbicide-tolerant genetically engineered corn and soy, which has been a boon for seed and herbicide producers (in the case of Monsanto, it is one in the same) and has furthered farmers’ dependence on agri-business giants.

The proponents of biotechnology argue that these developments are necessary to feed the world’s population and to address social and environmental problems. Thus far, genetic engineering has not realized these goals.

According to the United Nations about 800 million people in the world were chronically undernourished during 2012-2014. Over the last several decades, global environmental problems, including those associated with food production, have increased.

It would be naive to assume that the production of genetically engineered animals and the associated outcomes would alleviate such problems or that it will have drastically different outcomes than we have seen in relation to genetically engineered crops. The larger context in which this is occurring is a global food system that is driven by the mass production of commodities, where decisions are based on potential profits, not environmental or human welfare. In our work we have generally referred to the social and ecological costs associated with commodification as “the tragedy of the commodity.” It is this tendency toward tragedy related to the commodification of everything that informs our skepticism, not a reactionary response to new technologies.

To determine whether genetically engineered salmon will reduce hunger, we must consider for whom it is being produced. People who purchase salmon fillets are mainly located in wealthy nations, where purchasing power is strong and markets are already established. The development of genetically engineered salmon, which includes significant investment in research, offers an opportunity to further expand sales of salmon by providing a high-end food commodity to an affluent population, not protein-poor, hungry populaces.

It is widely recognized that food insecurity is largely an issue of food distribution, not a problem of production. There is enough food annually produced to feed the planet, albeit with an array of environmentally problematic practices. People are generally hungry due to impoverishment, reducing food access. Since, in modern society, food is considered as a commodity like all others, some will not have the means to purchase enough for themselves and their families.

Will genetically engineered salmon alleviate environmental demands? While it is too early to identify the full range of environmental impacts, it is worthwhile to consider some general ecological concerns.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels The proposed production process for genetically modified salmon will require the consumption of significant amounts of fossil fuel.

Genetically engineered salmon will be reared in Canada and the juvenile fish will then be transported to a facility in Panama to mature.

Once they grow, they will be harvested and shipped to the United States for sale. This operation, which involves shipping from country to country, creates a fossil-fuel intensive infrastructure.

The inland containment pools that will be used to raise these salmon will require constant water circulation, climate control, and routine cleaning, all increasing the energy requirements.

Editorial Comment: Unless the USFDA (veterinary section) reverses its approval for human consumption of genetically engineered salmon, these fish will be raised in: 1. ocean-based feedlots as permitted 2. land-based feedlots in the USA and elsewhere

There are also concerns associated with genetically engineered salmon escaping into the wild.

According to industry, the chances are very small (about 1 percent chance) that genetically engineered fish that are made sterile could breed in the wild, particularly in the warm Caribbean waters.

A history of unintended consequences with biotechnology gives reason for caution, such as the recent rise of “superweeds” associated with herbicide-resistant crops. Such an event could be devastating for wild salmon populations and ocean ecosystems as whole. Further, if the technology expands as industry would like, production will surely spread to other parts of the world.

The desired outcome of creating this genetically modified organism is to speed-up production, increase salmon consumption, and amass wealth for biotechnology companies in the food sector.

The environmental benefits of genetically engineered salmon are supposed to arise from the fact that they will require less production inputs, such as feed, to grow to maturity. However, if sales of genetically engineered salmon increase in a manner that would please industry, the expansion in the overall production of fish could outpace the gains made in efficiency, resulting in an overall increase in total resources consumed.

Dr. Ron Stotish, chief executive of AquaBounty, the biotech company creating the genetically engineered salmon, declares that the FDA approval is “a game-changer that brings healthy and nutritious food to consumers in an environmentally responsible manner without damaging the ocean and other marine habitats.” We agree that it is a game-changer, but not in the manner suggested by industry. It changes the rules of the game, undermining previously established protections of people and the environment. With no labeling requirements, the approval signifies a disregard for the public’s right to know about their food choices.

It is of utmost importance that the larger context of the FDA’s decision on genetically engineered salmon be considered. Claims regarding improving human well-being or environmental sustainability should be viewed with caution, especially when the ultimate aim is to advance the financial interests of a few firms.

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

 Aquabounty’s enhanced salmon boosted by Canada court ruling December 2015 AquaBounty Technologies' genetically enhanced salmon received a further boost today after a Canada court ruling endorsed the government's decision there to allow production of the fish for commercial use.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels The so-called AquAdvantage Salmon is an Atlantic salmon enhanced to reach market size in less time than a conventionally farmed fish AquaBounty Technologies (LON:ABTU, OTC: AQBT) shares made a splash as its genetically enhanced salmon received a boost today after a Canada court ruling endorsed the government's decision there to allow production of the fish for commercial use.

The Federal Court of Canada also dismissed an application brought by the Ecology Action Centre and Living Oceans Society.

Shares in the biotech group added over 31% in London to 29.5p each.

The court ruled that the Ministers of Environment and Health decision to allow production of AquAdvantage Salmon in Canada for commercial use was "reasonable and made in the manner prescribed by the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999.."

Aquabounty chief executive Ronald L. Stotish, said: "We are delighted but not surprised that the Federal Court of Canada has agreed with the Ministers of Environment and Health of Canada that our salmon eggs are not harmful to the environment or human health when produced in contained facilities.

"This should allay any remaining fears consumers may have about our fish. The ruling also affirms that Canada has one of the most stringent regulatory systems in the world."

It comes after last month, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the group's genetically enhanced salmon for production, sale and consumption.

The so-called AquAdvantage Salmon is an Atlantic salmon enhanced to reach market size in less time than a conventionally farmed fish.

"We are motivated by our desire to bring to market the most sustainably raised, healthy and nutritious food to consumers and to satisfy the needs of an ever-increasing population. This decision will allow us to move forward to deliver this goal," Stotish added today.

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

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

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

 Activists in Pacific Northwest Face Off Against Largest Oil-By-Rail Terminal in North America January 6, 2016

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Vancouver, Washington - Stand on the banks of the mighty Columbia River, and in the foggy mist of a Pacific Northwest winter, you may miss the rail tracks that lie on both of its banks. The panoramic vista will give you a sense of why front-line communities have long vowed to protect it from being expanded into a high-volume fossil-fuel corridor, years before Congress lifted the ban on US crude oil exports in late 2015.

The Columbia, which rises in the Canadian Rockies and flows on a long southern journey before it empties into the Pacific Ocean, has been central to the region's culture and economy for thousands of years. Its salmon runs were sacred to Columbia River basin Indigenous tribes. Its scenic beauty has been protected in national parks and wildlife refuges. Its energy has been captured for hydropower, irrigation and shipping. The first railroad came to the Columbia River Gorge in 1851 and in the new century, tracks were laid along both sides of its banks for freight and passengers.

Today, the tracks carry volatile light crude from the Bakken shale fields and carbon-intensive tar sands oil from Alberta, Canada, as well as coal and liquefied natural gas. In 2008, a nominal amount of crude passed through the area; by 2012, it had doubled and by 2015, tripled. Proposals to expand capacity with refineries, rail spurs and terminals up and down the Pacific Northwest Coast have been met with fierce resistance, in particular since 2012, and this resistance has often resulted in delays, mounting costs or cancellations. A proposal to build North America's largest oil-by-rail terminal at the mouth of the Columbia in Vancouver, Washington, could prove to be the most contentious yet. The lifting of the crude oil export ban - which happened in mid-December - is a shot across the bow, confirming for many that the frenzy to build capacity from Midwestern reserves to the Pacific Coast was always designed for Asian markets.

The proposal by Tesoro, a Texas oil company, and Savage, a Utah logistics company, would handle an average of 360,000 barrels of oil by rail per day. The joint venture between the two companies, Vancouver Energy, was controversial from the moment it became public in 2013. This January public testimony will be heard on a draft environmental impact statement issued by Washington State's Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council. The proposed oil-rail terminal generated 32,000 comments when news of it first surfaced, the majority in opposition. Columbia River tribes, including the Nez Perce, Umatilla and Warm Springs, as well as Coast Salish tribes, among others, have united with longshoremen, fire districts, city councils, small towns, cities, environmentalists who've worked for decades to restore and recover habitat for salmon at the mouth of the river, and developers who've spent millions restoring the Port of Vancouver waterfront where the oil-by-rail terminal would be built.

Many are members of the campaign Stand Up to Oil, Communities Fueling Change.

"It's hard to imagine a bigger threat to the Columbia River than this project," Dan Serres, conservation director at the Columbia Riverkeeper, an environmental nonprofit organization, told Truthout. "An oil spill, an oil train disaster, a tanker leak or tanker spill in this part of the river would have devastating consequences for salmon recovery and for all the communities who rely on the river for drinking water, recreation, commerce and, of course, fishing."

Tesoro plans to transfer oil from trains onto tankers that would sail down the Columbia out to the Pacific across a notoriously dangerous crossing called the Columbia River Bar. Mariners call it the "Graveyard of the Pacific."

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Serres says the project poses as big a threat as any the river and its endangered, iconic salmon have ever known. Conflicts over hydroelectric dams, agriculture-water diversions, mining, logging and toxic runoff from the Hanford Nuclear Reservation upriver have long plagued the river. New challenges, like those from global warming, are also taking a toll. The Pacific Northwest wasn't spared the globe's record high temperatures in 2015. The Columbia River was warmer than it had been in over a century, exacerbated by a drought and exceedingly low water flows. Throw in the Tesoro project, says Serres, "and we're not sleeping too well at night."

Tesoro pledges high safety standards for the project. The company did not return a request for comment but project spokesman Jeff Hymas told the Willamette Week in December that, "crude oil is - and will continue being - safely transported through Vancouver via rail. Tesoro and Savage are actively engaged in the national effort to further enhance crude-oil-by-rail safety."

The Dangers of Oil-by-Rail Transport A report by Waterkeeper Alliance, Forest Ethics and Riverkeeper in Novemberdocumented a 5,000percent increase in oil train traffic since 2008 along routes "leading from oil fields in central Canada, the Great Plains and the Rockies to refineries and crude hubs along our nation's coasts." Truthout's Candice Bernd, who cited the report, wrote that "this dramatic increase in oil train traffic has come with an accompanying uptick in tank car derailments, oil spills, fires and explosions across the United States."

In Washington State, it's estimated that 25 trains a week travel through the area, each with 100 cars carrying 70,000 barrels of oil. If the proposed oil-by-rail terminal is built the number of cars could multiply fivefold, depending on demand, oil prices and permits. The volume is "terrifying," says Serres, for all those concerned about the safety and volatility of "bomb trains."

The state's draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) notes that the Tesoro facility would have "significant direct, indirect and cumulative impacts on communities along the Columbia River." Critics, however, say the impact statement's analysis doesn't go far enough and fails to adequately address the potential frequency of oil-by-rail incidents. The DEIS estimates there's a 5 percent annual chance a tank vessel carrying crude oil from the facility will have an accident resulting in the release of crude into the Columbia River. Proposed mitigation for such spills, say critics, is "vague, speculative, and unlikely to be successful."

A fact sheet prepared by Friends of the Columbia Gorge and Columbia Riverkeeper also faults the DEIS for failing to adequately address the terminal's impact on global emissions. The DEIS states that oil entering the facility would largely replace existing oil sources, resulting in a net greenhouse gas impact of zero. Friends of the Columbia Gorge and Columbia Riverkeeper dispute this, claiming that crude shipped to the facility would be "in addition to existing crude," and "would account for an approximate 0.1 percent increase in global GHG emissions."

Irrespective of differences in estimations of the facility's impact, the end of the crude oil export ban could be a game changer for the Northwest, says Eric de Place, policy director at the Sightline Institute and author of numerous reports on industry plans to transform the Northwest into a fossilfuel corridor. "Lifting the ban is an industry giveaway that makes the [Northwest's] oil opposition movement more important than it's ever been," he said.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels "The region will choose whether to become a globally significant shipping hub for crude oil or a thin green line that charts a course toward climate protection."

Resistance to Energy Projects in the Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest has mounted a preventive and often successful defense strategy that has kept many projects - coal, liquefied natural gas and oil - from moving forward. SSA Marine initially applied for permits to build the Gateway Pacific Coal Terminal in 2011. The project remains on hold over an evaluation of health impacts associated with coal dust. Shell attempted to fast-track an oil train facility on Washington's northern coast in 2014. But after legal appeals the county required the oil giant to undertake a full environmental impact statement. Shell countersued but the court rejected the suit.

Meanwhile the Swinomish Indian Tribe is suing BNSF, the railway that would transport oil trains to the site, arguing that large-scale oil train movements would violate the terms of an easement that the tribe granted to the railroad.

In fact, Cascadia, the region that includes Washington State, Oregon and British Columbia, has earned a reputation as a place where energy projects go to die, as de Place wrote in a Sightline article entitled "The Thin Green Line Is Stopping Coal and Oil in Their Tracks."

The outcome for Tesoro's proposed oil-by rail terminal is uncertain, but what is clear, says de Place, is that "we can create the political momentum. We can change the nature of the incentives that politicians respond to. And when we create those incentives, when we start the parade, they'll get to the head of the parade and lead on our behalf and deny these projects."

The Struggle Ahead One person will ultimately decide whether to deny or approve the proposed oil-by-rail terminal and that's the state's governor, Jay Inslee. Inslee is considered astute about the urgency to invest in clean energy alternatives; he traveled to Paris to show the state's commitment to combat what he calls "the scourge of climate change." But he's been unable to gain legislative approval for his centerpiece cap-and-trade plan to charge for emissions from oil refineries, power plants and fuel suppliers. Moreover, his special assistant on climate and energy, Keith Phillips, recommended holding off on amending the state's carbon limits, which haven't been revised since 2008, until after Paris to "take advantage of new information on necessary reductions and allocations."

But the landmark Paris agreement wasn't so much about legally binding emission reductions as it was about shoring up groundswells of local clean energy and energy efficient projects all over the globe. This power, says KC Golden, interim chair of 350.org, who was at the global climate summit, is evolving and is what spurred virtually all the world's governments to pledge to leave behind fossil fuels that have been the mainstay for economies the world over and are controlled by some of the most powerful corporations and nations in history.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels To reach that pledge, negotiators named 1.5 degrees Celsius as a goal for the eventual maximum temperature rise. This achievement is a testament to nonstop campaigning by grassroots organizers, developing and island nations and the climate justice movement, says Golden, who is also a senior policy adviser with Climate Solutions, a regional nonprofit organization that promotes practical solutions to global warming. Historically, 2 degrees has been the redline or benchmark for catastrophic climate change. As it is, "there's a very significant gap between emission reduction commitments countries have on hand which get you somewhere north of 3," said Golden, and "where we need to get to before we wreck the planet." Meanwhile, the gap between 1.5 and 2 degrees, he said, "is the difference between existing and not for a lot of low-lying island nations," something most climate and environmental justice activists appear to agree on.

The Obama administration knew it couldn't get a meaningful climate policy through Congress.

Still, while "independent initiatives" is where many believe the locus of power is evolving, political leadership on the subject, especially in the United States, is defined by the fossil fuel industry. The reason Paris didn't go far enough, in part, is because the Obama administration knew it couldn't get a meaningful climate policy through its own national legislative body. Then it capitulated to industry by lifting the 40-year-old export ban on crude oil barely before the ink was dry in Paris. The action leaves cities, states and municipalities responsible for holding off what Golden calls "the last gasp, the death throes of an industry we've got to overcome." The Northwest likes to believe it's a leader in the clean energy economy, but now, unwittingly, he said, "we also have a role in preventing the advance of the fossil fuel economy." Tesoro's proposed terminal is a last-ditch effort to sink enough capital into a dying model, he added, but "we just don't have a dime or a minute to waste on that stuff anymore."

Public hearings about the proposal to build what would become North America's largest oil-by-rail terminal will continue in Vancouver, Washington, on January 12 and in Spokane on January 14. After that the public has until January 22 to submit written testimony which can be submitted via the Columbia Riverkeeper's website or via the official Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council (EFSEC) EIS website. In late January, the review process will enter a kind of trial proceeding, in which opponents and proponents will face off before EFSEC, the state agency responsible for making a recommendation to Governor Inslee. The process could play out for much of 2016.

Emily Johnston, an organizer with 350 Seattle, rallied climate justice activists in a recent post, writing that "if all the oil and gas in the Bakken fields and coal in the Power River Basin are extracted for burning there's not a chance that the planet will stay below the 1.5 degrees C maximum temperature rise needed for a stable climate." Meanwhile, the climate is anything but stable. Freak storms in the Atlantic over the winter holidays saw 50-degree warmer temperatures at the North Pole and on Christmas Eve it was 75 degrees Fahrenheit in New York. There were tornado and blizzard warnings in Texas; severe flooding in the Midwest, the UK and South America; and wildfires across Spain and Australia.

It seems clear that the Pacific Northwest and climate justice activists worldwide have their work cut out for them.

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

 REG abandons crude-oil storage January 6, 2016 Renewable Energy Group, one of three biofuel companies at the center of an environmental review process by the DOE, will not include crude oil as part of the expansion proposed at its Port of Grays Harbor facility.

REG now occupies the Port land that Imperium Renewables once leased after REG’s buyout of Imperium, which completed in August.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Company spokesman Anthony Hulen confirmed REG’s plan to abandon crude-oil storage on Wednesday afternoon after those plans were made public in a statement from the Washington Environmental Council. The council’s statement included a copy of a 16-page comment that REG submitted to the state Department of Ecology, dated Nov. 30.

“Upon further evaluation and significant deliberation, REG has concluded that its future plans at Grays Harbor do not include handling crude oil,” the statement says.

REG’s comment to Ecology was among 100,000 that the department had collected during its twomonth-long public-comment period included in its environmental review process on the proposed expansions at Port facilities for both REG and Westway Terminals, Inc. Westway also aims to store crude oil in its facility expansion.

A third Port tenant, U.S. Development, has initiated a similar review process with the city and Ecology, but has not moved beyond the scoping phase of the study, which ended in late 2014.

Though the comment makes REG’s intentions clear, it is not an offical project revision, said Ecology spokesman Chase Gallagher, adding that REG would need to submit a formal revision. That decision would not be reversible, Shay added, with the city’s new ordinance the City Council adopted last year that bans further crude-oil storage development.

With REG’s formal revision filed, crude-oil storage within the City of Hoquiam would be limited to Westway’s five proposed tanks — each with a capacity of 8.4 million gallons — and the U.S. Development project, which proposes six to eight tanks that would collectively hold anywhere between 800,000 and 1 million gallons of crude oil.

The City Council last year adopted an ordinance that bans future crude-oil storage plans.

In Aberdeen, a six-month moratorium adopted in late July has banned crude-oil storage development at least until later this month, when the ban could be renewed for another six months.

In its comment to the state, REG said it was dropping plans for crude-oil storage, but still wants to expand its property. “REG intends to continue to pursue the expansion project, including the proposal to handle all of the commodities identified in its application materials, with the exception of crude oil,” the statement says.

Hulen would not elaborate on what the expansion now entails, simply offering a prepared statement over the phone.

“We at REG are happy to be producing lower-carbon, renewable fuel at Grays Harbor, and look forward to building relationships with all local and regional stakeholders,” Hulen said via phone, reading from that statement.

REG’s revision would likely have little impact on the Port, said Port Executive Director Gary Nelson.

“We obviously support our customers’ decisions and any customer that’s willing to invest in Grays Harbor and create jobs within the terms of their lease and state regulations, we support,” Nelson said. “From our standpoint, we don’t really see any change.”

The comment’s Nov. 30 date — the last day of the environmental review process’ public-comment period — raised some questions about why the news of REG’s decision hadn’t been released more widely and sooner. REG provided its comment to the Washington Environmental Council when it submitted it to Ecology, said Kerry McHugh, a spokeswoman for the council.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels After receiving the comment, McHugh said the council was prepared to wait and see what other plans REG would release, but had heard nothing further since.

“Knowing the fact that they were planning to not move ahead with crude was something we felt like we needed to share,” McHugh said.

Hulen declined to comment on why REG waited to make the announcement more public. “I’m not going to comment any further on that,” he said.

As co-leads of the environmental review process, the City of Hoquiam and Ecology had the comment on file and were aware of REG’s plan for more than a month. Gallagher said the department had been and is still working to archive all 100,000 of the comments before making them public.

“Our responsibility with the comments is to gather them from the public, evaluate them and respond to them in the final EIS,” Gallagher said. “That’s been the plan all along, and that’s the process we’ve been in since the end of the comment period.”

City Administrator Brian Shay said the city withheld the information after hearing that REG would submit something more formal.

“This is definitely something we wanted to announce — it’s been so controversial, the City Council changed our ordinance and everything,” Shay said. “We’ve been anxious to be able to share this news and we’re glad the information is out there.”

The city expects the formal revision, Shay said, within the next two weeks.

Even amid the delay, the news was welcomed, unsurprisingly, by regional and local environmental activists.

“We are pleased that REG has listened to the people and made this decision,” R.D. Grunbaum, a member with Citizens for Clean Harbor, said in the statement released by the Washington Environmental Council. “Now we need to continue our fight to convince the other proponents that it is time to follow this lead and abandon their risky projects to bring crude oil to Grays Harbor. We can have a healthy environment that allows our families to prosper and a strong economy without the risk of oil spills and accidents.”

The Quinault Indian Nation has also rallied against crude-oil storage plans since their proposal, largely citing the impacts a spill could have on the nation’s fishing industry.

“REG’s decision is a strong affirmation the company took to heart the concerns of thousands of people who spoke out about the dangers of crude-oil storage and transport to our communities and waterways,” nation President Fawn Sharp said in the council’s statement. “The Quinault Nation looks forward to working with REG and other businesses that share a vision for a sustainable future and together build an ever stronger Grays Harbor.”

It will be difficult to determine, Gallagher said, just how REG’s decision would affect the environmental review process moving forward until the company files its official project update.

“We’re still waiting on getting an update from them, and once we do, we can evaluate the scale of those changes and figure out the path forward,” Gallagher said.

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

 Wind, solar power soaring in spite of bargain prices for fossil fuels January 1, 2016 Wind and solar power appear set for a record-breaking year in 2016 as a clean-energy construction boom gains momentum in spite of a global glut of cheap fossil fuels. Installations of wind turbines and solar panels soared in 2015 as utility companies went on a worldwide building binge, taking advantage of falling prices for clean technology as well as an improving regulatory and investment climate. Both industries have seen stock prices jump since Congress approved an extension of tax credits for renewables as part of last month’s $1.14 trillion budget deal.

Orders for 2016 solar and wind installations are up sharply, from the United States to China to the developing economies of Africa and Latin America, all in defiance of stubbornly low prices for coal and natural gas, the industry’s chief competitors.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels “We’re seeing very good momentum across the board globally,” Anders Runevad, chief executive of Vestas Wind Systems, the world’s biggest producer of wind turbines, said in an interview. “We’re seeing growth in every region.”

Vestas, based in Denmark, is one of three major turbine makers whose stock price doubled in 2015 amid a surge of new orders from North America, Europe, Africa and Asia. Among the leading customers were U.S. utility companies, many of them in conservative Southern states such as Texas, the biggest U.S. producer of wind-generated electricity. In December, wind energy in the United States passed the 70-gigawatt threshold, with 50,000 spinning turbines producing enough power to light up 19 million homes.

Solar panels facing a solar tower taken in Sanlucar de Barrameda, Spain.

Energy analysts say the boom is being spurred in part by improved technology, which has made wind and solar more competitive with fossil fuels in many regions. But equally important, experts say, is better access to financing, as major Wall Street investment houses adopt a more bullish posture toward an industry that was once considered financially risky. In November, Goldman Sachs announced it was quadrupling its investments in renewables to $150 billion.

“Renewables have turned a corner in a fundamental way,” said Dan Reicher, a former Energy Department assistant secretary who is now executive director of Stanford University’s Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance.

While solar and wind power have been expanding in the United States for years because of steadily falling costs, decisions by Congress and the White House in 2015 have set the stage for continued growth, Reicher and other energy experts say.

These decisions include last month’s extension of the production tax credit, which encourages investments in solar and wind through 2019, as well as the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan, a regulation adopted in August that requires states to reduce emissions from power plants.

Clean-energy companies also received an important boost from last month’s climate accord in Paris, where more than 190 countries approved a plan to reduce pollution from fossil-fuel burning worldwide.

“The policy base for renewables has strengthened, both on the incentives side and through mandates,” Reicher said.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels “At the same time, the financing of renewable-energy projects has become a mainstream business for Wall Street. The early-stage investments from Silicon Valley for clean energy were small potatoes compared to the massive investments Wall Street is making. It truly is a global business.”

Signs of the industry’s momentum appear in surprising places.

In China, the world’s leader in coal consumption and greenhouse-gas emissions, demand for coal is down for the second straight year, while investment in solar and wind is soaring, according to figures released last month by the International Energy Agency. China is expected to double its wind-power capacity to nearly 350 gigawatts over the next decade, more than any other country. Officials also intend to generate 200 gigawatts of solar by 2020.

India recently unveiled plans to install 175 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2022, and African nations have committed to adding 300 gigawatts of clean-energy capacity by 2030.

A gigawatt — a billion watts — is roughly the amount of energy needed to power 700,000 typical U.S. households. By comparison, the capacity of the entire U.S. electric grid is just under 1,100 gigawatts.

Still, the industry is experiencing rapid growth across the country. Solar installations were on track to hit a new yearly high in 2015, with 7 gigawatts installed and more in the construction phase.

Nationwide, wind power accounts for nearly a third of all new electric-power capacity.

“We are experiencing a clean- energy revolution in the United States,” Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said in November. “We have the tools for a cleaner and more secure energy future.”

Energy experts caution that renewables still have far to go. Wind and solar together account for only about 6 percent of U.S. electricity generation, compared with about 39 percent for coal. And wind and solar companies have yet to conquer the biggest challenge for renewables: how to cheaply store energy so it is reliably available on cloudy or calm days.

Analysts also warn that renewables could suffer if prices for natural gas remain at such historically low levels for many months or years. For now, however, industry officials say cheap fossil fuels are having little impact on purchase orders.

Runevad, the Vestas CEO, said the recent drop in prices for traditional fuels has prompted some of his customers to increase their spending on wind farms, especially in countries that are heavy importers of petroleum.

“Some countries are having a budget surplus now because of low oil prices, and they’re using that money to invest in new infrastructure,” he said. “For importing countries, it’s a net positive. Because of the uncertainty with gas prices, we haven’t seen any of our wind customers say, ‘Let’s build a gasfired plant instead.’ ” Runevad, who recently signed major deals to sell turbines to China and India, is confident that developing economies will ultimately choose renewables over cheap coal. India and China suffer from high levels of air pollution — mostly because of their heavy use of coal — which contributes to thousands of premature deaths annually.

“These countries need additional electricity,” he said, “but they’re also seeing a good opportunity with wind to skip over a generation of technology.”

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

 Energy development impacts for the Salish Sea January 4, 2016 Energy-related developments in the Salish Sea between Washington and British Columbia underscore the need for a transnational approach to assessing the risks to the entire ecosystem, according to a study by the SeaDoc Society, a program of the UC Davis Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center, and the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, part of the area’s indigenous Coast Salish people.

The study, published in December in the journal PLOS ONE, identified six development projects proposed and underway in both Canada and the U.S. that would increase marine vessel traffic in the Salish Sea. They include plans to transport coal, shale oil, crude oil and natural gas.

“We need to deal with this at the level of ecosystem, not just project to project,” said lead author Joe Gaydos, SeaDoc Society chief scientist and a UC Davis wildlife veterinarian.

“When you look at these cumulatively, they have a high possibility of affecting the Coast Salish people and everyone else. The environmental impact statements aren’t looking at the threats collectively.”

‘We believe we must walk as one’ The study evaluates the threats each project poses to 50 species important to the Coast Salish, including endangered humpback and killer whales, and key sources of food, including sea ducks, salmon, clams and Dungeness crabs.

“Since time immemorial the Coast Salish have been the caretakers of the Salish Sea,” said Brian Cladoosby, Swinomish chairman. “For more than 150 years, we have lived with the destruction of our resources and environment by a pollution-based economy. It is time for a change, and this can only happen if we work together. Today we share with you a collaboration of western science and traditional ecological knowledge, policy and law, as we believe we must walk as one, with respect for one another, for the next generation.”

The map above shows six energy development projects proposed or underway in the Salish Sea, a region encompassing Washington and British Columbia.

Below: A bulk carrier vessel travels alongside killer whales in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, southeast of Victoria, British Columbia.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels The Salish Sea is shared by Washington, British Columbia, and indigenous Coast Salish governments. Roughly 7 million people live in the area, which includes Puget Sound, the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and the Strait of Georgia.

Though an interconnected ecosystem, the Salish Sea is managed separately across its borders.

Consequently, when governmental bodies evaluate proposed developments, they rarely take into account projects occurring outside of their jurisdiction, the study notes.

“Each project has threats associated with it, and each threat has the potential to impact the 50 species,” Gaydos said. “Of 300 possible threats we considered, about 25 percent were likely to impact the species evaluated. That's substantial.”

The study determined that each project had potential impacts associated with increased marine vessel traffic: oil spill, vessel noise and vessel strike. These impacts could also have additive or synergistic consequences — the more vessels in the water, the higher the likelihood of a spill, for example — though to what extent is not clear.

The six projects include: Fraser Surrey Docks Direct Transfer Coal Facility: This approved project in British Columbia would receive up to four million metric tons of coal a year, transfer it from rail cars to marine barges to be towed down the Fraser River to the Strait of Georgia and loaded on deep-sea vessels for international export. Potential risks: those associated with marine vessel traffic, as well as shoreline development, harbor spill and coal dust.

Gateway Pacific Terminal: A proposed deep-water terminal in Whatcom County, Washington, that would store and handle up to 54 million metric tons per year of coal products brought in by rail.

Potential risks: those associated with marine vessel traffic, as well as shoreline development, harbor spill and coal dust.

Rail shipment of Bakken shale crude oil: This ongoing project plans to increase shipping by rail of shale oil produced from the Bakken fields in North Dakota and Montana to oil refinery facilities in Washington State. Potential risks: those associated with marine vessel traffic, as well as shoreline development and harbor spill.

Roberts Bank Deltaport Terminal 2 Project: A proposed new marine container terminal in British Columbia that would increase shipping container capacity by 2.4 million 20-foot container equivalent units per year. Potential risks: those related to marine vessel traffic, shoreline development and harbor spill.

Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion and Westridge Marine Terminal Expansion: Proposed new pipeline segments, pump stations, expanded terminals and dock complex in Burnaby, British Columbia, to bring more crude oil from Alberta to markets in the Pacific Rim. Potential risks: those associated with marine vessel traffic, shoreline development, harbor spill and pipeline spill.

Woodfibre Liquefied Natural Gas Terminal. Proposal to construct a LNG production, storage and marine carrier transfer facility on Howe Sound, near Squamish, British Columbia, for the international export of 2.1 million metric tons of LNG each year. Potential risks: those associated with marine vessel traffic, shoreline development, harbor spill or nearshore explosion.

“We walk as one with our resources, as they are the spirit within us,” said First Nation Summit Co Chair and Chemainus First Nation member Ray Harris. “Each day is a blessing when we see our scientists and traditional knowledge teachers sharing and incorporating one another’s information. We see the removal of barriers happening all over the Salish Sea, and this respect of one another allows us to take care of this beautiful place we all call home.”

The study was funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the SeaDoc Society.

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

Petroleum – Drilled, Refined, Tar Sands, Fracked

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

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

 Kinder Morgan Dilbit, Pipelines and Tankers Good for Orcas – NOT!

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

 Interactive Map: Oil by Rail Across North America

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

 Oil and Orca Don’t Mix

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

ď ś Report questions safety of rusting, crumbling railroad bridges November 10, 2015

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels After a weekend in which two freight trains derailed, spilling their contents, an advocacy group’s report released Tuesday says bridges that carry dozens of those types of trains each day are in dangerous disrepair.

Although neither weekend derailment involved a bridge, one resulted in the leak of almost 20,000 gallons of ethanol into the Mississippi River. Fear that a train could topple from a decrepit bridge to pollute a river or marshland led the Waterkeeper Alliance to begin inspecting rail bridges.

The report says “citizen inspectors” who visited 250 rail bridges in 15 states found that 114 of them had deteriorated badly. In some cases, the report says, the inspectors were present when oil trains crossed the bridges and “observed flexing, slumping and vibrations that caused concrete to crumble.”

The report calls for stronger federal oversight of the railroads that own an estimated 100,000 bridges in the United States. Congress in 2008 mandated that railroads inspect their bridges annually, subject to review by federal regulators.

“When the railroads conduct bridge inspections and do find safety issues, federal officials do not need to be informed and have very little authority to compel rail bridge owners to make repairs,” Larissa Liebmann, a lawyer with the Waterkeeper Alliance, said in a conference call with reporters.

Sarah Feinberg, the administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration, admonished railroads last week to be more forthcoming about the condition of their bridges.

“When FRA is asked about bridge safety, it’s frequently because the public or a member of Congress becomes concerned and has tried to get answers from a railroad, and they have been ignored or put off,” Feinberg said. “Now, I know that railroads are expending significant resources on maintaining bridges. I know that just because a bridge isn’t pretty doesn’t mean it isn’t in good shape and it isn’t going to remain in good shape for decades to come. But members of Congress come to the railroads to ask these questions; they are coming away unconvinced.”

Feinberg is reviewing the parameters of the 2008 mandate for bridge inspections and may call for an FRA inventory of bridges if Congress provides the resources to conduct one.

A spokesman for the Association of American Railroads said rail bridges were “among the safest segment of the nation’s infrastructure” and cautioned against judging a bridge by its appearance.

“Some bridges are painted, some are not. Some are more weathered that others,” said Ed Greenberg, the spokesman. “Inspectors scrutinize a bridge to assess its structural integrity with no relationship to whether it’s aesthetically pleasing.”

The conference call with the Waterkeeper group made clear its paramount concern: the cargo being carried by the trains.

The boom in domestic oil production in the Bakken oil fields has caused the number of rail tank cars carrying flammable material in the United States to grow from 9,500 seven years ago to 493,126 last year.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels “The rails follow the rivers in this part of the country,” said Krissy Kasserman, the Youghiogheny riverkeeper in western Pennsylvania. “Oil trains here pass within a stone’s throw of several drinkingwater intakes.”

Those trains roll from the oil fields in North Dakota, Montana and Saskatchewan to refineries on the East, West and Gulf coasts.

On Saturday, a Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway locomotive pulling a mix of tank cars and automobile carriers derailed near Alma, Wis. Six tank cars were among the 25 that derailed, and five of them leaked ethanol into the Mississippi.

The next day, 35 families were evacuated in Watertown, Wis., more than 200 miles from the first accident, when 13 tank cars of a Canadian Pacific train derailed. One car leaked oil.

All of the U.S. derailments occurred in remote areas. But in July 2013, a runaway freight train in Canada carrying 74 tank cars full of Bakken oil derailed in the town of Lac-Megantic, Quebec, setting off a fire that destroyed 30 downtown buildings and killed 47 people.

Nine tank-car derailments, including the two over the weekend, have occurred in the United States and Canada this year, with four resulting in explosions or fires.

• Feb. 4: Fourteen tank cars carrying ethanol jump the tracks north of Dubuque, Iowa, and three of them burst into flames.

• Feb. 15: Fire breaks out in a remote wooded area of Ontario after a 100-car train derails.

• Feb. 16: Twenty-eight tank cars carrying crude oil derail and catch fire in rural West Virginia.

• March 5: Twenty-one tank cars derail and leak crude oil within yards of a tributary of the Mississippi River in rural Illinois.

• March 7: Five tank cars tumble from a bridge in Ontario, some of them on fire and some leaking oil into a waterway.

• May 7: A 71-tank car train derails in Heimdal, N.D., and bursts into flames, forcing the evacuation of several dozen people from the unincorporated town.

• July 16: A train hauling oil to a refinery on the coast of Puget Sound derails and spills 35,000 gallons about five miles east of the small town of Culbertson, Mont.

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

 B.C. government formally opposes Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion January 11, 2016 In a final written submission to the National Energy Board (NEB) on Monday, the provincial government announced it would not support the hotly-debated proposal based on Kinder Morgan’s failure to prove it would meet stringent "world leading" oil spill safety requirements.

"I haven’t heard anybody argue that we shouldn’t be holding that bar up," B.C. Environment Minister Mary Polak told reporters during a press conference Monday morning. "We haven’t seen the evidence presented in these hearings that would convince us of that."

If approved, the Trans Mountain expansion project would add 980 kilometres of brand new pipeline to a system that already transports 300,000 barrels per day of crude oil and refined petroleum from the oil sands in Alberta to refineries and marketing terminals in Vancouver and Washington State.

Pipeline project failed "the test" In 2012, the province established five environmental, economic, and legal requirements that had to be met in order for it consider heavy-oil pipeline projects like the Trans Mountain expansion. These included sound recommendation from the NEB review panel, a fair share of fiscal and economic benefits for B.C. and Indigenous people, and world-leading marine oil spill response, prevention and recovery systems.

During the course of the NEB review of the expansion however, the province determined that the Texas-based Kinder Morgan had not provided sufficient information to determine it would meet those oil spill safety standards.

"This is about the test that they need to meet and we think world-leading response in both those areas in an appropriate test," Polak explained. "We believe that right now, all land base spills preparedness and response is not sufficient in British Columbia."

Polak said her ministry remains in discussion with Kinder Morgan about the Trans Mountain expansion, which could still move ahead with approval from the NEB and cabinet. If given the green light, the $5.4-billion project would increase the pipeline’s carrying capacity to 890,000 barrels per day, generate at least 4,500 construction jobs at peak employment, and $23.7 billion in additional taxes and royalties for provincial and federal governments. "[But] that’s way, way down the road," the environment minister added. "We would have to see evidence that all five conditions are met… There are not timelines in place.

"We simply have a responsibility to ensure that whatever company is approaching British Columbia with a project like this that they well understand what the bar is and that we would ensure that they would meet those standards."

Pending its approval, the company hoped to complete the project in 2019.

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

Police clash with KInder Morgan protesters on Burnaby Mountain in November 2014.

Kinder Morgan "confident" it will satisfy B.C. government Despite the province's firm stance, Kinder Morgan is confident that through ongoing discussion with the Ministry of Environment, it will be able to meet B.C.'s five requirements by the time the NEB's regulatory process is complete. The oil giant also said it will meet 150 draft conditions set by the NEB itself, which is scheduled to hear oral summary arguments from the project's intervenors later this month.

"The province’s five conditions include several requirements that Trans Mountain alone cannot satisfy," said a Kinder Morgan media statement issued Monday afternoon. "The conditions related to world-leading marine oil spill response, recovery and prevention, addressing Aboriginal treaty rights and BC receiving its 'fair share' are all conditions that require multiple parties to come to the table and work together.

"If approved by the NEB, Trans Mountain is confident that the construction and long-term operation of the project will be done to the highest standards of environmental performance, support Aboriginal communities and provide lasting benefits for British Columbians, Albertans and Canadians."

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Applause from environmental advocates Despite Kinder Morgan's confidence that the project will proceed, environmental organizations met the news of its rejection in B.C. with even more confidence that it will not. Toronto-based advocacy group Environmental Defence congratulated the provincial government on putting the "best interests of its citizens ahead of the interests of the oil industry," and called on the Trudeau administration to follow suit.

"Massive new tar sands export pipelines and tanker projects like Kinder Morgan and Energy East are just not worth the risks to our communities and our environment," said the organization's climate and energy program manager Adam Scott. "Without public support or the support of the B.C. government, the federal government has no choice but to reject this project."

Both Greenpeace and ForestEthics echoed this assurance, citing the oil giant's disastrous safety record and the dangers of an oil spill as sufficient reason to shut down the project for good.

"It’s not going to overcome the opposition of First Nations and it’s not going to overcome the opposition of the thousands of citizens who fought Kinder Morgan on Burnaby Mountain," said ForestEthics advocacy campaign organizer Sven Biggs. "The list of local governments opposing the project continues to grow and opposition to this dangerous, unnecessary pipeline will only grow stronger until this proposal is rejected once and for all."

Strong Indigenous opposition

Tsleil-Waututh Nation spokesperson Rueben George at Vancouver press conference in October 2015 about a legal challenge to NEB's Kinder Morgan pipeline hearing.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels The Trans Mountain pipeline expansion has been met with controversy since its proposal and is the current subject of a First Nations lawsuit against the NEB. Last October, the North Vancouver TsleilWaututh Nation went to federal court with concerns that it had not been adequately consulted by the Harper government when the NEB review of the project started.

Like many environmental organizations, the Indigenous nation vehemently opposes the project and said B.C.’s opposition will only strengthen its ongoing court case.

"We'll do what it takes to stop it, our people are behind this, we’ve invested so much," said TsleilWaututh spokesperson Rueben George. "That’s what we have to say loud and clear, and I think that was said today by the province stepping up and saying 'no.'"

In November 2014, more than 100 citizens, including members of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, were arrested during protests against the project on Burnaby Mountain, near Vancouver.

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

 U.S. Not Prepared for Tar Sands Oil Spills, National Study Finds Report urges new regulations, research, and technology to respond to spills of diluted bitumen.

December 10, 2015 Spills of heavy crude oil from western Canada’s tar sands are more difficult to clean up than other types of conventional oil, particularly if the spill occurs in water, a new study by a high-level committee of experts found. Moreover, current regulations governing emergency response plans for oil spills in the United States are inadequate to address spills of tar sands oil.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels The study by the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine confirmed what scientists, emergency responders, and conservationists knew anecdotally from a major oil spill that contaminated Michigan’s Kalamazoo River in 2010 and another spill in Mayflower, Arkansas in 2013.

Tar sands crude, called diluted bitumen, becomes denser and stickier than other types of oil after it spills from a pipeline, sinking to the bottom of rivers, lakes, and estuaries and coating vegetation instead of floating on top of the water.

“The long-term risk associated with the weathered bitumen is the potential for that [oil] becoming submerged and sinking into water bodies where it gets into the sediments,” Diane McKnight, chair of the committee that produced the study and a professor of engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder, told Circle of Blue. “And then those sediments can become resuspended and move further downstream and have consequences not only at the ecosystem level but also in terms of water supply.”

“It weathers to a denser material, and it’s stickier, and that’s a problem. It’s a distinct problem that makes it different from other crude.” McKnight added. Weathering is what happens after oil is spilled and exposed to sunlight, water, and other elements. In order to flow through pipelines, tar sands crude oil is mixed with lighter oils, which evaporate during the weathering process. In a matter of days, what is left of the diluted bitumen can sink.

The study’s findings come amid an expansion in unconventional fuels development and transport in North America. Over the past decade, Canada became the world’s fifth largest crude oil producer by developing the Alberta tar sands. U.S. imports of Canadian crude, much of it from tar sands, increased 58 percent over the past decade, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Though oil prices are at a seven-year low, and market turbulence is expected to persist for several more years, tar sands developers are working to double the current tar sands oil production — around 2.2 million barrels per day — by 2030. Pipelines to transport all of the new oil are expanding too, producing a greater risk of spills.

Read Entire Circle of Blue Article HERE

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

ď ś TransCanada

Submits Updated Energy East Application, Confirming Risk of Massive Oil Tanker Traffic Increase Along U.S. East Coast December 15, 2015

A little over a month ago, I wrote a brief update on the status of TransCanada's latest scheme to pipe and ship tar sands oil from Alberta to the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts. At that time, TransCanada had officially dropped its plans for a Quebec-based export terminal, but the company was still being cagey about its next move for the US$15.7 billion pipeline proposal. Now, TransCanada has filed its much-anticipated amended application with the Canadian National Energy Board (NEB), confirming rumors that it would rely on a single mega-port in Saint John, New Brunswick that is expected to load 281 oil supertankers with tar sands oil. In doing so, the proposed Energy East tar sands pipeline would put a vast stretch of the East Coast at risk from an oil tanker accident, including such iconic places as the Gulf of Maine, Cape Cod, New York Harbor, Chesapeake Bay, and the Florida Keys.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Today's amended application confirms that TransCanada learned little from the Keystone XL battle and is continuing to push projects that pose major threats to climate, water, marine wildlife, communities, local economies, and public safety.

Tanker routes for tankers loaded by Energy East. NRDC Map. The proposed Energy East tar sands pipeline would carry 1.1 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil from Alberta to New Brunswick, with most of this capacity reserved for Alberta's tar sands producers. The US$15.7 billion project would move tar sands oil 2,850 miles, relying on aging natural gas pipeline for 1,860 miles, and brand new pipeline for 930 miles across Quebec and New Brunswick. Upon reaching the port city of Saint John, oil would be stored in tanks rising as high as six stories with a total capacity of 13.2 million barrels.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels This extraordinary volume of oil would then be loaded onto more than 280 oil tankers every year-ranging in size from the 700,000 barrel Aframax, to the 2 million barrel Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC)--with destinations at refineries primarily n New Jersey, Delaware, Louisiana, and Texas. This reliance on a virtual pipeline along our Atlantic coast, would also lead to a major increase in crude oil tanker traffic, with estimates placing the increase at more than 500% over current numbers in most areas.[1] Over the course of a year, as much as 328 million barrels of tar sands oil could be moved to U.S. refineries by oil tanker.[2] With this huge increase in tanker traffic come a myriad of concerns. At a number of points along their East Coast route, these new tar sands tankers will travel through incredibly busy waters, increasing the risk of vessel collisions that could lead to spills. At the same time, they will move through waters that host the critical habitats of countless iconic marine species, including numerous species of whale, dolphins and porpoises, and economically important commercial fisheries. The threat to these species is perhaps most pressing in the Bay of Fundy, Gulf of Maine, and Florida Strait, where tar sands tankers would navigate along the borders of designated critical habitat for endangered species like the North Atlantic Right Whale, Minke Whale, and Blue Whale. And tankers don't just bring spill risks with them when they begin using certain paths--they also increase noise pollution that can cause serious harm to marine mammals, introduce ballast water laden with invasive species, and increase the chances of a fatal ship strike with large mammals like whales. In the event of a spill, regionally iconic industries like lobstering could suffer major losses, if not complete destruction, in the event of a spill due to the possibility of sinking oil that would be impossible to clean up on the open ocean.

North Atlantic Right Whale and calf.

The cleanup challenges posed by Energy East's hundreds of oil tankers are especially troubling. In early December, the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) published its findings following a yearlong review of diluted bitumen (the most common form of tar sands oil, also known as "dilbit") spills into water.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Not only did the NAS find that dilbit is prone to quickly sinking following a spill, they also found that first responders at the local, state, and national level, as well as the oil industry itself, are completely unprepared to handle a major tar sands spill into water.

But Energy East wouldn't just be a potential disaster for our oceans; it's a climate disaster as well.

With capacity 35% higher than the formerly-proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, Energy East would allow for a massive expansion in tar sands production in Alberta by providing the industry with a relatively low-cost and substantial increase in export capacity. This production alone could cause up to 32 million metric tons of CO2E emissions per year. Producing, transporting, and burning this tar sands oil would cause CO2E emission on the order to 220 million metric tons per year[3] (equivalent to the annual emissions of 58 coal-fired power plants). As the world contemplates how to limit climate change-driven warming to targets below 2° Celsius, there is no longer a place for projects like Energy East to be built.

Because of its cost, environmental impacts, and the opposition it already faces in Canada, Energy East is a project that will never be built. Our marine ecosystems cannot handle the risk, our first responders lack the resources they would need to respond to an accident, and our shared climate cannot accommodate another long-lived carbon-intensive project of this scale. But to ensure Energy East never becomes a reality, it is time for Americans to pay attention. This oil would be destined for our shores, and we need to let Canada know that we are unwilling to accept the risks Energy East would pose to our coastlines, communities, and climate.

[1] Very little crude oil is moved by oil tanker north up the U.S. east coast, especially north of New Jersey. Estimates from the EIA suggest that, with rising Texas production, as many as 50 loaded oil tankers per year make the journey to either Saint John or the Montreal area, with additional tankers traveling from the east (i.e., Europe and Africa) into Saint John to feed the refinery there. This results in a 75% increase in petroleum tanker traffic in Saint John, and a much more dramatic increase in tanker traffic further south.

See: https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R43653.pdf;http://www.wsj.com/articles/exports-to-canadakept-u-s-gulf-coast-storage-hubs-below-capacity-1431977743; http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/energy/fuelprices/4597#exports;http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/energy-andresources/eastern-refineries-processing-more-foreign-oil-as-crude-price-gapnarrows/article22727311/.

[2] TransCanada has proposed using 70 Aframax, 175 Suezmax, and 36 VLCCs per year. Total capacity of this many oil tankers carrying tar sands exceeds 900,000 bpd, or 328 million barrels per year.

See: https://docs.neb-one.gc.ca/lleng/llisapi.dll/fetch/2000/90464/90552/2432218/2540913/2543426/2887424/A7477920_Vol_2_Sec_04_Construction_Operations__A4W7J0.pdf?nodeid=2887737&vernum=1; http://maritime-connector.com/wiki/ship-sizes/ [3] This is extrapolated from the numbers arrived at by the U.S. State Department during its review of the Keystone XL pipeline. For that pipeline, which would have moved 830,000 bpd of similar oil types, annual lifecycle emissions were estimated anywhere between 147-168 million metric tons of CO2E per year.

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

 Union Pacific Moving 1 Million Gallons of Oil Through Lewis County Weekly Trains operating on Union Pacific Railroad lines through Lewis and Thurston counties could be carrying 1 million gallons of Bakken crude oil weekly, according to a notification issued in early December and highlighted by Lewis County Emergency Management this week.

The rail line previously didn’t report transporting that much oil per train.

The notification by Union Pacific is required by a U.S. Department of Transportation emergency order. The order calls for rail lines to issue public notices in each state when it operates trains carrying 1 million gallons or more of Bakken oil.

According to its notification released Dec. 9, Union Pacific began running the trains in November.

Union Pacific lines expect no more than one train per week carrying 1 million gallons of oil or more to pass through Lewis and Thurston counties.

Union Pacific also issued a notification in June 2014, stating the company did not transport enough Bakken crude oil to meet the threshold at that time.

BNSF’s last notification was released in September stating it was transporting an estimated 10 to 18 trains (each way per week, each) carrying 1 million gallons or more of Bakken oil through Thurston and Lewis counties.

Lewis County Director of Emergency Management Director Steve Mansfield said many people are concerned about the crude oil traveling through the area, but that first responders prepare for any emergency incident that could occur.

“This is a huge threat for them, and that’s why we try and train and work together as much as possible,” Mansfield said.

If a significant derailment or oil train accident occurred that overwhelmed county resources, he said there are plans in place to include state and federal responders as well.

Editorial Comment: This is a nightmare in the making: 1. Bakken oil is extremely explosive – first responders often let it burn itself out given its intense heat.

2. Rail infrastructure will fail resulting in human and environmental catastrophe 3. First responder training and equipment is inadequate for Bakken oil fires 4. “Empty” rail cars will return on same tracks (ie. up to 36 trains per week)

He said it is important for residents to understand what their alternatives are if an event happened and to have a plan based on their location.

The oil train notifications are posted to the Washington's Emergency Management Division website.

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

 Bakken Crude Oil Transport (BNSF) in Washington by County

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

Coal

 Save the Chuitna

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

Workers sort coal on a conveyer belt, near a coal mine at Datong, in China's northern Shanxi province. China will suspend the approval of new mines starting in 2016 and will cut coal’s share of its energy consumption to 62.6 percent next year

 China to Suspend New Coal Mine Approvals Amid Pollution Fight December 29, 2015

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels China will stop approving new coal mines for the next three years and will continue to trim production capacity as the world’s biggest energy consumer struggles to shift away from the fuel as it grapples with pollution.

China will suspend the approval of new mines starting in 2016 and will cut coal’s share of its energy consumption to 62.6 percent next year, from 64.4 percent now, Xinhua News Agency reported Tuesday, citing National Energy Administration head Nur Bekri. This is the first time the government has suspended the approval of new coal mines, according to Deng Shun, an analyst with ICIS China.

"This new policy, along with efforts to eliminate inefficient mines, may help to ease the severe domestic oversupply,” Deng said by phone from Guangzhou. “But, it will take several years to take effect.”

The country will also close more than 1,000 coal mines next year, taking out 60 million metric tons of unneeded capacity, according to the Xinhua report. China shuttered a similar number of mines this year, wiping out 70 million tons of production, according to a separate statement from the NEA dated Dec. 29. The country is on track to produce 3.58 billion tons of coal this year, down 0.5 percent from 2014, according to the NEA. Coal demand in China has slid as its economy slows amid a shift toward consumption-led growth and while it intensifies efforts to rein in pollution. China plans to ask companies to replace electricity generated from their own coal-fired plants with renewable energy, the National Development and Reform Commission said last month.

The NEA estimates China next year will consume 3.96 billion tons of coal, 550 million tons of oil and 205 billion cubic meters of natural gas, according to the Xinhua report.

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

Hydropower / Water Retention

ď ś Schematic methane emission pathways from a hydroelectric reservoir.

From Climate science: Renewable but not carbon-free

In sediments with slower methane formation and at greater depths, dissolved methane diffuses upwards (1). The methane enters the atmosphere through gas exchange at the surface. Emissions may be reduced by microbial oxidation at the interface between the oxic and anoxic water layers.

Second, downstream emissions after the water has passed the turbine (2) depend on the stratification of the reservoir and the vertical position of the main water intake. Finally, in sediments with high methane production rate, bubbles form when the methane solubility is exceeded (3). Some of this methane dissolves from the rising bubbles but a large fraction is rapidly emitted to the atmosphere. Barros and colleagues3 estimate emissions of carbon dioxide and methane from 85 hydroelectric reservoirs worldwide, but because the third pathway is poorly constrained by measurements, uncertainties remain large.

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

 Water wars could return in Northwest as Congress dams deal December 22, 2015 While members of Congress enjoy their holiday recess, the clock is ticking on an issue that could bring the return of an ugly water war in the West.

First, the backstory: The battleground is the 13,000-square-mile Klamath River Basin between southern Oregon and northern California. The listing of salmon and sucker fish under the Endangered Species Act in the 1990s touched off years of fighting over water rights, and anger boiled over in 2001 when the feds shut off water to farmers in the region, in a bid to help endangered fish.

Thousands protested, and the dispute appeared intractable. Court rulings and state government decisions on water rights only seemed to further muddy the waters.

Then something remarkable happened – a compromise. Indian tribes, irrigators, environmentalists, power company PacifiCorp, and local and federal officials eventually hammered out what’s known as the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement (KBRA) in 2010.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels The deal, at its core, set rules for sharing the water. And while it didn’t guarantee farmers all the water they want, especially in drought years, it did give them more certainty.

The Klamath and Karuk Tribes, which were granted senior water rights based on old treaties, agreed to take less water than they’re entitled to for the endangered sucker fish in exchange for extensive restoration of the Klamath River.

But here’s the rub: the centerpiece of that restoration has become so controversial in Congress it may send the KBRA down the drain.

“I never could have imagined that a bipartisan, locally driven solution to one of the most challenging natural resources in the country would fail to see congressional action,” said Chrysten Lambert of Trout Unlimited.

Critics of the deal, though, have real concerns. That’s because the KBRA calls for the removal of four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River.

All told, the dams are 400 feet high and can produce 145 megawatts of carbon-free power – and taking them offline would make this the largest dam removal project in U.S. history, far exceeding the removal of the 210-foot Elwha Dam in Washington state in 2012.

Amid these concerns, Congress has not yet approved the KBRA -- and the deadline for congressional action is Dec. 31.

Oregon’s lone Republican member of Congress, Greg Walden, wrote a bill that would give 100,000 acres of federal forest land to local counties to be managed for timber revenue. The legislation is designed to compensate Siskiyou County in California and Klamath County in Oregon for the loss of tax revenue from the dams.

Yet Walden’s bill does not specifically mention dam removal.

He told Fox News taking out the Klamath dams would set a dangerous precedent.

“When all this started, some of the environmental groups said, ‘if we can do it here, we can do it on the Snake River and then, you know, on to Moscow,’” Walden said.

Several parties say if the KBRA is not approved by Congress, they will back out of the deal and take their chances in court as they challenge the federal re-licensing of the dams.

Don Gentry, vice chairman of the Klamath Tribe, had an ominous warning for farmers.

“All the gloves come off,” Gentry said, “Yes, there will definitely be shut offs to the agriculture community.”

It’s exactly the scenario long-time potato grower Bill Walker feared, even though he admits that for years he opposed the dam removal. Yet he now fears the uncertainty of no deal at all.

“We know it’s going to be a rougher road,” Walker said. “We just don’t know how rough it’s going to be.”

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Greg Addington, director of the Klamath Water User’s Association, blames partisan politics in Congress. “We did the hard work, we handed it to them,” Addington said. “So it’s frustrating, we need them to do what we did. They need to get in a room, shut the door and work this thing out right now.”

Oregon’s two Democratic senators, Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, support the KBRA and the dam removal provision.

They have a bill stamping the KBRA’s approval, but it has never passed the full Senate.

“Time is running out and it’s urgent that Congress also set aside its differences and act to make local stakeholders’ vision a reality,” they said in a joint statement.

PacifiCorp, which owns all four dams in question, also supports the dam removal plan because it would limit the company’s liability during the removal process.

The company issued a statement last week when Congress went on recess without approving the KBRA: “We share the concern of many settlement parties that continued inaction could fracture the broad coalition that has chosen compromise over counterproductive confrontation and litigation on these difficult issues.”

Yet many county commissioners oppose the dam removal. For some, like Tom Mallams who chairs the Klamath County Board of Commissioners, dams are viewed as symbols of progress.

“It holds something for a lot of people,” Mallams said. “It shows a significant amount of taming the West, taming the rivers, using our natural resources for the betterment of mankind, not just for fish.”

Environmental groups and tribes disagree. They point to salmon runs that were stopped in 1917 when the first dam on the Klamath was built. They also argue that the four Klamath dams in question are not used to store water for farm irrigation, are not used for flood control and produce a relatively small amount of electricity.

According to PacifiCorp, the four dams account for about 2 percent of its capacity, enough to power 70,000 households.

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

ď ś Environmental groups oppose Yakima water plan December 28, 2015 YAKIMA, WASH. - As a long-term plan to ensure a future with enough water for farmers and wildlife in the Yakima Basin moves forward, critics complain there hasn't been enough transparency in the process.

Last month, a Senate committee in Washington, D.C., approved legislation to authorize the first 10year phase of the 30-year plan, which calls for more than $4 billion for additional water storage, fish passage, water conservation and habitat protection.

The Yakima Herald-Republic (http://bit.ly/1TmOkBF) reports a House bill is also being drafted.

Praised for ending decades of litigation and bitterness between competing interests, the plan is called vital to the future of the fertile Yakima Valley, one of the nation's greatest farming regions. But it is not without opponents, who say the process hasn't been inclusive enough. There have also been worries about cost and being able to satisfy the diverse needs of water users.

"We continue to object to the Yakima Workgroup portraying the Yakima Plan as the product of diverse interest groups, when the workgroup remains unresponsive to comments and concerns from those not at the table," said Elaine Packard, a representative from the state chapter of the Sierra Club.

Lake Kachess homeowners worry about wells drying up, lower property values and reduced fire protection when the reservoir is drawn down. To the south, cabin owners and campers don't want to see Bumping Lake expanded by a new dam that would flood cabins, campgrounds and old-growth forest. Some environmental groups oppose any new reservoirs.

Finally, there are fiscal watchdogs who say the plan's benefits don't justify the price.

Some opponents met with the bill's lead sponsor, Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., last fall.

"Sen. Cantwell's staff was handed a mess. The plan is poisoned fruit from a contaminated process, so it could not be made acceptable," said Bill Campbell, a retired scientist who lives along Lake Kachess.

Distrust of the plan and the workgroup are so high, critics say the only fix is to scrap the whole thing.

That would be the wrong move for the region, Yakima County Commissioner Mike Leita said.

But Chris Maykut, a Bumping Lake cabin owner and president of a group opposing the new dam plans, called the plan a house of sticks.

"Everyone got something they wanted and if one group pulls out, it falls apart, "Maykut said.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels In 2009, the federal Bureau of Reclamation and the state Department of Ecology convened a group of "stakeholders" — irrigators with junior water rights, the Yakama Indian Nation, county officials and fish and wildlife agencies — to review past studies and look for solutions to the basin's water shortages.

The agencies developed the workgroup's ideas into the Integrated Plan.

But opponents say the plan is the work of agriculture interests seeking a way to build more water storage and work around past attempts that failed cost-benefit tests.

Opponents contend the plan ignores an independent economic review by a team of Washington State University scientists who found that the water supply projects failed cost/benefit tests and the benefits from fish passage are not as large as initially estimated.

Supporters maintain that looking at the economic benefits of each component of the plan in isolation misses the point — it was designed as an integrated plan because it's worth more together than the sum of its parts.

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

 Yakima River Basin Water Enhancement Project support letter – Jay Inslee – Governor, Washington

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

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

ď ś This is no joke. This is Site C

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

 In Photos: The Destruction of the Peace River Valley for the Site C Dam December 18, 2015 It was a little over a year since I had been in the Peace River Valley. Back in June 2014, I visited the region to take photographs and to produce a film on the land, farms and wildlife that would be forever altered, or completely destroyed, to make way for the biggest and most expensive mega-project in the province’s history.

At that time it all seemed so distant and abstract. Would we really flood more than 100 kilometres of some the richest agricultural land in the north and destroy farms that date back to the first non-native settlers in the region? Were we really willing to clearcut and flood key habitat for a wide range of wildlife? Were we really willing to turn our back on the rights of First Nations who have called this valley home for perhaps 10,000 years? These questions were answered for me in the most brutal fashion when I returned this past November.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels In just a few short months, the forests, islands and grazing lands of the proposed dam site were completely eradicated. Beautiful forests with massive cottonwood trees I had walked through had been reduced to clearcuts and slash piles. Machines dredged the river as bulldozers pushed debris and soil into it. When I took to the air, the true scale of the devastation could be seen clearly and extended far beyond the banks of the river.

Caterpillar dredging along an island in the Peace River. Site C construction site, June 2015. The construction site will include the dam, river diversion, a temporary bridge, a quarry and a large “man camp.”

The view of the construction zone from the north banks of the Peace River.

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

Bulldozer plowing gravel and dirt from a Peace River island into the river. Site C construction site, June 2015.

Wider view of the logging and construction operations along the south shore of the Peace River looking upstream. Site C construction site, November 2015. Another plateau of clearcutting rises behind this.

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

The view from the south side of the construction zone of the Site C dam project.

November 2015. The clearcut islands in the river as well as the dredging and other mid river operations are visible.

Logging activity on the south shore of the Peace River. November 2015.

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

View of the Site C construction site from the north shore of the Peace. A large “man camp” and other facilities are being developed to house the workers for the project. November 2015.

When I returned home, I sifted though my images from 2014 to find comparative views from before construction began. It was a more challenging task than I had assumed as virtually all points of reference had been completely obliterated.

When I managed to find “before” images, the difference was stark and sobering. The fact that this had all happened in just a few months was both awe inspiring and horrifying. Then the reality sunk in that this destruction that had occurred in just a few months and over a few kilometers is to be extended over a decade and will encompass over 100 kilometres of this remarkable river.

I imagined what this process would look like as those many kilometers of forests, islands, wildlife habitat and farms I have photographed would be transformed to the same kinds of scenes.

Read Entire DeSmog Canada Article HERE

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

 Site C – No “Dam” Way

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

 GRDA: People Below Pensacola, Kerr Dams Should Prepare To Evacuate December 28, 2015 LANGLEY, Oklahoma - The Grand River Dam Authority warned people below the Pensacola Dam and the Robert S. Kerr Dam to prepare to evacuate as it begins releasing high volumes of water.

The GRDA sent out the following warning: “This is the Grand River Dam Authority. Due to heavy inflows, it is necessary to begin releasing high volumes of water. This may or will cause flooding in areas below Pensacola and Kerr dams. This condition mandates that you monitor local water levels and prepare to evacuate. This is NOT a test.

Please understand that immediate action should be taken. At this time, it is anticipated that the discharge at Pensacola Dam will be 150,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) and at Kerr Dam the release will be 180.000 cfs. Further information can be secured at GRDA’s Emergency Operation Center at (918) 256-0911. Thank you for your cooperation.”

Pensacola Dam is on Grand Lake and Kerr is on Lake Hudson.

At 10:30 a.m. on Monday: Pensacola Dam: GRDA said it had four main spillway gates open and nine east spillway gates open.

Six generators online. Total discharge was 129,043 cubic feet per second.

Kerr Dam: Six floodgates open. Four generators online. Discharge was 159,588 cubic feet per second.

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

 Sizeable Investment From State on Flooding Would Pay Off, Leaders Say Legislature: Chehalis Basin Work Group Leader Says Local Solution Would Cost up to $600 Million, but the Benefits Would Be Greater Representatives of various organizations interested in flood and stormwater issues in the state addressed the Washington Waters Task Force in Olympia Friday.

The groups laid out the issues facing the region, or people they represent, and how the problems could be addressed if the state committed $1 billion to each over 10 years.

Representatives from the Chehalis River Basin discussed the ongoing issue of flooding in the watershed.

The newly formed bipartisan task force first met in October of last year. Rep. Richard DeBolt, RChehalis, is a co-chairman of the group.

“I appreciate the hundreds of hours of work that’s gone into this. It’s nice to see it all in one place and rolling along,” DeBolt said.

DeBolt said he’s thankful for the work that has gone into protecting communities and habitat in the Chehalis Basin.

The Chehalis Basin is the second-largest watershed in the state, and it has suffered five of its largest floods in history in the past 30 years.

Jim Kramer, facilitator with the Ruckelshaus Center for the Chehalis Basin Strategy, said flooding is expected to get worse in the basin in the coming years.

J. Vander Stoep, with the Governor’s Chehalis Basin Work Group, said fixes for the flooding will address not only economic damage to communities but also fish habitat loss.

“It’s a big problem. It’s costing a lot of money,” he said.

While solutions will be costly, he said, they will have a net positive benefit to the state.

Vander Stoep said flooding in the basin accounts for 28 percent of all Federal Emergency Management Agency flood payouts in the state since 1980, which is about $560 million.

Fishery habitat in the basin is declining, and if the floods continue to worsen and summers continue to be dryer, Vander Stoep said, according to biologists, the chinook salmon will disappear.

The proposed solution developed by the work group includes 100 miles of habitat restoration, water retention and land use issues.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Vander Stoep said the solution cost ranges from $500 million to $600 million with a potential benefit of $720 million.

The benefits will be larger if floods and droughts worsen in the future, he said.

The Washington State Department of Ecology is evaluating the work group’s proposed solution along with three others as part of a programmatic environmental impact statement that is scheduled to be completed in December.

Vickie Raines, Grays Harbor County commissioner and chairwoman of the Chehalis River Basin Flood Authority, said the county has invested $125,000 in a master plan to protect the cities of Aberdeen and Hoquiam. But she said the entire basin needs to be considered.

“There are improvements that could be made in Lewis County on down through Thurston and Grays Harbor County,” Raines said.

Scott McKinney, floodplain management state coordinator for Ecology, said about $2 billion has been damaged by flooding in the state since 1980. He said that according to FEMA every $1 spent on mitigation can save $3 or $4. So, he said, if the state had spent $500 million, much of those $2 billion in damage could have been prevented.

Since 2013 ecology has awarded funds to 21 out of 117 requested flood projects throughout the state.

Other groups and organizations spoke on flooding and stormwater issues elsewhere in the state at the Friday meeting.

The Department of Ecology is currently working on an environmental impact statement. Data collection and analysis is currently underway with the goal to determine the potential results of a number of projects aimed at reducing flooding and improving fish habitat.

The draft EIS is scheduled to be completed in the spring of 2016 with a public comment period on the document in the summer. The final EIS is planned to be released in the fall or winter of 2016.

Editorial Comment: Issues associated with Chehalis River basin flood damage and salmon restoration will never be corrected as long as irresponsible logging practices and floodway development continue.

The proposed Chehalis River dam and its maintenance will prove to be a liability instead of an asset.

The legislative money grab via statewide funding to reduce flood damage while restoring important fisheries is yet another boondoggle supported by increased multi-agency bureaucratic oversight and increased spending.

Habitat lost due to proposed Chehalis River dam

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

 LAWSUIT TARGETS PUYALLUP RIVER SALMON PRODUCTIVITY January 15, 2016 For decades, the Puyallup Tribe of Indians has worked diligently to increase production of salmon above a hydroelectric project on the upper Puyallup River.

Recently, a group of conservation groups filed suit to force changes at the Electron Hydroelectric project, which was recently sold by long-term owners Puget Sound Energy. From a press release: A coalition of conservation groups filed suit today to protect Puget Sound Chinook salmon, steelhead and bull trout – all threatened with extinction – from being killed by the Electron hydroelectric project on the Puyallup River.

“Wild salmon and steelhead are part of who we are in the Pacific Northwest, and protecting this habitat is critical to their recovery. This is a clear-cut case of illegal ‘take’ of three species threatened with extinction,” said Andrea Rodgers, attorney with the Western Environmental Law Center.

Federal agencies acknowledge that the Electron project kills and harms Endangered Chinook salmon and steelhead. But Electron Dam’s new owner is using it to generate revenue while ignoring its responsibility to comply with the Endangered Species Act and protect these species.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Plaintiffs American Rivers and American Whitewater, represented by the Western Environmental Law Center, point to Section 9 of the ESA, which prohibits any person from “killing, trapping or harming an endangered species” and has been extended by federal agencies to include threatened Chinook salmon and steelhead.

“Across the Puget Sound region, taxpayers are funding efforts to restore salmon runs.

Citizens and businesses are doing their part. It’s simply not fair that the owners of Electron Dam are killing so many fish and haven’t made an effort to try and protect them,” said Michael Garrity, director of the Rivers of Puget Sound and the Columbia Basin program for American Rivers. “It’s common sense that an energy facility needs a permit and a plan to address its impact on the environment. We’re asking for a hard look into how the operations of this 113-year-old dam can be made compatible with Puget Sound salmon and steelhead recovery.”

Most years, the tribe distributes adult salmon into the upper watershed above Electron to boost future runs. They also manage juvenile ponds that release hundreds of thousands of salmon each spring.

The project usually releases from 20,000 to 50,000 juvenile steelhead each year from the Muckleshoot Tribe’s White River hatchery. This will be the first release of hatchery steelhead from the pond program.

Steelhead returns from the genetic broodstock program have ranged from 210 to 359 adults each year. “It’s encouraging to see this many steelhead come back, given the low release numbers,” Smith said.

Puyallup watershed steelhead stocks have been crashing for the past decade. Puyallup steelhead are also a part of a larger Puget Sound wide stock that is listed as “threatened” under the federal Endangered Species Act. “No one is sure why steelhead populations in the Puyallup and the rest of South Sound have dropped so much in recent years,” Smith said. “Hopefully, by getting these fish up into the upper watershed, we can continue to help them hold on.”

The tribe has also worked directly on studying the impacts of Electron, participating heavily in a 2010 study (and here).

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

Natural Gas

 Salmon (not LNG) are the Lifeblood of British Columbia

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

 No LNG on the Skeena estuary

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

A model at the LNG Canada offices in Kitimat shows the proposed liquified natural gas liquification plant and marine terminal that would be fed by the proposed Coastal GasLink line.

 Shell-led joint venture obtains key permit for LNG facility in Kitimat January 5, 2015 VANCOUVER — A Shell-led joint venture company has obtained a key permit to build a liquefied natural gas export facility in northern British Columbia.

LNG Canada is the first in the province to receive a facility permit from the B.C. Oil and Gas Commission. The document outlines the requirements for design, construction and operation of the proposed facility in Kitimat, B.C.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Director of external affairs Susannah Pierce said it’s a crucial development for the project, following environmental approval from federal and provincial authorities last June.

“Really, what (the permit) looks at is: How are we designing the facility? How are we ensuring that it can operate safely in the community? How have we engaged with the community?” she said Tuesday.

Pierce said the company had reviewed and was comfortable with all 30 conditions imposed by the permit, including those on noise management and response plans.

The project could cost up to US$40 billion and would initially consist of two processing units called trains, each able to produce 6.5 million tonnes of LNG annually. The facility could be expanded to four trains in the future.

LNG Canada has not yet made a final investment decision. The joint venture company, made up of Shell Canada Energy and affiliates of PetroChina, Korea Gas Corp. and Mitsubishi Corp.

Pierce said the project still has to obtain one permit from Fisheries and Oceans Canada. The joint venture participants also want assurances that the LNG project has First Nations support, is being built cost effectively and that it’s the right time for such a facility, she said.

She said the company has recognized the importance of partnering with the local Haisla Nation from the beginning and that the two sides have a strong, open working relationship.

Despite a global slump in energy markets dimming the outlook for LNG in B.C., Pierce said she remains upbeat about the project’s future.

“I’m very enthusiastic as well as absolutely committed to the fact that we need to have a facility like this to export our gas,” she said.

“I have to remain confident that we have the chance to make this real. Otherwise, we wouldn’t pursue it as ambitiously as we are.”

The project is one of 20 LNG proposals in B.C. Four have received environmental approval from the province, while two have been granted permission to proceed by the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency.

Federal decisions have yet to be made on the Pacific NorthWest LNG terminal proposed near Prince Rupert and the Woodfibre LNG project near Squamish.

The B.C. Liberal government has staked its political future on the LNG industry, with promises of 100,000 new jobs and $100 billion in revenue over 30 years.

Minister of Natural Gas Development Rich Coleman said in late December that the industry made “remarkable” progress in 2015 and was poised to take even greater steps forward in 2016.

“If you were to listen to the critics — the ’scrooges’ of economic development — they would tell you that progress has stalled and government should relinquish the B.C. Jobs Plan’s ambitious goals for growth and market diversification,” he said in a statement.

“Those pessimists, to be frank, are short-sighted; reluctant to admit LNG is making progress, creating jobs and securing long-term prosperity for all of us.”

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

 Unstoppable

California Gas Leak Being Called Worst Catastrophe Since BP

Spill December 23, 2015 Porter Ranch, CA — Methane gas continues spewing, unchecked, into the air over southern California from a fractured well to an underground storage site — at such an alarming rate that lowflying planes have necessarily been diverted by the FAA, lest internal combustion engines meet highly volatile gas and, well, blow the entire area to hell.

This is, indeed, the biggest environmental catastrophe since the BP Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010; and for now, there is no way to stop it.

This methane disaster is worse than can be sufficiently described in words, because while it’s estimated well over 100,000 pounds of methane spew into the atmosphere every hour, the leak can’t be halted, at least until spring. Even then, that stoppage depends entirely on the efficacy of a proposed fix — which remains a dubiously open question.

According to the California Air Resources Board, methane — a greenhouse gas 72 times more impactful in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide — has been escaping from the Aliso Canyon site with force equivalent “to a volcanic eruption” for about two months now. So far, the total leaked gas measures somewhere around 100,000 tons — adding “approximately one-quarter to the regular statewide methane emissions” during that same time frame.

“The relative magnitude of emissions from the leak compared to other sources of methane in the State underscores the urgency of stopping the gas leak. This comes on top of any problems caused by odor and any potential impacts from exposure,” states the initial report on the Aliso leak by air quality officials.

“The enormity of the Aliso Canyon gas leak cannot be overstated. Gas is escaping through a ruptured pipe more than 8,000 feet underground, and it shows no signs of stopping. As the pressure from the weight on top of the pipe causes the gas to diffuse, it only continues to dissipate across a wider and wider area,” explained Erin Brockovich, who spent time in nearby Porter Ranch investigating the leak.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Officials and experts are concerned, and they can’t recall another leak of this magnitude in decades — if ever. “I asked this question of our staff of 30 years,” said Steve Bohlen, who recently left his position as state supervisor of oil and gas. “This is unique in the last three or four decades. This is an unusual event, period.”

Though methane, itself, has no odor, the addition of odorants methyl mercaptan and tetrahydrothiophene — a safety measure to alert people by smell to the presence of natural gas — has made the enormous methane seepage impossible to ignore. Thousands of households have evacuated the area, despite little help, much less information, from the gas company about when they might be able to return. As reported by the Los Angeles Times, SoCalGas spokesperson Michael Mizrahi claimed the company had paid to relocate and house 2,092 households — but that effort is severely lacking, says Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer.

Yesterday, the city attorney’s office sought a restraining order to mandate SoCalGas relocate residents in the affected area within 48 hours of their request; and it is also seeking a “special master” to oversee the entire relocation operation, which is currently being handled by the gas company. Not only does the present relocation lack speed and coordination, but a housing crunch has resulted in surrounding areas — in some cases landlords, who prefer year-long leases to shorter terms, have driven rent as high as $8,500 per month. Hotels are operating at capacity, and in “some of those hotel rooms there are not enough beds for the people who are being moved,” explained chief deputy to the city attorney, James P. Clark.

“It’s time Porter Ranch residents had direct and complete answers about all facets of this leak,” Clark continued, “including what caused it, how to stop it, and what will be done to assure it never happens again. They should receive better, quicker, and completely adequate relocation assistance.”

On Thursday, Los Angeles Unified School District board members voted unanimously to close two Porter Ranch schools and relocate their 1,900 students and staff to different locations for the foreseeable future. A local emergency has been declared by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

Multiple lawsuits have now been initiated against SoCalGas and/or its parent company, Sempra Energy. A Los Angeles firm representing three of the families, who filed their suit Friday, described in a statement that the well has been “leaking noxious odors, hazardous gases, chemicals, pollutants, and contaminants due to a massive well failure and blowout. However, SoCalGas failed to inform residents of neighboring communities of the disastrous gas leak in a timely manner, putting the health and well-being of thousands of families in jeopardy.” Those suits allege “negligence, strict liability of ultra-hazardous activity, private nuisance, inverse condemnation, and trespass.”

A class-action lawsuit has also been filed on behalf of the Save Porter Ranch group; and City Attorney Mike Feuer filed a civil suit earlier this month due to the leak’s continued threat to residents’ health and damage to the environment, alleging failure by SoCalGas to prevent the leak and further exacerbation of “the effects of that failure by allowing the acute odor and health problems faced by the community to persist for more than one month, to say nothing about the indefinite time it will persist into the future,” state the court documents. “No community should have to endure what the residents of Porter Ranch have suffered from the gas company’s continued failure to stop that leak,” Feuer stated.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels SoCalGas insists there will be no long-term health effects resulting from the persistent leak; but as Brockovich pointed out, “no one really knows the potential long-term side effects of benzene and radon, the carcinogens that are commonly found in natural gas.” In an email to the Los Angeles Daily News, SoCalGas stated they were “providing air filters for people’s homes” and “have established a claims process for those who feel they may have suffered harm or injury. And our top priority remains stopping this leak as quickly and safely as possible.

“While the odor added to the leaking gas can cause symptoms for some, the gas is not toxic and county health officials have said the leak does not pose a long-term health risk.”

But what’s making this massive leak so difficult to stop pertains to the storage ‘container,’ itself. “We have the largest natural gas storage system in the world,” boasts Chris McGill, vice president of the American Gas Association. In the United States, old underground oil fields are often put to use as storage vessels for natural gas — because, hey, that geology worked just fine to hold oil for millions of years, so why not natural gas?

In fact, there are some 300 such depleted subterranean oil fields being employed this way around the United States. Aliso Canyon, a natural gas storage site since the 1970s, has one of the largest capacities: 86 billion cubic feet. During the summer, gas earmarked for winter heating is pumped into these underground cavities by SoCalGas — and the process is reversed with the turn of the seasons.

However, this year, workers encountered what quickly became evident was anything but a typical hiccup. As Wired reported: “On October 23, workers noticed the leak at a 40-year-old well in Aliso Canyon. Small leaks are routine, says Bohlen, and SoCalGas did what it routinely does: put fluid down the well to stop the leak and tinker with the well head. It didn’t work. The company tried it five more times, and the gas kept leaking. At this point, it was clear the leak was far from routine, and the problem was deeper underground.”

Beginning December 4th, SoCalGas crews began drilling a relief well to intercept the fissured pipe.

Cement will then be poured into both to seal the wells permanently. Of course, for this to work, crews must locate that original pipe, which is a mere seven inches in diameter, thousands of feet underground — without accidentally creating any sparks, whatsoever. Work near the leak site, therefore, has been prohibited after nightfall, when lighting equipment could potentially cause such a spark; though drilling for the relief well is situated far enough away to continue nonstop.

Flaring, or setting a deliberate fire to burn off excess gas, simply isn’t an option. The mammoth scope of this leak means a flare would ultimately complicate matters even further.

“There is no stone being left unturned to get this well closed,” Bohlen stated. “It’s our top priority.”

In the meantime, it will be months without any possibility of halting this disaster-in-motion. Sickened, uprooted, and furious residents can rest assured, though, because even as methane spews nonstop into the air, SoCalGas did have this consolation:

“We are deeply sorry for the frustration.”

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

ď ś Crews responded to a large Oklahoma fracking operation fire January 13, 2016

GRADY COUNTY, Oklahoma - Crews responded to a large fracking operation fire just east of Chickasha late Wednesday afternoon.

The Grady County Fire Department responded to HWY 62 and 39, about six miles east of Chickasha after the reported fire. Upon arrival, crews reported numerous trucks on fire.

According to a diagram News 9 received from the University of Kansas, the frack pumps caught fire and all of the trucks connected by metal piping are on fire. All 22 trucks are said to costs about $1 million each.

Crews reported explosions as the fire fuels but it is contained in the area.

The Oklahoma Department of Transportation said all lanes at SH 39 and County Road 2910 in Grady County, and all lanes from County Road 2940 west of HWY 62 were shut down due to the fire. The roadways were reopened about 9:45 p.m.

There was also reports of heavy amounts of smoke crossing the highway.

"I really don't know what caused it. They were in the process of fracking a well and that's where it all started," Grady County fire spokesman Buddy Myers said.

The site belonged to Continental Resources. The company released the following statement: "Continental Resources received a report of a fire on a continental location approximately 3 miles east of Chickasha. All crew have been accounted for and are safe. The well is shut in. The cause of fire is unknown at this time.

"CLR safety personnel and local fire departments and have responded and are on location to protect surrounding property."

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

Solar

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

ď ś How an Australian Mining Town Became a Solar Power Trailblazer December 20, 2015

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Broken Hill spawned the world’s largest mining company and generated more than $75 billion in wealth. Now as its minerals ebb, Australia’s longest-lived mining city is looking to tap a more abundant resource.

On the sun-baked edge of the Outback city, 700 miles west of Sydney, a solar farm the size of London’s Hyde Park shimmers like an oasis — its panels sending enough electricity to the national grid to power 17,000 homes a year. Combined with a sister plant, the AGL Energy Ltd. and First Solar Inc. project is the largest of its type in the southern hemisphere.

Clean energy advocates are counting on the 140-hectare (346-acre) development to make Broken Hill, which at one time boasted the world’s most successful silver mine, a trailblazer once again.

The birthplace of Broken Hill Proprietary Co., whose 2001 merger with Billiton Plc formed the mining giant BHP Billiton Ltd., will help pave the way for more projects that profit from the sun’s power.

“It’s giving birth to the large-scale solar industry in Australia,” said Adam Mackett, AGL’s project manager, as he strolled among the 678,000 solar panels under a cloudless blue sky. “Hopefully, from Broken Hill’s point of view, they’ll see this as the start of something bigger.”

Australia gets more solar radiation per square meter than any other continent. Yet while the nation leads the world in installing rooftop solar panels, it trails 19 countries from Bulgaria to Ukraine in producing the power at solar farms.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Solar accounted for about 2 percent of Australia’s electricity generation last year, according to the Clean Energy Council, an industry group in Melbourne. Fossil fuels, by contrast, made up almost 87 percent of the mix, reflecting the nation’s reliance on mining.

“We’ve been so rich underground, we shouldn’t ignore what we have above ground,’’ said Esther La Rovere, a Broken Hill native and co-owner of the Palace Hotel, a 48-room inn featured in the 1994 movie “The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.” “Broken Hill does need to reinvent itself and be part of new technologies and ways of doing things — and we’ve got plenty of sunshine.”

Mining is so inextricably linked to Broken Hill that even the 126-year-old hotel was once connected to a nearby mine by an underground tunnel. An enormous pile of discarded rocky earth looms over the city, whose street names are inspired by the minerals and compounds that have helped sustain it, like Argent, Cobalt, Bromide, Sulphide and Oxide.

Silver City Broken Hill is home to the world’s largest known lead-zinc-silver deposit. Its 8-kilometer (5-mile) ore body has been mined continuously since the 1880s and is now petering. Just two mining companies remain — Japan’s Toho Zinc Co. and China’s Shenzhen Zhongjin Lingnan Nonfemet Co. — and the city’s population has almost halved from about 35,000 in 1915.

While the Silver City has drawn tourists for decades, other new enterprises are needed to spur the local economy, and the potential for another solar project is being explored, said Mayor Wincen Cuy. “Two things we have plenty of are sunlight and wide-open spaces,” Cuy said in his office, a few kilometers from the AGL-First Solar development. “If we can become the capital in Australia for solar, that would be pretty impressive.”

Original mine shaft structures and buildings stand as a tourist attraction as part of the Junction Mine, in the township of Broken Hill.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels The A$440 million ($314 million) solar farms in Broken Hill and Nyngan, about 590 kilometers east, received A$232 million in grants from the New South Wales state and federal governments, and new ventures are likely to need their support. The Australian government has committed A$350 million more for utility-scale solar projects and is reviewing applications for funding.

‘Good for Humanity’ Companies such as First Solar, the largest U.S. solar manufacturer, are keen to develop more plants in Australia, said Jack Curtis, its Asia-Pacific manager. The industry is looking for assurance that Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is more climate-friendly than his predecessor, Tony Abbott, who said coal was “good for humanity.”

Australia’s climate policies have been criticized for not going far enough. The government’s commitment to cut carbon emissions by 2030 is projected to leave the country as the highest percapita polluter among Group of 20 nations after Saudi Arabia, according to the Climate Institute, a Sydney-based non-profit organization. Solar is among the sources that could help.

“It’s another opportunity which doesn’t rely on digging stuff out of the ground,” said AGL’s Mackett.

Shares in the Sydney-based utility have climbed 31 percent to A$17.47 so far in 2015, compared with a 5.6 percent slide in the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index, as the company under new Chief Executive Officer Andy Vesey expands in green energy.

The sprawling solar farm — near the hills where Mel Gibson tore up post-apocalyptic highways as the Road Warrior in the 1981 movie “Mad Max 2” — reached full production in October. During construction, about 150 people were employed there, resulting in a A$15 million boost to the local economy, AGL estimates. Now, kangaroos occasionally outnumber the two or three people needed to run the plant.

Better Image

Kangaroos stand next to a row of photovoltaic panels.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels Geoff Luke, a zinc miner’s son who sold part of his property to AGL in 2012, sees other benefits for the city. “Broken Hill needed something different,’’ said Luke, 64, who owns the Black Lion Inn and sometimes fields questions from tourists about the solar plant. “I think it’s good for the image of the town.”

The successful completion of the Broken Hill and Nyngan farms will give banks and contractors more confidence in working with major solar developments in the future, AGL’s Mackett said.

The Australian government aims to get almost a quarter of the nation’s power from clean energy sources by 2020. That will drive a 15-fold increase in large-scale solar capacity by 2021, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. For now though, solar power in Australia is more expensive than wind, and AGL says an over-supply of aging coal-fired power stations needs to be rationalized to encourage investment in clean-energy sources.

A decline in development costs for solar farms should close the gap with wind and stimulate more investment, said Ludovic Theau, executive director at the government’s Clean Energy Finance Corp.

“We do see a substantial step-up in activity,” he said. “The next five years for us are absolutely critical.”

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

 Now THAT'S how you do solar energy December 17, 2015

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels The current winner in the renewable energy push has to be the country of Morocco, which is building a solar energy plant that will leave every other effort in the dust. Or maybe we should say, in the dark.

Right now, Morocco imports 94 to 97 percent of its energy from fossil fuels, yet it gets 3,000 hours of sunshine per year. All of that desert sunshine is about to reverse the energy-importing trend, turning the country into a leading world source of solar energy.

Morocco is in the process of building a complex of four linked solar mega-plants as big as 35 soccer fields. According to a story from the Guardian, the huge effort will, alongside with hydro and wind, “help provide nearly half of Morocco’s electricity from renewables by 2020.” It’s hoping to export any excess solar energy to other countries, especially those in Europe.

“The project is a key plank in Morocco’s ambitions to use its untapped deserts to become a global solar superpower,” the Guardian story says. It will be the largest concentrated solar power (CSP) plant in the world.

The first phase of the project, called Noor 1, is due to open this month and will bring energy to 1.1 million people. The method of capturing solar energy, as described by EcoWatch, is more expensive and goes a lot further than most solar technology, such as photovoltaic cells. “The plant employs a large number of movable mirrors that can follow the sun’s path and harness sunlight to melt salt,” the EcoWatch story says. “The molten salt stores energy and can be used to power a steam turbine, allowing for energy production even at night.”

Each parabolic mirror is 12 meters high and is focused on a steel pipeline carrying a “heat transfer solution,” or HTF, that is warmed to 393 degrees Celsius. That solution “snakes along the trough before coiling into a heat engine,” the Guardian story explains. “There, it is mixed with water to create steam that turns energy-generating turbines.”

The next phases of the project, projected to go live in 2017, will be able to store energy for eight hours.

According to The World Bank, the solar mega-plant will reduce Morocco’s energy dependence by about 2 1/2 million tons of oil and is expected to “reduce carbon emissions by 760,000 tons per year, which could mean a reduction of 17.5 million tons of carbon emissions over 25 years.” The World Bank is supporting the project with a $200 million loan. About $9 billion has been invested so far.

Money is coming from a combination of investors like the Clean Technology Fund, the African Development Bank, European banks, and Morocco’s ruler, King Mohammed VI. At the recent United National Climate Change Conference in Paris, or COP21, participating countries delivered voluntary plans on how they would reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Morocco has an ambitious renewable energy generation target of 42 percent by 2020, while the U.S. target is 20 percent by the same year.

Looks like Morocco has set a standard that’s going to be hard to match.

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

Wind

In this photo from Nov. 3, 2015, cattle graze in front of wind turbines near Steele City, Neb. Renewable energy advocates say they're encouraged by a new push to expand wind energy in Nebraska, which lags many of its neighboring states when it comes to tapping the resource.

ď ś Wind Power Continues Steady Growth Across The U.S. December 21, 2015 The U.S. wind power industry is celebrating after reaching a new milestone in November: 70 gigawatts (GW) of generating capacity.

February 2016 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2016– Transitioning from Fossil Fuels “That’s enough to power about 19 million homes,” says Michael Goggin, senior director of research at the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA).

There are more than 50,000 wind turbines operating across 40 states and Puerto Rico, according to the AWEA. Wind power has grown quickly in recent years. It sprinted past the 50 GW and 60 GW milestones in 2012. Growth temporarily stalled as members of Congress let a federal tax credit expire. But now the boom times are back.

The federal budget deal, passed by Congress and signed by President Obama last week, includes a five-year extension of the Renewable Energy Production Tax Credit. That sent solar and wind company stocks soaring.

As a low-carbon source of electricity, wind power also got a boost from the Paris climate change agreement and the Obama Administration’s Clean Power Plan.

There’s plenty of room to grow, too. The bulk of the nation’s electricity still comes from traditional fuels: coal, natural gas and nuclear. Wind accounts for just a fraction of total generation.

“We’re approaching 4.5 to 5 percent of total electricity use in the United States,” says Goggin. In 2007—just eight years ago—that figure was less than one percent.

One reason wind is becoming more competitive is price. “The cost of wind energy is down by 66 percent—or two-thirds—since 2009,” says Goggin, who credits new technology and economies of scale as the industry gets bigger.

Goggin says the wind industry is on-track to meet a plan laid out by the U.S. Department of Energy to generate a fifth of the country’s electricity by 2030.

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

 Germany’s wind farms are now producing so much electricity they are paying users to take it December 1, 2015 Germany’s wind farms are now producing so much electricity one of its grid managers is paying generators in neighboring Denmark to shut down to keep its network from overloading.

German network operator TenneT TSO GmbH paid Danish power producers to withhold 37 gigawatthours of output in November, or about a day of production from the region’s biggest nuclear reactor, according to data from the Nord Pool Spot AS exchange in Oslo. The increase from 1.5 gigawatthours a year ago came as TenneT began from 2015 to boost payments to Danish producers via its neighboring grid to avoid cutting German output.

When gusty weather floods the network with power and threatens stability, Germany can seek cuts, according to grid rules. If such reductions are still not enough, Germany will then start shutting its own turbines. The country’s shift to renewables has more than doubled its wind power over the past decade, with output reaching a record on Nov. 18. Investment in power lines to move it across the country has failed to keep up.