Cut in Canadian government funds leaves whale group on shore–Times Colonist

Posted on September 13, 2012 by Al Bergstein

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

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Caffeine flushed into Pacific Ocean stresses marine life–CBC

Posted on August 29, 2012 by Al Bergstein

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

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Dr. Lawrence Dill Net Pen Presentation Now Online

Posted on August 23, 2012 by Al Bergstein

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.

Dr. Larry Dill on Net Pens

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BC Sockeye Season Likely to Close Again this Year – CBC

Posted on August 16, 2012 by Al Bergstein

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

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Another 300k fish culled in BC after virus hits another fish farm

Posted on August 13, 2012 by Al Bergstein

Yet another fish farm in BC has been infected. This one near Jervis Inlet.

http://www.theprovince.com/health/company+kill+Atlantic+salmon+after+virus+outbreak/7064123/story.html

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More BC Fish Farms found infected – Vancouver Sun

Posted on August 9, 2012 by Al Bergstein

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

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BC Coast Guard Union Voices Concerns over Oil Shipments

Posted on July 26, 2012 by Al Bergstein

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.

http://www.timescolonist.com/news/Jack+Knox+column+Pipeline+talk+skips+from+show+money/6992496/story.html

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Discovery of deadly salmon virus in freshwater fish puts pressure on B.C. to conduct wider study–Times Colonist

Posted on July 20, 2012 by Al Bergstein

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

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Pacific Ocean acid levels jeopardizing marine life–CBC

Posted on July 18, 2012 by Al Bergstein

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

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Land Based Aquaculture Experiment Unfolding in BC – Globe and Mail

Posted on July 9, 2012 by Al Bergstein

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.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/first-nation-has-high-hopes-for-fish-farm/article4397084/

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Sockeye salmon numbers continue to fall–CBC

Posted on July 3, 2012 by Al Bergstein

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

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Ties break down between B.C. salmon-farming firm, environmental coalition

Posted on May 28, 2012 by Al Bergstein

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.

———————————————–

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.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/ties-break-down-between-bc-salmon-farming-firm-environmental-coalition/article2444558/

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B.C. killer whale expert out of work as feds cut ocean-pollution monitoring positions–Vancouver Sun

Posted on May 22, 2012 by Al Bergstein

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

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Land Based Fish Farming in Tanks Gets Boost in B.C.

Posted on January 10, 2012 by Al Bergstein

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.

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Vic study: Oil spill would hit taxpayers hard

Posted on January 18, 2011 by Al Bergstein

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

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The Gold Rush returns, this time to the water – Island Tides

Posted on October 30, 2010 by Al Bergstein

The Canadian Government is in the process of changing the way it regulates water, a process called the “Water Modernization Act”. Similar in concept to our water planning known as WIRA. Read about it and the changes it brings to Canadians in the Island Tides article. Dowload the whole PDF of the paper.

BC government proposes more ‘flexibility’ by changing the Water Act, which dates from the gold rush. Public meetings have introduced many unanswered questions. Page 2, also letter ‘Water Modernization Act’ on Page 4

http://www.islandtides.com/

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Fraser River system revived by biggest sockeye salmon run in nearly 100 years

Posted on October 19, 2010 by Al Bergstein

It’s a great thing to see at least a one time run of sockeye come back in such great shape. It’s worth understanding that this is only one of the species of salmon, and that other runs are decimated and some species almost extinct.  So we can cheer this, but be cautious of the inevitable backlash of people who don’t believe in environmental protections (and their political supporters) using this to tell the general public that there is ‘nothing wrong’.  This is one victory for Canada, and we need to step up efforts so that we can see this kind of returns for all species of salmon. Some folks I’ve talked to who are knowledgeable seem to think that the sockeye experienced a particularly favorable year of ocean climate for them. Maybe less predators?  More food? Whatever it was, we are glad.

10/18 Globe and Mail
MARK HUME

At the mouth of what may be the world’s richest salmon river, Greg Schuler is wading slowly through a massive school of dead fish, doing fisheries research the hard way.

A senior technician with the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans, he is counting fish by hand, lifting each on a forked spear, then lopping off its tail with a razor-sharp machete to make sure it isn’t tallied twice.

“It’s all in the wrist,” he says as he cuts a salmon in half with a flick of his blade, a movement he can repeat up to 3,000 times a day.

Some of the fish have spawned in the river and washed downstream, but others have died in Shuswap Lake, before laying their eggs.

More at
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/fraser-river-system-revived-by-biggest-sockeye-salmon-run-in-nearly-100-years/article1760086/

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Coast Guard Bill – Huge win for protection of the Strait!

Posted on October 10, 2010 by Al Bergstein

-Update – Chris Dunagan goes into detail on this bill. This is really significant and is one of the most important pieces of legislation to help us protect our coasts since the Magnuson Act. Read the overview at

http://pugetsoundblogs.com/waterways/2010/10/10/coast-guard-bill-covers-safety-and-budget-issues/

President Obama is expected to sign a sweeping authorization bill that reorganizes U.S Coast Guard operations, increases maritime safety rules and calls for improved oil-spill prevention and response in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. 

This bill has been blocked for over a year, so this is great news. It is a great win for everyone who fishes, or makes a living off people enjoying the Straits. Thanks are in order to Senator Cantwell and Senator Murray, as well as all the other people behind the scenes who pushed this, like Fred Felleman,  People For Puget Sound, The Makah Nation, and many others. This has been a major effort for over 10 years. It is sad that it took losing the Gulf to get this over the hump, but we are there. Now to the House for a final vote. This also will help better protect fishermen who have the most dangerous job in America.

9/30 Seattle Times
Bill OK’d that overhauls fishing-industry safety, protects Sound
Seattle Times staff
The U.S. Senate late Wednesday night unanimously approved a Coast Guard authorization bill that includes a major overhaul of federal fishing-industry safety laws, and measures to strengthen efforts to prevent Puget Sound oil spills.
The bill was expected to soon be approved by the House of Representatives and sent to the President Obama for signing.
“It has been nearly four years in the making to get this important legislation through Congress,” said Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wa., who chaired a Senate subcommittee with jurisdiction over the legislation. “This bill establishes new safety laws on oil-spill prevention and fishing vessel safety so that we can continue to operate in these pristine waters in a safe and effective manner.
…. The oil-spill provisions will include measures to expand oil-spill response capabilities around the entrance of Strait of Juan de Fuca and increase the role of Indian tribes in the response effort. The legislation will result in oil-spill response equipment, including booms and barriers, positioned along the strait.
Approximately 600 oil tankers and 3,000 oil barges travel each year through Puget Sound and carry about 15 billion gallons of oil to Washington refineries, according to Cantwell.
More at
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2013032351_webcoastguardbill.html

Filed under: Admiralty Inlet, Government, Olympic Peninsula, Straits of Juan de Fuca | Tagged: , , | 1 Comment »

No, Double Hull Tankers Do Not Ensure ‘Total Safety’

Posted on September 28, 2010 by Al Bergstein

While this is an old story from last June, it’s only now come to our attention, and needs being shared.

From our friends north of the border on the Tyee Opinion. The whitewash from the Canadian government  and the oil industry on tanker safety in the Straits.

While 65 oil tankers traversed Burrard Inlet last year,  it’s not clear how many single hull vessels currently traverse Burrard Inlet. Is BC providing escort tugs for all these tankers?

While tankers in the US need escort tugs, freighters have never needed them. And what’s missing in this analysis is that in 2012 escort tugs come off US  tankers (not freighters) in the US, as the Magnuson act only protected us from single hull tankers. The fact that an incident hasn’t yet happened is cold comfort given the disasters in Alaska in 79, the huge number of tanker and freighter sinkings since 79, and even San Francisco’s calamity just last winter. Canada’s lackluster investigation and lack of transparency on the sinking of a ferry a year or so ago shows that the government cannot be trusted.

The issue of Canada protection for the Straits is huge. Canada has never taken adequate protection of the Straits, relying on the US to protect the whole waterway. This whole ‘special meeting’ seems like a whitewash, as just last November the Canadian government and Coast Guard was caught unawares as a freighter that was anchored at Mayne Inlet in Plumper Sound drug anchor and narrowly avoided a disaster. Captain Brown’s statement in the following article  is total PR BS, frankly, and the kind of whitewash that we have seen over the years from countless other officials of industry and the government of many countries just prior to major spills.

Last winter, as I and a few other small news organizations watched the Plumper Sound event unfold, Canadian officials were in the dark, unaware, and had to be contacted by US officials who were alerted to the issue by citizens. There were 1.2 million gallons of fuel on this freighter!  It was over a day before the Canadians had a clue, and it was not reported on any major news outlet in Canada for at least 72 hours! So excuse me if I’m underwhelmed by the government official and B.C. Chamber Stewart pronouncements….If a major disaster occurs, it will affect us as well as Canada.

Let’s be clear, a major tanker or freighter spill in the Straits or the Straits of Georgia can undo hundreds of billions of dollars of environmental work, and decades of protection efforts on our marine habitat. We cannot let PR doublespeak like this go unchallenged. There is an agenda here of trying to expand the tanker traffic for the Alberta Tar Sands pipeline for sales to China. This is all about money, not environmental safety.

more on that old story here:
http://olyopen.com/2009/11/20/update-on-canadian-tanker-grounding/

Here is the current crop of governmental bs as appropriately covered by the Tyee Opinion

___________________________________________________

9/27 The Tyee Opinion
Contrary to industry reassurances, Vancouver faces increasing risks of oil spill.
By Mitch Anderson
Is it safe? That was the question posed last July when Mayor Gregor Robertson convened a special meeting of Vancouver city council to discuss increased oil tanker traffic through the treacherous waters of Burrard Inlet.
Vancouver has quietly become <http://thetyee.ca/News/2010/06/03/VancouverOilTankers>  a major oil port, as the capacity of the Kinder Morgan pipeline from Alberta to Burnaby has recently been scaled up to 300,000 barrels per day. Every week several oil tankers squeeze through Second Narrows at the highest tides with less than two metres of water under the keel. These shipments have doubled over the last two years.
At the July meeting, Captain Stephen Brown of the B.C. Chamber of Shipping assured the city that these transits were happening in "total safety" and that "We have yet to have a pollution incident from a double hull tanker."
More at
http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2010/09/27/DoubleHullTankers/

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Protest in Victoria and Vancouver Is over Farmed Salmon

Posted on June 29, 2010 by Al Bergstein

As we work to restore wild salmon runs here on the Peninsula, a large protest against farmed salmon took place between April and June in BC. Led by wild salmon activist Alexandra Morton, she and thousands of other citizens marched the length of Vancouver Island to protest for an end to net pen salmon farming in BC waterways. The goal, to move these to land based farms, is gaining traction in BC.

This issue is important because of threats of net pen aquaculture both here in Jefferson and Clallam Counties. Rumors of native plans to institute net pen aquaculture continue to float around the Peninsula. The recently passed Jefferson County SMP did what it could to ban net pens from the waters, and force them upland. There is still a great deal of controversy over even upland pens, due to sewage runoff from the fish. 

To see what has been happening in BC, take a quick look at the following short video of the project.

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