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On the cover: Grizzly bear 'highway' uncovered in B.C.
Wild Game Fish Conservation
rainforest. CBC story documenting historic reliance by British
International
Columbia’s Grizzly bears on wild Pacific salmon.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Legacy Wild Game Fish Conservation International Wild Game Fish Conservation International (WGFCI): Established to advocate for wild game fish, their fragile ecosystems and the cultures and economies that rely on their robust populations. LEGACY – Journal of Wild Game Fish Conservation: Complimentary, nononsense, monthly publication by conservationists for conservationists LEGACY, the WGFCI Facebook page and the WGFCI website are utilized to better equip fellow conservationists, elected officials, business owners and others regarding wild game fish, their contributions to society and the varied and complex issues impacting them and those who rely on their sustainability. LEGACY exposes impacts to wild game fish while featuring wild game fish conservation projects, fishing adventures, wildlife art, accommodations, equipment and more. Your photos and articles featuring wild game fish from around planet earth are welcome for possible inclusion in an upcoming issue of LEGACY. E-mail them with captions and credits to Jim (wilcoxj@katewwdb.com). Successful wild game fish conservation efforts around planet earth will ensure existence of these precious natural resources and their ecosystems for future generations to enjoy and appreciate. This is our LEGACY.
Wild Game Fish Conservation International Founders
Bruce Treichler
Jim Wilcox
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Contents WGFCI Outreach via Legacy and Facebook _________________________________________________________ 7 Conservationist Extraordinaire – Walking the Talk ___________________________________________________ 8 Rhett Webber: Owner/operator – “Slammer”, Westport Washington _______________________________________ 8
Editorial Opinion __________________________________________________________________________________ 9 Special __________________________________________________________________________________________ 10
Imperial Metals: Mount Polley Mine – Tailing Pond Failure _______________________________________________ Mt. Polley’s Toxic Slury, Above and Below Water, Will Poison the Biosphere for Generations to Come _____ Alexandra Morton at Mount Polley Mine disaster: “This is Death” ________________________________________ Alexandra Morton: Are Fraser sockeye downstream from Mount Polley spill safe to eat? __________________ Mount Polley Mine (Imperial Metals): Catastrophic failure follows warnings_______________________________ Mount Polley mine tailings pond breach: full water ban extended ________________________________________ BC mining company warned 5 years ago about tailings pond ____________________________________________ Chief hand-delivers eviction notice to Imperial Metals ___________________________________________________ Eviction Notice to Imperial Metals Ruddock Creek Mine in Secwepemculecw _____________________________ Fish Consumption Advisory for Tsilhqot’in Members ___________________________________________________ Notice: Closing All Fishing Activities Down the River Immediately _______________________________________ Notice to Secwepemc Community Fishers: Stop Fishing Immediately ____________________________________ Mount Polley Disaster – News Release _________________________________________________________________ Millions of Fraser River salmon head for waters of B.C. mine disaster ____________________________________ Experience at Mount Polley: social and environmental catastrophe ______________________________________ B.C. announces independent inquiry into Mount Polley tailings spill _____________________________________ B.C. sockeye salmon return in doubt after Quesnel spill_________________________________________________ Satellite Detects Massive Spill at Canadian Gold Mine __________________________________________________ Retired fish biologist for Quesnel Lake calls for independent public inquiry into mine disaster _____________
10 11 12 14 16 16 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 28 30 32 34 36
Spill damage likely permanent: researcher _____________________________________________________________ 38 'They Killed My Beautiful Lake' ________________________________________________________________________ 40
Featured Fishing Adventures, Photos, “Funnies” and Not so Funny: _________________________________ 45
Fish for Peacock Bass on Brazil’s Aqua Boa River with host Camille Egdorf ______________________________ Fly Gal Ventures Hosted Travel: New Zealand – December 2014 _________________________________________ Fishing Guide Arek Kotecki with a brown trout _________________________________________________________ Ben Trainer (Great River Fishing Adventures): “All In!” _________________________________________________ Big marble trout: Ldrijca River ________________________________________________________________________ Dennis Fuhrman with a fresh steelhead on the Kispiox River ____________________________________________ Kimber Roberts with a brace of Oregon coast chinook salmon __________________________________________
45 46 47 48 49 50 51
Alaska brown bears feeding on salmon at Brooks Falls, Katmai National Park ____________________________ 52 Pacific Ocean summer morning _______________________________________________________________________ 54
Fishing Tips and Tricks ___________________________________________________________________________ 55 Gašper Konkolič: Hucho Hucho in Slovenia (Danube salmon / huchen) __________________________________ 55 Montana Matt – Fishing Guide: How much you should tip your guide and why they deserve it _____________ 56
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Wildlife Artists: __________________________________________________________________________________ 57 Diane Michelin - Fly Fishing Fine Art: "OUI, GASPE" ____________________________________________________ 58 Dan Wallace: Passion for Authenticity _________________________________________________________________ 59
Seafood consumption: Public health risks and benefits _____________________________________________ 60 Warning: Eating Farmed Salmon May Affect Your Baby _________________________________________________ 60 Enjoy seasonal wild salmon dinners at these fine restaurants:___________________________________________ 61 5 Reasons to Avoid Factory-Farmed Fish ______________________________________________________________ 62 Some fish and seafood are sustainable, some devastate our oceans _____________________________________ 65 America catches some of the world’s best salmon but eats some of the worst ____________________________ 72 7 Dumb Things You Should Stop Wasting Money On____________________________________________________ 78 Farming Nestor fear that sterile salmon will spread deadly diseases to humans (Translated) _______________ 79 Preliminary examination of contaminant loadings in farmed salmon, wild salmon and commercial salmon feed _________________________________________________________________________________________ 79
WGFCI: Writing to protect what needs protected ___________________________________________________ 82 Morten Vike __________________________________________________________________________________________ 82 Irasema Coronado ___________________________________________________________________________________ 83 The Honorable Gail Shea _____________________________________________________________________________ 85
Responses to WGFCI _____________________________________________________________________________ 86 Community Activism, Education, Litigation and Outreach ___________________________________________ 87
Olympia “Salmon Confidential” Premiere – October 5 ___________________________________________________ 87 NISQUALLY RIVER STEELHEAD RECOVERY PROGRAM________________________________________________ 89 Protesters slam Imperial Metals over Mount Polley _____________________________________________________ 90 Native Groups, Environmentalists Rally To 'Protect Our Salish Sea' ______________________________________ 92 International Protect Wild Salmon Rally ________________________________________________________________ 94 Wild Salmon Warriors – Getting the Message Out ______________________________________________________ 101
Community unification rally in support of people impacted by Imperial Metals’ social and environmental catastrophe at Mount Polley mine. _____________________________________________________ 102 Decision on Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain Oil Pipeline Delayed Until After Next Federal Election ______ 103 Protesters arrested after chaining themselves to rail tracks ____________________________________________ 106 Seattle City Council member, state House candidate block railroad tracks in oil train protest _____________ 108 Wild Salmon Warrior Radio with Jay Peachy – Tuesday Mornings_______________________________________ 110 Wild Salmon Warrior Radio – Recent Archives ________________________________________________________ 111
Salmon feedlots_________________________________________________________________________________ 112 Dead Fish Swimming ________________________________________________________________________________ 113
Greig Seafood Harvests Undersized Atlantic Salmon in Effort to “Harmonize” ___________________________ Alexandra Morton: Update On Die-Off At Greig Seafood ________________________________________________ Update on die-off at Greig Seafood ___________________________________________________________________ Feds’ proposed aquaculture regulations delayed over ‘logistical challenges,’ expected next month _______ Super un-Natural: Atlantic Salmon in BC Waters – John Volpe, PhD_____________________________________ This Salmon Will Likely Be The First Genetically Modified Animal You Eat _______________________________ “The Scream” _______________________________________________________________________________________
114 115 116 130 134 135 140
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Over 450 tonnes of antibiotics used by salmon sector in 2013 __________________________________________ 141 Wild Atlantic salmon and sea trout: Eaten alive by salmon feedlot-origin lice ____________________________ 144
Climate Change _________________________________________________________________________________ 145 Salmon Are Dying In The Salmon River Because The Water’s Too Warm ________________________________ 145 Changing sea chemistry will hit Alaska communities hard, study says __________________________________ 147
Energy Generation: Oil, Coal, Geothermal, Hydropower, Natural Gas, Solar, Tidal, Wind ______________ 150 Petroleum – Drilled, Refined, Tar Sands, Fracked ________________________________________________________ 151 Petropolis - Rape and pillage of Canada and Canadians for toxic bitumen _______________________________ 151 BP wants to expand its oil tanker traffic through Puget Sound __________________________________________ 154 ‘There will be no pipeline’ ____________________________________________________________________________ 155 Tesoro Begins Cleanup of Massive Oil Pipeline Spill in North Dakota ___________________________________ 162 Obama opens Eastern Seaboard to oil exploration _____________________________________________________ 165
Oil train derails under Seattle's Magnolia Bridge _______________________________________________________ Obama's DOT proposes tougher oil-train safety rules __________________________________________________ Groups Seek Ban of Oil in Older Railroad Tank Cars ___________________________________________________ Bomb Trains: The Crude Gamble of Oil by Rail ________________________________________________________
168 170 173 175
CNRL's 'uncontrollable' bitumen spill in Alberta may have been caused by business as usual ____________ National Energy Board orders Enbridge to cease work on pipeline in Manitoba __________________________ Arctic oil spills likely to spread across borders: study _________________________________________________ Coal __________________________________________________________________________________________________ The oil boom in one slick infographic _________________________________________________________________ Coal Train Derails En route to Columbia River Gorge __________________________________________________ Amakusa Island bulk carrier runs aground near Prince Rupert __________________________________________ Geothermal ___________________________________________________________________________________________ Canada’s high temperature geothermal reserves are in British Columbia ________________________________ Hydropower ___________________________________________________________________________________________ “DamNation” _______________________________________________________________________________________ Site C dam a threat to $8 billion in ecological values ___________________________________________________
176 178 180 182 182 183 185 186 186 187 187 188
Liquefied Natural Gas __________________________________________________________________________________ 190 Train carrying liquefied petroleum gas derails in Everett _______________________________________________ 190 Solar _________________________________________________________________________________________________ 191
Government action ______________________________________________________________________________ 193 Inslee Among Three West Coast Governors to Oppose Offshore Drilling ________________________________ 194 State Sen. Jim Hargrove warns Dungeness Water Rule lawsuit could delay area development for years ___ 195 EU fines Marine Harvest €20m over Morpol takeover ___________________________________________________ 198
Wild Game Fish Management ____________________________________________________________________ 201 The Future of British Columbia’s Wild Salmon _________________________________________________________ 201 First Nation group expresses concern over commercial salmon fishery opening before conservation levels met __________________________________________________________________________________________ 202 Grizzly bear 'highway' uncovered in B.C. rainforest ____________________________________________________ 204 Puget Sound Draft Environmental Impact Statement ___________________________________________________ 206
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Conservation-minded businesses – please support these fine businesses __________________________ 208 Kingfish West Coast Adventure Tours ________________________________________________________________ 208 Dave and Kim Egdorf's Western Alaska Sport Fishing _________________________________________________ 209 Hidden Paths - Slovenia _____________________________________________________________________________ 210 ProFishGuide: Coastal Fishing at its Best _____________________________________________________________ 211 Silversides Fishing Adventures ______________________________________________________________________ 212 UWET "STAY-DRY" UNDERWATER TOURS ___________________________________________________________ 213 Rhett Weber’s Charterboat “Slammer” ________________________________________________________________ 214 Riverman Guide Service – since 1969 _________________________________________________________________ 215 Learn to fish: experienced, conservation-minded professional instructors_______________________________ 216
Legacy Forward The September 2014 issue of Legacy marks thirty five consecutive months of our complimentary eMagazine; the no-holds-barred, watchdog journal published by Wild Game Fish Conservation International. Legacy is published each month to expose risks to the future of wild game fish and their fragile ecosystems around planet earth to our growing audience. This unique magazine also introduces leading edge alternatives to today’s unsustainable practices. Each month Legacy selects wildlife artists to feature, several conservationminded businesses to promote and several fishing photos from around planet Earth. We continue to urge our readers to speak out passionately and to demonstrate peacefully for wild game fish and their ecosystems; ecosystems that we are but one small component of. As recreational fishermen, conservation of wild game fish is our passion. Publishing “Legacy” each month is our self imposed responsibility to help ensure the future of these precious gifts that have been entrusted for safekeeping to our generation.
Bruce Treichler
James E. Wilcox Wild Game Fish Conservation International
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
WGFCI Outreach via Legacy and Facebook
August Legacy read in these countries
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Conservationist Extraordinaire – Walking the Talk
Rhett Webber: Owner/operator – “Slammer”, Westport Washington
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Editorial Opinion by Jim Wilcox Government-enabled corporate greed continues to deliberately place wild ecosystems and all that rely on them in harm’s way. We expose these predicted environmental devastations globally, month in and month out via the complimentary, online magazine, Legacy. It grieves us beyond words when significant ecosystems are lost forever because our elected and appointed representatives ignore obvious signs that one or more watersheds are in serious trouble. Recent examples of these failed experiments involving public health and ecological security include:
Open pit mining Extraction, transportation and burning fossil fuels Foreign-owned ocean-based salmon feedlots Hydropower dams Over-harvest of marine life Floodplain development
August 4th’s Mount Polley tailing pond breach is one of these shocking, yet not surprising failures given many warnings and increased flows entering this inadequate pond. Many fear the heavy metals and other contaminants in this slurry will impact the lives (humans, animals, birds, plants) in this unique watershed for a very long time – if not forever. Many also fear that Canadians will pay to partially clean-up this $multi-billion disaster (it will never be totally cleaned up!) – One more in a series where corporations are getting off the hook.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Special
Imperial Metals: Mount Polley Mine – Tailing Pond Failure Watch 4 Billion Gallons of Mining Waste Pour Into Pristine B.C. Waterways
On August 4 the tailings pond of the gold and copper open-pit Polley Mine, operated by Imperial Metals Corp., breached and sent billions of gallons of metals-laden silt and water into waterways awaiting the return of the salmon.
Claudette Bethune: “Having a copper and gold mine in the sacred salmon headwaters is like drilling for oil in the Sistine chapel"
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Mt. Polley’s Toxic Slury, Above and Below Water, for Generations to Come
READ ENTIRE MUD REPORT HERE
Will Poison the Biosphere
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Alexandra Morton at Mount Polley Mine disaster: “This is Death” Watch, Learn, Listen HERE
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Secwepemc Sacred Fire at Imperial Metals Mount Polley Disaster Site
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
THE LATEST CANADIAN mine tailing pond spill into a B.C. waterway occurred last week near Likely, B.C. Prior to August 4, Imperial Metals’ Mount Polley gold and copper mine tailing pond was contained behind a gigantic wall of sand. There were warnings by employees and government that the tailing pond was over-filled and could rupture. The warnings were ignored and now much of this toxic material is in Quesnel Lake.
Alexandra
Morton: Are Fraser sockeye downstream from Mount Polley spill safe to eat? August 12, 2014
Quesnel Lake flows into the Fraser River, which flows throughout British Columbia, through the city of Vancouver into the Strait of Georgia. This spill is not over. Material from the tailing pond continues to escape; lake bottoms have currents that will continue to move the mountain of sediment into the water column. This incident involves far more than the drinking water of the town of Likely. The reason for tailing ponds is to keep toxic waste produced by mining contained. There are now mining tailings spread all over the spill site and satellite images show the tailings moving towards the Fraser River. I am writing to suggest British Columbians look at this in a realistic light, because this affects all of us.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Editorial Comment: The social, environmental and economic disaster caused by Imperial Metals at their Mount Polley gold and copper mine were absolutely avoidable – shameful, governmentenabled corporate greed once again prevailed over responsibility.
Life sustaining clean water is forever destroyed Salmon and trout spawning and rearing habitat is devastated for this and future generations People and wildlife will accumulate toxics as they are consumed Salmon reliant cultures and economies will forever be impacted
Heavy metals, such as those found in these mine tailings tend to bioaccumulate in living organisms. They can also kill insects which young fish feed on. Quesnel Lake is an important fish nursery and rears a large part of B.C.’s wild salmon. Fewer bugs mean fewer salmon, toxic bugs mean toxins in salmon. I have been contacted by First Nation colleagues asking if the salmon in the Fraser River are safe to eat. It is a breach of government responsibility that every First Nation along the river has not already been contacted with test results. I understand the First Nations Health Authority is doing testing. We all need to see those results ASAP. I have received pictures and reports from several places downriver from the Imperial mine spill of salmon with their skin peeling off. Is this exposure to acid? Guessing is dangerous and we need answers. The situation has forced Cayoose Creek Band chief Michelle Edwards, Xaxli'p chief Darrel Bob, and Tsk’way’laxw chief Francis Alec to close all fishing for their communities. This is leadership that takes responsibility for human health. I have spent 30 years trying to protect wild salmon from farm salmon disease. As a result, I am very familiar with government smoke and mirrors when a business activity threatens the health of British Columbia. Simply put, the escape of millions of cubic metres of mine tailings into the Fraser River should concern all Canadians whether they live downstream of a mine or not, because we are a society that cares about the fate of our children. The urgent question many people are asking: “are the salmon from Fraser River dangerous to eat?” Editorial Comment: People must “connect the dots’ and act:
Wild Pacific salmon (including Fraser River stocks) feed the world, sustain wild ecosystems, are culturally vital and contribute billions to communities blessed to be enriched by these magnificent gifts from our Creator.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Mount Polley Mine (Imperial Metals): Catastrophic failure follows warnings
Mount Polley mine tailings pond breach: full water ban extended Affected waterways now extend to entire Quesnel and Cariboo River systems right up to the Fraser River August 4, 2014 A complete water ban affecting about 300 local residents is in effect after five million cubic metres of tailings pond effluent from the Mount Polley copper and gold mine was released early Monday into Hazeltine Creek.
Editorial Comment: Another God-given salmon ecosystem lost forever due to government-enabled, corporate greed!
That's an amount of water equivalent to about 2,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools. The waterways affected by the ban, which earlier included Quesnel Lake, Polley Lake, Hazeltine Creek and Cariboo Creek, now also include the entire Quesnel and Cariboo Rivers systems right up to the Fraser River. Authorities are asking people in the region to stop using water from both rivers. READ ENTIRE CBC ARTICLE HERE WATCH VIDEO HERE
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
BC mining company warned 5 years ago about tailings pond WATCH, LISTEN, LEARN HERE August 6, 2014 They knew there was a potential problem five years ago. The BC mining company responsible for the massive breach in one of their tailings ponds was advised five years ago that more water was going into the pond than was coming out. Again, in May (2014) the BC government warned Imperial Metals the water levels were too high. Monday morning the dam burst dumping 10 billion litres of waste water into the environment.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Chief hand-delivers eviction notice to Imperial Metals WATCH, LISTEN, LEARN HERE August 15, 2014 After witnessing the environmental damage from the Mount Polley mine disaster Chief Judy Wilson wants the company out of her territory. She traveled to Vancouver to hand-deliver an eviction notice to Imperial Metals. Wilson says it’s not a joke, symbolic gesture or idle threat.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Eviction Notice to Imperial Metals Ruddock Creek Mine in Secwepemculecw
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Fish Consumption Advisory for Tsilhqot’in Members
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Notice: Closing All Fishing Activities Down the River Immediately
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Notice to Secwepemc Community Fishers: Stop Fishing Immediately
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Mount Polley Disaster – News Release August 6, 2014 (Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver) In the early morning hours of August 4, BC Day, a catastrophic breach of Imperial Metals' Mount Polley tailings pond sent a slurry-like mixture of 10 million cubic metres of water and 4.5 million cubic metres of fine sediment into Polley Lake. Hazeltine Creek and into Quesnel Lake. The breach has endangered not only drinking water for residents but the Quesnel, Horsefly and Mitchell salmon runs. Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, President of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, responded “Like the Exxon Valdez, Mount Polley will be synonymous with one of the most disastrous environmental events in British Columbia. The frightening fact is both environmental disasters could have been prevented if there was vigorous government oversight by an effectively resourced agency bound by robust legislative and regulatory environmental safeguards. What we have now in BC and Canada, as a consequence of weak environmental review procedures and the federal omnibus bills C-38 and C45, are repugnant and reprehensible processes of rubber-stamp approvals that shamelessly pander to industry and tragically at the great expense of environmental devastation." Chief Bob Chamberlin, Vice-President of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs stated Wild salmon is one of the greatest life-giving gifts of the Fraser watershed. First Nations throughout the Interior and along Coastal BC rely on the wild salmon runs of the Fraser for food, social, ceremonial and commercial fisheries. As of last night, Department of Fisheries and Oceans has banned salmon fishing in the Cariboo and Quesnel Rivers due to Mount Polley. Mount Polley will have an immediate and devastating effect on First Nations like Lhtako Dene, Lhoosk'uz Dene, Nazko and Esdilagh who may not be able to fish for salmon at all this year. First Nations are anxiously awaiting the water-test results, the possible DFO closures afterwards and the harmful impacts on future salmon runs of the Fraser." Chief Judy Wilson, Secretary-Treasurer of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs declared "The wholesale erosion of BC environmental protections represents the government's dismissal of our Title, Rights and Treaty Rights. Our right to fish is meaningless if the fish are contaminated with or killed by arsenic, lead or mercury. Our right to hunt is pointless if the moose or deer show concentrations of selenium or cadmium. Mount Polley is why the UBCIC fully supported the Tsilhqot’in and Secwepemc as they opposed Taseko's Prosperity Mine proposals. The UBCIC will follow the lead and will stand with First Nations impacted by Mount Polley."
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Millions of Fraser River salmon head for waters of B.C. mine disaster August 7, 2014 About 1.5 to 2 million sockeye salmon, from the great Fraser River fishery shared by the U.S. and Canada, are headed for spawning beds in the Quesnel Lake region of British Columbia this summer, where they will run into a major mine disaster. The Monday breach of a tailings dam at the Mount Polley mine has dumped millions of liters of mine waste, with islands of debris already floating in Quesnel Lake. The Quesnel-Horsefly river system is one of the mighty Fraser’s four largest salmon producing tributaries. An estimated 500,000 salmon are already headed up the Fraser River, with the rest expected in the river by the end of August. The exact concentration of pollutants they will encounter from Monday’s disaster is not known. What is known, from Imperial Mines records, is witches brew of toxic tailings in the pond: Phosphorus, copper, Zinc, cobalt, selenium, arsenic, lead, cadmium, and mercury. “This area upstream from the Fraser River is a major spawning ground for salmon, both of which are integral to indigenous peoples’ culture and way of life,” Jody Wilson-Raybound, regional chief for the Aboriginal First Nations, said in a statement. The Mount Polley mine is in the Cariboo region of central British Columbia. Already, regional authorities have told humans not to use water from Quesnel Lake, Caribou Creek and the entire Quesnel and Cariboo River systems down to the Fraser River. Imperial Mines has been told to submit an Action Plan and to stop liquids and sand still flowing out of the tailings pond. However, the British Columbia government, the government in nextdoor Alberta and the Canadian government have long been in the pocket of the mining industry. Bill Bennett, the British Columbia mines minister, tried to sound upbeat during a conference call with Canadian reporters. “There’s no more important symbol in this province than salmon, and particularly important to First Nations,” Bennett said. “We will have a much better idea of the water quality in Quesnel Lake. I am hopeful that the company is correct, in terms of what they say, (that) their records show what is in the tailings and that will lead us to positive results in the sampling.”
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters The B.C. government has, thus far, treated the mine disaster to the political “spin” familiar in downplaying environmental disasters brought on by lax regulation. “Is anyone really interested in the foxes’ explanation of why the henhouse is out of chickens?” Rafe Mair, a former B.C. Cabinet minister, said in an e-mail to seattlepi.com Michael Smyth, writing in The Province, delivered a scathing description of “the government line” and double-talk by mines minister Bennett: “Bennett at first played down the severity of the spill, issuing a press release saying a mixture of water and ‘fine sand’ gushed into pristine waterways. No mention of icky stuff like arsenic. “He also cleverly stressed that government mine inspections have not been reduced ‘in the last five years’ — conveniently ignoring cutbacks that took place earlier, when Bennett himself complained that government regulators were ‘starving for resources’.” The province’s ceremony-loving, good news Premier Christy Clark finally arrived Thursday afternoon at Likely, B.C., near the mine disaster site. A B.C.-based former political operative named Denis Beauvais gave an account of the scene:
British Columbia Premier Christy Clark: An elaborate media event at mine disaster site. She says there will be no public inquiry “I hacked into Global TV’s live feed from the event. The Aboriginals are setting up a tribal circle and reps from the province giving out food and beverages.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters “Christy is walking around the crowd with face paint on and having her picture taken with the children. The songs and drums have started up again along with the dancing. “Christy’s spin people are setting up her platform with a particularly clean and blue stretch of water in the background. Her media people are bitching about the native drums blowing out their audio and are trying to move the locals around for better optics. “You can tell her people as they are the only ones wearing suits and ties.” When Clark finally spoke, she told reporters that initial water tests were “promising” and that she hopes for “good luck” that will hold. She cautioned against “jumping to conclusions.” She also said there will be no public inquiry into the mine disaster. “It’s still a mystery as to how it happened: Once we determine the cause, it’ll be much easier to assign responsibility,” said Clark. The mining industry poured thousands of dollars into the Premier’s reelection campaign last year. The Mount Polley mine disaster should be a wakeup call on both sides of the border. Some reasons:
Millions of returning Fraser River salmon make their way through international waters of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The catch is shared, although Canadians get the lion’s share. The “mighty Fraser” is a vital salmon stream to Aboriginal First Nations in Canada, as well as Puget Sound-area Indian tribes. British Columbia is green-lighting mine projects in salmon producing streams that flow from B.C. into the United States. The latest example is a $5.3 billion gold mine project in the headwaters of the Unuk River. With a recent change in Canadian law, it is subject to far less environmental oversight. The Pebble Mine project, proposed between two of Bristol Bay’s greatest salmon rivers, would involve a 700-foot-high earthen tailings dam. The project is in a region of not infrequent earthquakes. Mining and such projects as the Alberta oil sand development are ripping up a substantial chunk of the earth. Tailings ponds cover over 100 square miles of forest land in Northern Alberta. ”Each barrel of bitumen (oil) produces 1.5 barrels of salty and acidic fluid wastes,” The Tyee in Vancouver reported. The Pembina Institute has calculated that the Alberta oil sands development will create “enough toxic waste to submerge New York’s Central Park to a depth of just over 11 feet every month” by 2022.
In the meantime, native tribes in the Cariboo survey the Mount Polley disaster, and await the coming of the salmon to their polluted waters. “First Nations and many Canadians continue to be concerned about the weakening of environmental standards and protection of waterways and fish habitats as a result of recent changes in legislation,” Cameron Alexis, an Association of First Nations regional chief, said in a statement.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
ď ś Experience at Mount Polley: social and environmental catastrophe David Clow Attempting to fall asleep last night, I kept asking why I did this to myself. I have never felt like I did after being exposed like I was last night. I was so ill that I wrote a list of symptoms, not expecting to be able to remember. They included: vomiting, dry heaving, upset stomach, dizziness, motor control delays, continuous blurred vision, throbbing and hot cheeks, heavy eyelids, pain in and around the eyes, lethargic in action and thought, blacking out of vision, tiredness and headache. At the spill site, we saw a baby black bear and her momma. They were acting in what to seemed to us to be strange behavior. They were less than a hundred meters from the ruptured Mount Polley tailings pond. Then, as we were leaving, we experienced wolves running right beside the car moments after we made our way back through the moat they dug up to keep people out, in the pitch black of night. The last two in the group were what seemed to be a momma and one of her pups following close behind. If I was as sick as I was last night, with lingering effects this morning, then what are these mothers and their babies going to be feeling like? They have no way to leave. How are the fish in these oncepristine lakes and rivers doing? This is still flowing into the Fraser River. The Fraser RIver folks: The skin is falling right off the fish. I interviewed people that pulled these fish from the water. The fish swam through 'Hope' and we lose ours. How are these communities going to be doing once this all sinks into the water table? Vice magazine wrote about the spill having the force of a fire hose. Well, I was at the spill site - this was more like a trillion fire hoses. Thousands upon thousands of trees were snapped like twigs. How is that a fire hose? The poison is still flowing with a thunderous roar - I have plenty of high quality video of it all. The spill has painted the surrounding trees with white poison fifty feet high for the whole length of the spill, which is far beyond the line of sight. A canyon-sized river was ripped out of the forest, with an unimaginable amount of life that was, undoubtedly, taken with it in its death force. I am so upset at this. It is emotionally draining, especially since these people seem mostly to be concerned about their jobs and when the mine will be up and running again at full capacity. Or should I say over-capacity? These people were warned. They asked to just be able to dump their waste, as their tailings were full. They were refused, so they just filled it up so full that it burst. This company ended up getting what it wanted - at our expense and their profit. Now, the Mount Polley mine can start fresh with an empty tailings ponds and get even more rich off the rest of us. When you boil it all down to the basic facts, you see that Imperial Metals and their polluter, planet destroyers, Brian Kynoch and N. Murray Edwards, just went ahead and did what they wanted to do in the first place - they turned Polley Lake and Quesnal Lake into their own private tailings ponds. These lakes that were once filled with potable drinking water and abundant in salmon are now tailings ponds that will last long after the planet polluters, Brian Kynoch and N. Murray Edwards, have lived long full lives on our dime.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters This company will probably flounder like a punctured ship and the planet will be left with this mess forever - mess that mutates us all at the molecular level, by the way, modifying our genetic code leaving us as a different species than we were prior, as the mutations we face ingesting these chemicals will be passed on to our offspring, as it will be in the non-human animal populations. I met a man yesterday that told me about how his father took him to fish on Lake Polley the first time he ever fished. He spoke lovingly of the crystal clear water that was now almost two meters higher in level - filled with arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury, and other good stuff. I was exposed yesterday. We are all going to be exposed, that is, if no one does anything to protect us. Except, no one is. I am not worrying about myself. I am heading back out there. Don't worry about me; worry about yourself. Realize that it is time to consider fighting back. You may not want to admit it, nor do I; but we are at war. They attacked first. Our lands, our air, our water, and our very lives are at risk. We are in dire need of some resistance. It is time… Are we going to let these men get away with doing what they asked to do and were told not to, but decided to do anyway out of negligence, most likely willfully? Are we going to let these men continue to profit at our expense - at the future's expense? The mess these men are leaving for us all and for future generations will be here long after they are gone. Can we not hold them accountable now for what they have done to the future? Are we going to allow them to take life-giving lakes as their own personal trash cans to store the toxicity they create that will outlast them for thousands upon thousands of years? Their names are Brian Kynoch and N. Murray Edwards. Can we shut them down, please?
WATCH, LOOK, LISTEN HERE
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
B.C. announces independent inquiry into Mount Polley tailings spill August 18, 2014
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters The B.C. government has appointed a three-member panel to conduct an independent investigation of a massive tailings pond breach at a gold and copper mine. The government is also ordering other mine companies to conduct safety inspections of their own tailings ponds by Dec. 1, and to have the inspections reviewed by outside engineering firms. Mines Minister Bill Bennett says the independent inquiry will be paid for by Imperial Metals, owner of the Mount Polley mine where two weeks ago the dam failure sent millions of litres of waste water into a network of salmon-bearing lakes and streams near the town of Likely, in the province's central Interior. Bennett says the panel geotechnical engineers and mining experts will explore the cause of the failure and make recommendations by the end of January 2015. When the Mount Polley dam breached two weeks ago, Imperial Metals said there was no sign of trouble, however an environmental consultant's report warned the pond was growing at an unsustainable rate. B.C.'s Environment Ministry said over the weekend that initial tests on the slurry from the mine show the waste poses no risk to humans but may harm aquatic life.
Editorial Comment:
Warnings regarding Imperial Metals’ Mount Polley Mine project were filed (and ignored) prior to project permitting, during excavation and throughout mine operation. Government-appointed, “independent” investigation panel appointed Tests being paid for by Imperial Metals – culprit mining company Other mine companies ordered to conduct safety inspections of their own mines (fox guarding the hen house) “waste poses no risk to humans but may harm aquatic life” – 100% Pure Bovine Excrement – of course there are risks to humans!
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
B.C. sockeye salmon return in doubt after Quesnel spill Fish will be swimming through the toxic debris field in two weeks August 5, 2014 This was supposed to be the year of a rebound, a great return for B.C. sockeye salmon. A turnaround. Now, at least for sockeye in the Quesnel waterways, that great return is in doubt. “The timing of this spill couldn’t be worse in terms of the return of the sockeye,” said Craig Orr, executive director of Watershed Watch Salmon Society. The peak migration of sockeye in the Quesnel system — which includes the Horsefly River, Quesnel River and Mitchell River, all waterways potentially affected by the Polley Lake tailings pond spill — is expected in about two weeks.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters The pre-season forecast for the return of the sockeye salmon in the Quesnel system is 845,000 to 2.95 million, according to Dan Bate, communications officer for Fisheries and Oceans Canada Pacific Region, a good chunk of the 23 million Fraser sockeye forecast for this year. Quesnel sockeye have traditionally been a strong sockeye run and a major contributor to the sockeye fisheries, said Pete Nicklin of the Upper Fraser Fisheries Conservation Alliance. However, for the past two seasons (eight years), returns have dipped dramatically. “Quesnel sockeye have been a conservation concern according to DFO’s Wild Salmon Policy Status assessment,” said Nicklin. This year, with a boom season predicted all the careful management and nurturing of the Quesnel sockeye was supposed to pay off. “The Quesnel sockeye travel up the Fraser River, turn into the Quesnel River, swim up Quesnel Lake, pass through the exact area of the toxic debris field (left by the tailing pond breach) where Hazeltine Creek meets the lake, turn up into the Horsefly and Mitchell rivers,” said Gord Sterritt, executive director of the Upper Fraser Fisheries Conservation Alliance. The arrival of a healthy sockeye run, millions-strong in the Horsefly and Mitchell rivers, said Sterritt, would normally be spectacular and noisy. “Fish everywhere, in the water, spawning, digging their nests in the gravel, pairing off, preparing to lay their eggs, you hear them slapping around, protecting their territories.” Now it’s anyone’s guess as to how this spill will affect the fish. “The fish could be poisoned and it could impact their spawning success rate, or they could make it back to spawn but we wouldn’t know what the cumulative impacts will be,” said Sterritt. “Because they are filtering the water to breath, the contaminants could be lethal, that could be the end of them. If they are carrying a load of these heavy metals further upstream they are acting as a vector for a contaminate,” said Ellen Petticrew, an environmental scientist at the University of Northern British Columbia, who was en route to the area Tuesday. “They are going to have to come through a cloud of this stuff. We don’t really know how they are going to respond to it, if it will stress them or change their signal.” Salmon can become stressed, disoriented and fail to spawn if they encounter pollutants, debris, changes in water temperature and environment. As reports of dead fish in the contaminated Hazeltine Creek emerged early Tuesday, John Werring, senior science and policy adviser for the David Suzuki Foundation, said, “You can pretty well say all the fish in Hazeltine Creek are now gone and not likely to return anytime soon. And if fish do get into that system — I’m sure the water will be contaminated significantly for some time — it would be almost impossible for them to survive.” Information on how the breach of the Polley Lake Mines tailings pond will affect this year’s Quesnel River salmon run and spawning season is still speculative as experts wait for analysis of water samples and word from Environment Canada and the DFO, which have been silent since the toxic spill Monday morning.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Satellite Detects Massive Spill at Canadian Gold Mine August 6, 2014 SkyTruth – Shepherdstown, WV: On Monday, August 4, 2014, an approximately 580 acre tailings impoundment failed at a Canadian gold and copper mine near Likely, British Columbia. The breach at Imperial Metal's Mt. Polley mine dumped an estimated 1.3 billion gallons of toxic mine waste into the surrounding environment. On August 5, Landsat 8 acquired an image of the mine showing that grey sludge from the breached dam has entered Polley Lake, saturated the entire length of Hazeltine Creek, and entered Quesnel Lake over five miles downstream of the failed impoundment. The spill has prompted drinking water bans throughout the region, since the pond contains a slurry laden with arsenic, lead, mercury, selenium, and other toxic metals and compounds.
Mt. Polley Mine and Quesnel Lake, British Columbia, Canada: On the right is a Landsat 8 satellite image acquired July 29, 2014, showing the pond intact and Hazeltine Creek barely visible. On the left, the pond has breached and grey mine waste can be seen entering Quesnel Lake over five miles away. Source: USGS/Landsat *Media – Click here for a full-resolution version of the after image. Credit: USGS via SkyTruth The president of Imperial Metals, Brian Kynoch, claims that the water in the tailings pond is "near drinking water quality" and expressed disbelief that the impoundment could fail so catastrophically, despite the fact that Canadian officials had issued multiple warnings to Imperial Metals for exceeding water quality standards for effluent and exceeding the permitted wastewater levels in the pond.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Local citizens anticipating the arrival of a salmon run now fear the worst for the environment and tourism, especially as they begin to document dead fish in Quesnel Lake. Environmental groups across North America will be watching this story closely given the similarities to the proposed Pebble Mine in Alaska's Bristol Bay watershed, the world's most productive wild salmon fishery. Tailings ponds at Pebble mine would cover a surface area 13 times larger than the Mt. Polley impoundment and would have earthen dams taller than the Washington Monument.
WATCH, LISTEN, LEARN HERE
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Retired fish biologist for Quesnel Lake calls for independent public inquiry into mine disaster August 7, 2014
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters The former provincial fisheries biologist in charge of Quesnel Lake is calling for an independent public inquiry into the Mount Polley tailings pond disaster to ensure that no party escapes blame and to help prevent a similar occurrence. "It's a catastrophe, no doubt about that," Jack Leggett said Thursday in an interview from Williams Lake. "I was sick when I heard about it. It's a pristine place and one of the deepest inland fiord lakes in the world. To have something like this happen, of this magnitude, it's tough to comprehend." Leggett retired in 2003 after serving about 30 years with the Ministry of Environment as a fisheries biologist and manager for the Cariboo region, with responsibility for the recreational fishery in Quesnel Lake. "An independent inquiry outside of government would be in order," he said, noting it would ensure proper scrutiny of the roles played by all parties in the disaster. "If government was negligent, they're not so likely to reveal that, right? I'm not saying they are, but if it was an independent body if would be easier for them to make a public report and say errors were created, be it government or the mine or whatever." Quesnel Lake has a unique late-maturing population of rainbow trout, which are sought after by anglers from around the world for their size, he said. Bull trout also exist in the lake, he added, in addition to a significant spawning sockeye run which must swim past the inflow from Hazeltine Creek — heavily scoured and polluted with heavy metals and contaminants from the tailings pond. Young smolts are going the other way. Hazeltine Creek expanded from about 1.2 metres wide to 45 metres wide as a result of the tailings pond failure, according to the Ministry of Environment. The pre-season sockeye forecast returns in the Quesnel system — including Horsefly River, Quesnel River and Mitchell River — are 845,000 to 2.95 million. "I don't know why it happened or how it could happen, but it did," Leggett said. "It's a wake-up call for British Columbia to make sure these settling ponds and so forth are more strictly monitored and it doesn't happen again." Leggett said the effects of the heavy metals and contaminants such as arsenic from the tailings pond will be long-lasting, noting that sediments currently lining Hazeltine Creek will continue to wash down into Quesnel Lake. "It's going to take a long, long time for it to get out of the system," he said. "Heavy rains will bring the sediments and contamination into the system for years and years." He finds it difficult to believe a cleanup of the mess is possible, saying: "I think the costs would be so prohibitive. I don't think it would be possible to do that." Coho salmon and rainbow trout were known to spawn in Hazeltine Creek, he said, while Polley Lake had rainbow trout. Fisheries and Oceans Canada, which has deferred the investigation of the disaster to the province, has placed a ban on recreational fishing on the Cariboo River from the confluence of the Quesnel River to the confluence of Seller Creek; and Quesnel River downstream of Poquette Creek. The ban does not affect aboriginal food, social and ceremonial fishing in the area.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Spill damage likely permanent: researcher August 7, 2014
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters The massive release of materials from a mine tailings pond near Quesnel, B.C. is “virtually impossible to clean up,” according to a marine researcher — and may have already damaged salmon habitat beyond repair. Dr. Peter Ross heads Vancouver Aquarium’s ocean pollution research program and said on Wednesday the spill likely spells death for the fish that use the affected waterways. “That means sudden, lethal injury to any fish or their feed ... we expect that to be occurring now,” he said, referring to a large “pulse of toxic materials” washing downstream that heralds environmental impact to come. Then comes the longer-term impact of silt and debris suffocating fish and their habitats. “There have been cases where we’ve seen breaches of dams in the past that have filled in, essentially buried the gravel where different species of sockeye will spawn, and we’ve not seen a recovery,” Ross said. Finally, anything that doesn’t get washed down can stay in riverbeds and be consumed by wildlife for generations to come. According to Fisheries and Oceans Canada, which has banned fishing in affected waters, 1.52 million sockeye are expected to return to the Quesnel area this year. Across B.C., the forecast run is about 23 million sockeye. B.C. government, meanwhile, said Wednesday it’s ordered Imperial Metals Ltd. to stop the breach, prepare an impact assessment report, and provide weekly updates. The Ministry of Environment said the water flow is plugged at Polley Lake by a dam created from debris — rising water and the danger of instability, meanwhile, have prevented the ministry from collecting sediment samples.
Editorial Comment:
Closing the barn door after the horse escapes! Most likely several weal points along this inadequate dam More dam failures expected during fall and spring rains
The ministry said water samples are being collected with results expected Thursday. Energy and Mines Minister Bill Bennett said an investigation is underway that would interview current and former employees at the Mount Polley mine. He said the mine operator was warned once in May 2014 of rising levels at its tailings pond, but came into compliance afterwards by moving water into an empty pit. “The company has indicated they’re confident the levels of metals in the tailings are safe,” Bennett said. “We obviously hope that they’re correct about that.”
Editorial Comment:
Safe metals would not need to be retained Siltation is also deadly
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Northern Light Lodge owners Skeed and Sharon Borkowski were preparing to retire when the Mount Polley tailings dam broke.
'They Killed My Beautiful Lake' Skeed Borkowski built his lodge, and life, on Quesnel Lake. Then the Mount Polley dam burst. August 19, 2014
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters A telephone ringing in the predawn darkness does not bring good news. It was 5 a.m. on the morning of B.C. Day, a statutory holiday for much of the province but a regular summer workday at the Northern Lights Lodge on Quesnel Lake. The eight rooms in the lodge were occupied, as were five cabins. The owners were enjoying what they expected to be their final summer operating the fly-fishing lodge before retirement. The property had been recently listed for sale. A lifetime of labour was nearing an end. "We were cramming for finals," said Skeed Borkowski, 66, who owns the lodge with his wife, Sharon. It is the kind of rustic retreat where guests become friends and a first stay is followed by an annual visit. The final scheduled guest was making his fifteenth visit. Americans come to the lodge for the bounty of burbling trout streams. Europeans seek the peaceful solitude to be found on the shore of a crystalline lake, a lake so clear and with water so refreshing Borkowski liked to quench his thirst by dipping a tin cup into the lake on which they floated. The lodge was solidly booked for what the Borkowskis expected would be their final season. Then the phone rang and bad news came and all plans went into limbo. On the other end of the line was Sam McBurney, Sharon's brother. "Mount Polley's tailings pond has breached," he said. "The dam has broken. It's in Quesnel Lake." Borkowski thought, How is that possible? He also knew that what is a pond by name is much, much larger than a mere pond. He takes guests berry picking on Spanish Mountain to the east and has scanned the Mount Polley operation through binoculars. Imperial Metals' open-pit copper and gold mine had a tailings pond in a crater about half the expanse of Stanley Park. It holds as much water as 2,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools. Only this pond held more than just water -- the mine lists 31 solids impounded in the tailings, from aluminum to zinc.
Roar of a dam collapsing The couple stepped onto their deck, which faces the lake along which they own a 2,000-foot frontage. It was still dark, though dawn was nearing, and the usual morning still was shattered by an odd, thundering roar. Like thunder. Or a jet. Only wetter. "It was like standing next to a large waterfall," he said. "It was so loud." They decided they needed to warn campers down the lake at Winkley Creek. In the country, there is no shirking responsibility, no one else to pick up the slack. So, the couple boarded their 22-foot Silverline cabin cruiser and set off south. In the distance on their right, they spotted the site where waste and debris were slushing into Quesnel Lake. The mouth of Hazeltine Creek, a stream narrow enough to be jumped over, had been obliterated by the torrent from the mine's retention basin. "It was mud. Logs. A slurry coming down," he said. "You could see grey waves." High above, the breach of the earthen pond dam allowed 10 million cubic metres of water and 4.5 million cubic metres of fine sand to drain into Polley Lake.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters When it in turn overflowed, the mixture followed the dictates of gravity along the creek bed, washing away trees and scraping the mountainside into Quesnel Lake. A creek less than two metres wide had been replaced by a churning, muddy wall of water as wide as 150 metres. On the lake, the debris piled up. "Logs stacked up in log islands," Borkowski said. Some of these were seven-metres tall and 50-metres wide. The roiling waters bubbling around log islands presented a surreal image, one Borkowski struggled to describe. "It was something they couldn't even duplicate in the movies," he said. The couple continued on to the Winkley Creek campsites, where they told campers what they knew and what they had seen. The campers were asked to spread the word. Once back home, the telephone rang constantly, as neighbours shared what information they had. The Borkowskis also had to deal with a workday in which 20 guests had to be fed.
Life at the end of the road The Northern Lights Lodge can be found along Cedar Creek Road driving south from Likely, an old Cariboo mining town originally known as Quesnelle Dam and later named after "Plato John" Likely, a gold prospector who liked to lecture fellow miners about philosophy. You find the turnoff for the lodge about a kilometre south of Cedar Creek Provincial Park, the entrance indicated by a wooden sign decorated with the lodge's name and a set of bear paw prints. A long driveway ends at the lakefront, where stands a log cabin made of cedar, which was originally built for a wealthy Vancouver family in 1942. The Borkowskis, who were high-school sweethearts, purchased the lodge with partners in 1995, turning the lodge into a fly-fishing operation to take advantage of bountiful rainbow and bull trout streams feeding into the wishbone-shaped lake. Quesnel Lake is B.C.'s deepest at 530 metres, deeper than the greatest of the Great Lakes and the second deepest in Canada. The glacier lake has long been known for its pristine water. Skeed Borkowski was born on the family farm at Mink Creek, a hamlet in the rural Manitoba municipality of Ethelbert. His grandmother delivered him. When he was aged six, the family joined his father's brothers in Williams Lake. The boy, who was named Terrance John Joseph Anthony on his birth, gained the nickname Skeed for his exploits in a high school basketball game. (The name came from a code word used in the game.) He and Sharon operated their own logging operation (Summit Cedar Products Ltd.) for nearly 20 years. They also have done some placer mining for gold. "People are here by choice," he said of Likely. "It's an end-of-the-road town. I thought if the world was coming to an end this was the place to be." He did not expect the end of the world, nor even the end of a way of life. When he sent the photo at the top of this article, he provided this caption: "Sharon & I, married for 45 years & the SOBs just stole our pension but worst of all... they killed my beautiful lake!"
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
'It'll never be fine' Borkowski considers himself pro-development and has had plenty of miners stay at the resort. (Three were on hand even on the night the dam failed.) Family members have worked at the Mount Polley mine. He did not find any comfort in the words of Premier Christy Clark, who vowed to return the scarred landscape "to the real pristine beauty we all know this lake is for our province." "You can wave your pom-poms all you want," he said. "The cheerleading stuff will not work." He cannot imagine how his resort and the other tourist- and fishing-related businesses around the lake will survive. A simple Google search by a potential customer seeking a fly-fishing outfitter will connect Quesnel Lake with a mine breach. "The stigma will hang over this lake forever," he said. "It'll never be fine. It'll never be safe. Maybe a generation from now." He let the thought linger for a moment. "I don't have a generation from now." The provincial government took a water sample from the lake just off his property. He was told the water at his intake was safe for consumption, but he cannot bring himself to do so. "My brain won't let me drink it," he said. Instead, he has spent a few thousand dollars to hook up a spring on his property to his residence. In a fortnight, he and his wife have gone from preparing for a deserved retirement into a limbo from which the future is only uncertain.
"These two weeks," he said, "have been a helluva 10 years."
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Featured Fishing Adventures, Photos, “Funnies” and Not so Funny: Fish for Peacock Bass on Brazil’s Aqua Boa River with host Camille Egdorf Base camp: Aqua Boa Amazon Lodge Dates: December 18-27. 2014 Book your Peacock Bass fishing adventure with Fishing with Larry
Est. cost: $4,000
I'm hosting another group to the Amazon in December 2014! Who wants to join me? Camille You can land 30 to 100+ peacock bass per day. Some will be huge. The lodge has exclusive rights to over 100miles of the Agua Boa River so you literally have an entire river to yourself. There is a giant reserve area – birds, wildlife, no people, no mosquitoes. There is one guide per two anglers per boat. Includes: airport reception, all transfers in Brazil, 240-mile deluxe roundtrip flight Manaus, Brazil to lodge, lodging, daily laundry service, meals, soft drinks, beer, wine, and local liquor, fishing license, free copy of Larry’s 40-page book Fly fishing for Peacock Bass. We also supply all flies, and fly patterns. Plus, courtesy of Agua Boa Amazon Lodge - Free 8-day Global Rescue Insurance, a $119.00 value. Does not include: international airfare, Brazilian visa, satellite telephone calls, liquor, airport taxes, overnight hotel and meals in Manaus, and tackle. (Our hosted groups usually stay together at a nicer hotel in Manaus.)
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Fly Gal Ventures Hosted Travel: New Zealand – December 2014
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Fishing Guide Arek Kotecki with a brown trout
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Ben Trainer (Great River Fishing Adventures): “All In!”
Be sure to keep your rod tip up!
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Big marble trout: Ldrijca River Gašper Konkolič - Fly Fishing Guiding Slovenia
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Dennis Fuhrman with a fresh steelhead on the Kispiox River Photo Credit: Diane Michelin
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Kimber Roberts with a brace of Oregon coast chinook salmon While fishing with Ted Teufel - Profishguide.com
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Alaska brown bears feeding on salmon at Brooks Falls, Katmai National Park
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Pacific Ocean summer morning Rhett Weber: Owner/operator – Charterboat Slammer – Westport, Washington
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Fishing Tips and Tricks
Gašper Konkolič: Hucho Hucho in Slovenia (Danube salmon / huchen)
Hucho can reach 150cm in length and more than 50 kg in weight but these specimens are very rare. The huchen that holds the world record in weight was 58 kilograms (128 lb), caught by the Bosnian angler Halil Sofradžija at the Dragojevića Rapids on the Drina river, near the town of Ustikolina in Bosnia and Herzegovina in January 1938. The average catch is between 80 and 100cm. A hucho longer than 110 cm is a real trophy, a hucho over 120cm is a real giant.) Catching a big hucho hucho is like mastering all the fishing knowledge. They grow very fast. In 10 years they can reach 90-105 cm in length, in 20 years they can grow up to 125 or 130 cm. Danube salmons of 1 to 3 kg grow very fast, use a lot of food, are always on the lookout in the shallows and there is no wonder that they grab the bait. Larger adult salmons need less food and are mostly hiding. Only once a day, in the early hours of the morning or later when the darkness falls these fish look out for their prey (nase or chub and a bullhead catfish for a dessert). Huchen hides mostly in the deep pools or where the pool becomes quicker , hidden between the rocks and fallen trees in the river … Danube salmon shows up only when the conditions are right . Danube salmons that weigh 5 kg make considerable noise in the water when hunting for prey and the fisherman can hear huchen hunt… Fishing for hucho is only for skilled fishermen who wait for best conditions on the water and make a plan how to catch those giants. Here in Slovenia we have rivers like the Sava river, the Ljubljanica river, the Savinja river and others that have quite large population of Danube salmon. But anyway, fishing for that fish is successful only when all the conditions are just perfect. The best conditions are when the weather is rapidly changing, for example from sunny weather to rain or snow, when water level is rising rapidly, when air pressure is low or getting lower and lower etc. Searching for that fish with your fly rod or spin rod is a great challenge and at the same time a great adventure. But you have to cast every single time as it is “the cast” if you want to catch the “king” of river – hucho hucho.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Montana
Matt – Fishing Guide: How much you should tip your guide and why they deserve it
August 15, 2014 Let me first explain how the guide world works in Montana. Every guide has to work under an outfitter until he or she gets 100 trips under their belt . So when you hire a guide for $450 a day the outfitter usually takes half of that of the top. The guide is responsible for lunches ($20), flies, ($20), shuttle ($22 to $35), gas ($30-$70), tippet and leaders ($20), and drinks and ice ($15). Also general maintenance, taking care of broken rods and other miscellaneous. So at the end of the day the tip from your clients makes or breaks the day. We really depend on it to help out with bills and normal living expenses . I’m writing this post to educate clients in knowing the importance of tipping your guide at the end of the day. You might be thinking what is a good tip. I personally believe A $100 dollar tip is the norm for a one day fly fishing trip. I have received a lot more and a little less. I know tips is a weird topic for some but the truth is it shouldn’t be. Tips really help people out and I want my clients to know what is normal that way they know before hiring me. I hope this makes sense and helps people out. Have a great day and go catch lots of fish :)!!
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Wildlife Artists:
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Diane Michelin - Fly Fishing Fine Art: "OUI, GASPE" Original watercolor 20" x 10" Now available
Welcome to Fly Fishing Fine Art, including original paintings, limited edition prints and commissions in fly fishing and angling themes, by Canadian watercolor artist Diane Michelin. Diane is anxious to capture the essence of fly fishing and record those memories that bring us back to the river. Her art is currently on display in museums, fly shops, lodges and private collections. Browse through the gallery, and contact Diane Michelin directly to discuss your purchase of fly fishing fine art.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Dan Wallace: Passion for Authenticity
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Seafood consumption: Public health risks and benefits
Warning: Eating Farmed Salmon May Affect Your Baby
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Enjoy seasonal wild salmon dinners at these fine restaurants:
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
5 Reasons to Avoid Factory-Farmed Fish July 15, 2014 While it may seem like a modern invention, “aquaculture,” has been around for ages – man has been “farming” fish in net enclosures, ponds, vats, urns and even woven baskets for thousands of years. More recently though, say within the last few decades, worldwide demand has exploded and farming fish has grown just as rapidly, evolving into a multi-billion dollar industry. Its mission: to produce more fish quicker, faster, larger and cheaper to meet the insatiable demand for what once seemed a limitless and inexpensive source of protein and good fat. Not surprisingly, the extraordinary growth of the fish farm business has brought with it a number of industrial farming problems that concern me enough to advise all my patients to avoid factory-farmed fish.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters While there are some fish farmers producing eco-friendly and healthy fish, they are the exception, not the rule, so unless you’re able to purchase fish from those types of purveyors (usually smaller-scale, artisanal or boutique-style fish farms), just say No Tanks…that is, no to farmed fish – and here are five simple reasons why:
1. There’s No Such Thing as a Free-Range, Farmed Fish In fact, it’s quite the opposite, with fish farm enclosures packing the creatures in, well, like sardines, leaving little room for the fish to swim freely or to engage in their normal behavioral patterns. The result? Stressed fish, who like us, tend to get sick more easily when their defenses are down. With their immune systems compromised, the fish become more prone to illness, parasitic infections and diseases, which then can spread quickly through their over-populated aquatic quarters.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters 2. Farmed Fish are Like Really Into Drugs, dude Next, the sickened fish have to be made well again, with you guessed it, drugs. To do this, farmed fish are fed antibiotics, antifungals and/or pesticides – which means so are you, with every fork-full. Hardly an appetizing thought. As if that weren’t enough, farmed fish are often injected with booster shots of sex hormones. Turns out, captive fish populations tend to produce fewer offspring, so fish farms often enhance Mother Nature with fertility treatments (i.e., hormone shots, special feed, etc.) to stimulate offspring production and pump up the yield. With this in mind the question becomes, what are those fish hormones doing to our bodies? And is it worth the risk? I don’t think so. 3. Their Diet is Simply Revolting As is the case with industrially farmed, land-based livestock, top quality, 5-star feed isn’t on the menu, so what does the average farmed fish eat? Mostly fishmeal. Sound innocuous enough, that is till you discover that fishmeal is made up mostly of smaller fish mixed with (presumably geneticallymodified) soybeans, grains and corn. Possible GMO issues aside, the larger issue is that in order to make all that fishmeal, a tremendous amount of smaller fish are fished out of the sea – anywhere from 3-to-6 pounds of small fish are needed to produce just one pound of farmed fish. In addition to being an enormously wasteful process, it also leaves less food available for wild fish to feed on, which contributes to their population declines. Oh, and what else do farmed fish snack on? The carcasses of deceased neighbors floating in or lying at the bottom of their tanks. It’s not a pretty picture. 4. If you’re Looking for Nutrition, Farmed Fish Falls Short Even if you could overlook the drugs, hormone shots and less-than-optimal diet, farmed fish still comes up short in terms of nutrition, one of the reasons so many of us turned to fish in the first place. Compared to wild fish, farmed versions can have as much as 20% less protein, twice as much inflammation-boosting omega 6 fatty acid, less usable omega 3′s and fewer nutrients overall. In short, wild is better. 5. Industrial Fish Farms Pollute Their Surroundings Numerous studies report that water quality suffers in areas where fish farms operate, creating something akin to the aquatic version of agricultural run-off. Decaying fishmeal, diseased and dying fish and their waste products combine to create conditions that enable bacteria to flourish, polluting not only the fish farm waters but seeping into and damaging neighboring wild fish habitats, marshes and wetlands either by accident, carelessness or poor fish farming methods. Isn’t all this damage and pollution is too high an ecological price to pay for farmed fish-on-demand? I believe it is. So, with all this in mind, what’s the alternative to farmed fish? The answer is wild fish though the wild stuff is not without its own set of issues, including over-fishing, dwindling populations and mercury concerns. To help you make the best possible choices, when buying fish at the market or dining out, ask questions and find out where your fish is sourced, and if it’s fished sustainably. Before you buy, check your choices with the Blue Ocean Institute’s helpful Guide to Ocean Friendly Seafood or download printable lists of eco-friendly seafood recommendations fromSeafoodwatch.org
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Some fish and seafood are sustainable, some devastate our oceans Good fish or bad fish? Farmed vs. wild? Tuna or albacore? Shrimp or no shrimp? How to tell if seafood is OK to eat—or if it’s destroying the environment. July 24, 2014 Feel like fish for dinner? Then you’re in luck. There is no shortage of seafood in Sacramento’s restaurants and supermarkets. At Sunh Fish Company, a small family-owned shop in Midtown, the display case contains exotic items from every corner of the globe. There are Chilean sea bass from the Southern Ocean, wild Mexican prawns, Hawaiian ono, tilapia from Taiwan and farmed salmon from Canada. At Safeway, the selection of shrimp alone—America’s most popular seafood—seems almost endless, including canned, fresh on ice and bags of frozen prawns coated in beer batter. At Raley’s, there are packs of frozen baby octopi caught in Vietnam, swordfish from Singapore, mahi-mahi from Ecuador and yellowfin tuna from Indonesia. Local restaurants serve an equally diverse menu of items. From this bounty of options it might seem that the oceans are teeming with abundance, but they’re actually in pretty big trouble. Most fish populations are being harvested at or beyond their maximum sustainable rates. Fish stocks are declining, and seafood prices are climbing. Farming of fish and shellfish—called aquaculture—has become increasingly important in feeding the world. The industry has created a constant supply of many products previously seasonal, expensive or scarce. But even farming facilities are fraught with problems, like open-ocean salmon pens that cause pollution and disease outbreaks, and tuna-ranching operations that rely on massive amounts of wild fish as feed material. With so many issues at play, how do smart shoppers who care about health and the environment even know what seafood is OK to eat? What’s the good fish and what’s the bad fish? And what if the men and women behind the counter can’t even answer the most important questions, like where something came from or how it was caught? A few Sacramento restaurants and retailers have been proactive in addressing the depletion of the oceans. By turning their backs on controversial seafood products, they’re coaching consumers toward the most responsible choices. Nguyen Pham, owner of Sunh Fish, has signed off of wild bluefin tuna because their stocks have been so reduced. Whole Foods Market, Kru Restaurant, and Mulvaney’s B&L have all done the same. But the majority of suppliers, including Bel Air and Costco, carry most seafood products that sell. Pham says most chefs and suppliers—especially in the sushi industry—must provide popular items, whether or not they’re considered sustainable, if they want to stay in business.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters “If you only use sustainable fish, that cuts you back to almost nothing,” Pham explains. “There will be times when you have nothing to serve. You have to have a backup plan.” That approach may be good for business, but it isn’t for the oceans. The forgotten victims of commercial fishing Recently at Sunh Fish Company, a clutch of prawns—about 2 pounds—lay on ice under the display window. Strict federal law requires just about every aspect of these animals’ origins be labeled: wild, previously frozen, landed in Mexico. The only glaring omission, perhaps—and one not required or necessarily even known—is the collateral damage: If this shrimp was trawled, presumably about 8 pounds of other sea creatures were killed and discarded. This is perhaps the most dire issue connected to the shrimp industry. Trawlers—boats that drag large nets across the ocean’s bottom— catch and kill much more than just their target species. Fishery experts say that for every pound of shrimp they bring to port, fishermen toss back several pounds of unwanted species—called bycatch—that they sift out of their nets. Lorayne Meltzer, a scientist from Arizona’s Prescott College who has been studying the Sea of Cortez shrimp industry for years, says most bycatch is dead by the time it’s returned to the water. Very little is kept and sold. The bycatch tonnage consists mostly of halibut, sharks, snapper and grouper, with the occasional sea turtle. A recent haul, she told SN&R by phone from Mexico, was made up of about 90 percent baby halibut by weight. For all those fish killed and tossed overboard, a few shrimp were thrown into the boat’s live well. They were probably eaten in the United States, the biggest buyer of wild Mexican prawns, Meltzer says. Yes, shrimp is the most popular seafood item in America, where each person eats an average of 4 pounds of the creatures every year—a total of more than 1 billion pounds. But shrimp themselves, in most areas, are not at risk of disappearing. They breed like cockroaches— prolifically—and even where they are heavily fished, most shrimp populations are holding steady. Rather, it’s the animals they live with that are hurting. Chef Patrick Mulvaney likens bottom trawling, also used to catch halibut, rockfish and other local species, to clear-cutting of a public forest. “If you were driving to the [Sierra Nevada] and you saw some loggers in a national park clear-cutting the trees, you’d call the police,” he says. “Shrimp trawling is like deforestation, but because no one sees it happening, we don’t think about it.”
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters The devastation of trawling also goes unnoticed, Meltzer speculates, because the creatures killed by shrimpers tend not to be charismatic, lovable animals, like dolphins, which generated so much empathy and outrage in the 1980s, when an undercover cameraman filmed tuna fishermen butchering live dolphins that had become tangled in their nets. Rather, shrimping bycatch consists mostly of ungainly and slimy critters from the seafloor, she says. By comparison, the bluefin tuna is an example of what some naturalists refer to as “charismatic megafauna.” The animal is one of the largest and fastest fish in the sea and can weigh almost a ton. Bluefins have virtually no natural predators and, capable of swimming as fast as a semi on the Jackson Highway, can catch and eat most other things that swim. Mahi-mahi flee like panicked sardines when a bluefin pack appears. But because the bluefin tuna tastes so good to the human palate, we have allowed this species, over a period of about 40 years, to be all but annihilated in the name of sushi. Here in Sacramento, Mulvaney and chef Billy Ngo of Kru Restaurant, as well as Pham at Sunh Fish, quit buying wild bluefin tuna. It has been an ethical decision, made in spite of the popularity of the product—especially the buttery fat belly meat, called toro on sushi menus. “If someone says, ’I really want some toro,’ we’ll say, ’I’m not confident with how bluefin tuna stocks are doing and how they’re raising them in farms,’” Mulvaney says. “’But, look, we have albacore caught in California by hook and line.’” However, in recent years, according to Pham, interest in eating bluefin tuna, at least among his clientele, has diminished. “It’s not really something people want anymore,” he says. This is presumably due to widespread publicity campaigns by fishery activists like Carl Safina and groups including Greenpeace and Oceana. Ngo has also seen interest in eating bluefin diminish, though higher-end restaurants in the United States still serve a great deal. Most demand comes from Japan, where bluefin toro is the most coveted of sashimi cuts. To catch adult bluefin, boats use lines fitted with hundreds of baited hooks and set out overnight. They also use purse seines—large nets towed by power boats and wrapped around entire schools of fish. The other primary harvest method involves netting schools of juveniles and “ranching” them in floating pens, where they are fattened on sardines and anchovies, reared to market size and slaughtered. This latter practice has been considered even more devastating than the fishery that targets adults, for the young tuna never have a chance to spawn. The population is guessed to be at about 10 percent of its unfished level, and with Japanese chefs willing to pay tens of thousands of dollars for a single fish, the rewards for fishermen drive the industry forward. If these animals were popular mammals, like rhinos or pandas, they would be protected as an endangered species. Farmed fish as the answer? Michael Passmore stands in the rising morning sun. He reaches over the rim of a swimming-poolsized tank just outside his office, his hand dangling in the water as a shark-shaped torpedo moves toward it through the murk.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters As the creature passes under the surface, Passmore makes a grab at its back, which is lined with rows of diamond-shaped studs. Fingers meet the leathery skin, and the huge fish thrashes away in alarm, splashing Passmore’s shirt. The animal is 7 feet long. This fish—a white sturgeon—and its companions have been living on the Passmore Ranch, about an hour east of Sacramento, since they were babies almost a decade ago. They are Passmore’s most prized residents, and next spring they will be harvested. Their flesh and carcasses will go to a few chefs, some of whom utilize every last scrap of head, fin, skin and bone. Ngo, for instance, has used Passmore’s sturgeon skin to make a jerkylike fried appetizer, and the white meat as sashimi. Other chefs use the fish’s backbones for making soup. The sturgeon’s eggs— their real treasures—will be cured on-site, jarred and sold as caviar. The farm also grows bass, catfish and carp, sold mostly to a few dozen restaurants around the country, as well as about 100 local households that receive doorstep delivery boxes of chilled fish fillets through the farm’s “community supported fishery” program. The farm, recognized for its sustainable practices, uses a gravity-powered water-circulation system and emits no wastewater off the property. Seafood Watch has even named farmed white sturgeon as a green rating on its “best choice” list. Mulvaney recently hosted a dinner to celebrate the designation and educate diners about sustainable seafood. While Passmore Ranch is hardly feeding the masses, aquaculture has the potential to alleviate overfishing pressure on wild resources. Passmore believes that, on a global scale, fish and shellfish farming will help to meet the planet’s growing appetite for seafood. “The oceans are producing food at their maximum limit,” says Passmore, who also serves as the president of the California Aquaculture Association. “Per-capita seafood consumption is rising, and to feed the world, aquaculture is going to become an important part of the equation.” Aquaculture already produces almost half of the world’s seafood, and the global industry is growing at several percent per year—though the American industry has actually declined. Some people in the seafood industry believe fish farming could help wild populations in decline by removing fishing pressure. There is even a relatively young farm in Japan that is now producing bluefin tuna. Recently, a slab of the beef-colored flesh was displayed on ice at Kru. The meat came from a bluefin tuna that was raised in captivity from egg to slaughter size, and with no reliance on wild tuna stocks—something that has been achieved by no one else. “It’s sustainable,” says a sushi chef behind the counter at the restaurant as he slices cuts of fish, including Passmore Ranch’s sturgeon, which is served as nigiri. The bluefin tuna grown by Kinki University has been widely regarded as a major advance in aquaculture science. That’s because managing to fertilize and hatch tuna eggs in captivity, using a small collection of brood-stock fish, seemed for years to be impossible. Now, Kinki University is selling its very expensive Kindai tuna, the name by which it’s usually marketed, to restaurants around the world. But not all seafood activists are impressed by Kinki University’s achievement. That’s because it takes about 10 pounds of fish—edible and valuable species like anchovies and sardines—to grow each pound of the product. Conventional tuna ranching uses as much as 18-20 pounds of fish per pound of tuna produced. Kindai bluefin represents an improvement, albeit a slight one.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters “Frankly, [Kindai bluefin tuna] is staggeringly unsustainable if we’re talking about managing the global protein demand from the ocean,” says Casson Trenor, one of the leading voices in the country on the issue of fishing and sustainability, and founder of San Francisco’s Tataki Sushi & Sake Bar, which has been lauded for serving the world’s first “sustainable sushi.” “We’re taking 10 pounds of fish protein to make 1 pound of fish.” Farming does often add up to a net waste of resources. In Peru, anchovy populations have plunged, thanks in part to the ravenous salmon-farming industry, and many activists are warning that fish farming could end up doing more harm than good to the environment. Tom Worthington, co-owner of Monterey Fish Market in Berkeley, feels the researchers who developed the Kindai bluefin tuna have created new issues in the seafood sustainability puzzle, not solved an existing one. “It’s incredibly expensive,” he says. “It’s for super wealthy people. It’s not an answer for feeding the world.” The wild debate Experts are divided over what fish is OK to eat and what is not. Geoff Shester, California program director for the group Oceana, points out that most farmed seafood is fed to other fish, sometimes in combination with plant protein. Shester, who himself has become a fan of catching and eating herring from San Francisco Bay, believes consumers should simply eat the smaller fish that farms use as their feed. “You’re taking the ocean and all its splendor and turning it into a feedlot for farmed fish and animals,” he says. He also points out that 400 million people could eat a seafood meal every day—and a delicious, healthy one—“if we fed them the forage fish that we feed to livestock.” Small fish, like anchovies and sardines, are high in healthy oils and, because they reside low on the food chain, contain less mercury than high-ranking predators, like tuna and sharks. Peter Bridson, aquaculture research manager with Seafood Watch, believes aquaculture practices must be carefully monitored and controlled if the industry is to be truly sustainable. “Some species will not be suitable,” he says. “There are the major problems with the eel [unagi] industry and with bluefin tuna. You need to remember that you’re growing fish for a very elite market.” Farmed salmon, he says, are now being reared on less wild-fish meal than ever before—but only, he says, because plant protein is being used to balance out the feed blends, introducing issues to the aquaculture discussion previously only associated with livestock production. “You have to be careful that you aren’t eating salmon that’s being raised on rainforest soybeans,” he says. Anthonie Schuur, a Sacramento aquaculture consulting specialist, says species such as anchovies are not actually being taken from the mouths of the hungry. He points out that sardines, herring and the like are already used as food in the few markets where they are demanded. In fact, they can be relatively expensive.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters “You can put some anchovies on a pizza for 8 or 10 bucks,” he said, adding that such schooling “bait fish” are caught at industrial scales and rendered into fish meal to grow other products simply because of the pull of consumer demand. “It would probably be good if we ate a little lower down on the food chain, but the demand is for salmon. “Would you rather eat salmon or anchovies?” Quite unlike farmed tuna, most farmed salmon raised are much cheaper than the wild product. The fish are reared in floating net pens in Canada, Europe and Chile. And more than two-thirds of salmon eaten in America—about 2 pounds per person per year—are farm-raised. Raley’s, Safeway, Whole Foods, Sunh Fish, Costco—all are stocked with the product. Most restaurants serve it, too. And at one-half to one-third of the price of its wild-caught counterpart, farmed salmon has become one of the most ubiquitous seafood products in the world. Schuur says this is overall a good thing, allowing consumers everywhere the option to eat salmon at affordable prices. But Kenny Belov, who owns a trout farm in Lassen County, is generally skeptical of aquaculture. He believes only if done right—especially using landlocked systems of recirculated water—can aquaculture become a sustainable industry. Feed is an issue, as well, and one that Belov has directly tackled. He has developed a proprietary feed blend based on fast-growing marine algae—not fish meal. Until recently, the mash included soy protein, a component Belov has replaced with nut waste from California farmers. Belov also runs a fish supply company called TwoXSea, based in San Francisco, and has rallied against farmed salmon for years. He argues that the constant and widespread availability of the product creates a false perception of abundance, ultimately diffusing consumer interest in addressing environmental problems in the rivers where wild salmon lay their eggs, like agricultural runoff, diversion of water and construction of dams—the issues that have plagued the Sacramento Valley’s runs of chinook salmon. “Not everyone in the world should be eating salmon,” says Belov. Paul Greenberg, author of the new book American Catch, which details global issues in the world of wild seafood, fishermen and aquaculture, agrees. “The advent of salmon aquaculture could cause the disappearance of wild salmon,” Greenberg said in an interview. “Consumers never see the environmental damage being done to rivers. They only see the display cases full of bright-red salmon meat.” What the heck should we eat?! Change is coming. Mulvaney says he is “very careful about shrimp” and buys farmed shrimp only from reputed facilities in the United States. His wild spot prawns are caught in California with midwater trawls—setups in which the net does not touch the seafloor, producing a great deal less bycatch. Worldwide, many governments have taken serious efforts to reduce bycatch, requiring their fishermen to place escape hatches inside the nets that allow sea turtles and other potential victims to get out before tumbling into the belly of the net, where they will drown or become crushed by the accumulating mass of captured creatures.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters But in spite of a law passed by the National Marine Fisheries Service in 1987 requiring that American shrimp trawlers use such turtle-excluder devices, fishermen in Louisiana have resisted, some refusing to abide by the law. The Seafood Watch program responded by slapping a red “avoid” rating on Louisiana wild-caught prawns, a rating which remains today. John Filose, a San Diego consultant to seafood vendors and importers, says the bycatch issues with shrimp fishing have been mostly alleviated, and shrimp farming facilities no longer wantonly destroy mangrove swamps. But Meltzer feels the distance between the source and final sale of most shrimp is too great for one to truly understand the consequences of eating it. Unlike most Americans, Meltzer almost never eats shrimp, since she believes it’s almost impossible to do so responsibly. Yet shoppers at virtually any Sacramento supermarket continue to choose from just about every seafood item imaginable. Meanwhile, Filose believes that the ocean is healthier than it has been made out to be. He says many environmental groups “have to cause crises to raise money.” Schuur echoes the same allegation. Though he believes the oceans’ productivity has been tapped out and will need to be balanced by sustainable aquaculture, he believes “environmental organizations have inflated issues beyond reasonable limits.” “That’s their nature,” he says. “No one gives you money if there aren’t problems.” Greenberg says there might be hope for maintaining abundant, healthy oceans even as our demands escalate. “If we’re all going to eat the government’s recommended daily allowance of fish, we have to do it by feeding ourselves with a combination of wild seafood and onshore aquaculture that doesn’t involve the grinding up of other fish to feed the fish that we want to farm,” he says. Mulvaney is directly addressing the problems. So is Ngo, who has been trying to wean his customers off of unagi—one of the most problematic, but demanded, items in the sushi business. Eel farms depend on juvenile eels captured in the wild and reared in captivity. Wild eel populations have declined as a result. Ngo has experimented with using Passmore catfish as a replacement, but for now, eel remains on his menu. “It’s something people expect you to have,” he says. “You can’t just not serve it.” But Trenor, at the helm of his own eel- and bluefin-free restaurant, asserts that chefs must drive industry change. “If I were an herbalist, and I had people coming in wanting tiger penis and rhino horn, does that mean I’d have to give it to them?” he says. “No, it doesn’t, and chefs and business owners that put the onus on their customer are just passing the buck.”
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
This Alaskan catch is probably destined for Asian plates
America catches some of the world’s best salmon but eats some of the worst July 21, 2014 The US is a salmon-catching powerhouse. Nearly one-third of the world’s wild salmon supply comes from US nets. Even when you take into account farmed salmon, US fishermen still bring around onetenth of the total supply of salmon to the market. But more than half of America’s salmon catch is going overseas:
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters It’s not that Americans aren’t eating salmon. They are—just not their own. Two-thirds of the salmon eaten by US consumers is imported—mostly from farms in Chile, Canada and Norway and from processing factories in China. More than just a quirk of taste, this habit of snubbing domestic salmon in favor of foreign farmed fish exemplifies a more disquieting trend for US industry, argues journalist Paul Greenberg in his book American Catch: The Fight for Our Local Seafood (purchase required). It’s the result of an American seafood ignorance that could threaten both the country’s long-term status as a fishing powerhouse and its secure supply of nutritious protein.
The network of freshwater streams and coastal waters of the US’s Pacific Northwest is one of the country’s most bounteous natural resources, supplying many hundreds of millions pounds a year of salmon, some of the most nutritious wild protein in the world. In the early 1900s, species including the king and coho salmon abounded in Oregon, Washington, and northern California.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Sockeye team in Bristol Bay But a dam-construction bender during the New Deal in the 1930s and 40s destroyed the spawning habitats for millions of salmon. The salmon populations of the Snake and Columbia River systems in particular were decimated, leaving Alaska as the last major US source of wild salmon. The fine web of ponds and streams that form southwest Alaska’s Bristol Bay is the biggest remaining sockeye salmon run on the planet.
America’s distinctly un-fishy meat diet.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters So why are Alaskan fishermen sending more than half of their catch overseas? Part of it has to do with processing. Since many Americans don’t like picking out bones and are squeamish about eating something with its head still on, they need their seafood broken down and packaged before it hits the frozen section of the grocery store. But deboning and filleting fish is a lot harder to mechanize than, say, carving up a chicken or a hog. So the US has outsourced the vast majority of its processing capacity to places like China, where labor is relatively cheap. For a long time, when Alaskan fishermen sold their salmon to processing plants in China, after it was defrosted, filleted, deboned, and refrozen, it would be shipped back to the US. Nowadays, a rising share of American-caught salmon is simply staying in Asia, says Greenberg, thanks to China’s surging wealth and Japan’s dwindling fish supply. But tepid US demand for salmon has been a huge factor too. “Our coastal populations once ate a lot more fish. And the interior would have eaten a lot of freshwater fish that was instead quickly eradicated due to agriculture,” says Greenberg. “There was a mandate in this country to boost the production of land food—we made that a national priority. And once you lose the taste for fish, it’s hard to get it back.” As a result of that cultural and economic emphasis on “land food,” Americans now eat a little less than half of the global annual average seafood consumption—and consume 13 times as much red meat and poultry as they do seafood. The health benefits of seafood are finally starting to dawn on Americans. Salmon is an excellent example; it’s packed with omega-3 fatty acids that are thought to promote heart health. Sockeye salmon is rich in antioxidants as well. But instead of demanding their own Pacific salmon, Americans are mostly eating the blander-tasting, farmed Atlantic variety imported from countries like Norway and Chile, or other farmed fish from China. This isn’t necessarily healthier. Some of these salmon come from farms that aren’t always the cleanest. For example, fish (though not salmon) from Chinese farms has been found to contain potentially carcinogenic chemicals. And as Greenberg notes, less than 2% of imported fish are directly inspected by the US Food and Drug Administration. What’s more, the US’s lax labeling laws mean that by the time salmon hits American dinner tables, it’s often hard to tell where it came from. (For comparison, Japan requires labels to indicate both where the fish was caught and where it was processed.) Neither are salmon farms all that ecologically sound (paywall). Scientists worry the introduction of Atlantic salmon farms on the Pacific coast could warp the wild stock’s gene pool and spread diseases against which wild Pacific salmon haven’t developed immunity. The millions of salmon that escape each year are effectively invasive species that threaten to skew local ecosystems. Many farms pollute waterways with excess fish excrement and uneaten feed, which can contribute to algal blooms and other ecological menaces. “Is that something consumers should be underwriting?” Greenberg says.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters On the other hand, American consumers can be confident that when they do consume Alaskan wild salmon, it’s caught by what Greenberg calls one of the best-managed fisheries in the world, and from waters kept clean by environmental standards. In that sense, eating American fish is important not just for the country’s salmon supply; it also creates an economic incentive to keep streams and oceans clean, Greenberg argues. Just as America’s reliance on land-raised meat once did, sourcing fish from overseas farms makes it easy for American consumers to ignore industrial threats to US fishing resources, such as the gold and copper mine proposed in southwestern Alaska, which many believe will risk poisoning the Bristol Bay sockeye run if the US government allows construction to proceed. What can the US do about all this? Rebuilding America’s seafood-processing industry is a good place to start, says Greenberg. The sheer scale of America’s catch implies that there would be plenty of work for US-based processing factories to do. As for the labor cost issue, the steady rise of China’s labor costs since processing jobs left American shores means US factories wouldn’t face the competitive disadvantage they once might have. And keeping fish in the US makes it easier for it to find its way to American—and not Asian—plates.
But it ultimately falls to American consumers to tip the balance, says Greenberg. “We should stay the course as far as what we’re catching—we have good rules, we have good laws,” he says. “[But] we should eat the fish that we catch instead of trading it away.”
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
7 Dumb Things You Should Stop Wasting Money On Your wallet will thank you.
3. Organic seafood Thinking of buying organic seafood? Small problem: it doesn’t exist, at least not in the U.S. Yet this doesn’t stop deceptive marketers from trying to convince you it does. Watch out, because right now there isn’t any U.S. government-approved organic seafood. To be labeled “organic,” you’ve got to meet certain criteria. It’s difficult to control the conditions in which fish grow and feed. A label you’ll often find is “wild,” which pretty much tells you that the conditions were not controlled. And yet wild seafood may have swum in cleaner waters than farm-raised fish. You can control the conditions of farm-raised fish, but there may be cramped conditions and dirty water at some farms. Carnivorous fish, like salmon, pose a special problem, because while you can control what they eat, you may not be able to control the diet of the fish they feed on. And there’s more marketing confusion. You might see the label “organic” on seafood in a restaurant because the fish could be foreign, and the rules and enforcement of labeling foreign fish are a complete mess. Also be on the alert for the word “natural” to suggest organic. What does natural mean, exactly? Nobody seems to know. Bottom line: when it comes to fish, you may not get what you think you paid for.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
DEFORMED: Cermaq is the cornerstone of Steigenberger municipality in Nordland. Here they test including the farming of triploid sterile salmon. Triploid fish are more susceptible to deformities than normal salmon, according to research.
Farming
Nestor fear that sterile salmon will spread deadly diseases to humans (Translated) Before salmon is fertilized, the eggs are treated in hyperbaric chambers. Honorary doctor and microbiologist January Raa fears lab salmon will spread antibiotic resistant baktierier. July 28, 2014
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Fisheries will facilitate extensive farming on sterile triploid salmon fjords in Troms and Finnmark. ALSO READ: The highly controversial salmon are more susceptible to death, deformation and disease than normal. Soon lab salmon port available. Why the warning lights flashing mean honorary January Raa at the University of Tromsø Norway's arctic university (University of Tromsø). He is professor emeritus of microbiology and has founded a number of businesses, including the listed company Biotec Pharmacon . In 2010 he was appointed Commander of the Order of St. Olav for his work in marine biology. In other words, a man with gravity that now warns. - A dead end - Triploid salmon is an ecological dead end, according to Jan Raa. On behalf of Cermaq is he has given his assessment of the biological consequences of the use of triploid salmon. Nord24 have access to the note, which is a harsh indictment of the modified fish. The fish developed by salmon eggs placed in a pressure chamber, before then fertilize it. The result is that the fish have three sets of chromosomes, rather than two. Thus, no fish reproduction - it becomes sterile. However, it has its side effects, says RAA. "Triploid fish are far less resistant to disease, parasites than normal salmon. Use of the fish on a large scale will almost certainly result in increased production of infectious agents in the environment and contribute to the increased incidence and spread of genes for antibiotic resistance, "writes Raa note, that Nord24 have accessed. Serious bacterial findings It is the last point Raa thinks is most severe. The note refers the decorated professor of this research article from 2011 , which shows that in triploid salmon are found a significantly higher number of bacteria with antibiotic resistance than normal salmon. This despite the fact that the triploid salmon not treated with antibiotics, which normally is what gets antibiotic to occur. "The use of antibiotics is the prerequisite for selection of bacteria with genes for antibiotic resistance. We do not know why triploid salmon greater extent than usual salmon works selected bacteria, "writes Raa the note. - Completely incomprehensible Opposite Nord24 elaborates doyen weirdness antibiotic resistance in the modified fish are. - It is absolutely incomprehensible that it has developed resistance to antibiotics unless it has been introduced antibiotics in the environment. This is an observation that is so severe that one should use resources to find out what this means, says RAA.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters He does not deny that he is wary of using triploid fish in aquaculture. - If this observation is correct, then this is a problem that affects many more sectors of society than aquaculture and management of wild fish. To be taken seriously, says RAA. Global threat Resistance to antibiotics is predicted to be the next major threat to global public health. After 70 years of antibiotics, starting bacterial infections and diseases to be just as deadly as ever wonder cure was adopted after the Second World War. Last weekend wrote Today’s Business Norwegians being laid for months in solitary confinement at Norwegian hospitals, and almost being treated by healthcare professionals with the same fears as those seen against the HIV virus. World Economic Forum has put the phenomenon on the top three list of threats to global public health in the years to come. This is why Raas powerful warning to the note he wrote on behalf of Cermaq. "The spread of genes for antibiotic resistance occurs across species and between aquatic and terrestriele environment, and is regarded today as the most serious threat to society's preparedness for infectious diseases in humans and animals. It would be an irresponsible step to open for largescale farming of triploid salmon. Its genes could spread to other ecosystems than the navy, and may end up in microbes that produce disease in humans, "writes Raa the note. Small orderly - We have little data on the development of such resistant microbes worldwide, but it is quite obvious that there has been a dramatic development in the last five to ten years, said Chief Martin Steinbakk by Public Health to DN weekend. He pointed to the recent record very resistant microbes in squid and shrimps where the raw materials come from Asia. - Today is the bad idea of how things are in Europe, but the little we have data, tells us that it is better in Europe than outside, he said.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
WGFCI: Writing to protect what needs protected .
Morten Vike Chief Executive Officer Greig Seafood, Bergen As Chief Executive Officer of Greig Seafood, you no doubt are aware that ocean-based salmon feedlots sited in marine ecosystems in British Columbia, Canada are believed to be having negative impacts on wild Pacific salmon (Canada and USA origin) and all that rely on them. Peer-reviewed scientific papers around planet Earth (including British Columbia) link the practices of ocean-based salmon feedlots with increased sea lice production that are passed to wild Pacific salmon, diseases passed to wild Pacific salmon, escapes of feedlot salmon into wild ecosystems and a host of other environmental and public health issues including waste disposal, chemical use and more. You're also no doubt aware that organizations and individuals are working with North American Free Trade Agreement partners (Canada, Mexico, USA) to investigate Canada's lack of protection of wild Pacific salmon from the risks associated with ocean-based salmon feedlots sited in wild Pacific salmon migration routes. In fact, just last Saturday (July 19, 2014) First Nations, world renown scientists, conservationists, fishermen and others joined forces during the Protect Wild Salmon Rally at the International Peace Arch border crossing shared by Canada and the USA. The purpose of this international gathering was to urge NAFTA to investigate Canada's lack of protection of wild Pacific salmon from oceanbased salmon feedlots. Wild Game Fish Conservation International is now in the process of developing the resolution in support of the purpose of Saturday's rally - ocean-based salmon feedlot risks to wild Pacific salmon will no longer be tolerated. Today we learned of large numbers of dead and dying salmon in your salmon feedlots sited in Nootka Sound. This is occurring at the same time wild Pacific salmon are in these very waters preparing for their return to their home rivers to spawn. For Greig Seafood to knowingly risk the health of Canada and USA-origin wild Pacific salmon by having pens full of unhealthy fish sited in these historic wild salmon migration routes is absolutely unethical, if not criminal. Because of these and other ongoing, ocean-based salmon feedlot practices, many of us now understand that robust populations of wild Pacific salmon will never co-exist with ocean-based salmon feedlots. As such, a growing number of concerned individuals and organizations around planet Earth are working daily to remove ocean-based salmon feedlots from our oceans. We respectfully urge Greig Seafood to remove your ocean-based salmon feedlots and supporting infrastructure from British Columbia marine environments. Our wild Pacific salmon are counting on you to make the right decision.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Irasema Coronado Executive Director Commission for Environmental Cooperation (NAFTA) We at Wild Game Fish Conservation International are writing to you as the Executive Director of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation in support of the open submission requesting a comprehensive investigation into Canada's failure to protect North America's wild Pacific salmon from the risks of ocean-based salmon feedlots sited in British Columbia's marine waters. The resolution below is intended to document the international importance of this investigation as Canada expands their ocean-based salmon feedlot capacity at the risk of North America's wild Pacific salmon and all that rely on them.
RESOLUTION TO NORTH AMERICAN FREE TRADE AGREEMENT (NAFTA) PARTNERS (CANADA, UNITED MEXICAN STATES, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA) TO INVESTIGATE CANADA’S FAILURE TO PROTECT WILD PACIFIC SALMON FROM OCEAN-BASED SALMON FEEDLOTS SITED IN CANADA.
WHEREAS, wild Pacific salmon that migrate along North America’s west coast are keystone species; and WHEREAS, wild Pacific salmon are essential for public health, wild ecosystems and economies WHEREAS, wild Pacific salmon and the industries they support account for thousands of familywage jobs and generate billions of dollars annually; and WHEREAS, North America’s west coast offers uniquely productive ecosystems capable of sustaining robust and diverse populations of wild Pacific salmon; and WHEREAS, Canada’s legislation requires Canada to protect wild Pacific salmon and their ecosystems; and WHEREAS: North American Free Trade Agreement partners are to protect the environment WHEREAS, “North American consumers will benefit from initiatives being undertaken by the NAFTA partners to strengthen and protect the North American environment”; and WHEREAS, “Since 1994, Canada, Mexico and the United States have collaborated in protecting North America's environment through the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC)”; and WHEREAS, “The NAAEC established an intergovernmental organization - the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) - to support cooperation among the NAFTA partners to address environmental issues of continental concern, including the environmental challenges and opportunities presented by continent-wide free trade”; and
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters WHEREAS, “the NAFTA Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) has deepened trilateral cooperation on a broad range of environmental issues, including illegal trade in hazardous wastes, endangered wildlife, and the elimination of certain toxic chemicals and pesticides”; and WHEREAS, ocean-based salmon feedlots sited along Canada’s west coast are thought to impact the health of wild Pacific salmon; and WHEREAS, Canada is expanding the number and capacity of ocean-based salmon feedlots sited in Canada’s west coast marine ecosystem; and WHEREAS, “Articles 14 and 15 of the NAAEC provide for a mechanism whereby any person or nongovernmental organization can file a submission asserting that a Party to the Agreement is failing to effectively enforce its environmental law. The process may lead to the development and publication of a factual record containing information relevant to a consideration of the alleged failure by a Party to effectively enforce its environmental law WHEREAS, peer reviewed and published scientific studies suggest the urgent need for Canada to protect wild Pacific salmon from the risks associated with ocean-based salmon feedlots; WHEREAS, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Pacific Coast Wild Salmon Society, the Kwikwasu’tinuxw Haxwa’mis First Nation, and the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations (submitters) updated their submission May 30, 2014 originally filed February 10, 2012 with the CEC (SEM-12-001) WHEREAS, “the submitters assert that Canada is failing to effectively enforce its environmental law and in particular, provisions of the federal Fisheries Act (the "Act"). NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that NAFTA, through robust investigation, ensure that Canada is protecting North America’s wild Pacific salmon from ocean-based salmon feedlots; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that no new ocean-based salmon feedlots be permitted along Canada’s west coast if they are determined by NAFTA to harm North America’s wild Pacific salmon.
RECOMMENDATION: Investigate risks of ocean-based salmon feedlots sited in Canada to North America’s wild Pacific salmon.
Bruce Treichler
James E Wilcox
Co-founders: Wild Game Fish Conservation International
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The Honorable Gail Shea Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Canada We are writing to you to urge Canada’s Department Fisheries and Oceans to immediately and permanently remove ocean-based salmon feedlots sited in Canada’s marine waters from wild Pacific salmon migration routes. These feedlots threaten wild Pacific salmon and all that rely on them. Organizations and individuals in Canada and the United States of America have unified to protect North America’s wild Pacific salmon from the risks of extraction, transportation and burning of fossil fuels, expansion of ocean-based salmon feedlots, open pit mining and hydropower dams. Members of this unified front gathered July 19, 2014 at the International Peace Arch border crossing to rally for the protection of wild salmon, especially as these iconic salmon are impacted by oceanbased salmon feedlots. This single issue has drawn the attention of First Nations as well as national and international regulators who have identified Canada (specifically, Department of Fisheries and Oceans) for not protecting wild Pacific salmon – DFO’s primary mandate. Two examples of this warranted attention:
Justice Bruce Cohen determined that ocean-based salmon feedlots negatively impact wild Pacific salmon. North American Free Trade Agreement partners (Canada, United States of Mexico, and United States of America) have been officially requested to investigate Canada’s failure to protect wild Pacific salmon from ocean-based salmon feedlots
Additionally, legal action against Canada has been initiated by individuals, organizations and First Nations to ensure robust populations of wild Pacific salmon. You and your agency must do the right thing by immediately and permanently removing ocean-based salmon feedlots from wild Pacific salmon migration routes.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Responses to WGFCI
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Community Activism, Education, Litigation and Outreach
Olympia “Salmon Confidential” Premiere – October 5 Limited Seating
Admission by Donation
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
OLYMPIA CHAPTER OF TROUT UNLIMITED AUGUST 27, 2014 7:00PM NORTH OLYMPIA FIRE STATION 5046 BOSTON HARBOR ROAD NE
NISQUALLY RIVER STEELHEAD RECOVERY PROGRAM
Program: The public is invited to the August 27, 2014 meeting of Trout Unlimited for an active and descriptive presentation by Christopher Ellings, Salmon Recovery Program Manager, on the management of the Nisqually River Steelhead Recovery Program. It is focused on the important Steelhead fish runs on the Nisqually River. Despite the habitat gains made through the Chinook recovery effort, dramatic reductions in steelhead harvest, and no current hatchery supplementation, Nisqually River steelhead average run size has plummeted over 85% since 1992 with run sizes averaging just over 700 fish for the last ten years. In order to reverse the downward trend in Nisqually steelhead abundance, the Nisqually Salmon Recovery Plan developed the Nisqually Winter Steelhead Recovery Plan. The plan is a comprehensive recovery strategy that includes a habitat action plan which identifies habitat restoration and protection strategies as well as an inclusive stock management plan. The Nisqually Winter Steelhead Recovery Plan incorporates steelhead into the existing salmon management framework for the Nisqually Basin which is currently focused on Chinook. The Nisqually Winter Steelhead Recovery Plan will guide steelhead recovery efforts in the watershed. Refreshments and a fishing equipment raffle will follow his presentation. Bio: Christopher Ellings Christopher Ellings manages a ten person team dedicated to developing, implementing and adaptively managing recovery plans in the Nisqually Watershed. For ten years Chris has worked side by side with tribal, federal, state, local, and non-profit biologists and managers to conduct research, restore habitat, and develop management plans in support of salmon recovery. Chris contributed to the development of the Nisqually Chinook Stock Management Plan (NCSMP). The NCSMP establishes a set of actions that will ultimately lead to the development of a natural Nisqually Chinook stock. Chris also developed and heads a multi-disciplinary research program to assess the effectiveness of large scale restoration in the Nisqually Delta. The Nisqually Delta Research Program is one of the largest of its kind and involves managing a diverse group of scientists. The scientists are from across the region and produce tools the Nisqually Tribe and Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge can use to adaptively manage the Delta in a dynamic landscape.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Protesters slam Imperial Metals over Mount Polley August 12, 2014
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters A crowd gathered outside the Vancouver head office of Imperial Metals (TSX:III) on Monday afternoon to protest against the mining company in connection with the Mount Polley tailings pond disaster. Led by the Secwepemc Women’s Warrior Society, protestors chanted, sang and made speeches denouncing the Vancouver-based miner. “The water is essentially our lifeblood,” said Dawn Morrison, chair and founder of a working group on indigenous food sovereignty with the B.C. Food Systems Network. “And the salmon are the backbone of our communities and our life and our land and food system. So it’s really critical that we protect the water,” she said. The catastrophic failure August 4 of the tailings pond wall at the Mount Polley copper and gold mine near Likely released 10 billion litres of water and 4.5 million cubic metres of metals-laden fine sand, contaminating several lakes, rivers and creeks in the Cariboo region. Morrison claimed Imperial Metals is not telling the truth about its ability to treat the contaminated water. “We know that the energy and the spirit of that water is sacred and it will never be the same after they contaminate it, no matter how much they treat it,” she said. David Clow, an environmental activist on a 1,400 kilometre wheelchair journey to raise awareness of the potential dangers of the Northern Gateway Pipeline, appeared to agree. We’re going to be dealing with this forever, long after (the people responsible are) gone. "The effects are permanent,” he said. We’re going to be dealing with this forever, long after (the people responsible are) gone. Long after their companies are gone, we’re going to have to be dealing with their mess.” Clow dismissed the idea that fining the company $1 million would send other miners an effective message. “If the punitive effects don’t exceed their profits, then what incentive do they have to stop these actions?” he said.
“If you remove all the speculation and you boil it down to what’s left, we have two once pristine lakes that are now Imperial Metals tailings ponds,” he said. “That’s what’s left.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Native Groups, Environmentalists Rally To 'Protect Our Salish Sea' August 11, 2014 Flanked by Puget Sound on one side and railroad tracks on the other, dozens of people gathered at Seattle’s Olympic Sculpture Park on Monday to bring attention to protecting the Salish Sea — the waters of Puget Sound, Georgia Strait and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The coalition of environmental groups and Native Americans voiced their opposition to the increased traffic in coal- and oil trains, as well as the proposed coal terminals that would be built in Longview and on the Great Lummi Nation’s sacred burial ground.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Participants begin the rally with a traditional Northwest Coastal canoe landing to Olympic Sculpture Park's beach “It’s for not just for us, but for future generations," said Sweetwater Nannauck, organizer of Idle No More Washington, about the event. "We want to get the message out." Idle No More Washington, Backbone Campaign, Protect the Sacred and 350 Seattle coordinated Monday's rally. Michael Evans, chairman of the Snohomish Tribe of Indians, said they came together to raise awareness about the need to protect the waters from plans to create a fossil fuel corridor to Asia. “And water is one of the first things to go. There are some indicator species like some of the fish, and we’ve already noticed that some of the fish are starting to die," he said. "If the fish can’t live in the fresh water, neither can man, and man is not far behind. So we really need to pay attention to what we are doing to ourselves and to the land, and it all affects the Salish Sea.” The environmental groups and Native Americans are not alone in opposing the increase in coal- and oil train traffic. Both Seattle and King County have been raising their concerns after an oil train derailed last month in Seattle. Although nothing spilled and there were no fatalities, it happened beneath a busy bridge in Magnolia. King County held its first-ever disaster response exercise for an oil train derailment last week.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
International Protect Wild Salmon Rally A Party with a Purpose – NAFTA: Investigate Canada’s deadly salmon feedlots Background: Commission for Environmental Cooperation
Three countries working together to protect our shared environment Since 1994, Canada, Mexico and the United States have collaborated in protecting North America's environment through the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC). The NAAEC came into force at the same time as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and marks a commitment that liberalization of trade and economic growth in North America would be accompanied by effective cooperation and continuous improvement in the environmental protection provided by each country. Accordingly, the NAAEC established an intergovernmental organization - the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) to support cooperation among the NAFTA partners to address environmental issues of continental concern, including the environmental challenges and opportunities presented by continentwide free trade. The CEC comprises a Council, a Secretariat and a Joint Public Advisory Committee. The Council is the governing body of the Commission and comprises cabinet-level or equivalent representatives of each country. The Secretariat provides technical, administrative and operational support to the Council. The Joint Public Advisory Committee (JPAC) - five citizens from each country - advises Council on any matter within the scope of the NAAEC. The CEC receives financial support of the Government of Canada through the Federal Department of Environment, the Government of the United States of Mexico, through the Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales, and the Government of the United States of America through the Environmental Protection Agency. Mission The Commission for Environmental Cooperation facilitates collaboration and public participation to foster conservation, protection and enhancement of the North American environment for the benefit of present and future generations, in the context of increasing economic, trade, and social links among Canada, Mexico, and the United States.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Peace Arch Border Crossing July 19, 2014 Purpose: Urge North American Free Trade Agreement partners to investigate Canada's unwillingness to protect wild Pacific salmon from ocean-based salmon feedlots sited in wild salmon migration routes. Early in the planning process, it was decided to hold this important international rally in at the international border between Canada and the United States of America in the Peace Arch Park maintained by British Columbia and Washington State. This beautiful park with its manicured lawns, floral displays, sculptures and unending views of the Salish Sea was a natural for the planning committee, chaired by Eddie Gardner. The land occupied by the parks and border crossing infrastructure is unceded Semiahmoo territory. Semiahmoo history supplied via Wikipedia: The Semiahmoo are more closely related to the Lummi and Samish peoples south of the international border, and to the Lekwammen and T'sou-ke peoples across the Strait of Georgia, than they are to the Halkomelem-speaking Sto:lo of the Fraser Valley and of the Fraser's delta to the north of themselves, the Musqueam. The peoples of the strait are united by their North Straits Salish language and by their tradition of using an elaborate reef-net system to catch sockeye salmon as they entered Juan de Fuca Strait and the Strait of Georgia from the south, on their migration to spawning grounds in the Fraser River. Indigenous Peoples of the Americas were very well organized and survived off the lands which were tied to their Hereditary Chief Names. Each House would have a Hereditary Chief Name and with the out line of their Traditional Territory and Shared Territories. The House Group was responsible for their Homeland and took care of their own families and communities. Laws governing what took place on the land were decided by the Hereditary Chief in Meetings. Crests or Art presented on poles, Blankets, Designs, and Body Tattoos told stories of Ownership of the Land and Territory from where one belonged. If you belonged to a certain house, you wore the Crest proudly and displayed who you were for everyone to know. Each house was responsible for upholding its House name by acting according to the law. Generosity was the law. And abundance was gained by work of the land, fishing, harvesting, and hunting freely on one's Traditional Territory, Homelands and shared Territories. Giving in the feast house was a sign of wealth, hard work and a coordinated effort of all house group members. Delgamuukxw is an example of this where Hereditary Chief names are tied to Traditional Territories as since time immemorial.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters The Protect Wild Salmon Rally was well attended and broadly endorsed up and down North America's west coast by First Nations, conservation organizations, commercial fishers, worldrenowned scientists and local citizens. Featured guests spoke, sang and drummed in solidarity from their hearts to encourage NAFTA to investigate Canada unwillingness to protect wild Pacific salmon from risks associated with oceanbased salmon feedlots, During this historic rally, we each vowed to encourage those seeking elected offices to include the protection of wild Pacific salmon as one of their highest priorities. We also vowed to continue our education and outreach efforts to boycott the purchase by consumers in stores and restaurants of farm raised salmon for public health and ecosystem security. Here’s a link to a video of photos and video clips from the historic International Protect Wild Salmon Rally: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpKEb3kkKHQ&list=UUYYew2P1P9ANEHb0xAUrhjg
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
I am trying to protect the wild salmon of British Columbia from the impact of salmon farms. Government refuses to acknowledge the problems. I need your help to communicate the true costs of this industry through science, films, advertising, websites and brochures. You can read more about my work here: alexandramorton.ca See the documentary: Salmon Confidential
Watch 60 Minutes episode from May 11, 2014
Your greatly-appreciated donations will go to the non-profit (not a charity) Department of Wild Salmon DBA Pacific Coast Wild Salmon Society Box 399 Sointula, BC V0N 3E0
You can mail a check if you prefer. Thank you for your generous support
Alexandra Morton
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Wild Salmon Warriors – Getting the Message Out
Salish Seas Summer Gathering at Cates Park North Vancouver
Farmed Salmon Boycott: Mission Superstore
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Community unification rally in support of people impacted by Imperial Metals’ social and environmental catastrophe at Mount Polley mine.
Jay Peachy: Approximately 100 people attended this rally - in addition there were many public bystanders on the Robson street public area. Prior to the noon time rally Mel Clifton smudged everyone who came so that we can speak with good minds and hearts. Kelly White, who has a long tradition in protecting Indigenous rights led the protocols Audrey Siegel of Musqueam Heritage welcomed us to the Territory her eloquent words and reminded us to lead with heart and compassion. Cheryl Matthew who's traditional territory is from the affected area spoke about how her communities elders were reliant on wild salmon and that how there is no indigenous representation in the NEB process. Douglas Gook who is from Quesnel and was on his way back to his home was very emotional and spoke about the Elders who are connected to the land.
Statement provided by Wild Game Fish Conservation International: Wild Game Fish Conservation International and our associates are in total shock following the devastating failure of the under-scoped Mount Polley Mines tailings pond. Although shocked by the potential, far-reaching scope of this disaster, it was totally expected. What was experienced Monday with this failure is why many First Nations, organizations and individuals have historically opposed this government-enabled, greed-driven extraction project and others like it. The resulting human and environmental impacts from this corporate-caused catastrophe will never be fully understood or effectively addressed. Over the next weeks, months and years, as agricultural crops are harvested, fisheries (First Nations, commercial and recreational) are accounted, water samples are evaluated and more, a more accurate, short term assessment of this nightmare will be understood. Thankfully, our international team remains stronger than ever and committed to protecting wild Pacific salmon and all that rely on them. We will never give up!
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Decision on Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain Oil Pipeline Delayed Until After Next Federal Election July 15, 2014
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Canada's National Energy Board (NEB) announced today that it is stopping the clock on the review of Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain oil pipeline expansion due to the company’s new proposed corridor through Burnaby, B.C.— which will push a decision on the project back to after the 2015 federal election. The board will take a seven-month timeout from its 15-month timeline between July 11, 2014, and February 3, 2015, to allow Kinder Morgan time to file studies for its new corridor through Burnaby Mountain, according to a letter to interveners sent today. That pushes the board’s deadline to file its report on the project with cabinet back seven months from July 2, 2015, to Jan. 25, 2016. “The significant thing is that this decision now won’t be made until after the next federal election. It’ll be up to the next Prime Minister to make that call,” says Karen Campbell, staff lawyer with Ecojustice. “From a campaign perspective, it certainly gives some wind in the sails of those who want to make sure this isn’t a fait accompli before the next election,” she says. But Campbell also cautioned that there are still a lot of shortcomings in the process that the energy board has not addressed. That’s a concern echoed by Gregory McDade, legal counsel for the City of Burnaby. “There are so many other incomplete items that need work,” McDade says. “We’ve been pushing all along for a proper public hearing with cross-examination and evidence and theNEB said they couldn’t do that because of the tight timeline. Now that we have the time, why aren’t we doing a proper public hearing?” McDade says that without cross-examination, the energy board’s review is not legitimate. He noted how Kinder Morgan failed to answer many of the questions put to them through the “information request” process, which he described as a “colossal joke.” “Stalling it seven months doesn’t help at all if you’re not going to properly examine the evidence,” he said. “It just puts the decision off.” Chris Tollefson, executive director of the Environmental Law Centre at the University of Victoria, says this ruling is just a small step toward fixing the problem and that the entire process needs to be put on hold until Kinder Morgan’s application is complete. As of right now, the rest of the hearings are scheduled to move forward more or less as per the previous schedule. “The board has now recognized that this process was not working and that the timelines were unrealistic,” Tollefson says. “What we would call upon the board now to do is to revisit its decision to eliminate cross-examination from this process.”
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Any which way, the Conservatives will be in the limelight over their support for heavy oil projects on B.C.'s coast in the 2015 election, according to Kai Nagata, energy and democracy director at Dogwood Initiative, a B.C. democracy group. “It'll be a live issue for sure,” Nagata says. “The way Kinder Morgan is going, the more time the NEB gives them to alienate landowners and First Nations, the more likely they are to remind people of Enbridge.” Kinder Morgan’s proposed expansion would ship 590,000 barrels of oilsands bitumen to Burnaby each day, where it would be loaded onto 400 oil tankers each year.
Editorial Comment: Kinder-Morgan proposal:
Double number of toxic dilbit storage tanks at Burnaby location to twenty six Triple dilbit volume to 900,000 barrels per day – piped under Fraser River Seven fold increase in number of large tankers (400 per year) Transport to Asian markets via Salish Sea including Strait of Juan de Fuca and Haro Strait
Canada:
Catastrophic spills inevitable Unable to recover tarsands heavy crude
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Protesters arrested after chaining themselves to rail tracks July 28, 2014
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters ANACORTES, WA. — Three people who chained themselves to large oil drums on the train tracks near the Tesoro Oil Refinery, hoping to block deliveries and outgoing oil to and from one of the Pacific Northwest’s largest refineries, were arrested. The three people chained to the tracks were flocked by a group of like-minded protesters near the intersection of March Point Road and North Texas Highway Monday morning. The group, Rising Tide Seattle, said the protesters positioned themselves in order to demand the “immediate halt” of Bakken oil through the northwest, as well as protest new oil-by rail trains-proposed. The protest was brief, as police came to the scene around 11:30 a.m. at the request of Tesoro. Protesters unchanged themselves from the tracks and were arrested for trespassing around 12:30 p.m., and were largely compliant, police said. A 62-year-old Bainbridge Island woman, a 28-year-old Seattle man and a 60-year-old Anacortes woman were all transported to the Skagit County Jail. The rail line remained closed at 12:40 p.m. as crews removed some debris from the tracks. The group said the protest was largely spurred on by Thursday’s oil train derailment under the Magnolia Bridge in Seattle. “Thursday’s derailment was the last straw,” protester Jan Woodruff said. “If federal and state regulators won’t stand up to the fossil fuel companies endangering our communities, then we, the people of those communities, will do so.” The Anacortes Refinery has a total crude-oil capacity of 120,000 barrels per day, and supplies gasoline and diesel fuel to markets in Washington and Oregon.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Seattle
City Council member, state House candidate block railroad tracks in oil train protest July 31, 2014
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters SEATTLE — Protestors, including a Seattle City Council member and a candidate for the State House of Representatives, blocked railroad tracks through the city Thursday. The protestors held signs reading ‘no oil trains’ and ‘stop oil trains.’ City Council member Kshama Sawant and candidate for the state house Jess Spear were both seen sitting on the tracks with the other protestors. Seattle Police first warned the protestors then took three of them into custody. Two men and Spear were detained. Protestors are concerned about the growing number of trains carrying oil through densely populated parts of Western Washington. The trains have been a lightning rod for criticism from those who say they are both dangerous and part of an industry that is harmful to the environment. The small crowd was blocking the tracks near the Olympic Sculpture Park along the Seattle waterfront.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Wild Salmon Warrior Radio with Jay Peachy – Tuesday Mornings “Streaming like wild Pacific salmon”
CJSF 90.1 FM is Simon Fraser University's arts, public affairs and indie music radio station! CJSF strives to provide points of view that are rarely expressed in mainstream media.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Wild Salmon Warrior Radio – Recent Archives NAFTA: Investigate Canada’s failure to protect wild salmon from oceanbased salmon feedlots August 5, 2014: Mount Polley Mine (Imperial Metals) tailings pond breach, TransMountan pipelines (Kinder Morgan) resistance August 19, 2014: Mount Polley Mine social and environmental disaster: status July 29, 2014:
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Salmon feedlots
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Dead Fish Swimming Angela Koch
Angela Koch: This photo was taken just a couple of days ago at the harbour by the Campbell River ferry....While I was happy to see all the little herring swimming about, it wasn't until Alexandra told me to look closer that my joy turned to horror...these poor little guys won't survive as this lice infestation is pretty much on all of them there...when we caught one in the net to look closer the lice jumped off! Very freaky to see...My concern is that the salmon farmers in BC are now using Hydrogen Peroxide to treat lice infestations, which has only been used as a last resort against drug resistant sea lice in Norway and Scotland...these herring are just across the channel from the Walcan seafood processing plant and my fear is that these lice may have come from there, are possibly drug resistant and growing in numbers....Wake up BC...sea lice found on farms don't just infect the salmon...they infect other fish as well and herring feed all the others!....Check by your docks and harbours and please post on here any pictures and what you're seeing.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Greig Seafood Harvests Undersized Atlantic Salmon in Effort to “Harmonize” Watch, Listen, Learn HERE
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Alexandra Morton: Update On Die-Off At Greig Seafood In my blog, I wrote a letter to the Norwegian CEO of Grieg Seafood whose thousands of Atlantic salmon are dying/died off Gold River. I expected a straightforward Norwegian answer - why the fish are dying, who made the diagnosis and the opportunity to view the test results. But Mr Vike has not answered, instead he went to the media, calling my allegations "utter nonsense".
Which allegations exactly are "utter nonsense"? That there were dying fish floating on the surface? that the Atlantic salmon in their pens have red spots on their bellies? That the water was clear with no sign of an algae bloom? Or that the place stank of dead fish? Why can't anything be straightforward and direct with this industry? This is not the behaviour of good corporate citizen who is using BC waters to dump all its waste. Tens of thousands of farmed salmon are dying, it is completely fair and natural that the Canadian public would want to know why. Perhaps Mr Vike will answer my questions today.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Update on die-off at Greig Seafood Dear Morten Vike the fish are not "fine" I visited your salmon farms in Nootka Sound, Gold River again this week and I am writing to inform you that your statement below is inaccurate. "We've had an algae bloom, otherwise the fish are doing fine" (July 28, 2014) The fish in your pens are not "fine" - here is how I know.
We launched a boat and traveled to your Concepcion Point salmon farm through the beauty of Nootka Sound.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
I was there to confirm that the fish in your pens are no longer dying, but when we arrived we saw quite a few salmon floating dead on the surface again, the same as last week. The crows were helping themselves.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters My next question was how many dead fish are in your pens? A handful of dead salmon is one thing, but thousands of dead salmon means there is something deadly in the area. Since we could not see to the bottom of your pens, I had to wait to observe as your crew removed them. The stench from the rotting fish was so strong I thought someone would go about getting the dead fish out of the pens, but we waited and waited and waited some more and no one did anything. Sometimes the crew on the farm looked out of the house windows at us and took pictures or they appeared briefly on the pens, but they did not go to work. I began to wonder if they had been instructed not to do anything while we were there. While we waited we had a good look at what we could see from the surface.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Large bubbles were rising to the surface, even in the pens without any live salmon left in them. This may look like rain, but it was not. There was no rain.
We observed a smelly slick of fish oil seeping from the pens. A biological oil spill. Farm salmon are so fat that when mass die-offs happen they release large amounts of fat. I saw the same thing during the IHN epidemic in the Kingcome Inlet area a few years ago.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters I stood on the bow of the boat and looked into your pens and was surprised to see wild pilchard circling, trapped by your nets. Have you reported this by-catch? There were also pilchard outside the pens. I wondered if they were affected by whatever is killing your fish. If the fish in your pens have an infectious disease, are these pilchard now carriers?
Some of the Atlantic salmon in your pens are looking pretty mature, forming kypes, or hooked jaws.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters It started to feel like a waiting game. When we left the crew came out, when we approached they went back in the house. I have been around many salmon farms, for decades and have never seen behaviour like this. So after two days of waiting to see if anyone was going to attend to all the dead fish, we left.
On the way back to Gold River we saw the Walcan farm salmon packer, Viking Star heading out for a load. The only harvest-size farm salmon in Nootka Sound are in your two farms with all the dead salmon.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Is your "Skuna Bay craft-raised" farm salmon product coming out of these farms where stinking dead fish are floating among greasy bubbles? Just asking. We decided to take a different approach. We loaded the boat on the trailer and drove an hour along a small dirt road. In the evening we re-launched from beautiful little Cougar Bay. There were a lot of happy people, children and dogs camping and enjoying this beautiful place. It was a lovely scene.
By launching in Cougar Creek, we did not cruise by all your other farms to reach Concepcion Point. When we arrived we kept our distance and used the rocks to steady the cameras.
Finally, when your crew thought no one was watching large tubes started sucking up hundreds of dead farmed salmon from the bottom of the nets pen after pen. The hoses are translucent so we could see the individual fish as the pumps pushed them out of the water onto a large metal tray where they slid into the dumpsters.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Select the full screen option on this video, turn up the sound and watch the flexible hose. In case you missed the fish being sucked up the hose into the dumpsters here are some close-ups.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters These fish look freshly dead, because they are still silvery. They are not going into a packer, they are being poured into dumpsters. Your fish are not "fine" they are dying. In this picture you can clearly see these fish are going from the metal tray into rusty metal dumpsters, they are garbage.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters The moment we approached the farm, the crew aborted the operation. The huge metal tray came down quickly, the water still running as the worker hurried to turn off the valve and then everyone just stood there. Your crew did their best not to let us see the dead salmon, but there are things that are just too big to hide when you are in public waters.
I showed this video to the Mowachaht/Muchalaht fisheries and to DFO's aquaculture branch where I made a "witness statement".
Mr. Vike, we now know something is still killing the salmon in your pens, they are not "fine". Something is killing the salmon in your pens and your pens are in wild salmon habitat. Can you understand the concern? I have studied how sea lice breed in huge numbers in your farms. We don't want your farms incubating disease. When thousands of salmon die on one side of a net it is a legitimate concern that it could affect the salmon on the other side of the net. What are the fish in your pens dying of should be an easy, straightforward question to answer.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters There are two stories circulating. First, the salmon died of a toxic algae bloom called chrysochromulina, but when I took a look at the water back in the hotel, I could not find chrysochromulina.
The second theory was from DFO when I called them. They said the Atlantic salmon were dying because they had been grazing on the nets, and ate poisonous "biotia" off the nets containing a toxin called microcystin. Getting two different stories raises red flags for me. Which one should I believe? If the shellfish on the nets are poisonous shouldn't there be a shellfish warning so people don't ingest this toxin from the nearby oysters and mussels? If these fish are dying of a poison, should their penmates be sold for human consumption? Isn't there a chance they are contaminated too? Why are there different stories, do you know why the fish in your pens are dying? Another serious consideration is that the potential impact of these fish is not localized. The salmon that are still alive in your pens are being transported by Viking Star to Gold River, and then by truck to Campbell River and then by ferry to the processing plant on Quadra island.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Here is a picture of your truck in the Quadra Island ferry line up.
Here is a picture taken of the bloodwater from the farm salmon processing plant on Quadra Island.
The blood appears black in this picture because it is 90 feet underwater. It is spewing directly into the Fraser sockeye migration route off Campbell River. I co-published a scientific paper on this outfall pipe and the threat of this industrial bloodwater to wild salmon.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters The Fraser sockeye are passing this pipe right now and from there they will spread out through the lakes and rivers of the BC interior. If an infectious disease is killing the salmon in your pens, it is washing over the wild salmon of BC on both sides of Vancouver Island. Mr. Vike, wild salmon are extremely important to British Columbians. If your pens were on land, behind walls, locked gates and barbed wire your secrets would be yours, but you are using the waters of the North Pacific to flush your waste. Something is killing the fish in your pens and we don't want it to kill the wild salmon. I believe Canadians who are hosting your industry, deserve truth and respect. So once again I ask you, as the CEO Grieg Seafood, the company who owns these facilities: 1. Why are the salmon in your pens dying? 2. Who made the diagnosis? 3. Please provide documentation to support your statements. You should know, I am not going to give up. Thank you, Alexandra Morton P.S. Thank you to the patience of the salmon farming crew at Concepcion Point. This must have been as stressful on you as it was on us. FYI we did not miss the escort out of town. I also thank the wonderful people who worked with me on this investigation: Jody Eriksson, Farlyn Campbell and Angela Koch.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Feds’
proposed aquaculture regulations delayed over ‘logistical challenges,’ expected next month July 28, 2014.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Fish farmers are expecting good news in the upcoming federal aquaculture activities regulations to be released in August, while conservationists fear the government is prioritizing industry over wild salmon stocks. The regulations, which, according to a government document, aim to develop “aquaculture in a sustainable manner” and to “address key barriers to industry growth,” were originally expected by the end of July, but are delayed because of “logistical challenges,” said Trevor Swerdfager, assistant deputy minister, Ecosystems and Fisheries Management at Fisheries and Oceans Canada, in a phone interview last week in Ottawa with The Hill Times. Details of the new regulations are not yet available, but the changes are meant to make the rules “more transparent, more clear, more consistent, more harmonized,” while protecting the environment, said Mr. Swerdfager. He said under existing rules fish farm operators could get an approval to use chemicals and pesticides by one federal department and a denial to use the same product by another department. These products are considered essential by the industry to fight infections and diseases in farms. Ruth Salmon, executive director of the Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance, said some regulations currently conflict with one another and that has “really been one of the barriers for moving forward with Canada’s seafood farming industry.” She said the industry operates under a “confusing regulatory environment” that “was pulled together in sort of a patchwork quilt” when the industry developed about 35 years ago. Mr. Swerdfager agreed with that assessment. “We have a set of provisions in place that are administered by Health Canada that allow for the use of certain drugs, or pesticides,” he said. “The Fisheries Act is structured in such a way that when it was written it didn’t take those Health Canada-administered provisions into account. All we’re doing is making the regulations on the Fisheries Act side of things consistent with the ones that are [...] administered by Health Canada,” said Mr. Swerdfager. Ms. Salmon, who expects the industry to double in the next 10 years, said she looks forward to having the industry operate under a “clear and coherent set of rules” that reduce regulatory duplication while protecting the environment.
Editorial Comment:
The ocean-based salmon feedlot industry has no respect for the wild ecosystem other than it serves as a free sewer system for their multi-billion, foreign operations. New regulations will not protect wild Pacific salmon and their ecosystems as long as effective government enforcement continues to be non-existent. Robust populations of wild Pacific salmon cannot co-exist with ocean-based salmon feedlots. Ocean-based salmon feedlots must be removed from wild Pacific salmon migration routes.
“We’re producing a food product so it’s critical that we have strong regulations,” she said.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters While the aquaculture industry is eager to see how the government will deliver on its promise to “address key barriers to industry growth,” the environmental community is worried that its concerns are being pushed aside. Conservationists are concerned about open net salmon farms in the ocean, which allow for water and waste to flow in and out of net containments. Salmon farming, according to Ms. Salmon, accounts for 80 per cent of the aquaculture industry in Canada. Wild salmon conservation activist Alexandra Morton said fish farms are ideal for spreading diseases and making viruses more virulent than those diseases spread to migrating wild salmon that pass by farms. “It’s like walking your child through the infectious disease ward of the hospital before you take them to school,” said Ms. Morton in a phone interview from Echo Bay, B.C., with The Hill Times. Ms. Morton said the chemicals to fight those diseases are not good for wild salmon. Sue Scott, vice-president of communications for the Atlantic Salmon Federation, said the industry is having a harder time controlling sea lice and “wants to use stronger pesticides and drugs for disease. And I’m afraid [that] the new regulations will allow this.” Both Ms. Scott and Ms. Morton said they would prefer more closed containment facilities instead of open net farms, because they do not impact the larger environment. Ms. Scott said farm salmon sometimes escape and weaken the instinct of wild salmon to return to their breeding grounds and that results in a reduction of the species. “The aquaculture fish are bred to be complacent, to grow quickly and to swim in circles,” said Ms. Scott in a phone interview from St. Andrew, N.B. “Whereas our wild Atlantic salmon are genetically made up to return to the very river where they were born and they have the genetic makeup and muscular development to survive migration for thousands of miles. And that ability and instinct is bred out of them when they breed with farmed salmon.” The government said the new regulations would not affect wild salmon and “really have no tie whatsoever to wild salmon populations,” according to Mr. Swerdfager. “There are people in the environmental community and others who feel that aquaculture has and will continue to have a negative impact on wild salmon and that’s the views they’re welcome to, but we really don’t see that this regulation will have any effect on that whatsoever,” said Mr. Swerdfager. NDP MP Robert Chisholm (Dartmouth-Cole Harbour, N.S.), his party’s fisheries critic, takes issue with that. He said any growth of the aquaculture industry should take into consideration the findings of the Cohen Commission, a three-year, $26-million (recently revised to $37+ million) investigation into the decline of sockeye salmon in British Columbia’s Fraser River. Environmentalists praised the report’s recommendations, which were released in 2012, and have since criticized the federal government for its lack of action on them. Mr. Chisholm pointed out that the Cohen Commission recognized that fish farms do have an impact on wild stocks, but did not determine to what degree.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Mr. Swerdfager said the new regulations do “not really” take into consideration the Cohen Commission report recommendations, but are “consistent with the spirit and intent [of them],” in terms of environmental regulations and required reporting by industry. Liberal MP Lawrence MacAulay (Cardigan, P.E.I.), his party’s fisheries and oceans critic, said he fears the government will repeat some of the things they did with the changes to the Fisheries Act in 2012, with these regulations. He told The Hill Times that the environment was an afterthought and that government did not consult with industry enough for the Fisheries Act changes and said he “couldn’t find a fisherman they discussed anything with.” Mr. Chisholm and Mr. Scott echoed the Cohen Commission report, which stated that DFO is in a conflict of interest by overseeing the protection of wild fish in addition to regulating the aquaculture industry. “What the Department of Fisheries and Oceans should be doing is controlling the impacts on wild Atlantic salmon and other fish and the environment but instead they have become promoters of the aquaculture industry and that has led to a conflict of interest,” said Mr. Scott. The Cohen report stated that the government “should remove from [DFO’s] mandate the promotion of salmon farming as an industry and farmed salmon as a product.” But Mr. Swerdfager rejected the assertion that DFO promotes aquaculture and is in a conflict of interest. Ms. Salmon said she would like the aquaculture industry to have an act on its own, separate from the Fisheries Act, under which aquaculture is governed. “We have a much better idea now of what kind of a regulatory framework we actually need,” compared to when the Fisheries Act was originally written, said Ms. Salmon. Mr. MacAulay said an Aquaculture Act is “going to become essential” as the industry expands. Mr. Swerdfager said the government is not opposed to an Aquaculture Act sometime in the future, but that the new regulations are “pragmatic and [are dealing with the] short-term at this point.” After the regulations are published as a draft in the Canada Gazette there will be a chance for the public to comment on them before the regulations are implemented later this year. Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, Gail Shea (Egmont, P.E.I.) was not immediately available for comment for this article.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Super un-Natural: Atlantic Salmon in BC Waters – John Volpe, PhD Ed. One of many peer-reviewed, scientific publications that address the risks of ocean-based salmon feedlots
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
If you live in the U.S., chances are you've consumed genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, in the form of corn or soybeans. Now, the first genetically modified animal may soon be swimming its way to your dinner plate.
This Salmon Will Likely Be The First Genetically Modified Animal You Eat July 25, 2014 A genetically modified salmon, called AquAdvantage, is awaiting FDA approval, and, when it does, the fish should be available for consumption in about two years, according to the company. Americans consume 300,000 tons of salmon yearly, according to Bloomberg Businessweek's Brendan Borrell. And with twothirds of that coming from farmed Atlantic salmon - the wild version of which is endangered - the market seems ripe for an upgrade of the food.
Editorial Comment: This article makes misleading assumptions in its comparison between GE salmon and ocean-raised feedlot salmon – in doing so it ignores the benefits of wild salmon and the very real need to conserve them
USFDA will approve GE salmon for human consumption GE salmon will be an upgrade
But not all are pleased with its arrival. Salmon 2.0 The AquAdvantage Salmon is an Atlantic salmon that has DNA in its genome from two other fish.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
How to make a supersalmon. It contains the growth-hormone gene from a Chinook salmon, the largest Pacific salmon species, and a "promoter" gene from an Ocean Pout. The promoter is the "on switch" that keeps the fish's cells making growth hormone around the clock. The GMO salmon has a few advantages over its conventionally farmed counterpart. Constant hormone release allows it to grow more quickly - 16 to 18 months - compared to conventional farmed salmon, which grows in spurts during warm weather reaching market sizes in 31 to 36 months, according to AquaBounty, the company that created AquAdvantage. Their faster growth means AquAdvantage salmon also consume 25% less feed in their lifetime than conventionally farmed salmon, AquaBounty cofounderElliot Entis told the Colombia Earth Institute. Conventionally farmed salmon are fed three pounds of other fish for every pound of salmon that ends up on our dinner plate. Genetically modified salmon need less than three-quarters of that, since half of the AquAdvantage salmon feed can come from plants without affecting their growth, according to the Earth Institute article. That makes the AquAdvantage salmon cheaper - with a production cost of about 75 cents a pound versus $1 a pound for conventional salmon, according to Borrell. This Salmon 2.0 might appear to have it all, but for some the changes are not upgrades. Invasion Of The Frankenfish The impending arrival of a genetically modified fish elicited many objections, with opponents dubbing the product a "frankenfish." On the environmental forefront, critics worried that the GMO fish couldescape, out-compete wild salmon and contaminate wild stocks. If the industry grew and fish farmers were able to purchase the eggs, they argued, environmental damage might get more difficult to control. On the health front, critics worried the fish could cause allergies, though all of the genes in AquAdvantage are from edible fish.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters With these concerns in mind, the FDA began its review of AquAdvantage in 1993. They examined the fish as an animal drug since Entis figured it was a more rigorous process that would placate the public and because adding genetic bits was somewhat comparable to adding a drug, according to Michele Henry at the Toronto Star. In 2012, when the FDA concluded that AquAdvantage was safe for human consumption and was unlikely to imperil the environment, critics awoke. Though the FDA had taken 19 years to consider the fish, critics pointed out that the regulatory body had relied on studies and subsequent conclusions straight from AquaBounty, according to Andrew Pollack in the New York Times. But, to some, this is nothing to be up in arms about. "It is a paradigm that we use in the U.S. in all industries that the producer of the product pays the cost of doing the studies which produce the evidence to the government regulators whether you're making airplanes or cars or drugs or a new fish," Bruce Chassy, a professor of food safety and nutritional science at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, told Business Insider in an interview. Still, others were not content with the studies. An article from the Consumers Union, which is connected with Consumer Reports, maintained that the FDA had "set the bar very low." This was "sloppy science" with tiny sample sizes, "questionable practices," and "woefully inadequate analysis," said the union report. 'Aquatic Fort Knox' 99.8% of AquAdvantage salmon eggs will be sterilized before leaving the facility, according to Businessweek. So how worried should we be about this fish? "The scientific community is 99.99999999% not bothered by this fish at all. There is no scientific controversy, period," Chassy said. AquaBounty agrees. According to the company's website, the fish may be the most well-studied Atlantic salmon in aquaculture, with over two decades of research. Despite concerns, the company seems confident that the chance of the fish escaping - much more escaping, surviving, and breeding - is hardly in the realm of possibility. When AquAdvantage does gain approval, AquaBounty intends to distribute only female eggs that have been sterilized. "Prior to leaving the facility, the fertilized eggs are treated with a burst of high pressure, a process with a 99.8 percent sterilization rate," wrote Borrell. And though some have pointed out that that still leaves .2% of fish fertile, they'll have a ton of trouble making it to the wild ecosystem, according to the company. AquAdvantage has built two facilities equipped like an "aquatic Fort Knox" to raise their GM salmon, in Panama and Canada. Their Canadian facility has 17 different barriers to keep the fish in and the anxious placated, wrote Henry. And the thermal and physical barriers of their Panamanian facility, "render the possibility of survival outside the facility virtually impossible,"the company wrote in their FAQ. Eventually, when farmers do switch to AquAdvantage fish, they will also need to switch to AquAdvantage methods - land based tanks far from salmon habitat rather than the ocean sea pens used for conventionally farmed salmon.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters In the end, the argument can be made that scientific concerns for foods achieved through genetic modification are not so different than those achieved through selective breeding - which has been used for millennia to create our current domesticated livestock and crops. Any number of genetic changes in all different areas of the genome occur when you breed animals. "If it's rational to apply premarket regulatory review to [GM foods] it's even more rational to apply it to things that are bred by other modalities of breeding which are much more ... random and chaotic," Chassy said. So if the scientific verdict is out, what is really going on here? Chassy thinks the conventional salmon fisheries don't want the competition. "This is an opposition to new products to protect markets. That's all this is," he said. "This is a political, economic, social, and values based issue. It's not a science issue."
The hatchery tanks in the Prince Edward Island facility in Canada.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Hungry? After more than 20 years, will this fish ever make its way into stores? After the 2012 ruling that the fish was safe, the FDA opened for public comment receiving more than 37,000 comments, according to Businessweek. The forum ended in April 2013. "That should have triggered a decision within six months," wrote Henry. "It is now month 14."
Editorial Comment: The number of comments received by USFDA regarding approval of GE salmon for human consumption was nearly 500,000.
AquaBounty won't speculate on when they will hear back, Dave Conley, a representative of the company, told Business Insider in an email: "We have been waiting since September 2010 when the FDA conducted a public meeting on our application ... and we are still waiting." The FDA says they are still reviewing the comments to see if any new information might render its previous conclusions false, according to theToronto Star. While AquaBounty continues its research in Panama, 62 tons (100,000 fish, according to The Star) of AquAdvantage salmon have ended up in an on-site Panamanian landfill since it cannot be legally sold, according to Bloomberg. "No other country has approved the sale of GE [genetically engineered] animals for food," Alison Van Eenennaam, who studies animal genomics and biotechnology at the University of California, Davis, told Business Insider in an email. AquAdvantage eggs have been approved by Environment Canada for commercial production, but they cannot sell them until FDA approval is received, Conley said. And while the company continues research, it has seen too many false starts to plan too far ahead. "We will consider our next steps only after we are assured of an approval," Conley said. "From the date of FDA approval, it will take about two years before any AquAdvantage Salmon is ready for market," he said. Then the question will be, where can you buy it? Sixty-five supermarkets and a handful of restaurants have pledged not to sell the fish, wrote Borrell.
Perhaps there is one thing all sides can agree on. Anne Kapuscinski, a Dartmouth College sustainability professor who studies transgenic fish, told the Star: "This fish is precedent-setting."
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
“The Scream” Artist: Shane Field of Sointula
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Over 450 tonnes of antibiotics used by salmon sector in 2013 July 17, 2014 Chile: The marine conservation organization Oceana urges the Chilean Government to set "drastic goals" to reduce the use of antibiotics in the country’s salmon industry. The NGO’s requests were made after a report by the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Service (SERNAPESCA) revealed that salmon farming companies last year had used 450,700 kilograms of antibiotics, the highest figure worldwide.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Oceana stresses that the data published in the Report on Antimicrobial Use in the National Salmon Sector in 2013 sharply oppose those obtained by the Norwegian industry in 2013, when the companies used only 972 kg of antibiotics. "It's not normal for an industry to require 450 tonnes of antibiotics to work," argues Alex Muñoz, executive director of Oceana. "If the companies are not able to produce cleanly, then their activity cannot be tolerated, especially in an ecosystem such as Patagonia, which can be the basis of other sustainable economic activities," he adds. On 1 July, the NGO appealed to the Council for Transparency due to the fact that 50 salmon firms had refused to disclose the amount and type of antibiotics they had used. According to SERNAPESCA, the rationale was that the disclosure of such information "would put them at risk from a competitive and commercial standpoint." Muñoz considers that "mandatory and time-bound drastic measures are necessary to prevent salmon firms from continuing to act with this level of irresponsibility." Experts clarify that the main effect of antibiotics overuse is bacterial resistance. This leads to a loss in the effectiveness of the antibiotics used, not only in salmon but also in people themselves, which is a serious public health issue, warns Oceana. Some of the companies that refused to provide information are Marine Harvest, Mainstream, AquaChile and Multiexport. According to Oceana, from 2007 to 2011 the Chilean salmon industry changed from using 385,000 kilos of antibiotics to 206,000 kg, but the decline was stopped in 2012, when the figure rose again and reached more than 337,000 kg.
Atlantic Salmon reared in ocean-based feedlots – following hydrogen peroxide treatment for lice
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Wild Atlantic salmon and sea trout: Eaten alive by salmon feedlot-origin lice
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Climate Change
Salmon Are Dying In The Salmon River Because The Water’s Too Warm July 28, 2014
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Fifty-four adult and hundreds of young fish have died in California’s Salmon River, due to low water flows and warmer-than-usual temperatures. A population assessment for Chinook salmon and Steelhead in the river found 300 to 600 juvenile fish — mainly Chinook — have died, prompting concerns over further reductions in the species’ populations as California’s drought persists. The fish are dying before they get the chance to spawn, due to drought and decreased snowpack-fueled low water levels. Right now, the river is running at 181 cubic feet per second — far below the average flow of 438 cubic feet per second and close to the record low of 110 cubic feet. “We’re all on alert,” California Department of Fish and Wildlife environmental scientist Sara Borok told the Times-Standard. “We don’t to want lose this year’s spring run. There’s not a whole lot we can do other than have more rain dances.” The population assessment was done by the Klamath Basin Monitoring Program’s Klamath Fish Health Assessment Team, a group of volunteers from state agencies, local tribes and environmental groups. Craig Tucker, Klamath River Campaign Coordinator for the Karuk Tribe, said the Salmon River is a crucial waterway for young Chinook salmon, so warmer-than-usual water in the river doesn’t bode well for the fish. “This year, the drought is just having a horrific toll on these fish,” he said. “They are really struggling to find those cold water refuges they need to survive.” Luckily, despite the losses, the Chinook population in California hasn’t taken too much of a hit. But the Salmon River losses aren’t the only challenges California’s fisheries — natural and managed — have had to deal with during this year’s severe drought. In June, two fisheries were forced to evacuate their young fish into two waterways months before they usually do, amid fears that, by the middle of the summer, water temperatures in the hatcheries would be too high for the fish to survive. Though their early release was meant to give the fish a better chance of survival, Peter Moyle, professor and associate director of the Center for Watershed Sciences at the University of California, Davis, told ThinkProgress in June that most of the fish released early — especially the steelhead — likely won’t survive. “These fish are very unlikely to make it,” Moyle said of the steelhead. “They’re releasing 450,000 fish all at once into a river which is full of other fish, including other predators. These fish are hatchery fish — they’ve never experienced anything but life in a cement trough — so they are ill-equipped for surviving in the wild.” The drought has also forced the state of California to ship millions young Chinook salmon by truck to the Pacific Ocean, bypassing the streams that the young smolts usually travel through because of their warm, low water. California has always shipped some of its young salmon by truck to the Pacific, but this year, it was forced to ship about 50 percent more fish than usual. Right now, 100 percent of California is in the most severe rankings of drought, with 81 percent of the state in the extreme to exceptional drought range. California Gov. Jerry Brown linked the state’s extreme drought and wildfires to climate change earlier this year, saying that though the state was trying to “deal with nature as best we can” humanity was “on a collision course with nature” due to climate change.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Changing sea chemistry will hit Alaska communities hard, study says July 31, 2014
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters SEATTLE — Oyster growers in the Pacific Northwest have already been stung by changes in ocean chemistry linked to greenhouse-gas emissions. Now, a new study led by Seattle researchers finds communities in Southwest and Southeast Alaska that rely on the sea for food and jobs are also likely to be hit hard over the coming decades. The analysis, published this week in the journal Progress in Oceanography, is among the first to examine the potential social and economic impacts of ocean acidification — sometimes called global warming’s twin. Just as carbon dioxide from power plants, factories and cars diffuses into the atmosphere, the gas is also absorbed by the world’s oceans. As a result, scientists say the average pH of seawater has become slightly lower, or more acidic, since the start of the industrial era. That effect is expected to intensify in the future — and some places are more vulnerable than others. The Alaskan waters that yield much of the U.S. commercial-seafood catch are near the top of that list, said lead author Jeremy Mathis, of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Pacific Marine Environmental Lab in Seattle. Carbon dioxide dissolves more readily in cold water, and the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska are already naturally CO2-rich. “It doesn’t have that far to go before it reaches this critical threshold where the water can become corrosive,” Mathis said. That’s what scientists say occurred along the Washington and Oregon coasts beginning in the mid2000s. Naturally low pH levels dropped even further, killing oyster larvae in hatcheries that drew water from the Pacific. The industry solved the problem by closing intake valves when pH is low, but some companies also shifted operations to Hawaii. Many Alaskan communities, where people live off the seafood they catch, don’t enjoy that flexibility, Mathis said. If crab or salmon populations crash, people will see their main source of protein, and economic well being, diminish. In identifying the most vulnerable communities, the researchers examined incomes, educational levels, educational opportunities and job diversity. They also looked at which seafood species dominate local economies and diets, and how those species are likely to be affected by changing ocean chemistry. Red king crab, for example, appear to be very sensitive to small changes in acidity that can make it harder to build shells. In laboratory tests, larvae died at a high rate when exposed to pH levels that now occur some times of the year in the Bering Sea. By 2100, those conditions are expected to be common. “The waters of the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean will be corrosive to shellfish throughout the year,” Mathis said. Salmon are less sensitive to pH, but are still at risk because of possible effects on their food. Tiny creatures called pteropods, which are eaten by a wide range of fish, are already being harmed by water corrosive to their shells along the West Coast and other places.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Many of these problems were detailed last year in a series of stories by The Seattle Times. Drawing on existing studies of the impacts of changing pH on marine creatures, the researchers used computer models to estimate potential impacts on harvests by the year 2100. In some places, like Dillingham on Bristol Bay, they found some catches could drop by as much as 70 percent. But Tuesday’s study contains few numbers, and no estimates of potential economic impacts. That’s because there are so many unknowns, said co-author Steve Colt, professor of economics at the University of Alaska Anchorage. “We just don’t know enough about all the links in the chain, starting with the ocean chemistry and going through the various levels of the food chain and even getting from potential changes in fish abundance and distribution to the economic impact to communities,” he said. Instead, the researchers calculated a relative risk index. Communities most at risk are colored red on a map — and are concentrated in the southeast and southwest portions of the state. For example, Petersburg, an island community in Southeast Alaska where many Washington-based fishing boats operate, ranks high in the red category because it is so dependent on seafood and has few other job opportunities. Even without hard figures, the study is one of the first attempts to bridge the gap between scientific research on ocean acidification and its potential impacts to people, said Scott Doney, chairman of the Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry Department at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts. “This brings it home to the level of talking to community leaders, political leaders and business leaders in Alaska to say here are the areas we think are the most vulnerable,” said Doney, who was not involved in the project.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Energy Generation: Oil, Coal, Geothermal, Hydropower, Natural Gas, Solar, Tidal, Wind
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Petroleum – Drilled, Refined, Tar Sands, Fracked Petropolis - Rape and pillage of Canada and Canadians for toxic bitumen Watch video HERE
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Gary Crosby The aerial distance from Victoria on the Strait of Juan de Fuca to Stewart, British Columbia on the Alaska border at the head of the Portland Canal is 965 kilometres (600 mi) in length. However, because of its many deep inlets and complicated island shorelines—and 40,000 islands of varying sizes, including Vancouver Island and Haida Gwaii —the total length of the British Columbia Coast is over 25,725 kilometres
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Humpty Dumpty sat loaded with crude on a recently inspected rail Humpty had a great fail. All of the crude in Humpty’s belly spilled into the creek where first responders were unable to contain the leak. The fish and wildlife all died no matter how much everyone tried Today, Humpty Dumpty and thousands like him carry crude oil across North America no matter the ecosystems they permanently spoil. This madness must end!
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
BP wants to expand its oil tanker traffic through Puget Sound Sign petition HERE
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
‘There will be no pipeline’ In the heart of Nak’azdli territory, there is a steely resolve — the people are firmly against Northern Gatew August 16, 2014
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters The waters of Nak’al Koh are a deep emerald, almost black at times. The forest presses in at the sides — a mixture of spruce, pine, aspen, birch and willow — so thick it seems like a primeval blanket. A fierce rain rises up suddenly, hammering the water and the aluminum boat that Stuart Todd navigates, strengthening the already deep, tangy-earth smell. Todd smiles wryly at the sudden downpour, recounting tales of moose he has seen swimming the river. “They are great divers,” he says. “They can go down deep and feed on the weeds at the bottom.” The river (called Stuart River in English after John Stuart, a clerk with the fur-trading North West Company in the early 1800s) is also home to salmon, trout, dolly varden, ducks, geese, elk, grizzly, black bear and beaver. This is the heart of Nak’azdli territory — downriver from where the revered chief Kwah is buried, and where Calgary-based Enbridge wants to run its $7.9-billion Northern Gateway oil and condensate pipelines. It is also the heart of the pipeline opposition spearheaded by the Yinka Dene Alliance, a group of six First Nations, including the Nak’azdli, which has sworn they will not let the oil pipeline be built. They say their traditional territory encompasses about 25 per cent of the proposed 1,177-kilometre route from Alberta to Kitimat on the coast of B.C. In Nak’azdli, which is adjacent to Fort St. James on the southern shore of Stuart Lake, the great concern is that any economic benefit from the pipeline is not worth the risk of a spill on the waterways in their traditional territory. They are most worried about the effect an oil spill would have on sockeye salmon and the Nechako white sturgeon. The Stuart sockeye runs — the river is the last leg of a 1,200-kilometre journey from the Pacific Ocean to their spawning grounds — are an important source of food and culture for the community. Although the runs can still be large, the number of salmon that reach Nak’azdli is already dwindling. Some years, the community has to purchase salmon farther west, outside of its traditional territory. And the Nechako white sturgeon is at risk of extinction, listed by Canada as an endangered species. The Nak’azdli have not been able to fish sturgeon for more than 20 years. For the Nak’azdli, the waterways, carved out during the last ice age 10,000 years ago, are an important physical and spiritual presence. So much so, that they call themselves the Dakelh, which in their language, means people who travel by water. With the approval in June of the Northern Gateway pipeline by Stephen Harper’s Conservative government, the stage has been set for a battle over the project and it is unclear what will be the outcome. The question remains: Will the pipeline get built?
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters The conflict became more complicated with a recent landmark Supreme Court of Canada ruling that granted the Tsilqhot’in title to 1,750 square kilometres in central B.C., a first for a First Nation in British Columbia. It set out a strengthened need for government and companies to get consent for industrial development, except where significant national interest can be argued. The Nak’azdli, similar to other north-central and coastal B.C. First Nations, have said they will take whatever steps are necessary to stop the pipeline, using the courts or blocking the project directly on the land. “The Dakelh people avoided conflict because the final answer in a conflict, it’s gruesome,” says Peter Erickson, a hereditary chief who holds the same title of Ts’oh Dai as chief Kwah did more than 200 years ago. “You look at the conflicts around the world — do we have to go to that point?” says Erickson. “At the same time, we have to ensure this land is here for our grandkids. … This project, on such a scale, cannot be allowed to come into our territory.” Enbridge has said it won’t be ready to start construction until late 2015 and says that, in the interim, it can engage First Nations opposed to the project and gain their support. The company says it has already signed equity sharing agreements with 26 of the 40 First Nations along the proposed route. That number, the company says, includes 11 of the 22 First Nations along the pipeline route in B.C., but does not count the five coastal First Nations that are so adamantly opposed. It means about 40 per cent of First Nations in B.C. directly affected by the project have signed deals to take a financial stake in the pipeline, according to Enbridge’s calculations. Janet Holder, executive vice-president of western access for Enbridge, said she believes more First Nations will eventually sign on. There are discussions underway with First Nations who oppose the project, but she won’t say with whom. “We’ve had a meeting — not myself — but with a group you would probably believe are definitely opposed (to the pipeline), who are having that conversation with us, saying if we were to work together, how would this all work and what opportunities are out there and what role can we play?” Holder said. Lillian Sam, 75, spreads a map out on her kitchen table. It’s a copy of one made by an anthropologist in the 1940s. Obtained as part of research to trace community descendants and for the First Nation’s land claim efforts, it is marked off in large parcels of land, some hundreds of square kilometres, with family names. They delineate keyohs — areas where families had the rights to gather food and to fish, hunt and trap, but also had the responsibility for the land. An area just below the lake, to the west of the Nak’al Koh River, is marked with Kwah. Her grandfather was a grandson of chief Kwah. Lillian calls the land “precious,” as she runs her hand over the map, and says any pipeline spill will affect a lot of habitat. Sam says that their lifestyle — which still includes the use of traditional foods — is important and it has to be recognized. There is a rich history on the land — and potential future — that they wish to protect, she says.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters “Our elders have always said you cannot eat money,” says Lillian. “The food and the land is so important for us. Not only for us, for … other people. You see the devastation of the oilsands: a huge part of that land is no good. What’s going to happen to us? What’s going to happen to our children and our grandchildren?” The keyohs remain today, and while they are used differently than they were in the past, they are still important, says Liza Sam, a nurse for the Nak’azdli health program. When people talk about keyohs, they talk about it as their home, she says. Her family’s keyoh is on the Nations Lakes, but she also has connections to others on Camsel Lake and at the village of Tachie, all north of Nak’azdli. “It’s not just fish and berries and meat — it’s our sense of where we were, who we were before we were moved onto reserves,” says Liza. “When I go to these keyohs, I get that sense of peace — that spiritual sense of where I belong.” Elder Tina Erickson notes that historically the First Nations that made up the Yinka Dene people had lands that stretched west hundreds of kilometres to the Tahltan people, hundreds of kilometres north as well, and west to the continental divide where the Sekani people lived. It was chief Kwah, born in about 1755, who greeted Simon Fraser in 1806 when he was establishing fur-trading forts, and provided fish and food to his starving party. “Our people say that we were put here to look after this part of the earth. And we take that seriously,” says Erickson. Decades of industrial activity have already brought significant change to the Nak’azdli’s traditional territory. Beyond the thick carpet of forest at the edge of the Nak’al Koh River, the land has been broken into pieces from logging, road building, farming and most recently Thompson Creek Metals’ $1.4-billion Mount Milligan gold and copper mine. And while the Nak’azdli have continuing concerns about resource development, it has, over the years, become a partner. It has jointly owned lumber company T’loh Forest Products since 1995 with Apollo Forest Products. It also owns a piece of the Conifex sawmill with several other First Nations. It has signed on to Dalkia Canada’s $235-million bioenergy plant under construction. And it has a revenue-sharing agreement with the B.C. government for Mount Milligan, which is expected to provide $24 million over the life of the mine. The First Nation also owns a grocery store and a gas station, and it recently purchased a second gas station and restaurant. The business interests have over time provided more jobs and money. That has been significant for the growing community of about 1,800, about half of which live in the Nak’azdli reserve.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters But the Nak’azdli’s growing business interests, and the fact they will soon own two gas stations, prompts the question: why do they not support the pipeline? The risk of a spill is remote. Enbridge has calculated the probability of a major rupture in the B.C. Interior is once in 1,566 years (about a 0.06-per-cent chance a year). For a “pinhole” leak, the probability is once in 79 years (about 1.2 per cent a year). Enbridge also plans to install shut-off valves on either side of the Stuart River (about 3.5 kilometres apart) to limit the amount of oil that could spill into the river in the rare case of a major rupture. Chief Fred Sam stresses the Nak’azdli are not against development. “But not this one,” he says in a soft-spoken voice, referring to Northern Gateway. Still, it creates a strange juxtaposition. There is no question the Nak’azdli depend on oil and the fuels derived from it for their vehicles and boats, and gain profit from it through their Petro-Can gas station. The chief acknowledges this has been a difficult question for them. Profits from their business enterprises have been used to improve the newly built Nak’al Bun elementary school (originally funded by the federal government) with an upgraded gym, a commercial-style kitchen and high-tech interactive white boards for the classrooms. Sam said the community is trying to find a way to use less fossil fuels. Kwah Hall is now heated with an energy system that burns wood waste (energy from renewable sources is considering a greener alternative to fossil fuel), and the grocery store, new elementary school and an apartment they own all use geothermal heating. The Nak’azdli are not alone in their opposition to Northern Gateway in the local area. The District of Fort St. James also opposes the project, citing similar concerns that an oil spill would be devastating to the waterways in the area. Mayor Rob MacDougall points to the lake, which can be seen from the district’s boardroom. “Envision that with an oil slick — that’s something we don’t want to see,” he says, recalling the major spill Enbridge had in Michigan on the Kalamazoo River in 2010. “I think from our perspective you could have the best technology, but all you need is the smallest flaws and that technology fails.”In Prince George, northern B.C.’s largest city of about 80,000, Enbridge is hosting a meeting of community advisory boards. The boards have been organized and funded by Enbridge to provide a venue for sharing information and ideas on the project. Normally, the sessions are private (you have to have applied and been invited to participate) but today the doors have been opened to reporters for luncheon speaker Peter Howard, CEO of the Canadian Energy Research Institute, which is funded by industry and government. Howard’s talk encompasses both oil and natural gas, and he endorses a coterie of oil pipelines, including Northern Gateway, as necessary to get expanding Alberta oilsands production to market, including new, important markets in Asia.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Among the members of the five regional advisory groups are 15 First Nation groups, including five Metis groups and five First Nations from Alberta. There are four First Nations from B.C.: the Cheslatta Carrier Nation, the Gitxsan (two groups), Hagwilget Village Council and Skin Tyee. The Cheslatta Carrier Nation has been at the advisory board table since its inception in 2009. The Cheslatta claim traditional territory encompassing about 20 to 30 kilometres of the pipeline route, to the west of the Nak’azdli. Mike Robertson, a policy adviser for the Cheslatta, said they remain neutral on the project but are in discussions with Enbridge. He would not say whether the First Nation is one of those that has signed an equity agreement, but adds that being offered an ownership stake in a resource project is a rare opportunity. The community of 350 members — about one third of whom live on a reserve south of Burns Lake — lost a significant employer when a joint-venture sawmill that provided about 140 manufacturing, logging and transportation jobs closed permanently in 2011. Robertson said the Cheslatta respect the concerns of other First Nations on the Northern Gateway project, including over the risk of a tanker spill on B.C.’s coast, but says the alternative to transporting oil via an “engineered” pipeline is the less-appealing option of shipping it by rail. “It’s easy to just come out and oppose a project, but I think we have to totally understand it before we can say no or yes,” he said. Holder, the lead on Northern Gateway for Enbridge, attended the community advisory board meeting. Three years ago, Holder offered to head the project and move back to her hometown of Prince George from Toronto where she was a senior executive in the natural gas division. Enbridge has tried to capitalize on the credibility they believe her roots in a northern B.C. community give her. Many television and print ads feature Holder. Although Enbridge would like 100-per-cent support from First Nations, Holder acknowledges that is not likely. “There’s no major issue that’s ever been dealt with in this country, a social issue or infrastructure, that’s going to have 100-per-cent support from aboriginal communities, as well as the general public,” says Holder. Holder argues that while First Nation opponents have been very vocal, there are First Nations that support the project that have not voiced their opinions. The equity agreements signed by First Nations — there’s an up to 10-per-cent stake available in total — will provide a share in profits as soon as the project begins operations. “This was not First Nations having to put up their hand and saying we support you. They could remain neutral. They just could not openly oppose us,” says Holder, of those that have signed equity agreements.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters “I will say, though, those that have signed on are meeting with us on a very regular basis and working on ways to further partnering with us that goes well beyond equity components,” she said. Holder will not say exactly what the company is doing to convince First Nations such as the Nak’azdli to support the project, saying the company never discusses its efforts with individual First Nations. But she notes that Enbridge has a team whose job it is to meet with First Nations in northern B.C. And when it is needed, senior executives also meet with First Nations leaders face-to-face, she says. Enbridge CEO Al Monaco was in Prince George the day of the community advisory board meeting for a session with three unnamed First Nations chiefs. “I’d say there’s more (First Nations) talking to us than people probably realize,” said Holder.On the return trip upriver, the rain has stopped as quickly as it started. Todd points to the riverbank and explains how in the past, they knew the salmon would return when the berries turned red. The Nak’azdli believe that chief Kwah watches for the return of the salmon, and the first big spring rainstorm is Kwah beating his drum to announce the arrival of the salmon, explains Anne Sam, a councillor with the Nak’azdli. It is the salmon that hold paramount importance here. At the Nak’al Bun elementary school each fall, the children learn to clean sockeye and get them ready for canning or drying, part of an effort to maintain the connection to the land and the Nak’azdli culture, says Sam. Todd slows the boat, shows where he has seen elk come down. Reflecting on the Nak’azdli’s resistance to the pipeline, Todd says simply it is because they believe it will harm the river. “Salmon always come up this way,” he says with a sweep of his hand.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Tesoro Begins Cleanup of Massive Oil Pipeline Spill in North Dakota August 4, 2014 Though the Keystone XL pipeline has been delayed due to popular backlash, oil and related hazardous materials continue to flow through the United States on trains and through pipelines. Increasingly these pipelines leak, contaminating the surrounding neighborhoods, rivers, and wheat fields with hazardous cancer-causing chemicals like benzene. Last year in North Dakota, a Tesoro pipeline carrying oil obtained through fracking the Bakken shale ruptured in a farmers field, spilling an estimated 20,600 barrels over a seven acre area, one of the largest land based spills in US history. The spill was caused by a leak the size of a quarter coin, and went undetected by Tesoro until the farmer sank his combine into an oil sodden field. Tesoro has recently begun a two year cleanup, during which they will use a "thermal desorption" process to burn away oil from the area. Here are some things you might not know about Tesoro's pipeline spill: The scale of the Tesoro spill was huge, equaling the total for all spills in North Dakota over the past 10 years combined.
Picture taken shortly after the spill was discovered in October, 2013
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Through January, 2014, 1,260 gallons of oil leached from the ground per week.
Oil can be seen in ditches dug by Tesoro. These ditches collected over 1,200 gallons of oil per week for months after the spill was discovered. The oil seeped down 42 feet below the surface and the entire seven acre area will be excavated to depths of more than 30 feet
The first 30 foot pit is visible in the upper left side of the photo, the entire area will eventually be dug out and burned in the incinerator at lower right.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters The contaminated soil is then sent through the thermal desorption process -- during which the entire area is excavated and baked in an onsite oven, which will attempt to burn hydrocarbons from the soil.
A closer look at the incinerator meant to burn hydrocarbons out of the soil during the "thermal desorption process." However, "full remediation" will only take place down to 8 feet. This means significant amounts of contaminants (up to 500 ppm) will remain in the soil and water pockets under the wheat field. The root systems of wheat can penetrate 7 feet down, depending on the type of wheat. The rapid spread of high volume hydraulic fracturing has led to a massive buildup in oil and gas infrastructure, including hundreds of thousands of new oil and gas wells, as well as thousands of miles of new pipelines. However, the regulatory structure has failed to keep pace with the boom. In fact, even as pipeline spills have increased, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Agency (PHMSA), the agency that regulates pipelines, has cut staff by nine percent. As Katie Valentine of Think Progress points out: "More than 120,353 barrels of hazardous liquids, including crude oil and other petroleum products, spilled in 622 incidents in 2013, more than double the 45,934 barrels spilled in 570 incidents in 2012." Early July of this year, an oil industry waste pipeline ruptured on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, occupied by the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara tribes. The pipeline spilled over 1 million gallons of contaminated water near Bear Den Bay, a tributary of Lake Sakakawea.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Obama opens Eastern Seaboard to oil exploration July 18, 2014 ST. AUGUSTINE BEACH, FLA. — The Obama administration is reopening the Eastern Seaboard to offshore oil and gas exploration, announcing final approval Friday of sonic cannons that can pinpoint energy deposits deep beneath the ocean floor. The decision promises to create plenty of jobs and thrills the oil industry, but dismays environmentalists worried about the immediate impact as well as the long-term implications of oil development. The cannons fill waters shared by whales and turtles with sound waves 100 times louder than a jet engine. Saving endangered species was the environmental groups' best hope of extending a ban against offshore drilling off the U.S. Atlantic coast. The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management disclosed its final approval first to The Associated Press ahead of an announcement later Friday. The approval opens the outer continental shelf from Delaware to Florida to exploration by energy companies preparing to apply for drilling leases in 2018, when current congressional limits are set to expire. The bureau is moving ahead despite acknowledging that thousands of sea creatures will be harmed.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters "The bureau's decision reflects a carefully analyzed and balanced approach that will allow us to increase our understanding of potential offshore resources while protecting the human, marine, and coastal environments," acting BOEM Director Walter Cruickshank said in a statement. These sonic cannons are already in use in the western Gulf of Mexico, off Alaska and other offshore oil operations around the world. They are towed behind boats, sending strong pulses of sound into the ocean every 10 seconds or so. The pulses reverberate beneath the sea floor and bounce back to the surface, where they are measured by hydrophones. Computers then translate the data into high resolution, three-dimensional images. "It's like a sonogram of the Earth," said Andy Radford, a petroleum engineer at the American Petroleum Institute, an oil and gas trade association in Washington DC. "You can't see the oil and gas, but you can see the structures in the earth that might hold oil and gas." The surveys can have other benefits, including mapping habitats for marine life, identifying solid undersea flooring for wind energy turbines, and locating spots where sand can be collected for beach restoration. But fossil fuel mostly funds this research, which produces data held as energy company secrets and disclosed only to the government. "They paid for it, so I can see why they don't want to share. These things are not cheap," said John Jaeger, a University of Florida geology professor. The bureau estimates that 4.72 billion barrels of recoverable oil and 37.51 trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas lies beneath federal waters from Florida to Maine. Oil lobbyists say drilling for it could generate $195 billion in investment and spending between 2017 and 2035, creating thousands of jobs and contributing $23.5 billion per year to the economy. These estimates describe the total amount of energy "technically recoverable" from the outer continental shelf, which includes the seabed off New Jersey, New York and New England. But the north Atlantic zone remains off limits for now, apparently for political reasons. While some states have passed drilling bans, Virginia and the Carolinas requested the seismic surveys in an effort to grow their economies, bureau officials said Friday. In any case, the area to be mapped is farther offshore in federal waters, beyond the reach of state law. The sonic cannons are often fired continually for weeks or months, and multiple mapping projects may operate simultaneously. To get permits, companies will need to have whale-spotting observers onboard and do undersea acoustic tests to avoid nearby species. Certain habitats will be closed during birthing or feeding seasons. Still, underwater microphones have picked up blasts from these sonic cannons over distances of thousands of miles, and the constant banging — amplified in water by orders of magnitude — poses unavoidable dangers for marine life, scientists say. Whales and dolphins depend on being able to hear their own much less powerful echolocation to feed, communicate and keep in touch with their family groups across hundreds of miles. Even fish and crabs navigate and communicate by sound, said Grant Gilmore, an expert on fish ecology in Vero Beach, Fla.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters "We don't know what the physiological effects are. It could be permanent hearing damage in many of these creatures just by one encounter with a high-energy signal," Gilmore said. More than 120,000 comments were sent to the government, which held hearings and spent years developing these rules. The bureau's environmental impact study estimates that more than 138,000 sea creatures could be harmed, including nine of the world's remaining 500 north Atlantic right whales. These whales give birth and breed off the coast of Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas before migrating north each year. Many other species vital to East Coast fisheries also travel up and down the Gulf Stream. "Once they can't hear - and that's the risk that comes with seismic testing - they are pretty much done for," said Katie Zimmerman, a spokeswoman for the South Carolina Coastal Conservation League based in Charleston, S.C. "Even if there were oil out there, do we really want that? Do we really want to see these offshore rigs set up? Do we really want our tourism industry to suffer? Do we really want our environment to suffer?" she asked. Some of these animals are so scarce that intense noise pollution could have long-term effects, agreed Scott Kraus, a right whale expert at the John H. Prescott Marine Laboratory in Boston. Scientists can't even approach them without extensive permits from federal marine mammal regulators. "No one has been allowed to test anything like this on right whales," Kraus said of the seismic cannons. "(The Obama administration) has authorized a giant experiment on right whales that this country would never allow researchers to do." Before the U.S. Atlantic seabed was closed to oil exploration in the 1980s, some exploratory wells were drilled, but the region has never had significant offshore production. "One thing we find is, the more you get out and drill and explore to confirm what you see in the seismic - you end up finding more oil and gas than what you think is out there when you started," Radford said. Opposition to oil development has been abundant along the coast, where people worry that oil will displace fisheries and tourism. More than 16 communities from Florida to New Jersey passed resolutions opposing or raising concerns about the seismic testing and offshore drilling. Some states have passed The local economy is fueled by beach tourism and fishing in St. Augustine in north Florida, where rare turtles come ashore to lay their eggs. "Florida has already felt the devastating effects of an uncontrolled oil release with the Deepwater Horizon event of which cleanup efforts are still on-going," said John Morris, a county commissioner whose constituency includes St. Augustine Beach. "Any oil spill, large or small, off the coast of St. Johns County, would greatly affect the county's economy."
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Oil train derails under Seattle's Magnolia Bridge July 24, 2014 "This is a warning of how dangerous this could be," said Kerry McHugh, communications director for the Washington Environmental Council. She noted the train derailed near Puget Sound, under Seattle's Magnolia Bridge, the main connection to one of the city's neighborhoods. "The potential for environmental damage, economic damage and the disruption of people's lives is huge," she said. The train with 100 tanker cars of Bakken crude oil was heading for a refinery at Anacortes and pulling out of the Interbay rail yard at 5 mph when five cars derailed, said Burlington Northern Santa Fe spokesman Gus Melonas.
Editorial Comment:
Seattle dodged a very big bullet - this time Unable to keep these tank cars upright at 5mph!
They included one of the locomotives, a buffer car loaded with sand and three tankers. The locomotive, buffer car and one tanker remained upright. Two of the tankers tilted. One leaning at a 45-degree angle had to be pumped out and taken elsewhere for repairs, Melonas said. No one was injured in the accident and a railroad hazardous material crew was on the scene in 5 minutes, he said.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters The Seattle accident occurred on the same day the Corps of Engineers is holding a hearing in Seattle on a draft environmental statement for a pier that BP built at its Cherry Point refinery north of Bellingham to handle oil tankers and oil trains. Environmental groups planned a rally before the hearing. "There's a lot of risk associated with oil trains and right now we're not prepared to deal with them," McHugh said. Trains carrying Bakken oil from North Dakota have been supplying Washington refineries at Tacoma, Anacortes and near Bellingham. Oil train export terminals are proposed at Vancouver and Grays Harbor on the Washington coast. More people became aware of oil train dangers when a runaway train exploded in 2013 in the Quebec town of Lac-Megantic, killing 47 people. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee cited safety and environmental risks in June when he directed state agencies to evaluate oil transport in Washington. On Monday, the Seattle City Council sent a letter to U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx supporting a petition filed by environmental groups seeking an emergency ban on shipments of Bakken and other highly flammable crude oil in old style tankers known as DOT-111 cars. "The city of Seattle is deeply concerned about the threat to life, safety and the environment of potential spills and fires from the transport of petroleum by rail," the letter said. The tankers involved in the Seattle accident hold about 27,000 gallons of oil and are a newer design with enhanced safeguards. "The cars performed as designed," Melonas said. "There was no release of product." It was the first incident in the state involving an oil train, he said. "We have an outstanding safety record, and derailments have declined in Washington state over 50 percent on BNSF main lines in the past decade," he said. The accident also alarmed Fawn Sharp, president of the Quinault Indian Nation on the Washington coast and president of the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians. "It was sheer luck that the cars, carrying 100 loads of Bakken crude oil, didn't spill or even catch fire. If that had occurred, the chances are there would have been tragic loss. If fire had occurred, the odds are it would have burned out of control for days and oil would have made its way into Puget Sound. People need to know that every time an oil train travels by this is the risk that is being taken," she said. Trains continued to move through the area on other tracks. Crews expect to have the derailment track repaired and reopened by midnight Thursday, Melonas said. The Seattle Fire Department responded but left when it determined there was no spill, said spokesman Kyle Moore.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Clean up crews examine the damage at a train car derailment southwest of LaSalle, Colo. on Friday, May 9, 2014. The train, loaded in Windsor with Niobrara crude bound for New York, derailed around 8 a.m. according to Union Pacific Spokesman Mark Davis. Officials found one car of the 100-car train was leaking.
Obama's DOT proposes tougher oil-train safety rules July 23, 2014
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Spurred by a boom in oil-carrying trains and several recent tragic accidents, the Obama administration proposed stricter rules Wednesday for rail cars that transport flammable fuels. U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx announced speed limits for trains carrying these fuels, tougher braking requirements, mandatory testing of oil and other volatile liquids and new design standards for rail cars. He called for the phase-out, in two years, of the most frequently used car — known as the DOT 111 — unless retrofitted to comply with the new standards. "We need a new world order" for transporting fuel by rail, Foxx told reporters at a morning news conference, noting that trains are moving a record amount of oil. He said DOT testing has found that oil produced in the Bakken shale region of North Dakota and Montana, compared to other crudes, "is on the high end of volatility" and is sometimes improperly classified by shippers as less flammable than it is.
Editorial Comment: The dots are not connected:
Burning fossil fuels is unsafe unhealthy on a global scope.
and
Fracking of Bakken shale deposit is unsafe and puts public health and environmental security in harm’s way North America’s rail infrastructure is outdated, in need of repair and woefully inadequate for transporting crude oil North America’s first responders are under resourced in the event of crude oil spills Increased crude by rail shipments and storage increases likelihood of devastating spills and explosions Increased crude by rail shipments and storage increases likelihood of terrorist activities
Also, an accompanying DOT report said Bakken crude shipments travel, on average, more than 1,000 miles to coastal refineries. "There is an increased risk of a significant incident involving this material due to the significant volume that is transported, the routes and the extremely long distances it is moving by rail," the report says. As U.S. oil production soars, especially in regions like the Bakken that lack sufficient pipeline capacity, shipments of oil by rail have skyrocketed and several derailments have raised safety concerns. In May, an oil-carrying freight train derailed in Lynchburg, Va., spilling 30,000 gallons of oil into the James River. Last year in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, an oil train exploded and killed 47 people. Members of Congress, including Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., have held hearings and urged DOT to issue tougher rules, citing the surge in rail traffic. The number of oil-carrying cars run by seven major U.S. railroads jumped from 9,500 in 2008 to 407,761 in 2013 and totaled 110,164 in the first quarter this year, according to the Association of American Railroads (AAR), an industry group. The DOT is requesting public comment on speed restrictions that include a 40-mphmaximum in all areas as well as such a limit only in high-threat urban areas or in places with at least 100,000 residents. The agency said it's also looking at a 50-mph limit for tank cars that meet the new standards and a 30-mph restriction for those that do no comply with the stricter braking requirements.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters The department's proposal, which will take months to finalize, applies to shipments with at least 20 rail cars carrying flammable fuels, including ethanol. It's the latest of several DOT efforts, including a requirement issued in May that trains carrying more than a million gallons of oil notify local emergency responders when those shipments travel through their states. Some environmentalists criticized the new proposal as weak and inadequate. "They've severely underestimated the threat of these trains to the American public," said Matt Krogh of the non-profit advocacy group Forest Ethics. "These are the heaviest, most dangerous trains on American tracks and they now pass through nearly every downtown in North America," he said, adding the worst ones are "unsafe at any speed" and should be banned immediately. Murray, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee's transportation panel and set an October deadline for federal tank car rules, called the DOT proposal "a step in the right direction." In a statement, though, she added: "There is still more work to be done, by both regulators and industry to ensure that crude oil can be transported safely by rail." AAR president Edward Hamberger said his railroad group is examining the details but sees the DOT proposal as "a much-needed pathway for enhancing the safe movement of flammable liquids." He said it incorporates several voluntary practices the industry has taken to improve safety. At an industry event last month, he said the existing fleet of oil-carrying tank cars need to be either upgraded through retrofits or older cars phased out. Railroads don't typically own tank cars. His group says DOT 111s, which are non-pressurized cars designed to carry a wide range of products, account for 228,000 of the 335,000 units in the active fleet. It says 92,000 of them move flammable liquids, such as oil and ethanol, and only 18,000 have been built to the industry's latest safety standards.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Groups Seek Ban of Oil in Older Railroad Tank Cars July 14, 2014 SEATTLE (AP) — Environmental groups asked the U.S. Department of Transportation to immediately ban shipments of volatile crude oil in older railroad tank cars, citing oil train wrecks and explosions and the agency's own findings that accidents pose an imminent hazard. The petition filed Tuesday by the Sierra Club and ForestEthics seeks an emergency order within 30 days to prohibit crude oil from the Bakken region of the Northern Plains and elsewhere from being carried in the older tank cars, known as DOT-111s. Accident investigators have reported that the cars rupture or puncture during wrecks, even at slow speeds. Shippers in North America use about 66,000 of the so-called legacy tank cars to haul flammable liquids, including about 23,000 that carry crude, according to industry representatives. The Obama administration has said it will propose a new rule this month governing tank cars that could include retrofits of older cars and tougher standards for new ones. However, that "will take too long to address the imminent hazard posed by use of dangerous DOT111 tank cars to ship crude oil," according to the petition filed by the law firm Earthjustice on behalf of the two environmental groups. It could take a year before a rule is finalized. In the meantime, the shipments are putting small towns and major cities along the rail lines at risk, the petition said. Transportation Department spokesman Ryan Daniels said the agency cannot comment on whether an outright ban is under consideration, because a formal rule-making process for the older tank cars already is underway. Since 2008, derailments of oil trains in the U.S. and Canada have seen the 70,000-gallon tank cars break open and ignite on multiple occasions, resulting in huge fireballs. A train carrying North Dakota crude in DOT-111s crashed in a Quebec town last summer, killing 47 people. "We need to get them off the tracks as soon as possible. I'd like to see a moratorium," said Ben Stuckart, Spokane City Council president. As many as 17 mile-long oil trains pass through the county that includes Spokane in a typical week. In New York, Albany County Executive Dan McCoy said he wants to see older tank cars replaced with safer models. "They really should ban them across the board, and go with the newer models," he said.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Problems with the older tank cars have been cited by safety advocates since the mid-1990s. In April, outgoing National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Deborah Hersman urged quicker action on pending tank car rules. She warned that a "higher body count" could result from further delay. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx in May advised companies to avoid using the older cars to carry the volatile oil from the Bakken region of North Dakota, Montana and parts of Canada. But the step was voluntary, and the older tank cars continue to be used. The vast majority of those cars deliver their shipments safely, said Tom Simpson, president of the Railway Supply Institute, which represents the companies that make, own and use the tank cars. "They are not rolling time bombs," Simpson said. Since 2011, more than 10,000 tank cars with more protective shells and other improved safety features have been put into service under a voluntary industry standard. Simpson said further upgrades could be made over the next decade, and older cars found to be unfit for service eventually will be retired by their owners.
Editorial Comment: The replacement tank cars have also been found to be problematic when transporting volatile products such as crude oil – Bakken or otherwise.
Regulators in Canada have moved more aggressively on the issue than their U.S. counterparts. In April, Transport Canada ordered railroads to phase out older cars within three years.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Bomb Trains: The Crude Gamble of Oil by Rail Watch, Listen, Learn HERE
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
CNRL's
'uncontrollable' bitumen spill in Alberta may have been caused by business as usual The 12,000 barrel bitumen leak could have been caused by the company's own steaming practices, rather than by faulty old wellbores as CNRL previously claimed. July 15, 2014
A new report by Canadian Natural Resources Limited admits that the company's practice of highpressure steaming may have contributed to a large oil spill that released over 12,000 barrels of bitumen for 14 months near Cold Lake, in northern Alberta. CNRL's recent admission is at odds with its previous claim that the bitumen spill was caused by flaws in legacy wellbores.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters The report said steaming operations are conducted within the oil sands of the Clearwater reservoir. The company injects steam deep underground to soften and melt the bitumen so that it can be brought to the surface in a method called high pressure cyclic steam stimulation. Another cause for the ongoing leaks could be “vertical hydraulic induced fractures”, which are cracks in the deeper rock layers or in the top layers of shale caused by steam pressure. A regulator report in 2009 had highlighted possible weak geological rock formations in the area, though the company denied that it was a relevant factor for the Cold Lake spill.
In April, the Alberta Energy Regulator gave approval for CNRL to resume steaming in the area, provided that the steaming is not done within one kilometre of the leaking sites. Environmental advocates denounced the decision at the time, saying that steaming permits should not be given prior to finding out the root cause of the ongoing leaks near Cold Lake. Asked if the latest report from CNRL would have any impact on the steaming permit, AER spokesperson Bob Curran it would not, because of the one kilometre distance between the steaming activities and the leaks. As for how CNRL's findings might affect other companies, he said it was "still under investigation". The oil spill, which was initially discovered in early 2013, was described by the company as "totally solvable" last November. But the spill is still ongoing, and does not appear to be slowing
down. CNRL Cold Lake spill causation report
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
National Energy Board orders Enbridge to cease work on pipeline in Manitoba July 25, 2013 CALGARY – The National Energy Board has ordered Enbridge Inc. to stop work along its Line 3 oil pipeline in Manitoba after an inspection earlier this month revealed numerous environmental and safety concerns.
Editorial Comment: Enbridge is the same company trying to force construction of the Northern Gateway project from Alberta’s tar sands to BC’s west coast.
Line 3 has been carrying crude between Alberta and Wisconsin for nearly half a century. Enbridge announced plans earlier this year to replace the pipeline in its entirety — a $7.5 billion undertaking that would be the largest project in the company’s history. Company spokesman Graham White said Friday the NEB order relates to regular maintenance work on the existing pipeline around Cromer, Man., not the larger replacement project. The NEB says it won’t allow work to resume until it’s satisfied the problems have been fixed by Enbridge (TSX:ENB). “During the inspection of the project, it was observed that multiple construction mitigation measures committed to by Enbridge in its Environmental Protection Plan to conserve topsoil, control erosion and manage drainage were not implemented,” the NEB said in its order. That has resulted in “numerous non-compliances observed both on and off the construction right-ofway causing environmental damage to wetlands and property damage to a substantial amount of agricultural land.” The NEB order also said erosion, lack of safe access to agricultural land and open excavations and trenchlines pose safety hazards. “The resumption of construction activities by Enbridge without a full assessment of damages would cause further detriment to property, safety of the public and the environment,” it said. Before work can continue, the NEB said Enbridge has to complete a detailed assessment of the safety and environmental issues and put together an action plan, with a detailed timetable, to address each item.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters White said Enbridge has already started working on the issues flagged by the NEB and that safety concerns will be dealt with immediately. He added flooding and heavy rainfall in late June hampered efforts to address the problems, which had been raised by a landowner and about which Enbridge was aware. The issues were related to land around the pipeline, not the pipeline itself, he said. For the full Line 3 replacement project, White said Enbridge is holding open-houses in communities along the route and plans to submit a regulatory application by the end of this year. The upgrade will allow the line to pump a maximum of 760,000 barrels per day, up from the 390,000 barrels it is currently able to move.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Arctic oil spills likely to spread across borders: study July 25, 2014 New research suggests that any type of significant oil spill in Canada's western Arctic would likely spread quickly and foul oceans around Alaska and possibly as far west as Russia. "Spills originating from the Canadian Beaufort and resulting coastal oiling could be an international issue," says the report from RPS Applied Science Associates, a global environmental consultancy. The research, funded by the World Wildlife Fund, comes as the National Energy Board prepares to consider blowout prevention plans in two separate proposals for offshore energy drilling. "The need for this information is very urgent," said David Miller, president of WWF Canada. "The National Energy Board is considering these questions now. Decisions are being made." The consultants considered 22 different oil-spill scenarios in the Beaufort Sea, off the northwest coast of the Northwest Territories. They included a fuel or oil spill from a tanker, a pipeline release and blowouts in shallow and deep water. The scenarios also varied the time of year, length and size of spill, as well as the type and timing of the cleanup.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Modelling was based on the latest data on ice, weather and ocean currents in the area. Estimates of probable spill sizes and effectiveness of cleanup measures were developed from information used by industry. The consultants found that in all cases there would be at least an up to 50 per cent chance that an oily slick would spread into Alaska. There would be up to a 10 per cent chance the oil — appearing as "sheen, scattered oil pockets under ice, or scattered tarballs" — would drift as far west as Russian waters in the Chukchi Sea. In the case of a blowout, it's almost certain that oil would spread across international boundaries, the report says. There would be up to a 25 per cent chance of affecting Russia. That probability wouldn't change much with cleanup involving chemical dispersants, although the size of the slick would be smaller. Subsurface oil contamination from a blowout would also be highly likely to spread into Alaska. "It is quite startling at how quickly and how widely they can spread, whether it's a small spill, a spill of different types of oil, or spills at different types of the season," said project co-ordinator Dan Slavik. A 2011 report commissioned by the energy board concluded that cleanup efforts after an offshore oil spill in the Arctic could be impossible at least one day in five because of bad weather or sea ice. Although research on the effects of oil spills on Arctic wildlife is incomplete, Miller pointed out the waters studied are important habitat for marine wildlife such as beluga whales. "The work shows that even with minor spills there's a major impact," he said. "There's significant risk to nature in the Arctic from these spills." Area aboriginals, who helped design the study, have a compelling interest in the issue, said Frank Pokiak of the Inivialuit Game Council. "We're interested in seeing what direction the oil goes," he said. Inuvialuit depend on seals, whales and fish from the waters that would be affected. "If there's an oil spill, it's going to be devastating for us," Pokiak said. The energy board is considering proposals from Imperial Oil (TSX:IMO) and Chevron Canada for offshore drilling in the Arctic. Current rules require them to have a second drill rig nearby to promptly sink a pressure-relieving well in the case of a blowout, which would make capping it much easier. Both companies are seeking an exemption and proposing methods they say would be equally effective and much cheaper than bringing in a second rig. The board has agreed to consider their alternatives. Imperial is to make its plans known early this fall; Chevron will wait until next year. Neither company is considering any drilling until 2020.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Coal
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Coal Train Derails En route to Columbia River Gorge
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters A coal train traveling toward the Columbia River Gorge derailed north of Pasco, Washington, on July 2, spilling coal from 31 cars, the Los Angeles Times reported. The train was transporting coal from the Powder River Basin in Wyoming to a coal export terminal in British Columbia. A small amount of coal is currently exported off the west coast of North America. Oregon and Washington are now threatened with six new coal export proposals, which together would require 30 full and 30 empty new coal trains everyday. This recent derailment may foreshadow additional problems if coal train frequency increases. The derailment, which dumped over 6,000,000 pounds of coal, blocked the busy Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) track that leads to the Columbia River Gorge and Portland, forcing BNSF to reroute trains. The Tri-City Herald reported that the derailed train blocked a public street, preventing access to a grain elevator and a home. BNSF has not disclosed the cause of the derailment. Large clouds of toxic coal dust blew from the spill. The Seattle Times documented the potential coal train impact on the Puget Sound region. Three derailments in three days Coal trains suffered three major derailments in three days on July 2nd, 3rd and 4th, 2012. In addition to the large BNSF coal crash near Pasco, Washington, a BNSF coal train derailed in Pendleton, Texas. Forty-three coal cars flipped off the tracks and spilled coal. Fortunately, no one was injured in the crash. The local news station provides video of the piled up coal cars. On July 4th, a coal train derailed and collapsed a bridge in the Chicago suburbs, causing 38 cars to derail, spilling coal, blocking the Union Pacific rail line, and shutting down traffic. The Chicago Tribune reports that two people died; workers found a car beneath the coal train wreckage. BNSF acknowledges that coal dust harms the stability of rail lines. Their website states: BNSF has determined that coal dust poses a serious threat to the stability of the track structure and thus to the operational integrity of our lines in the Powder River Basin. “These crashes serve as a stark reminder that more coal trains will cause more derailments,” stated Brett VandenHeuvel, Executive Director of Columbia Riverkeeper. “With the coal export proposals, our communities are threatened with 30 full coal trains everyday.”
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Amakusa Island bulk carrier runs aground near Prince Rupert July 15, 2014 Port officials in Prince Rupert are watching a bulk carrier very closely, and the Transportation Board of Canada (TSB) have deployed a team to assess the situation, after the ship ran aground late Monday night near the entrance to the harbour on B.C.'s North Coast. The 228-metre Amakusa Island was about 15 kilometres from Ridley Island, the coal-loading facility south of Prince Rupert. The port authority says the ship, currently flying under Japan's flag, was shifting its position from a berth at the coal terminal to its assigned anchorage, when it grounded in the outer harbour and visibly listed. A team of coast guard and other experts assessed the situation and the rising tide helped re-float the bulk carrier about four hours later. The Amakusa was able to make it to anchorage under its own power and doesn't appear to have caused any environmental damage
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Geothermal
Canada’s high temperature geothermal reserves are in British Columbia
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Hydropower
“DamNation” Watch Movie Trailer HERE 2014 DamNation Screening Schedule HERE Sign Petition to President Obama HERE: Crackdown on Deadbeat Dams
Sam Mace Inland Northwest Director Save Our Wild Salmon “Congratulations. I am so excited for this film!”
Editorial Comment: Thanks to Patagonia and project partners for DamNation – with the history of failed dams in the USA, no new dams should be built.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Site C dam a threat to $8 billion in ecological values Suzuki Foundation study tallies value of Peace River Valley for water, carbon storage, filtration and more July 30, 2014 The ecological values contained within B.C.’s Peace River Valley — site of BC Hydro’s planned Site C dam — are conservatively worth up to $8.6 billion a year, according to a report Wednesday by the Vancouver-based David Suzuki Foundation.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters The values include water supply, air filtration, flood control, water filtration, erosion control, habitat, recreational and cultural services, carbon sequestration — the benefits of which reach beyond the local area to regional, national and even international levels, the report found. The total annual ecological value for carbon stored in the Peace River Watershed is estimated at $6.7 billion to $7.4 billion a year, and the total value for the other ecosystem services at $1.2 billion annually. Foundation senior scientist Faisal Moola said that despite the fact 60 per cent of the Peace River is already affected by resource development, the “remaining farmland and natural areas have an incredible ability to generate natural wealth.” Too often these values are ignored or undervalued “when decisions are made that could destroy the region’s natural wealth,” he said The concern is that increased oil and gas development, including liquefied natural gas, as well as large infrastructure projects such as Site C dam stand to further erode those ecological values, he said. The report concentrates only on the B.C. portion of the Peace River watershed, an area of about 56,000 sq. km. Forests cover 64.4 per cent of the land base, wetlands 9.2 per cent, grasslands 7.8 per cent, snow/rock/exposed land 4.6 per cent, perennial crops/pasture 4.3 per cent, shrub land 4.2 per cent, annual cropland 2.2 per cent, water 1.4 per cent, unclassified lands, 1.8 per cent, and developed lands 0.1 per cent, A joint review panel report released May 8 into the proposed $7.9-billion Site C dam found it would have significant cumulative environmental and social effects. The reservoir would flood 83 kilometres approximately between Taylor and Hudson’s Hope in northeast B.C. The panel report concluded that the 1,100-megawatt dam is the best and cheapest alternative for new energy in the province, but that the Crown corporation has not proven that the project should proceed at this time. It suggested the B.C. Utilities Commission study the issue. However, Energy Minister Bill Bennett has said the panel failed to consider the massive power needs of the liquefied natural gas projects that government is expecting to be development in the North. The power such a dam would generate could power more than 340,000 homes. Subject to approvals, Site C construction could start in 2015 and be completed in 2023. The provincial and federal governments have up to six months to make independent decisions on the panel’s report. The foundation report says its valuations of ecosystem services are a “meaningful estimate of the magnitude of the existing ecosystem values for local communities, First Nations and policy decisionmakers to reflect on the cost of land-use change and ecological fragmentation in the study area.” It added: “The values also reflect the economic benefits of protecting and restoring the region’s ecosystems, farmlands and cultural heritage.” An earlier report by the David Suzuki Foundation and Global Forest Watch Canada calculated there are 28,587 kilometres of pipelines, 45,293 kilometres of roads and 116,725 kilometres of seismic lines used for oil and gas exploration within the Peace region.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Liquefied Natural Gas
Train carrying liquefied petroleum gas derails in Everett July 17, 2014 EVERETT, Wash. -- A train carrying liquefied petroleum gas derailed Thursday evening in Everett. A "switching incident" at about 6:30 p.m. caused four tank cars to derail at the BNSF Bayside Yard along West Marine Drive in Everett, according to BNSF spokesman Gus Melonas. The tanks were not significantly damaged and there were no gas leaks, Melonas said. Everett Fire personnel responded to the scene, but there were no injuries and the crews were quickly cleared. BNSF workers are bringing in machinery to re-rail the cars, and Melonas said the train should be ready to move by midnight.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Solar
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Government action
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Inslee Among Three West Coast Governors to Oppose Offshore Drilling August 1, 2014 OLYMPIA (AP) — The governors of California, Oregon and Washington sent a letter to Interior Secretary Sally Jewel on Thursday to stress that they don't want the possibility of drilling off of the West Coast. The Interior Department is developing an updated plan for its Outer Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program, and the governors formally stated their opposition to the inclusion of any oil or gas lease sales off the coast as part of any new plan. Govs. Jay Inslee, of Washington, Jerry Brown, of California, and John Kitzhaber, of Oregon, wrote that their three states "represent the fifthlargest economy in the world" and their ocean-dependent industries contribute billions of dollars to the region each year.
"While new technology reduces the risk of a catastrophic event such as the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill, a sizeable spill anywhere along our shared coast would have a devastating impact on our population, recreation, natural resources, and our ocean and coastal dependent economies," they wrote. The governors, all Democrats, also stressed a commitment to develop a strategy to combat climate change.
"Oil and gas leasing may be appropriate for regions where there is state support for such development and the impacts can be mitigated," they wrote. "However, along the West Coast, our states stand ready to work with the Obama Administration to help craft a comprehensive and science-based national energy policy that aligns with the actions we are taking to invest in energy efficiency, Oil and Gas Leasing Program alternative renewable energy sources, and pricing carbon." Inslee spokesman David Postman said that while there aren't any current plans for West Coast leases, the governors want to ensure there aren't any in the new plan.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
State
Sen. Jim Hargrove warns Dungeness Water Rule lawsuit could delay area development for years July 23, 2014
PORT ANGELES — A lawsuit against the Dungeness Water Rule could eliminate development from Bagley Creek to Sequim Bay for years, state Sen. Jim Hargrove said Tuesday. That's one reason why the 24th District Hoquiam Democrat is against a court challenge to the state Department of Ecology regulation, he told about 50 Port Angeles Business Association members and guests at the group's Tuesday breakfast meeting. “If this ends up in federal court, you could end up with no building in this area for years,” Hargrove told the group, estimating it could last more than half a decade. His position against a court challenge puts him at odds with the group that invited him. Hargrove is one of three state legislators who represent Clallam and Jefferson counties in Olympia. At the same meeting, PABA members pledged to fight the regulations in court by donating $500 to $1,000 — subject to being matched by other donations — to the challenge initiated by the Olympic Resource Protection Council. “This is a property rights issue that is close to the precepts of this organization,” association Vice President Tim Smith said in making the motion to donate the funds, which passed unanimously among the members attending the meeting. Critics of the rule put into effect in January 2013 have said the regulations hurt private property values by unnecessarily limiting new water use. But other interest groups, including environmentalists and Native American tribes, are beseeching Ecology to keep the protections in place, said Hargrove, who represents Clallam and Jefferson counties and about a third of Grays Harbor County. If opponents sue, those groups likely would file suit to guarantee the regulations stay in place, he predicted. “DOE is not just hearing from property owners,” Hargrove said. If the water rule is “shot down,” it could result in a federal lawsuit that could take several years to resolve, he said.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Hargrove recalled that areas of Skagit and Snohomish counties in the Skagit River Watershed were made off-limits to new construction after the water rule for the watershed was challenged by the Swinomish tribe. “The issue I am concerned about is you have endangered species [salmon] and tribal treaty rights,” Hargrove said, predicting a lawsuit could end up in the liberal-leaning 9th District federal court in San Francisco. “We do not do well fighting the tribes. We do not do well fighting the environmentalists. “I am nervous. “I want to make sure we do not screw up the county when it comes to the economy. “I do not want to say, 'I told you so.'” The rule restricts new water usage in the Dungeness River Basin from Bagley Creek to Sequim Bay — the eastern half of Water Resource Inventory Area 18 — to protect the resource for human use and aquatic species, especially during dry summer months. It requires water users to offset water they draw from the basin for new uses in order to preserve water in the Dungeness River. New fees of $1,000 are required for new in-home water use, including washing a car or watering patio plants. The fees are covered for private homeowners from a state-funded water bank in 2014. Fees of $2,000 and $3,000 required for watering lawns, depending on the size, are not covered by the water bank. Sheila Roark Miller, Clallam County Department of Community Development director who is running for re-election, said at the meeting that water rule critics “wanted to see a little more give” for outdoor uses such as watering stock. That is allowed under the water rule if a fee is paid that is not covered by a water bank. Hargrove said, “You still have the opportunity to amend any rule in state government.” He said rainwater can be collected and used to water stock if the county approves. “We are willing to work with you guys,” Hargrove told PABA. Greg McCarry, president of the Olympic Resource Protection Council, said he does not believe the lawsuit will end up in federal court. The council decided in April to sue the state over the Dungeness Water Rule. The case, which likely would be filed in Thurston County Superior Court, would cost an estimated $100,000 to $150,000, McCarry, who lives in Sequim, said April 4. He said Tuesday the group has raised more than half of what it needs to file suit. He said the council was forced to choose a lawsuit after Ecology officials said they were not interested in pursuing changes in what the council said were unrealistically high estimates of existing water flow.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters “The state Supreme Court said if you assign a water right, you have to prove the water is there,” McCarry said. “[Ecology] used best-available science for fish. “That doesn't follow the state law, and that's what we are challenging. “If this brings Ecology to the table for legitimate discussion, that's great,” he said. “The Legislature could change this, but they haven't got the appetite, either. “I don't know where he expects us to go if we want to amend the rule.” Ecology rejected a petition by the council to negotiate changes to the rule earlier this year, saying concerns could be addressed administratively instead.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
EU fines Marine Harvest €20m over Morpol takeover July 23, 2014 The European Commission has imposed a fine of €20 million on Marine Harvest for acquiring Morpol without having received prior authorization under EU merger regulation. Marine Harvest announced it will likely appeal the decision in EU court, saying the “size of the fine appears to deviate significantly from similar cases where fines have been applied by the commission”. In a notice on July 22, the EU commission said an investigation concluded that Marine Harvest should have been aware of its obligations to notify and await clearance from the commission before proceeding with the acquisition of 48.5% of Morpol in December 2012.
Editorial Comment: This article, along with the Protect Wild Salmon Rally coverage in this issue of Legacy, further documents unethical practices by some corporations and countries bound by trade agreements to protect consumers and the environment from impacts of relaxed trade regulations. Citizens demand and deserve fair pricing and the protection of our natural resources.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters As previously reported, the commission had warned that Marine Harvest could face a fine of up to 10% of its turnover for having failed to notify the EC of its intention to acquire Morpol before the merger was actually implemented. In the end, the fine is equivalent to approximately 1% of Marine Harvest’s 2013 turnover (NOK 19.19bn or €2.3bn). Speaking to Undercurrent News in March, Marine Harvest had said it did not expect the fine to be anywhere near the 10% mark. “Marine Harvest does not expect such fine to be material,” the company subsequently said in April. In a response on July 22, Marine Harvest disputed the commission’s findings. The world’s largest salmon farmer argued it acted in accordance with the requirements of the exception applying to public takeovers in its acquisition of Morpol. “The takeover of Morpol was structured as an acquisition of the initial shareholding followed by an immediate mandatory offer. Marine Harvest made it clear to both the market and Morpol that no control would be taken before the acquisition had been cleared by the EU,” said Marine Harvest. The company says it notified the commission immediately following the acquisition and “loyally adhered” to the principle of not exercising its shareholders rights in Morpol until the commission had cleared the transaction. The firm added it has, throughout the period of the commission’s review, cooperated fully with the commission. The Oslo-listed company added that the size of the fine appears to deviate significantly from similar cases. “Marine Harvest will now carefully consider the options available to it,” said the company. “It appears, however, more likely than not that the decision to fine the company will be referred to the EU courts.” The fine and investigation have no impact on the commission’s approval of the transaction, which it issued on Sept. 30. Under EU merger regulation, mergers and acquisitions with an EU dimension – in particular because they meet certain turnover thresholds – must be notified to and authorized by the European commission before they are implemented. According to the commission, this so-called “standstill obligation” is a “cornerstone” of the EU merger control system, as it allows the commission to identify whether the concentration raises competition concerns and, if the companies do not submit commitments that address them, to prohibit the transaction and prevent it from taking place. “This prior scrutiny is a key safeguard that protects direct customers and final consumers from the harm that anti-competitive mergers could create – through higher prices, lower product quality, or fewer incentives to innovate,” said the commission.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters The EC’s main finding is that by acquiring a 48.5% stake in Morpol on Dec.18, 2012, Marine Harvest had acquired de facto sole control over Morpol. “Indeed, the commission’s investigation found that following this transaction Marine Harvest enjoyed a stable majority at the shareholders’ meetings, because of the wide dispersion of the remaining shares and previous attendance rates at these meetings.” According to the commission: “Marine Harvest implemented the acquisition eight months before the formal notification to the commission took place, and over nine months before the commission authorized it, in breach of Articles 4(1) and 7(1) of the EU merger regulation.” The EC said it decided on the level of the fine by assessing “the gravity and duration (in this case, over nine months) of the infringement, as well as mitigating and aggravating circumstances”. Being a “large European company with wide previous experience and familiarity with EU merger control rules”, Marine Harvest “should have been aware of its obligations to notify the acquisition of Morpol and obtain clearance before closing the transaction, and that its failure to comply with these obligations amounts to negligent conduct”, said the commission. The EC also considered that the infringement was “particularly serious” because the merger could have given rise to competition problems. The transaction was only cleared by the commission on Sept. 30 on the condition that Morpol and Marine Harvest divest some of their UK salmon farms, which they did in early 2014, by selling to Cooke Aquaculture. The transaction, as originally implemented, “had raised serious doubts as to its compatibility with the internal market, and was only cleared by the commission after the submission of significant remedies”, said the EC. “In these circumstances, the implementation of the transaction before its conditional clearance could have given rise to competition problems.” There were some mitigating factors, however, in particular the fact that Marine Harvest did not exercise its voting rights in Morpol after having acquired control over it. The EC also said it “attached particular importance to the fact that Marine Harvest informed [it] through pre-notification contacts shortly after the closing of the transaction”. Based on the above, a fine of €20m is “both proportionate and adequate to ensure sufficient deterrence”, said the commission. The merger of Marine Harvest and Morpol would have combined two of the largest farmers and primary processors of Scottish salmon. “The merged entity would have had high market shares and its competitors would have been unable to exert a sufficient constraint on it,” said the commission. “The acquisition would likely have led to price increases which could have ultimately harmed consumers.”
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Wild Game Fish Management
The Future of British Columbia’s Wild Salmon Saving Wild Salmon by Changing the Way We Fish Jul 16, 2014 Watch, Listen, Learn, Get Involved HERE
Narrator Bruce Greenwood joins First Nations, fishermen, conservationists, and other experts to explain how we can save wild Pacific salmon and eat them, too, by changing the way we fish
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
First
Nation group expresses concern over commercial salmon fishery opening before conservation levels met July 28, 2014
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters The Gwa’sala-‘Nakwaxda’xw Nations has expressed its concern over the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) Canada’s opening of a commercial sockeye fishery before agreed-upon salmon count levels have been met. The fishery is located in Smith Inlet on British Columbia’s central coast. The First Nation group said that the DFO had previously stated that a fishery wouldn’t open until a minimum count of 100,000 salmon passed through a counting fence located at Docee Creek. The Gwa’sala-‘Nakwaxda’xw said there have been fewer than 75,000 sockeye counted. “We are really surprised by this,” said elected Chief Paddy Walkus. “We didn’t go fishing for food fish out of concern for taking appropriate conservation steps. Now they have gone and opened a commercial fishery without consulting us at all.” The Gwa’sala-‘Nakwaxda’xw has six reserves, including traditional villages and fishing stations, around Smith Inlet. Walkus said it has been fishing the area “since time immemorial,” and that the DFO is supposed to give their constitutionally protected rights priority over commercial interests. “It is really amazing to us that they can’t even observe their own conservation targets, let alone ensure we have sufficient food and livelihood,” Walkus said. A representative for the Gwa’sala-‘Nakwaxda’xw said this isn’t the first time this situation has come up; something similar happened in 2011. As of press time, the DFO has not provided Business in Vancouver with a response.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Grizzly bear 'highway' uncovered in B.C. rainforest Heiltsuk's 3-year study in Koeye River habitat uncovers more bears, and a wider range July 21, 2014 New research from the Heiltsuk First Nation points to a sort of bear highway through the Great Bear Rainforest on B.C.'s Central Coast. William Housty, a director with the Qqs Society, says the grizzly bears that were studied are travelling hundreds of kilometres each year along preferred routes — and one trail in particular along the salmonproducing Koeye River.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters "The bears walk in the same steps every time. Their feet are imprinted in the trail," he told CBC News. "You can follow these trails and really walk the same highway the bears walk." Researchers from the Heiltsuk First Nation, combining traditional knowledge with scientific principles and techniques, have not only determined the grizzlies' territory is likely much larger than they expected, but they've also found there are more of the salmon-feeding bears than they thought. For three years, Housty and other bear trackers have lived alongside the bears. "We were interacting with these bears, we were bumping into them on trails, and really came to the conclusion that we knew nothing," he said. Part of the study involved setting wire hair-snares scented to attract the bears to rub up against them. The researchers then collected the fur left behind, and sent the fur samples for DNA analysis to do genetic comparisons. Housty says everyone was surprised to discover there were up to 65 grizzlies living in the Koeye River system alone. "You know, it was staggering to know there was that many bears. We'd had figured that maybe we were dealing with 10 or 12 bears, based on the ones that we've seen. So it tells us a lot about the health of the system. It tells us that the salmon is fairly healthy," he said. Housty said the research has given the Heiltsuk a clearer understanding of the size and shape of the bear sanctuary. They now plan to expand their grizzly bear survey to other salmon streams in the area to help inform a management plan for the region.
Editorial Comment: The iconic wild Pacific salmon in this report and all that rely on them are in harm’s way of risks associated with:
Ocean-based salmon feedlots Oil, condensate, LNG pipelines and shipping Open pit mining Irresponsible logging practices
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Puget Sound Draft Environmental Impact Statement NOAA Fisheries is releasing for public review a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for two resource management plans (RMPs) that were submitted by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Puget Sound Treaty Tribes. One resource management plan discusses hatchery programs that produce Chinook salmon. The other plan describes steelhead, coho, pink, chum, and sockeye hatchery programs. The draft EIS will be available for public comment through Thursday, October 23, 2014. The resource management plans are the proposed frameworks through which the co-managers would jointly manage salmon and steelhead hatchery programs in Puget Sound while meeting conservation requirements specified under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Individual hatchery and genetic management plans (HGMPs) for each of the hatchery programs are appended to the plans. For more information, please contact Steve Leider at (360) 753-4650. Executive Summary Puget Sound Draft Environmental Impact Statement Resource Management Plan: Puget Sound Chinook Salmon Hatcheries Resource Management Plan: Puget Sound Hatchery Strategies for Steelhead, Coho Salmon, Chum Salmon, Sockeye Salmon & Pink Salmon List of Hatchery and Genetic Management Plans Key Topics Evaluated in the EIS Frequently Asked Questions
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters Guidance for Commenting All comments must be received no later than 5pm Pacific Time, October 23, 2014. Electronic or written comments on the draft EIS may be submitted by email, mail, or FAX to the addresses listed below. Submit comments electronically to PSHatcheryEIS.wcr@noaa.gov Submit written comment to: William W. Stelle, Jr. Regional Administrator NMFS Northwest Region 7600 Sand Point Way NE Seattle, WA 98115 FAX: (206) 526-6426 Comments may also be submitted at public workshops to be scheduled. Check back here for more information on the workshops, or contact Steve Leider, at (360) 753-4650.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
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Kingfish West Coast Adventure Tours
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Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Dave and Kim Egdorf's Western Alaska Sport Fishing Booking Now Montana: (406) 665-3489 Alaska: (907) 842-5480
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Hidden Paths - Slovenia
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Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
ProFishGuide: Coastal Fishing at its Best
I focus on Tillamook Bay and its surrounding areas because its known for huge Salmon and acrobatic Steelhead. All of the bait, tackle and rods are top quality so when you hook a trophy it won't be out of reach. All you need to bring is your fishing license, rain gear and camera. Lunches can be provided at extra cost and come highly recommended. Not only will I ensure a great trip, it is also highly educational and fun for the whole family. I currently guide in Oregon & Alaska for Salmon & Steelhead. I also have experience guiding in Idaho for trout as well as teaching Fly fishing & Fly casting. My certifications include US Coast Guard Certified license, CPR/1st aide, I also hold an Oregon & Alaska guide license, and I am fully insured.
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Silversides Fishing Adventures
Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
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Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
Rhett Weber’s Charterboat “Slammer” Reserve your 2014 Pacific Ocean fishing adventures on Slammer through Deep Sea Charters – Westport, Washington
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Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
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Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters
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Legacy – September 2014 Wild Game Fish Conservation International 2014 – Honoring Sacred Waters