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11月8日 WORK: JUDICIAL INQUIRY INTO WILD SALMON LOSSESNow the work begins
Hello
The Terms of the Judicial Inquiry called by Prime Minister Stephen Harper into the demise of the Fraser sockeye are both sweeping and specific enough to get to the bottom of what happened to the Fraser sockeye and recommend the changes to how Fisheries and Oceans Canada is run to benefit all wild fish in Canada. We have made HUGE progress! I posted a link to the Terms on my blog http://alexandramorton.typepad.com/ This means we are no longer on the outside but we cannot abandon this process, we cannot rest assured it will do what we want if we don’t stay with it. Please make your concerns known to me and the Inquiry. This Inquiry will take 2 years and in the meantime we still need to push as hard as we can to get the Fisheries Act applied to the fish farms right now.
The recent revelations around the farm salmon escape at Port Elizabeth highlight the importance of this (see most recent blog post).
So I have embedded a flyer on my blog that you can download and post. We need to see the Fisheries Act applied ASAP.
I will continue to lay charges under the Fisheries Act with your financial help, but this is a stop gap effort.
The government should be doing this not us!
We need 100,000 signatures on our letter
at http://www.adopt-a-fry.org/
Next week is a Global Week of Action on salmon farms http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/event.php?eid=167112434482&ref=ts
Please view the film trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eggrGn0V0fg
The entire film will be posted in a week. If you would like to get a CD of this film to set up a viewing please contact the filmmaker Damien Gillis damien@slingshotcommunications.com.
If you are in Vancouver there will be a showing at: Date: Thursday, November Time: 7-9 PM Location: SFU Segal Centre - Room 1500-500 Granville St. (Downtown Vancouver - Granville & Pender) Cost: $10 for Public / $5 for Students & Seniors For more information on the global issues with salmon farms: http://www.farmedsalmonexposed.org/ Thank you all for staying with this..... We are in the homestretch! Alexandra Morton 10月26日 PETITION LINK: JUDICIAL INQUIRY INTO DECLINING WILD SALMON STOCKS!Hello All Good News Finally! Peter Julian, Member of Parliament – New Westminster has just launched a petition for a Judicial Inquiry into the Fraser sockeye crash. CONSIDER THIS: If there had been a Judicial Inquiry into the declining North Atlantic cod, we would have rebuilt that fish stock by now because we would have discovered that the critical research by Dr. Ransom Myers of DFO was being suppressed by DFO (Department of Fisheries and Oceans). Here we are again. DFO is completely silent, they have not even acknowledged that the Fraser sockeye crash pattern is extremely specific and provided the media with misinformation. A judicial inquiry will place people under oath so they can be heard over the politics. Please go to Peter Julian’s website: http://peterjulian.ndp.ca/node/864 And download the petition document, and sign: http://peterjulian.ndp.ca/sites/default/files/Petition_A%20call%20for%20an%20independent%20judicial%20inquiry%20on%20salmon%20crisis_October%202009.ENG_.pdf This has to be a paper copy, there can be 1 signature on a page, or a full page of signatures, the address is on the document and postage to the federal government is free. You cannot say you care about wild salmon if you don’t make this effort. This will make a very big difference in the future of BC and the eastern pacific. Alexandra Morton Www.adopt-a-fry.org 9月14日 ASHLU PINKSSquamish Streamkeepers Update September 12/09
Ashlu Channels Pink Salmon counts-Final Totals for 2009
All channels were counted to compare with previous mid-Sept counts. With high and silty water only live and dead fish seen were counted which means many in deep pools went uncounted. Since the same conditions existed during previous years counts the missing fish need not be allowed for. As in previous years, the first wave of pinks has spawned and died and the second wave is now spawning. Only the Ashlu Channels were counted, not the Ashlu River.
-Intake Channel Total 87 Pinks
-South Channel
-Y junction to 1st Footbridge-228 pinks
-1st Footbridge to 2nd Footbridge-637 pinks
-below Second Footbridge-302 pinks
Total South South Channel-1167 Pinks
-North Channel
-Y junction to bottom 2nd Pond-39 pinks
-bottom 2nd Pond to Hunter Connection-1472 pinks + 1 dead 15 lb. male chinook
-below Hunter Connection-41 pinks
-Zigzag Connector Channel-598 pinks and grizzly tracks.
-Bear didn’t seem interested in plenteous pinks as few were eaten.
Total North Channel-2150 Pinks
-Hunter Channel
-Below Zigzag-252 pinks
-Above Zigzag-492 pinks
Total Hunter Channel 744 Pinks
-Central Channels
-N. Channel to Groundwater Channel-211 pinks
-Groundwater Channel-23 pinks
-Groundwater to bottom Y-669 pinks
-Y junction-55 pinks
-Central/Squamish Connector-398 pinks
Total Central Channels-1356 Pinks
-Wapiti Channels
-above Stump Pond-306 pinks
-Stump Pond Big Outlet-162 pinks
-Stump Pond Little Outlet-90 pinks
-#4 Culvert Channels-26 pinks
-#3 Culvert Channel-6 pinks
-#2 Clearing Channel-4 pinks
-Buck Creek Channels-0
Total Wapiti Channels-600 Pinks
Grand Total for 2009 Ashlu Channels-6,104 Pinks
Totals for Ashlu Channels in 2007-2,190 Pinks, 2005-572 Pinks, 2003-887 Pinks (flood occurred after spawn).
-On Sept 12/09 Grizzly Channel had 29 pinks and Volunteer Channel 1674 but these weren’t included
In our assessment today as these channels weren’t counted in previous years.
The pinks have spread out quite evenly through the many channels, some of which were just dug this year. They find the gravel with the appropriate flow and dig up a nest. This tail powered excavation is steadily expanding the amount of gravel available to other salmon as well as putting important nutrients into the stream.
Assuming that half of the 6,000 spawners are females and they carry 2,000 eggs that would put 6 million eggs in the gravel. With the good gravel and if flow is maintained, there should be a few million pink fry heading to sea next Spring. 9月8日 DFO Minister Gail Shea: There has NOT been a coast-wide collapse across all Pacific salmon speciesSee blog for further information: http://alexandramorton.typepad.com/
Dear Minister Shea: On August 26 you sent duplicate letters to many people dismissing the impact of salmon farms on British Columbia. I can only imagine the response to collapse of the world’s largest sockeye salmon river, the Fraser River, has come directly from Ottawa. Your letter provides stark insight into the Federal Conservative government’s course of action. With an entire ministry at your disposal you told the public: “The coastwide scope of the decline that has occurred across all Pacific salmon species suggests that this decline is associated with much larger ecological events than localized salmon farming.” This is entirely inaccurate as there has NOT been a coast-wide collapse across all Pacific salmon species, quite to the contrary. The people of British Columbia are looking at a bull’s-eye collapse pattern with good returns all around the dead center – which is our extremely valuable Fraser River sockeye. Really interesting – even within the Fraser River, the Harrison sockeye, which scientists report migrate to sea via fish farm-free Strait of Juan de Fuca, are returning at twice the DFO forecast. The missing Fraser River sockeye salmon were observed as smolts by DFO as they migrated in the river. They were abundant and large. They entered the sea in late spring 2007, turned north into a heavily industrialized salmon farming area, where I examined some of them as they were being infested with sea lice and then they disappeared. These are the only sockeye that collapsed to less than 10% of forecast. While you are telling the public all salmon species collapsed coast-wide, your highest-ranking BC official is publishing letters in newspapers also telling us that fish farms are not responsible for the collapse because the lice species I and others counted on the young sockeye in 2007 are not found on farm fish. First of all, there were two species of lice on the sockeye smolts, the large salmon louse and the smaller Caligus. Second, the fish farm company on the Fraser sockeye migration route, Marine Harvest, frequently reports Caligus in their website data. Specifically they report 16.5 Caligus per fish for a total of 8 million breeding on the Cyrus Rocks farm early this July as our newest sockeye generation was passing that farm. Because Caligus frequently jump fish to fish this species is also a strong potential disease vector. As he exonerates fish farms, he goes on to say he will work with First Nations and other fishermen to conserve sockeye. Minster Shea, you closed this fishery at the beginning of the season there has been extremely little fishing on this stock of sockeye. Your Ministry has absolutely no valid scientific or legal reason to omit fish farmers from the investigation and ensuing action to protect the Fraser sockeye. You also wrote that DFO has “taken significant action…” by “monitoring” farm lice and doing “ocean circulation studies.” These are studies, not “significant action.” Your letter tells people you can’t protect our salmon with closed-containment farms until this is “practical and realistic” for the fish farmers with head offices in Oslo, Norway. Minister Shea, you work for the people of Canada. Your primary mandate is protection of our wild salmon and whatever else is going on in your office no one has rescinded this mandate yet. History is clearly repeating itself. In 1997, DFO scientists reported that the collapse of Canada’s North Atlantic cod stocks, one of earth’s greatest human food supplies, was because DFO ignored the science, misinformed the public, offered plausible but inaccurate theories, reprimanded scientists who spoke freely and took no action(1). No one in DFO was held accountable when Canadians lost this vast resource. Here in 2009, I would argue you and your department are ignoring the science, misinforming the public, offering plausible but unconfirmed theories and taking no action on a highly documented and obvious factor that reoccurs worldwide wherever there are salmon farms(2). You must be held accountable or it is clear from experience where this is heading. The Fraser sockeye contribute far more to the economy and employment than salmon farms and they transport ocean nutrients into much of this Province feeding the trees that produce oxygen, remove carbon and help stabilize our climate. An enormous number of British Columbians live in the Fraser watershed and are breathing oxygen produced by salmon fed trees. These are planetary systems we literally cannot live without. First Nation women have written me in anger and anxiety at loosing an essential part of their diet. The very concept of farming salmon in net pens is unconstitutional in Canada because it attempts to privatize ocean spaces and own schools of salmon in the ocean. The industry appears in violation of many sections of the Fisheries Act. It breaks the natural laws of wild salmon, which never remain stationary. Your record of fish farm defense includes a recent assertion that the industry’s by-catch of wild fish is not a “significant problem.” And you refuse to acknowledge the science and act on the information that the fish farm viral ISA pandemic is spreading in imported salmon eggs(3). Reading the outpouring of articles, letters to editors, emails to me and the 17,000 signatures thus far on my letter to you asking simply that you enforce the Fisheries Act on salmon farms I don’t think western Canada is ready to loose their fish like eastern Canada. The actions required are simple:
If you won’t take these steps please resign along with your Pacific Region senior staff and make way for people who will honor Fisheries and Ocean’s contract with the public of Canada, present and future generations, to protect our salmon. The enormous pink salmon return this year – fish that were allowed to go to sea without farm lice, is a clear statement by the fish themselves that British Columbia can have abundant wild salmon, even running through the biggest city in our Province, Vancouver, City of the Salmon Wild salmon are a gift on a magnitude far greater than any oil well, river power project or the few jobs from a Norwegian industry that imports fish from the south Pacific, throws them in our ocean and pulls out less fish. Read the list of 17,000 people and counting who have signed my letter www.adopt-a-fry.org <http://www.adopt-a-fry.org> asking that you apply the laws of Canada to salmon farms. They are First Nation chiefs, business people, politicians, entertainers, environmentalists, stream keepers, they are the people of British Columbia, not a fringe group you can brush aside. Minster Shea, you have failed us in your response to the collapse of earth’s largest sockeye salmon run and this is not alright with British Columbia. Alexandra Morton, R.P. Bio Echo Bay, BC http://alexandramorton.typepad.com/ 1 Hutchings, J.A., Walters, C. and Haedrich, R.L. 1997. Is Scientific Inquiry Incompatible with Government Information Control? Canadian Journal of Aquatic Science. Vol 52. 2 Ford, J.S. and Myers, R.A. 2008 A Global Assessment of Salmon Aquaculture Impacts on Wild Salmonids. PLos Biology 6(2) 3 Vike, S., Nylund, S., and Nylund, A. 2008. ISA virus in Chile: evidence of vertical transmission. Archives of Virology. Vol. 154. (note: “vertical” means via eggs) Hello All Every time I send an email out to this list you ask what can you do. I am sorry for so many emails, but time is of the essence. As our wild salmon stocks suffer an enormous setback, the Minster of Fisheries is in Norway with a large delegation promoting Canada to the Norwegian fish farming industry. An organization called Pure Salmon (www.puresalmon.org) is there and will be delivering all 300 pages of our letter to Fisheries Minister Shea at the Aqua Nor tradeshow. Pure salmon has sent a letter to the King of Norway which I signed and have have pasted below. Vancouver filmmaker Damien Gillis is showing this film in Norway asking them to stop killing our salmon. http://in.sys-con.com/node/1073790 When I was in Norway last spring it was clear that Norway has no idea how Canadians and Americans feel about their industry. With our top Fisheries representative telling Norwegian fish farmers that Canada is open for business, this is not surprising. There are 10,000 emails on this list. If you want to set the record straight yourself - here are the people in Norway to contact: The royal palace of Norway: post@slottet.no The Norwegian Fisheries Minister, Helga Pedersen: helga.pedersen@fkd.dep.no The Norwegian Prime Minister's: postmottak@smk.dep.no Pure Salmon: lkaran@pewtrusts.org Canadian Minister of Fisheries: Min@dfo-mpo.gc.ca King Harald V The Royal Palace Drammensveien 1 N-0010 Oslo Norway 14th August 2009 Your Royal Highness, Protecting wild salmon from open net cage salmon farms Further to our letter of 15th December 2006 (re-enclosed here), we appeal to you as the King of Norway to stop the killing of wild fish by Norwegian-owned open net cage salmon farms. We ask that you take time during your visit to Trondheim on 18th August when you will be opening the Aqua Nor trade show1 to watch the new film “Dear Norway – Help Save Canada’s Wild Salmon” produced by Damien Gillis. Your visit to the Trondheimsfjord area – one of only two fjords in Norway where salmon farming is completely banned under the Laksfjord regulations – represents an opportunity to hear how Norwegian companies are operating to lower standards in other regions. We think it is important that Norwegians understand their impact on temperate coastal countries worldwide – especially in British Columbia where the Norwegian companies Marine Harvest, Cermaq and Grieg control 92% of salmon farming production2 . We expect a country such as Norway who signed the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 20073 and who published a white paper on Corporate Social Responsibility Abroad in 20094 to respect the rights of First Nations whose culture depends upon healthy wild salmon populations. Since our letter to you in 2006, the situation has deteriorated and the weight of scientific evidence linking open net cage salmon farms with declines in wild fish is now overwhelming5. Canada’s largest wild salmon runs are failing every year while in neighbouring Alaska where salmon farming is banned they are harvesting record runs. Another film by Damien Gillis – “Aquacultural Revolution: The scientific case for changing salmon farming”6 – presents the scientific perspective and is recommended viewing in advance of your trip to Trondheim. You may also be interested in watching a sea lice animation recently released by Norges Jeger-og Fiskerforbund7. In May this year, the Pure Salmon Campaign brought a delegation of First Nation chiefs, scientists, wilderness tourism, labor union, fishing and environmental leaders from Chile, Canada, Ireland, Scotland and the United States to Norway to bear witness to the problems of Marine Harvest and Cermaq in particular8. You may have read Alexandra Morton’s passionate plea published in Bergens Tidende in May which ended with: “It's still not too late to stop the collapse of wild salmon and social decay here in western Canada. But to do so, it will take the efforts of concerned citizens working across borders, to make it clear to the Norwegian government that salmon farms must not destroy the wild salmon arteries flowing into the coast of British Columbia. In today’s world such behavior is an act of inexcusable immorality as future generations will need life on earth to survive. And you may have read about our visit to Preline’s closed containment farm in Hardangerfjord10. Chief Bob Chamberlin of the Kwicksutaineuk Ah-kwa-mish First Nation, who delivered letters to you in 2006, 2007 and 2008 and visited Norway again this year, said: “It is difficult to put to words how I felt standing on an operating closed containment fish farm, watching Atlantic salmon swimming inside. It was an amazing circumstance for me to speak with the owner of Preline who has developed the closed containment system, and both of us needing something to give hope for our individual yet intertwined dreams”11. Bergens Tidende also featured the Preline closed containment system in an article published in June12. Representatives from Preline – together with other closed containment companies – will be in Trondheim for the AquaNor trade show and we encourage you to explore these technologies which can protect wild fish from the spread of sea lice and escapes from salmon farms. During his visit to Norway in May, Chief Robert Joseph of the Musgamagw Tsawataineuk Tribal Council said: “The demise of wild salmon is tantamount to genocide because it reflects the demise of our culture, way of life and spirituality. Since the advent of salmon farming in our territories we have seen an apocalyptic decline in the state of our wild salmon stocks in the Broughton Archipelago. And because Norway is the world leader in salmon farming and the Norwegian Government is the leading shareholder in Cermaq we are asking for their moral leadership to bring about best practices and to mitigate environmental degradation”13. Public opposition to Norwegian-owned salmon farming companies operating in British Columbia is building with negative press coverage of ‘rapacious Norwegians’ in the international media14 as well as at home in Norway15. You may be aware that this issue was raised in the Norwegian Parliament in May this year via a Parliamentary Question tabled by Heikki Holmås MP with a reply from Helga Pedersen, Norway’s Fisheries Minister16. Public comments were also made in the Norwegian media by several MPs including Peter Gitmark from Hoyre17, Ola Borten Moe from Senterpartiet18 and Heikki Holmås from Sosialistisk Venstreparti19. Cermaq – whose largest shareholder is the Norwegian Government – is now the subject of a complaint filed with the OECD in May by Norges Naturvernforbund and ForUM20. In the same month, Norway was criticized by First Nations groups for failing to adhere to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples with respect to Cermaq’s operations in Canada21. In October 2008, Cermaq’s operations in Canada were criticized for blatantly violating their licences after years of over-production22. And NRK reported only yesterday that Cermaq was encountering local opposition in Norway with a petition signed by 6,000 people objecting to expansion in Ofotfjorden23. Marine Harvest’s operations in Canada have also been subject of growing controversy and legal action in the B.C. Supreme Court24. Grieg’s plans to expand in the Georgia Strait in British Columbia have angered local residents, fishermen and tourist operators alike25. And in June, the Coastal Alliance for Aquaculture Reform called for the emergency closure of five farms operated by Marine Harvest, Cermaq and Grieg to protect migrating wild salmon26. The issue will only continue to heat up at the expense of Norway’s reputation. Nor is Canada the only region where Norwegian-owned companies are experiencing local opposition. In Ireland, where Marine Harvest control over 50% of production, Salmon Watch recently filed a complaint with the European Commission contending that salmon farms are responsible for the generation of high levels of sea lice infestation in juvenile salmon migrating from rivers to their feeding grounds in the sea27. And in the UK where Norwegian-owned companies control in excess of 80% of salmon farming production, the Salmon and Trout Association (whose patron is Prince Charles) have organized a petition calling on the Scottish Government to move salmon farms away from the estuaries of major rivers28. We hope that you agree with John Fredriksen, owner of Marine Harvest, who in July 2007 when he was fishing on the River Alta called for salmon farms to be moved out of the path of wild salmon29. In September 2007, over 30 fishing and environmental groups including Norsk Lakseelver, the Norwegian Salmon Association, Granvin Fiskarlag and Nausta Vernegruppa, wrote to Marine Harvest urging them to follow Mr Fredriksen’s wise advice30. As both the King of Norway and a wild salmon angler on the River Alta yourself31, Your Royal Highness surely has an interest in protecting wild salmon both in Norway and internationally as well as preserving Norway’s international reputation. The 2010 Winter Olympics will be held along the shores of the Fraser River where the wild sockeye salmon that run past Norwegian-owned fish farms have been closed to fishing again this year. Yesterday’s Globe & Mail newspaper in Canada reports that “the Fraser River is experiencing one of the biggest salmon disasters in recent history with more than nine million sockeye vanishing”32 with The Straight newspaper reporting that “fish farms could be a contributing factor”33. Today’s Globe & Mail also featured the issue34. When you meet with Marine Harvest, Cermaq, Grieg, the Norwegian Minister of Fisheries, Helga Pedersen, the Canadian Fisheries Minister, Gail Shea, and Scotland’s Minister for the Environment, Roseanna Cunningham, during Aqua Nor we therefore encourage you to ask why Norwegian companies are still being allowed to kill wild fish not just in Norway but also in Canada, Scotland and Ireland. And if you have time to view the new film “Dear Norway – Help Save Canada’s Wild Salmon” please come and visit the Pure Salmon Campaign at booth # B-111C at Aqua Nor to arrange a private viewing. Yours sincerely, Bob Chamberlin, Chief of the Kwicksutaineuk Ah-kwa-mish First Nation and Chairman of the Musgamagw-Tsawataineuk Tribal Council, Canada Alexandra Morton, Director of the Salmon Coast Field Station, Canada David Suzuki, Executive Director of David Suzuki Foundation, Canada Brian Gunn, President of the Wilderness Tourism Association of British Columbia, Canada David Lane, Executive Director of the T Buck Suzuki Environmental Foundation, Canada Damien Gillis, Save Our Rivers Society, Canada Darren Blaney, Homalco First Nation, Canada Geoff Meggs, Councillor, City of Vancouver, Canada Valerie Langer, Friends of Clayoquot Sound, Canada Rafe Mair, Official spokesperson for Save Our Rivers Society, Canada Shannon Ellis, Bella Coola Grizzly Tours, Canada Steve Lawson, National Coordinator, First Nations Environmental Network, Canada Des Nobels, Chair of Friends of Wild Salmon, Canada Blake Covernton, President, Wild BC Salmon, Canada Michael Price, Raincoast Conservation Foundation, Canada Evan Loveless, Executive Director of the Wilderness Tourism Association of British Columbia, Canada Terry Anderson, Canadian Wild Salmon Alliance Society, Canada Luanne Roth, Marine Director of the Prince Rupert Environmental Society, Canada Geoff Senichenko, Research Director of the Wilderness Committee, Canada Craig Orr, Executive Director of the Watershed Watch Salmon Society, Canada Stan Proboszcz, Fish Biologist, Watershed Watch Salmon Society, Canada Ruby Berry, Salmon Aquaculture Program Coordinator, Georgia Strait Alliance, Canada Michelle Young, Salmon Aquaculture Campaigner, Georgia Strait Alliance, Canada John Volpe, Professor, University of Victoria, Canada Corey Peet, David Suzuki Foundation, Canada Lawrence Dill, Professor Emeritus, Simon Fraser University, Canada Catherine Stewart, Salmon Farming Campaign Manager, Living Oceans, Canada Kim Petersen, co-editor of Dissident Voice, Canada Tiffany Hilman, Markets Campaigner, Coastal Alliance for Aquaculture Reform, Canada Susanne Hare, Tofino citizen, Canada Mat Lawson, B.C. citizen, Canada Misty Lawson, B.C. citizen, Canada Quoashinis Lawson, B.C. citizen, Canada Oren Lawson, B.C. citizen, Canada Peter Dimitrov, lawyer and concerned citizen, Canada Kevin Bruce, Friends of Clayoquot Sound, Canada Tom Rivest, Great Bear Nature Tours, Canada Leonard Ellis, Bella Coola Grizzly Tours, Canada Vegard Heggem, wild salmon conservationist, Norway Geir Kjensmo, Chairman of the Norwegian Salmon Association, Norway Sondre Båtstrand, Spokesperson for the Norwegian Green Party, Norway Frode Strønen, Marine Spokesperson for the Norwegian Green Party, Norway Lawson Devery, Scottish Field Officer, the Salmon and Trout Association, Scotland Bruce Sandison, Scottish Sporting Services, Scotland Colin Kirkpatrick, Environment Committee Chairman, Orkney Trout Fishing Association, Scotland Brian Fraser, ghillie from Wester Ross, Scotland Fiona Cameron, Sea Trout Group, Scotland Frank Buckley, Society for the Protection of Salmon and Sea Trout, Scotland Andrew Graham-Stewart, Writer on wild salmon conservation issues, Scotland Jenny Scobie, Rhidorroch Estate, Scotland Niall Greene, Chair, Salmon Watch Ireland, Ireland John Mulcahy, Save The Swilly, Ireland Noel Carr, Secretary, Conaidhm na Slat Iascairi Bradan & Breac Geal (Federation of Irish Salmon & Sea Trout Anglers), Ireland Bill Bakke, Executive Director, Native Fish Society, United States of America Anne Mosness, Go Wild Campaign, United States of America Neil Frazer, Professor, University of Hawaii at Manoa, United States of America Bartlett Naylor, Capital Strategies Consulting Inc., United States of America Don Staniford, Global Coordinator, The Pure Salmon Campaign, United States of America Cc: Her Majesty The Queen His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales Crown Prince Haakon of Norway Jens Stoltenberg, Prime Minister of Norway Helga Pedersen, Fisheries Minister of Norway Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada Gail Shea, Fisheries Minister of Canada Gordon Campbell, Premier of British Columbia Trevor Swerdfager, Director General, Aquaculture Management, Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada Jillian Stirk, Canada’s Ambassador to Norway Alex Salmond, First Minister of Scotland Roseanna Cunningham, Minister of the Environment for Scotland Heikki Holmås, Member of the Norwegian Parliament Ola Borten Moe, Member of the Norwegian Parliament Peter Gitmark, Member of the Norwegian Parliament Hallgeir Langeland, Member of the Norwegian Parliament 8月15日 Salmon numbers decline!Hello All: In the last two weeks nearly 2,000 more people have signed our letter asking the Minister of Fisheries to apply the laws of Canada to salmon farms. The Fraser sockeye are returning at 1/10 of their predicted number. While government continues to guess at the reason, they refuse to respond to the one factor shown to have exactly this effect worldwide and is easily fixed. Please read this and stay tuned for how we can bring reason to this situation. Thank you all for taking a stand and putting your name to this. The only way government will be allowed to see this situation for what it is, is if there are too many of us to ignore. We can do this, Alexandra Morton  Fraser River's salmon stocks 'beyond a crisis' MARK HUME August 13, 2009 http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/fraser-rivers-salmon-stocks-beyond-a-crisis/article1250175/ The mysterious collapse of the B.C. sockeye run has dashed hopes raised just weeks ago of a good return this year The Fraser River is experiencing one of the biggest salmon disasters in recent history with more than nine million sockeye vanishing. Aboriginal fish racks are empty, commercial boats worth millions of dollars are tied to the docks and sport anglers are being told to release any sockeye they catch while fishing for still healthy runs of chinook. Between 10.6 million and 13 million sockeye were expected to return to the Fraser this summer. But the official count is now just 1.7 million, according to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Where the nine to 11 million missing fish went remains a mystery. "It's beyond a crisis with these latest numbers," said Ernie Crey, fisheries adviser to the Sto:lo tribes on the Fraser. "What it means is that a lot of impoverished natives are going to be without salmon. ... We have families with little or no income that were depending on these fish. ... It's a catastrophe," he said. Mr. Crey said a Canada-U.S. salmon summit should be called to find solutions. The sockeye collapse is startling because until just a few weeks ago it seemed the Fraser was headed for a good return. In 2005, nearly nine million sockeye spawned in the Fraser system, producing a record number of young, known as smolts, which in 2007, began to migrate out of the lakes where they'd reared for two years. Biologists for the DFO were buoyed by the numbers - the Chilko and Quesnel tributaries alone produced 130 million smolts - and because the young fish were bigger than any on record. Those fish were expected to return to the Fraser this summer in large numbers, and those projections held until a few weeks ago when test fishing results began to signal a problem. Barry Rosenberger, DFO area director for the Interior, said test nets at sea got consistently low catches, then samples in the river confirmed the worst - the sockeye just weren't there in any numbers. There had been some hope the fish - which return in five distinct groups, or runs - might be delayed at sea, but Mr. Rosenberger dismissed that possibility. "There are people hanging on to hope ... but the reality is ... all indications are that none of these runs are late," he said. Mr. Rosenberger said officials don't know where or why the salmon vanished - but they apparently died at some point during migration. Brian Riddell, president of the Pacific Salmon Foundation, said: "We've been pondering this and I think a lot of people are focusing on the immediate period of entry into the Strait of Georgia and asking what on earth could have happened to them. What we're seeing now is very, very unexpected." Some are pointing fingers at salmon farms as a possible suspect because of research that showed smolts became infested with sea lice as they swam north from the Fraser, through the Strait of Georgia. "This has got to be one of the worst returns we've ever seen on the Fraser. ... It's shocking really," said ecologist Craig Orr, of Watershed Watch. Dr. Riddell said sea lice infestations are a possible factor, but it is "extremely unlikely" that could account for the entire collapse. "We have had the farms there for many years and we have not seen it related to the rates of survival on Fraser sockeye [before]," he said. Dr. Riddell said a sockeye smolt with sea lice, however, might grow weak and become easy prey or succumb to environmental conditions it might otherwise survive. Alexandra Morton, who several years ago correctly predicted a collapse of pink salmon runs in the Broughton Archipelago because of sea lice infestations, in March warned the same thing could happen to Fraser sockeye. She said researchers used genetic analyses to show Fraser sockeye smolts were getting infested with sea lice in the Strait of Georgia. "I looked at about 350 of this generation of Fraser sockeye when they went to sea in 2007 and they had up to 28 sea lice [each]. The sea lice were all young lice, which means they got them in the vicinity of where we were sampling, which was near the fish farms in the Discovery Islands. If they got sea lice from the farms, they were also exposed to whatever other pathogens were happening on the fish farms (viruses and bacteria)," Ms. Morton said in an e-mail. "There's a lot of different beliefs as to why the fish haven't shown up, but I think it's pretty clear where there are no fish farms salmon are doing well," said Brian McKinley, a guide and owner of Silversides Fishing Adventure. "It's pretty frustrating to watch what is happening," he said from his boat, anchored on the river near Mission. "I remember sockeye would just boil through here in August and September. It was insane ... now the river seems dead." Dan Gerak, who runs Pitt River Lodge, said there is an environmental crisis on the river. "Definitely something's got to be done - or it's finished forever," he said of the Fraser's famed salmon run. Other big runs of salmon are expected to return this year - notably pinks where are projected to number 17 million - but it is too early to tell if the sockeye collapse will be repeated with other species. 7月13日 STRATHCONA REGIONAL BOARD DECISION jUNE 25th ON GRIEG SEAFOOD APPLICATION FOR 2 FISH FARMSWEBSITE ADDRESS: STRATHCONA REGIONAL DISTRICT JUNE 25TH 2009 MEETING MINUTES
6月26日 Alexandra Morton News: We Really Won!Hello Marine Harvest has now filed their Appeal from the BC Supreme Court decision of Mr. Justice Hinkson and they conceded the main issues in our case – that Provincial regulation of fish farms is unconstitutional! Thank you to all who made this happen, there are not many success stories in this saga. Please go to “updates” at www.adopt-a-fry.org for more information. The Province has no mandate to protect wild fish and this is the crux of the mismanagement that both the industry and the rest of us in BC have faced for 20 years. The farms are now sited in the wrong places, ensuring social conflict and degradation of our wild salmon. To fix this the industry will have to down-size at the very least and be removed from the crucial wild salmon migration routes. Federal Fisheries Minister, the Honourable Gail Shea, will need all the support we can give her to deal with this monumental mess that she inherited. Please do what you can to let people know about our letter in case they want to sign. In response to all of you who have written asking “what can I do” I have posted a new page on our website “Actions.” Please go there if you can and consider the very important request by my colleague Michelle Young, who grew up in the Broughton Archipelago before fish farms and knows personally what is at stake. Two gigantic fish farms are attempting re-zoning right on Johnstone Strait, guaranteeing all wild salmon that travel that route will be traveling through fish farm effluent. Given what we know now if these two farms go in we can know wild salmon are no long a priority in BC waters. Thank you all for your hundreds of messages and best of all your great ideas! alex SAYWARD REGIONAL BOARD DECISION ON GRIEG CO. APPLICATION FOR FISH FARMSFrom Deb McBride re: The Vote On The Grieg Co. application to the Sayward Regional Board for 2 fish farms. Response from Jeff Long Hi Deb,
I don’t have the official resolution of the regional board available however, that will become available on the website in the near future.
In a nutshell, the board passed a resolution that has the effect of amending Bylaw No. 29 to eliminate the Yorke Island site that was proposed to be rezoned for use for finfish aquaculture, and gave third reading to the Bylaw as revised with conditions that before the Bylaw will be considered for adoption, that Grieg Seafood make arrangements to include several requirements as conditions in the authorization that would be issued by DFO. In addition, Grieg Seafood must provide an undertaking related to the commitment to using a closed containment system at the Gunner Point site when such systems become commercially available. These conditional matters must be addressed by Grieg Seafood before the board will consider adopting Bylaw No. 29 and are subject to change as part of that consideration.
Jeff Long, BES, MCIP 301 - 990 Cedar Street Campbell River, BC V9W 7Z8 6月18日 Climate Action Network Monday MovieWater, our draining habits: Can Squamish face up to the crystalline truths?
Tonight’s documentaries, Land of the Rising Water and Waste not Waste Another refreshing evening dedicated to learning about water: How do we go about conserving it? Do we need water management? Who says, and what does this mean? Is it going to cost me? Isn’t that all that matters?
Come early and take advantage of all the local knowledge in offer! Bring your water; we’ll test it for you! Doors open at 6:30pm – Movie starts at 7pm Our special guests will provide insight and answer our questions; Rod Pleasance – Water Conservation Strategy Project Engineer with the District of Squamish Mick Gottardi – Director of Community Development with the District of Squamish Paul Lalli – Squamish Councillor Glen Hearns – With the Transboundary Water Initiative at UBC Star Morris – Wellness consultant and former health professional Angela Mawdsley – Civil engineer with a passion for environmentally sound water management Hope to see you all at the Adventure Centre!
Ana Santos
Squamish CAN, Coordinator
6月17日 RESPONSE TO FISHERIES MINISTER GAIL SHEAHello All, Fisheries Minister the Honourable Gail Shea finally answered us. Please go to www.adopt-a-fry.org “The Letter” to see her response. Here is my answer. Also go to www.farmedanddangerous.org to see that large environmental groups in BC are calling for immediate closure of salmon farms on the crucial Fraser River migration route. June 16, 2009 The Honourable Gail Shea House of Commons Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Parliament Buildings, Wellington Street Ottawa, Ontario Canada K1A 0A6 Dear Minister Shea: Thank you for your response to my letters asking that the Fisheries Act be applied to fish farms, signed by 14,000 people. It is clear I have failed to communicate the scope of the problems we, on the coast of British Columbia, are facing with the fish farming industry. Your reply does not address the relentless state of conflict between fish farmers and many businesses and communities, as a result of the salmon farms being placed on the migration routes of BC’s most valuable wild salmon stocks. Whatever else has harmed, or still is harming wild salmon it is certain that the annual sea lice epidemics, associated with salmon farms worldwide, are contributing substantively to the negative impacts on an extremely valuable public resource. The people of BC are being asked to accept reduced opportunities on our wild salmon, simply to accommodate a fish farm industry that refuses to pay the additional cost of building walls around their livestock. It seems unrealistic for you to write that aquaculture operations are subject to the Fisheries Act when:
Then there are the enormous issues of “release of deleterious substances” and habitat alteration. Can you explain what you mean by “the Province will continue in the role it has been assuming to this day in managing aquaculture within the province”. How long will they “continue”? The Province has no mandate to protect wild fish and it is unconstitutional as per the Supreme Court of BC for the Province to regulate salmon farming after February 2010. From my perspective, it is Provincial regulation that got us into this mess simply because they have no legal mandate to protect wild fish in the ocean. The result of this regulatory mismatch is the Province can do their job of regulating the “farm” component of fish farming while largely ignoring the ocean component where we all know the “farm” effluent, including parasites, viruses, bacteria, escaped Atlantic salmon and drugs go. I know the Province does check some ocean parameters outside the pens, but not outside the leases and that is where all conflicts with the public resource exist. I think it is time to reevaluate where we are at with this issue. No responsible person can look at salmon farming from a global perspective and say there are no problems. You cannot say the problems have been resolved, nor can anyone say farm fish benefit the public more than wild fish and should thus receive the preferential treatment that they do. You cannot even say they are going to feed the world as they catch fish to feed to their fish. As I write, a neighbor watched young wild Broughton pink salmon spilling onto a road as farm fish were transferred out of boat into a truck. What right do fish farmers have to possess wild juvenile salmon in their pens, boats and trucks? How many herring, salmon and black cod are destroyed in this manner? Minister Shea, there is something very wrong with the way salmon farming is being handled in BC. In the past, DFO ignored disastrous impact on an extremely valuable fishery and that management regime continues to cause economic hardship in east coast towns, as well as, depriving the world of a large food resource. I would argue the same management regime is well underway in British Columbia affecting wild salmon, the BC economy and the eastern Pacific. When I met with the executive officers of the largest fish farm companies Marine Harvest and Mainstream, last month in Norway, I heard them say repeatedly that they would only adhere to the laws of each country, not bring their best practices with them from Norway. But what I see are the laws of Canada not even being enforced. Minister Shea, you are faced with a clear legal decision. Either bring the fish farming industry into compliance with the laws of Canada or call on Parliament to change the laws to bring them into compliance with the fish farming industry. You cannot leave this in a state of perpetual lawlessness. When I began my work on juvenile salmon and did not realize I needed a permit, DFO investigated me and said if I ever retain juvenile salmon without a permit again I would go to jail. Since then I have made sure I have a permit to handle young salmon. I want to know what permit and legal possession limit you will be issuing to Marine Harvest and the others for possession of wild salmon, and other wild fish in their pens, boats, trucks and fish? You cannot know the scope of this problem without placing observers on fish farms and farm fish vessels as you do with commercial fishermen and this is one of the requests made by the 14,000 people who signed the letters to you. Thank you again for your reply. I know this is a difficult issue that you have inherited. However, you accepted this role and now the ability of the eastern Pacific Ocean to support life and the BC economy rests with you. Warmly, Alexandra Morton 6月16日 CLEAR: BC WILD SALMON NARROWS CAMPAIGNSubject: FISH FARM UPDATE: Wild Salmon Narrows Must Be Cleared of Fish Farms
Reply-To: michelle@georgiastrait.org
Dear supporter of wild salmon, Your help is needed to provide emergency protection to wild salmon! As a partner in our work, you know how damaging open net-cage salmon farms are to BC’s wild salmon and the marine ecosystem. Years of scientific research has built a global body of evidence, and our understanding of the impacts continues to grow. Recent research suggests that the critical Fraser River sockeye as well as other runs of wild salmon are being infected with sea lice as they migrate past net-cage farms in the northern Georgia Strait.
One of the narrowest pathways in the Georgia Strait is the Okisollo Channel — east and north of Quadra Island – where all five species of Pacific salmon swim and feed alongside herring, harbour seals, and orcas. This channel, this Wild Salmon Narrows, has been choked with open net-cage salmon farm sites for far too long.
As a member of the Coastal Alliance for Aquaculture Reform, we are launching a new Wild Salmon Narrows campaign! We’re calling for emergency protection for wild salmon migrating through the northern Georgia Strait. While we continue to work towards a coast-wide transition to closed containment aquaculture, we are demanding the removal of the five active fish farms in Okisollo Channel. Clearing a critical migration route of open net-cage salmon farms is an emergency measure needed to reduce the pressure of sea lice infection on wild salmon.
Thanks for getting involved and spreading the word to your friends! Take Action! Learn more about the Wild Salmon Narrows and watch our Fraser River sea lice infection video by filmmaker Twyla Roscovich.
Send an email to Premier Gordon Campbell urging him to clear the Wild Salmon Narrows of fish farms.
http://www.georgiastrait.org/urgent-action-message- form.php?urgent=migration_route
In addition to receiving GSA’s Fish Farm Updates, you can become more involved in the Wild Salmon Narrows Campaign, by joining the Coastal Alliance for Aquaculture Reform email series. You’ll learn more about what’s at stake in this biologically and culturally rich area of the Pacific coast, and will have many opportunities to help protect the Wild Salmon Narrows.
http://farmedanddangerous.org/page/safesalmonroute For the Wild Fish, ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Support GSA, the only citizens' group focused on protecting the marine environment in and around the Strait of Georgia Receive Strait Up, our e-newsletter Thank you for your interest in, and support for, Georgia Strait Alliance’s Salmon Aquaculture Campaign. As a subscriber to Fish Farm Update, you will receive periodic emails on breaking news and urgent actions you can take. Your support is greatly appreciated. 6月11日 DFO Audit from Auditor General for Public PresentationsAll: NO LONGER SET AS THERE IS TOO LITTLE TIME FOR THIS IMPORTANT DISCUSSION The OAG has called to advise me they have chosen a date and times for their public presentation on the DFO audit that was released on May 12th.
They will be here on .
As things stand now, there will be one public presentation at the There will be a second presentation in Nanaimo on the afternoon of I have advised them that these times are great for government people and paid ENGO reps but not so great for those who want to attend but have day jobs. I have asked them to see if they can add another Lower Mainland meeting either on the weekend (Sunday June 21st) or in the evening so that those who cannot make these times can attend.
I have proposed a more central location as well (SFU Campus in Surrey BC – accessible by Skytrain or perhaps in Abbotsford). They are looking into it.
If you can make the posted times above please let me know so ASAP so I can get back to them with an idea as to how many people can/will be attending.
Stay tooned.
John Werring Aquatic Habitat Specialist Marine and Freshwater Conservation Program
David Suzuki Foundation Ste. 219 - 2211 West 4th Avenue Vancouver, BC, V6K 4S2
(604) 732-4228 ext. 245 (604) 732-0752 Fax (604) 306-0517 (Cell) Visit our website at www.davidsuzuki.org 5月29日 Received RE: Fish Farm Public Hearing, Sayward, BCHi Deb, The submissions with respect to Bylaw No. 29 are currently being tallied, copied and packaged for distribution to the Regional Board members that will be voting on Bylaw No. 29. As a result, I am unable to provide you with the number of submissions received at this time. The attendance sheets for the public hearing were completed by a total of 219 people. Minutes of the public hearing will be posted on the Strathcona Regional District website (www.strathconard.ca) along with all of the submissions that were received. This will likely occur over the next two weeks as it will take considerable staff time to convert all of the submissions into electronic format. The submissions received as a result of the first public hearing on April 14, 2009 are available for review on the website. Bylaw No. 29 will be considered for third reading by the Regional Board at its meeting on June 25, 2009. Thank you. Jeff Long, BES, MCIP 301 - 990 Cedar Street Campbell River, BC V9W 7Z8 Hi Deb: The hall was packed in Sayward, with close to 300 people. There were a lot of people for both sides, and the hearing went until midnight. Grieg stacked the hall and speakers list early, and some of our supporters from Quadra Island had to leave to catch a ferry and did not get to speak. They did however make written submissions. The submissions should be up on the Strathcona Regional District soon, if they are not already. The vote will take place on June 25th, and we will do an update at that time. We need 2 of the 4 directors to vote no in order to defeat the zoning bylaw. Fingers crossed... Regards, Michelle Young Salmon Aquaculture Campaigner Georgia Strait Alliance 195 Commercial St., Nanaimo, BC V9R 5G5 www.GeorgiaStrait.org
5月27日 the voices will grow in number to protect wild salmonMay 27
the voices will grow in number to protect wild salmonit's almost 10 in BC the 27th of May
the public hearing may close in Sayward
the voices will grow in number
to protect wild salmon
worldwide
link to protect wild salmon WRITE TODAY! PUBLIC HEARING, BC: OPPOSE FISH FARMS!THE ESTUARY IS A BIRTHING PLACE FOR SALMON AND AN INFINITE NUMBER OF SPECIES. THE SALMON INDUSTRY IS A MAINSTAY IN BC AND MUST BE PROTECTED.
ESPECIALLY FROM FISH FARMS. ALSO FROM DEVELOPMENT.
THE FISH FARM APPLICATIONS ARE TO BE HEARD TODAY. THIS NEWS JUST IN FROM NORWAY FROM ALEXANDRA MORTON MAY INFLUENCE YOU TO WRITE NOW!
THIS PUBLIC HEARING
HAPPENS TODAY MAY 27TH 2009! At the request of Grieg Seafood, citing that the company has new information to submit, another zoning hearing has been scheduled by the Strathcona Regional District. This is the last hurdle for these two fish farms and we must stop them here. Make your opposition heard. Urgent Action: Participate in the Zoning Hearing for
the Proposed Yorke Island and Gunner Point Fish Farms
Strathcona Regional District Public Hearing: May 27th, 7 pm Sayward Heritage Community Hall 1257 Sayward Road, Sayward, BC Written Submissions: Due May 27, 4:30 pm Refer to: Bylaw 29, Quadra Island Zoning Bylaw, Amendment 95 Refering to: Bylaw 29, Quadra Island Zoning Bylaw, Amendment 95
To Whom It May Concern & J. Long
Strathcona Regional District 301-990 Cedar Street Campbell River, BC V9W 7Z8 Strathcona Regional District 301-990 Cedar Street Campbell River, BC V9W 7Z8 This letter is just in from Alexandra Morton. I submit it to this Public Hearing to further appeal to you in my request that: the application be opposed for the Proposed Yorke Island and Gunner Point Fish Farms. Bylaw 29, Quadra Island Zoning Bylaw, Amendment 95 The company, Norwegian Fish Farms Grieg Seafood ASA Post address P.O. 234 Sentrum N-5804 Bergen Norway must not be allowed to decimate the wild pacific salmon stocks, and other marine life, as has been done in Norway. Please stop this from happening here in BC. Oppose the proposed Yorke Island and Gunner Point Fish Farms as do I and others worldwide. Sincerely Deb Squamish BC [fishermenlist] Trip to Norway
Message from Alexandra Morton in Norway, disease and sea lice are not under control in Norwegian salmon farms and BC stands to lose all I have been in Norway for 10 days because 92% of fish farming in British Columbia is Norwegian owned. I have met with many Norwegian scientists, members of the Mainstream and Marine Harvest boards, been to their AGMs, toured the area with fishermen, examined a closed-containment facility, met the Norwegians fighting for their fish and joined a scientific cruise. I thought Norway had this industry handled and I expected to learn how marine salmon farming could work, but this has not been the case. My eyes have really been opened. This industry still has major issues that are growing and has no business expanding throughout the temperate coastlines of the world. The way they have been treating sea lice in Norway has caused high drug resistance. The only solution in sight is increasingly toxic chemicals. In the past two years (2007, 8) sea lice levels have actually increased on both the farm and wild fish. The scientists I met with are holding their breath to see if drug-resistant sea lice populations will explode and attack the last wild salmon and sea trout. The same treatment methods have been used in BC and we can expect this to occur as well. I am not hearing how the industry can possibly safeguard British Columbia from contamination with their ISA virus. Infectious Salmon Anemia is a salmon virus that is spreading worldwide, wherever there are salmon farms. In Chile, the Norwegian strain of ISA has destroyed 60% of the industry, 17,000 jobs and unmeasured environmental damage. The industry is pushing into new territory. If this gets to BC no one can predict what it will do to the Pacific salmon and steelhead, it will be unleashed into new habitat and we know this is a very serious threat to life. Professor Are Nylund head of the Fish Diseases Group at the University of Bergen, Norway, reports that, “based on 20 years of experience, I can guarantee that if British Columbia continues to import salmon eggs from the eastern Atlantic infectious salmon diseases, such as ISA, will arrive in Western Canada. Here in Hardangerfjord we have sacrificed our wild salmon stocks in exchange for farm salmon. With all your 5 species of wild salmon, BC is the last place you should have salmon farms.” New diseases and parasites are being identified. The most serious is a sea lice parasite that attacks the salmon immune system. There is concern that this new parasite is responsible for accelerating wild salmon declines. The Norwegian scientists agree with many of us in BC. If you want wild salmon you must reduce the number of farm salmon. There are three options. The future for salmon farming will have to include:
There are many people here like me. I met a man who has devoted his life to the science of restoring the Voss River, where the largest Atlantic salmon in the world, a national treasure, have vanished due to sea lice from salmon farms. Interestingly he is using the method I was not allowed to use last spring... Towing the fish past the farms out to sea. Another man is working with scientists and communities to keep the sea trout of the Hardangerfjord alive. There are so many tragic stories familiar to British Columbia. The corporate fish farmers are unrelenting in their push to expand. With Chile so highly contaminated with the Norwegian strain of ISA all fish farmed coasts including Norway are threatened with expansion. I made the best case I could to Mainstream and Marine Harvest for removing the salmon feedlots from our wild salmon migration routes, but they will not accept that they are harming wild salmon. They say they want to improve, but they don’t say how. Norway has different social policies which include encouraging people to populate the remote areas and so fish farming seemed a good opportunity to these people. BC has the opposite policy, but the line that fish farms are good for small coastal communities has been used in BC anyway. I have not seen any evidence that it has even replaced the jobs it has impacted in wild fisheries and tourism. It is becoming increasingly clear to protect wild Pacific salmon from the virus ISA the BC border absolutely has to be closed to importation of salmon eggs immediately and salmon farms MUST be removed from the Fraser River migration routes and any other narrow waterways where wild salmon are considered valuable. Our letter asking government that the Fisheries Act, which is the law in Canada be applied to protect our salmon from fish farms has been signed by 14,000 people to date at www.adopt-a-fry.org <http://www.adopt-a-fry.org> has still not been answered. Please forward this letter and encourage more people to sign our letter to government as it is building a community of concerned people word wide and we will prevail as there is really no rock for this industry to hide under and longer. Alexandra Morton 5月16日 Dreamin' ON!May 16
Dream ON!Hello
Gordon Campbell locked the doors when I tried to deliver our letter and left us on the street. Campbell has been re-elected and at first I thought this meant BC does not actually want wild salmon, nor their rivers. I began to make plans to give up and get my own life back in order, but then someone forwarded me this map. The ridings with wild salmon and wild salmon rivers, did not actually elect Campbell. Thousands of people have told me they want wild salmon and have wished me success in this, but at every BC election a handicap is laid on us who are trying to do this. I am writing to say people cannot wave from the sidelines any longer, because we are not succeeding. Wild salmon are going extinct on our watch. Yes, yes climate change will be a factor, but wild salmon are built to survive cataclysmic change in their environment and if we allow their genetic warehouse to rebuild right now, we stand a far better chance of receiving the food and energy this fish brings to us in the years to come. Grieg Seafood is trying to build two of the biggest fish farms on the coast, on the juvenile salmon migration route for Fraser River and East Vancouver Island stocks, at York Island. Marine Harvest is trying to increase the size of their “farms” coastwide. They are taking me back to court this summer to resolve whether they own their fish in the Canadian Ocean. Atlantic salmon eggs are still being imported into BC, despite the Infectious Salmon Anemia virus popping up everywhere the Norwegian salmon farmers operate. Emamectin benzoate (Slice) is being used in our waters....with no warnings posted during usage...even though the U.S. Food and Drug Agency apparently has a ban on any food products “exposed” to this neurotoxin (Pacific Fishing current issue). This means all of us who are fishing, and harvesting seafood near fish farms have no way to make sure we are not “exposed” to the drug. And the fish feedlots are in violation of many sections of the Fisheries Act. Not only is there no progress, we are moving backwards. I am headed to Norway next week, but doubt anyone is listening there either. I can only see two ways forward.... The courts..... And for us all to step up and say “no more.” The solution is so simple: Apply the laws of Canada, The Fisheries Act. If the Norwegians can’t comply they should leave. Give the Canadian fish farmers who want to revamp their industry in closed tanks a break in getting set up. Market wild and farm fish to raise the value of both. And restore wild salmon in a way that has never been tried.....adhering to their biology, the natural laws that have caused them to thrive in the first place. And we need everyone who wants wild salmon to sign this letter. Currently we are at 14,000.....and we are still on the street, this was not enough to even get in the door. It is up to you guys. Alexandra Morton 5月7日 Delivery of petition to G. Campbell NOT Allowed
5月1日 BC ELECTION BC POLITICAL WILLHello All, Here in British Columbia we are in the last two weeks of electing a Provincial government and this will have critical affect on wild salmon due to privatization of rivers and ocean spaces, even schools of fish. Many of you received responses from the BC government currently in power, the “Liberals,” headed by Premier Gordon Campbell. They said the BC government is not allowed to intervene in the Appeal of the Constitutional Challenge I won regarding fish farms. This is not correct they do have this power. I have written a response on the website www.adopt-a-fry.org It is becoming very clear that while the current BC government has allowed the salmon feedlots to expand despite the science, public outcry and impact on rural economies they realize they are a political liability and thus are making every effort to distance themselves from the industry. There are simple answers to this mess which now threatens the entire eastern Pacific and the BC economy. Aquaculture is not the problem, the problem is lack of political will. Alaskan salmon have political will on their side and they are thriving For those of you in B.C. please view this film below and vote. The existence of wild salmon depends very much on this election. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPuJfbS2qMY I apologize for the number of emails, but if we want wild salmon we all need to act now. Alexandra Morton 4月30日 WWC Petition for BC Legislation to Protect Endangered SpeciesDid you know... BC has no endangered species law. Help change this! BC has more threatened/endangered species than anywhere else in Canada. We are contacting you to ask for your help to protect BC's wildlife and biodiversity. There are currently 1600 species threatened/endangered in our province.Several major environmental groups have come together to campaign for endangered species legislation. We have a petition underway with over 8000 signatures so far, but we are aiming for over 10,000 by the 8th of May. So we are asking you to spread the word about the campaign, and encourage everyone you know to sign the petition. (They can sign up online.) You can help further by: 1) checking out the campaign website, www.lastplaceonearth.ca, to learn more about the issue and the campaign, and to sign a letter calling for protective legislation 2) forwarding this email to all your email contacts 3) asking groups you belong to, and businesses you frequent, to officially endorse the campaign (before May 6th). Ask them to call in to the WC office, and we'll explain what's involved. 4) downloading the campaign petition from the website, and circulate it (post in on your co-op bulletin board, take it to meetings, etc.). Return petitions to the Wilderness Committee by May 6th (partially full pages are fine). "Beautiful BC" is losing it's wildlife and wilderness fast. The UN has designated 2010 as the "Year for Biodiversity." If we don't act now, 2010 in BC it will simply be another year when we lose more plant and animal species - forever. Please help save BC wilderness and wildlife. Thanks! Ruth Fahlman | Outreach Volunteer Wilderness Committee | Canada's largest membership-based wilderness preservation organization mailing address:227 Abbott Sreet, Vancouver, BC V6B 2K7 office: 604-683-8220 toll free: 1-800-661-9453 web: www.wildernesscommittee.org 4月28日 7 pm Adventure Centre Apr. 29 Public forum re: STVAll, I hope I’m not annoying you with the STV related emails but I do feel that this is of the most important things. STV stands for single transferable vote. What it ‘really’ stands for is transforming politics in BC. I view STV like a good foundation in a house – if you have a good foundation, you have a solid house, but if you don’t, you have problems and keep getting them.
There is a public forum tomorrow night at the Adventure Centre in Squamish at 7pm . Speakers will be in town from both the yes and no sides – I know the ‘yes’ speaker, he’s excellent. There will also be an opportunity to ask questions. Please forward this on to all your Squamish and Whistler contacts.
Thanks very much,
Chris
On May 12 we have an incredible opportunity to vote on the referendum to change British Columbia to a fairer electoral system as recommended by the Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform. The new system is called BC-STV. Check out http://stv.ca and vote yes on May 12!
Chris Joseph
Squamish, BC
604-892-9608
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Alexandra Morton (wildorca@island.net) 
Alexandra Morton (wildorca@island.net) |
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