Huge news! BC to freeze all new net pen licenses.
VANCOUVER — A B.C. government announcement Friday that no new tenure agreements would be issued for net-pen salmon farms in the Discovery Islands until 2020 was immediately welcomed by one of the strongest critics of salmon farming.
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/agriculture/government+freeze+salmon+farms+Discovery+Islands/8138579/story.html#ixzz2OIbEFoOf
Filed under: Canada, Government, Net Pens Aquaculture | Leave a Comment »
The evidence mounts that we can safely prohibit net pen fin fish aquaculture from being in our waters without killing the industry. It’s time to give some financial support to the industry to get them over the hump, and out of our waters. But this will also take the Department of Ecology and NOAA to get their scientists off the dime and on the same page as the rest of us. They have shown no intention of changing their industry hardened position on this. The courts likely will have to force them, and that challenge may come sooner than later. Here’s the latest from BC, where there is a huge movement to ban net pens,based on emerging science that is very much showing problems with the industry. However the BC government has been, until recently, hiding negative science and banishing scientists who don’t tow the industry line. This is a small glimpse at the work being done there to change that. It doesn’t have to be the industry argument of “jobs or environment” . It can and should be both.
It’s technologically possible to raise salmon in closed containment pens but questions remain whether it’s financially viable for the aquaculture industry, says a parliamentary report released Thursday. The report, by members of the House of Commons’ standing committee on fisheries and oceans, was delivered Thursday and included testimony from all sides of the controversial issue of closed containment aquaculture.
Judith Lavoie reports.
Closed-pen fish farms offer challenges and opportunities: study
Filed under: Aquaculture, Canada, fisheries, Net Pens Aquaculture | 3 Comments »
A good update by a helicopter pilot who has flown on the BC Coast for many years, and what he’s seeing is quite more than what we have been told so far in the press. It’s piling up out there. Complete with video.
Again, experts seem to think that there is no threat from radiation, though we are unsure how much monitoring has been going on. Our recommendation is to *not* pickup debris, as it could have toxic contaminents or be radioactive. There likely will be more official cleanup efforts in the spring.
Tsunami debris litters B.C. beaches
Filed under: Canada, Tsunami Debris | Leave a Comment »
Well, this is an interesting turn of events. Canadian native leaders decide that if the Federal Government won’t protect the waters, they will. Wonder if our tribes will follow suit.
First nations leaders are expected to sign a declaration of indigenous law banning pipelines, tankers and oilsands in British Columbia at a Vancouver press conference tomorrow. The Save the Fraser Declaration, signed by 130 first nations will be presented by National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations Shawn Atleo on behalf of the Yinka Dene Alliance, several B.C. groups who have banned the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline from their territories. Mayor Gregor Robertson is also expected to attend and read a proclamation from the City of Vancouver. Mike Hager and Dene Moore report. B.C.
Filed under: Canada, First Nations | Tagged: oilsands, pipeline | Leave a Comment »
If you see something out of the ordinary out there, you’ll now know what it is.
A massive fin whale cruised up the Strait of Georgia to Johnstone Strait this week for the first time in recorded history. “It was photographed off Campbell River and off Nanaimo. It is the first confirmed sighting of a fin whale in Georgia Strait,” said Jared Towers, a Fisheries and Oceans cetacean research technician who has spent the summer doing photo identification of the growing number of fin whales in Hecate Strait and Caamano Sound. Judith Lavoir reports.
http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/Rare+whale+surfaces+Strait+Georgia/7278430/story.html
Filed under: Canada, Sea Life, strait of georgia, Whales | Tagged: fin whale | Leave a Comment »
The cuts to environmental organizations continue as the conservative governement that has taken control of all aspects of the Federal government of Canada continue to their attack on anything that smacks of environmental protection or slowing business interests in exploitation.This affects us as it affects Canada’s efforts to protect the Orcas that pass between us and them on a regular basis.
A non-profit group that keeps an eye on boaters and whale-watchers around Victoria and Alert Bay has been beached after being denied funding by Environment Canada The Straitwatch program, run by the Cetus Research and Conservation Society, has two Zodiac boats and does on-the-water education and monitoring to reduce disturbances to the endangered southern resident and threatened northern resident killer whales.
http://www.timescolonist.com/technology/government+funds+leaves+whale+group+shore/7235303/story.html
Filed under: Around the Sound, Canada, Government | Tagged: orca | Leave a Comment »
So my question is: Is Caffeine ‘legacy’ as well as modern? Does it have a half life? Is this the caffeine that was dumped by our fathers in the 30s into the Sound after drinking coffee? Or is it modern?
Caffeine has become a significant pollutant in the ocean off the U.S. Pacific Northwest, according to a university researcher. Elise Granek, a marine ecologist at Portland State University in Oregon, sampled waters up and down the Oregon coast and found measurable levels of caffeine…Granek, who did all her initial research in the waters off Oregon, said she’s curious about caffeine levels in the Strait of Juan de Fuca between southern Vancouver Island and the Washington coast. That’s where Victoria pumps untreated sewage effluent directly into its coastal waters, and won’t have a sewage treatment facility in place until 2018.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2012/08/28/bc-ocean-caffeine.html
Filed under: Around the Sound, Canada, Olympic Peninsula, Water Pollution | Tagged: caffeine, strait of juan de fuca, Victoria | Leave a Comment »
If you are concerned about the latest proposals to bring net pen aquaculture to the Strait of Juan de Fuca (5 miles west of Port Angeles), or are concerned and unclear about the current standoff by the Department of Ecology and the Jefferson County Commissioners over allowing in water net pen aquaculture in Jefferson County (through the Shoreline Master Program updated), then you should take the time to listen to this lecture (it runs over an hour in total). It is, to be sure, one of the most comprehensive overviews of the possible negative impact of net pens I’ve ever heard, and is based on research done just north of us, in BC. While Dr. Dill clearly states that there are variations of environment between there and here, the issues are ones that we may face if they are allowed here. Then again, as pointed out in the Q&A session at the end, by the manager of one of the net pen companies south of Bainbridge Island, some of these issues have not shown up (though that comment was not based on peer review independent scientific research, but on experiential information. It was not independently verified and simply is presented as the point of view of the farm manager).
Dr.Dill is one of the foremost researchers on sea lice, and has a lot to say about the “possible” negative impacts of net pen aquaculture based on years of scientific, peer reviewed, published work. He was brought to lecture in Port Angeles last week, by a consortium of environmental groups concerned about the proposals for net pen aquaculture in Jefferson and Clallam counties lately. The event was sponsored by the Coastal Watershed Institute, Wild Salmon Center, Sierra Club Activist Network, and Olympic Peninsula Chapter Surfrider Foundation.
His talk was titled:
Evolutionary & Behavioral Ecology and Earth2Ocean Research Groups of Simon Fraser University, British Columbia, Canada presented:
POTENTIAL NEGATIVE ECOLOGICAL CONSEQUENCES OF OPEN NET PEN SALMON AQUACULTURE: LESSONS FROM BRITISH COLUMBIA
The discussion included:
• The impacts that salmon farms can have on wild salmon stocks
• Recent research on sea lice and other pathogens.
• How the iconic Fraser River sockeye salmon have been put at risk by salmon aquaculture.
• Degradation of the bottom communities below the farms.
• Pollution, by-catch of other fish species, escapes, and inadvertent or intentional reduction of marine mammal populations.
• New potential open pen aquaculture projects near Port Angeles.
The introduction by Anne did not have a microphone so it’s a bit noisy. Dr. Dill did have a microphone on, so it sounds better when you get to him speaking. The video was published in two parts. A shorter 10+ minutes to allow you to get the gist of the presentation, and the rest of the presentation in Part 2. The audio podcast is presented in it’s entirety.
You can view Part 1 of the lecture online at https://vimeo.com/47903851.
Part 2 is located at
https://vimeo.com/47906547
Or you can listen to it online at:
http://soundcloud.com/mountainstone/dr-lawrence-dill-netpens
I am adding the links above to the “Educational” links on the left hand side of the front page. You can always find it there if you need to refer to it later. Thanks to Dr. Dill for allowing the sponsoring groups to videotape the presentation, and offer it to those who were unable to make it to the discussion.
Filed under: Aquaculture, Canada, Jefferson County, Olympic Peninsula, Salmon | Tagged: aquaculture, Dr. Larry Dill, net pens, sea lice | Leave a Comment »
Just yesterday I heard the well worn argument by an opponent of environmental protections saying in a public meeting that the record return of BC Sockeye in 2010 was proof that scientists didn’t know what they were talking about. Well, it was a short lived record year.
British Columbia’s lucrative commercial and recreational sockeye salmon fishery is not likely to open this year, as Fisheries and Oceans Canada says there are simply not enough fish coming back.
Although there has been enough returning fish to fill the spawning grounds and open an aboriginal fishery, numbers have actually started to decrease.
In order for a commercial fishery to operate, the number of summer run sockeye salmon would have had to be roughly double last week’s count.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2012/08/15/bc-sockeye-salmon-fishery.html
Filed under: Canada | Tagged: british columbia, Salmon, sockeye | Leave a Comment »
Yet another fish farm in BC has been infected. This one near Jervis Inlet.
Filed under: Canada | Tagged: british columbia, canada, fish farming, fish kill, fish pens, IHN | Leave a Comment »
Two B.C. fish farms will cull their fish this week after receiving confirmation of a virus that can be deadly to Atlantic salmon. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has confirmed that infectious haematopoetic necrosis, or IHN, has been found in salmon at Grieg Seafood’s farm at Culloden Point on Jervis Inlet and Mainstream Canada’s farm at Millar Channel in Clayoquot Sound. Judith Lavoie reports.
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Virus+confirmed+salmon+farms+cull+fish/7063701/story.html
Filed under: Canada | Tagged: canada, fish farming, fish kill, IHN, virus | Leave a Comment »
The battle for protection of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the BC Coast goes on north of the border. The BC union of Coast Guard workers came out yesterday against Canadian Government proposals to slash the vessel monitoring stations along the coast. Additionally, they are looking to ease vessel call in rules as they approach the Strait. As stated in this column in earlier entries, our government and tribes ought to be protesting loudly to the Canadians about this issue. In a few years it will be too late.
Filed under: Canada, Government, Oil Spills, Threats | Tagged: british columbia, canada, Coast Guard, oil spill, pipeline | Leave a Comment »
Just north of us, over the Strait, we are now seeing the spread of the Piscine reovirus (PRV) that has been affecting farmed salmon show up in fresh water trout. Our county commissioners are continuing their standoff with the State on the issue of allowing salmon farms here in our county.
Discovery of Salmon Virus in Trout
Filed under: Around the Sound, Canada, Fish Farming, Salmon | Leave a Comment »
Interviews with researchers presented on the Canadian Broadcasting Channel highlights that the ocean is growing acidic faster than anyone thought. No new science is actually presented, but the existing science is highlighted for a lay audience.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2012/07/16/bc-ocean-acidification.html
Filed under: Around the Sound, Canada, Climate Change, ocean acidification | Tagged: canada, research | Leave a Comment »
While our County Commissioners continue a stand off with the State Department of Ecology over permitting (or not) fish farms in the county shoreline master program, there is a Canadian “First Nation” experiment happening to see if fish can be farmed economically on land, as our commissioners are requesting. The Namgis Tribe will be funding this, and I would assume our State should take a hard look at whether this works or not.
Filed under: Aquaculture, Canada, First Nations | Leave a Comment »
Canada has been quite smug over the last years about how their salmon numbers seem better than the those in the US. Many have recognized that this was only because of the lack of development in BC as compared to the US Northwest. Watching the suburbs explode into salmon spawning areas east of Vancouver it was easy to see that there was no protection of the habitat over the last decade. It’s only been a matter of time, rather than stewardship.
Now research delves into the productivity of sockeye, who’s numbers have been crashing. The research shows this decline is across an entire coast. While local issues can affect the runs, the problem may be much larger than expected.
Sockeye salmon adult populations in widespread decline http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2012/07/03/sockeye-salmon-productivity.html
Filed under: Canada, Salmon, Sockeye | Leave a Comment »
As the spread of INH virus keeps moving through BC salmon farms, the relationships that were put in place to work towards avoiding this very situation start to fray.
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A unique relationship meant to reduce conflict between environmental groups and British Columbia’s largest salmon farming company has fallen apart. The Coastal Alliance for Aquaculture Reform and Marine Harvest Canada confirmed Saturday that the project, known as the Framework for Dialogue, is officially over.
Filed under: Canada, Salmon, Threats | Tagged: IHN, salmon farming, virus | Leave a Comment »
Canada’s only marine mammal toxicologist at the Institute of Ocean Sciences on Vancouver Island is losing his job as the federal government cuts almost all employees who monitor ocean pollution across Canada. Peter Ross, an expert on killer whales and other marine mammals, was the lead author of a report 10 years ago that demonstrated Canada’s killer whales are the most contaminated marine mammals on the planet. He has more than a 100 published reports.
Canadian Killer Whale Expert Laid Off from Budget Cuts
Filed under: Canada, Government | Tagged: killer whale, orca | Leave a Comment »
Fish farm proposal gets $800,000 boost from federal government
A unique fish farm proposal, designed to grow commercial volumes of salmon in tanks on land, was given an $800,000 government boost Monday.
"The industry is developing new technologies that will make our country a world leader in aquaculture and create jobs and opportunities here at home," said federal Fisheries Minister Keith Ashfield, speaking in Campbell River.
Ashfield handed almost $1 million to four Vancouver Island aquaculture companies and announced the acquisition of six new Vancouver Island-built vessels that will allow the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to monitor fish farms and enforce regulations.
Read more: Fish Farming in BC gets $800k Grant
Alf Says: This is what our political leadership should be doing here. Getting creative about using funds to prove this and get the possibility of netpens in our waters off the table.
Filed under: Canada | Tagged: net pens | Leave a Comment »
1/14 Vancouver Sun
Environmental Law Centre says compensation on civil liability for damage tops out at $1.3B
By Scott Simpson, Vancouver Sun
Oil-spill compensation from industry is just a drop in the bucket compared to what would be needed to recover from a catastrophic spill off B.C.’s coast, according to a new report.
Spill compensation, including oil-tanker insurance and an international convention on civil liability for oil-pollution damage, tops out at $1.3 billion, according to a study by the University of Victoria’s Environmental Law Centre released Thursday by Living Oceans Society.
That’s roughly one-third of the cleanup and compensation costs of the 1989 Alaskan Exxon Valdez spill, and the Exxon spill doesn’t even rank in the top 30 largest global spills.
More at
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/UVic+study+spill+would+taxpayers+hard/4107158/story.html
Filed under: Canada, Jobs, Oil Spills | Leave a Comment »
