As if we needed another problem for our dwindling salmon stocks to face, now this.
New viruses discovered in endangered wild Pacific salmon populations
— Read on science.ubc.ca/news/new-viruses-discovered-endangered-wild-pacific-salmon-populations
Filed under: fisheries, Puget Sound | Tagged: Puget Sound, Salmon, virus | Comments Off on New viruses discovered in endangered wild Pacific salmon populations | UBC Science – Faculty of Science at the University of British Columbia
Here’s a simple thing that all of us, myself included, can do to slow global warming. The article points out that food waste, the excess food that groceries and restaurants dump, along with the food that you and I throw out because it never got used in our fridges, is another significant cause of global warming. Why? Because all of it had used fossil fuel to plant, harvest and transport, and then, after it was near or after its’ use by date, was transported from the store to either a food bank, or landfill where it was composted, both using fossil fuel to do that job, and by the methane generated by it rotting in the landfill.
I’ve gone to using my bike to make much more frequent trips to the grocery store, or combining those trips with other trips. I buy in much smaller amounts, such as a quart rather than a gallon of milk. I rotate my vegetables and check the drawer daily. I’ve gone to buying less fruits and veggies at the market, more 1 at a time, rather than three or four that might sit and go to waste.
Here in Port Townsend, I know that the food bank works with NW Harvest and the local groceries to do their best to work excess food into the hands of those that need it and are not able to afford it.
Our refrigerators are geared towards waste. Very few of us really need the size of refrigerator that we have, but unless you design your kitchen yourself, all standard kitchens use about the same size large refridgerators. This is not true in Europe. And not having a standard refrigerator affects your house’s resell value. It’s all of a piece, that we are designing our way to a warming planet.
While a freezer does help reduce waste by prolonging the foods use by date, it also contributes to global warming itself.
The best we can do is to think through our food use. Slow the buying habit. As a challenge, try to buy your food the day you plan to eat it.
And perhaps discuss this with your local grocers. They want your business! It’s a low margin business.
www.nytimes.com/2019/09/08/business/food-waste-climate-change.html
Filed under: Puget Sound | Tagged: Food Waste, global warming, Puget Sound | Comments Off on The World Wastes Tons of Food. A Grocery ‘Happy Hour’ Is One Answer. NY Times
Growing Blueberries Workshop – Wed September 18th *New*
If you are interested in blueberry production, then this workshop is for you! Come on out and gain knowledge and practical experience with WSU specialists and local farmers! Workshop topics will include soil management and nutrient needs for optimal blueberry production, pruning for controlling bush size and concentrating ripening earlier in the season, pathogens including phomopsis twig blight and mummy berry, weed management, and spotted wing drosophila and other pests. Guest speakers include Lisa DeVetter Assistant Professor, Small Fruit Horticulture, Beverly Gerdeman – WSU Assistant Research Professor in Entomology and Janet Aubin Farmer, Finnriver Farm. Janet will walk us through her 25 year old and 2 year old blueberry fields. Cost is $25 per person (*scholarship assistance available, please contact Kellie Henwood at least two weeks before the event or call (360) 379-5610 ext. 201. Preregistration required, click here.
Time: 9:00 a.m. – noon. Location: Finnriver Home Farm, 142 Barn Swallow Rd., Chimacum
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WSU Master Gardener Training’ Course – Class starts September 16th *New*
Interested in becoming a Master Gardener? The next WSU Master Gardener Training class starts soon! This eleven-week course includes professional education from WSU educators via online training, lectures from local experts and field trips to outstanding local and regional gardens. Upon completion, participants give back to the community by volunteering in one of our many programs, including our Growing Groceries class, WSU Seed Library, food bank gardens, native plant outreach, and Plant Clinics. Lectures and field trips take place on Thursdays; September 12th through November 21st from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. The class is held at the Jefferson County Library and the WSU Classroom in Port Hadlock. . Cost is $265. For more details click here, or contact Bridget Gregg.
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Beyond Waste Action Group – Local 20/20 – Tues September 10th
The Beyond Waste Action Groupmeets the second Tuesday of each month at either 10:30 a.m.-12:00 or 7pm-8:30pm, depending on the month. The group looks at a number of issues including food-waste composting, plastics reduction and recycling, reduction of garbage on an individual and community level, and various other waste-related topics that spontaneously come up during the meeting. Newcomers are always welcome. Email Lisafor info on monthly agenda and meeting time and venue. Location: Uptown PT.
Time: 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. Location: contact Lisa.
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Over the last few years, since Trump came to power, I have been hearing about companies, some here in the NW engaged in shellfish farming, that have been quietly spending tens of thousands of dollars lobbying the Federal government to strip away the capability of local jurisdictions, such as county, state and tribal governments, to create local rules that could stymie the businesses operations or licensing by the federal government, under the Clean Water Act. A goal of theirs has been to take away the ability of local environmentally concerned organizations to sue, other than at the federal level. Now, it appears the Trump administration is acting on their lobbying efforts. Think about fish farming, pulp mills, or any other activity covered under the Clean Water Act.
The rules specifically would restrict these non-federal governments’ authority to review the water quality impacts of projects that require a federal permit or license. These projects range from pipelines to hydropower facilities to dredging — any development that result in “discharge” into U.S. waters.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before October 21, 2019. ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA–HQ– OW–2019–0405, at https://www.regulations.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lauren Kasparek, Oceans, Wetlands, and Communities Division, Office of Water (4504–T), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: (202) 564–3351; email address: cwa401@epa.gov.
Read the whole legal document (very long, very difficult to follow if not a environmental lawyer) at
Array
https://www.opb.org/news/article/federal-water-quality-rules-energy-infrastructure/
Filed under: Aquaculture, Environmental Law, Environmental Protection, Government, legislation, Puget Sound | Tagged: Air Pollution, Environmental Protection, Government Legislation, Puget Sound | 3 Comments »
From the Department of Ecology:
This message is about the Port Angeles Rayonier Mill located at 700 N. Ennis Street in Port Angeles.
The Department of Ecology will hold a public comment period from August 29 to October 28, 2019, to provide an opportunity for you to comment on three reports (Volumes I, II, III, see below). You can submit comments online during the comment period.
We will hold an Open House on September 25, 2019, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Olympic Medical Center, Linkletter Hall, 939 Caroline Street in Port Angeles to answer your questions about the reports and the Rayonier Mill cleanup.
The three reports for your review and comment are available at the Rayonier Mill webpage:
A Fact Sheet briefly summarizes information from the reports and contains information about the public comment period and open house.
These reports are available at the Port Angeles Public Library (360-417-8500) and at the Department of Ecology in Lacey (by appointment, call 360-407-6365).
For questions regarding the cleanup, please contact the Cleanup Site Manager, Marian Abbett or (360) 407-6257.
For questions regarding public involvement, please contact me.
Kind regards,
Nancy Davis, Ph.D.
Community Outreach and Environmental Education Specialist
Washington Department of Ecology | Toxics Cleanup Program | Southwest Regional Office
PO Box 47775, Olympia, WA 98504-7775
Tel. 360.407.0067 | Fax 360.407.6305
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From Peter Bahls.
Dear Friends of Tarboo Creek and Dabob Bay,
I am happy to report that thanks to your generous support, Northwest Watershed Institute has raised the remaining funding needed to conserve the Tarboo forest addition. We could not have done it without you! THANK YOU!
As you may recall, Northwest Watershed Institute purchased the beautiful 21-acre forest last fall with private loans to prevent it from being clearcut and developed. Your contributions combined with grant funding from the Jefferson County Conservation Futures fund will allow us to pay off the loans and secure it as a permanent part of NWI’s Tarboo Wildlife Preserve. Thanks to your help, we plan to move ahead with putting a conservation easement on the property in November 2019 to preserve wildlife habitat, store carbon, and sustain selective harvest of forest products.
For more background on the project – please see news article at https://www.peninsuladailynews.com/news/nwi-seeks-to-add-forestland-store-carbon/
Regards, Peter Bahls, Executive Director
Northwest Watershed Institute
3407 Eddy Street
Port Townsend, WA 98368
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Good new information on the danger of a tsunamis to us in the Salish Sea. This clarifies that you *have* to get to higher ground quickly, even if you think you are safe. Think about Kai Tai Lagoon and San Juan Avenue in Port Townsend. A fast moving 10 foot wave could easily swamp San Juan from both the North Beach side and the Port Townsend Bay side, coming at people from both directions as they were fleeing down San Juan. Don’t think it’s possible? Review the videos from survivors of the Japanese tsunamis.
The simulation shows 10-foot-tall waves or higher moving through Hood Canal.
Filed under: Around the Salish Sea, Around the Sound, Puget Sound | Tagged: hood canal, Puget Sound, tsunami | Comments Off on Simulation shows how fast tsunamis could move through Puget Sound after ‘The Big One’ – The Olympian
More evidence of bad enviromental behavior. Just say no to cruise ships.
1.54 billion liters of grey water were generated by ships off the British Columbia coast in 2017 – the equivalent of more than 600 Olympic-size swimming pools, said a study. World Wildlife Fund Canada says cruise ships traveling between Washington state and Alaska are responsible for dumping “the vast majority” of the potentially toxic grey water that ends up off the B.C. coast each year. Cruise ships accounted for 1.37 billion (almost 90%) of the 1.54 billion liters of grey water generated off the B.C. coast in 2017, the study revealed. Shailaja A. Lakshmi reports. (Marine Link)
Cruise Ships Dump 90% Of Grey Water In BC
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The pieces to the salmon puzzle continue to come in from the various angles of research being done. The scientists in this article don’t claim to be have the sole answer but are raising questions that run counter to the narrative that the hatchery supporters want to tell. This is healthy debate and given the stakes for our last great fishery, are worth putting more money into determining whether these root causes or not.
Biological oceanographer Sonia Batten experienced her lightbulb moment on the perils of too many salmon three years ago as she prepared a talk on the most important North Pacific seafood you’ll never see on a plate — zooplankton.
https://www.apnews.com/e589a757f4fd48869af6e17845c5c857
And this follow up story showed up from KUOW
Sockeye salmon are returning to Lake Washington in the smallest numbers since record-keeping started.
As of early August, 17,000 sockeye had returned from the ocean, compared to hundreds of thousands inat their peak years.
https://kuow.org/stories/slowly-slipping-away-sockeye-numbers-at-ballard-locks-reach-record-lows
Filed under: fisheries, Puget Sound | Tagged: alaska, fishing, pink salmon, Puget Sound, Salmon | Comments Off on Pink salmon numbers may threaten other North Pacific species – AP
More warning signs that we are heading for environmental trouble.
When scientists pursue research that requires massive amounts of field data, especially collected over a large geographic area — think of Audubon’s annual bird count and monarch butterfly migration monitoring — they often call on citizen scientists. But when a volunteer group of park stewards in Seattle discovered that native sword ferns were mysteriously dying, they turned the narrative around, driving the scientific process, developing experiments, and even finding funding for more rigorous tests. The evergreen western sword fern (Polystichum munitum) is one of the most abundant species in its native habitat. But that habitat is mostly limited to the Pacific coast from Southeastern Alaska to Southern California. Because the plants have little economic value, their biology has not been closely studied. “These plants are charismatic in a lot of ways,” says Tim Billo, a lecturer at the University of Washington. Sword ferns dominate the understory of Pacific Northwest forests, where they help prevent erosion. They comprise a major part of the winter diet for mountain beavers, a small, burrowing rodent endemic to the lowland forests of the Northwest. “An individual fern lives basically forever, just adding to their rhizome every year. The ones in Seward Park could be as old as the oldest trees there — between 300 and 500 years old. Imagine if all of the oldest trees started dying,” says Billo. That’s what happened to sword ferns in Seward Park in 2013. That fall, Catherine Alexander noticed that many of the sword ferns in the Seattle park didn’t look healthy, and alerted the volunteer group Friends of Seward Park. The next spring, many of the ferns failed to grow. Today, the dead-fern zone covers 20 acres. Gemma Alexander reports. (Earth911)
Citizen Scientists Struggle to Save Sword Ferns
Filed under: Global Warming, Puget Sound | Tagged: Puget Sound | 1 Comment »
We held meetings after meetings, and passed a four bills that should ultimately help with some of the needs of the orcas, long term. But nothing in the last year has stopped the continued slide towards extinction, with three more Orcas now dead. Long time orca scientist Ken Balcomb has given up hope of saving them, now feels he is simply chronicling their extinction. I agree with Ken, it’s time we stop pretending we are going to save this pod, and see what we can do to save the rest of the orca population of the Salish Sea.
On the one year anniversary of J35’s journey pushing her dead calf around the Salish Sea, one biologist said the Southern resident orcas will likely go extinct.
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Like frogs in a pot of water, we think that it’s just incremental changes we are seeing. The President and his minions continue to say that it’s all a hoax and there’s nothing to worry about. More lies from the man who seems to never be able to tell the truth, nor even remember what he said the day before. As glaciers shring, and water tables in many places lower, our sources for water are starting to dry up in some places. Maybe this will get through to people. Then there is rising sea levels, which we only now are starting to see in a certain locales.
July was Earth’s hottest month on record, beating or tying July 2016
July was Earth’s hottest month ever recorded, “on a par with, and possibly marginally higher” than the previous warmest month, which was July 2016, according to provisional data from the Copernicus Climate Change Service. This European climate agency will have a full report for all of July on Monday, but a spokesperson said enough data (through July 29) has already come in to make this declaration. Andrew Freedman reports. (Washington Post)
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I know that a lot of you out there raise rabbits. Here’s the latest on the spreading disease affecting them.
Here’s what the state is telling county fairs about this deadly rabbit disease
A deadly rabbit disease that was confirmed on Orcas Island in July has raised some concerns about rabbit exhibits at county fairs. Known as rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus 2, the highly contagious illness causes sudden death in rabbits. It can spread through contact with infected rabbits, their fur or meat, or things that come into contact with them, according to the Washington State Department of Agriculture. It isn’t dangerous to people or other livestock, but people and other animals can spread the disease. Kie Relyea reports. (Bellingham Herald)
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Good news for the Peninsula. As usual, environmental restoration creates local jobs just like other infrastructure projects do. And it helps to restore our salmon.
Peninsula receives more than $1 million for fish barrier removal
Clallam and Jefferson counties have received $1.01 million in state funding for fish barrier removal projects, part of a $25 million investment that will provide more than 82 miles of new salmon habitat. The state Department of Fish & Wildlife announced last week new funding for 50 projects in 20 counties, including six projects on the North Olympic Peninsula, to remove fish passage barriers that block migrating fish from swimming upstream to spawning areas… The most common barriers to fish passage are culverts, or large pipes or other structures that carry streams under roads. Culverts can be too high for fish to reach, too small to handle high water flows or too steep for fish to navigate, Fish & Wildlife officials said. Rob Ollikainen reports. (Peninsula Daily News)
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Another attack on our clean water standards by the out of control radical racist administration in power in Washington. The American people did not vote to rescind our water quality standards by electing this man to the White House. Congress, please step in and do your duty!
In what industry officials are calling good news for local pulp and paper mills, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency signed a proposal Tuesday to roll back “unattainable” water quality standards. Also known as the fish consumption rule, Washington’s clean water rule is intended to protect the health of people and fish and to manage pollution caused by industries and municipalities. The State Department of Ecology adopted the standards in 2016 after a four-year public process. However, the EPA disapproved of 143 standards and imposed stricter rules in their place. But in May, EPA reversed its disapproval of Ecology’s original standards. And on Tuesday the agency announced plans to start a public process to remove its own health and safety criteria from the state’s water rule. Mallory Gruben reports. (Daily News)
EPA’s move to ease state water quality rules welcomed by pulp industry
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Filmmaker John Gussman has captured the remarkable migration of herring in our Strait.
Filed under: Puget Sound | Tagged: Puget Sound | 1 Comment »
This is good news for salmon restoration efforts.
The North Olympic Peninsula is receiving nearly $7.1 million in grant funding aimed at restoring salmon habitat and populations, state officials have announced.
The funding in Clallam and Jefferson counties is part of $45 million in grants intended to restore chinook salmon, a critical food source for endangered Southern Resident orcas, and other Puget Sound salmon populations. Projects in Clallam County were awarded a total of $6.49 million and Jefferson County projects saw a total of $601,529 in this round of funding. (Peninsula Daily News)
Clallam, Jefferson awarded grants aimed at salmon restoration
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Here they come again….
Cooke Aquaculture, which shut down its Ediz Hook fish farm in May, wants to begin raising steelhead instead of Atlantic salmon in its net pens in Washington state, a company official said Monday. The company also has sites at Bainbridge Island, Hope Island, Clam Bay and Orchard Rocks. “All of our sites would be in the mix,” Cooke spokesman Joel Richardson said, adding that the facility shutdown in Port Angeles remains in litigation in Thurston County Superior Court. Paul Gottlieb reports. (Peninsula Daily News)
Cooke eyes raising steelhead instead of Atlantic salmon in state net pens
Filed under: Puget Sound | Tagged: Puget Sound | 2 Comments »
