For more information, see the following media stories:

• Vancouver Sun, May 16, 2012, Fatal IHN virus detected in B.C. Atlantic farmed salmon for first time since 2003
• Times Colonist, May 16, 2012, Island salmon farm culling fish after virus confirmed
• FIS, May 16, 2012, Mainstream detects IHN virus at Vancouver farm
• Westerly News, May 16, 2012, IHN virus found in fish farm near Tofino

• FIS World News, May 15, 2012, Hatchery salmon threaten wild salmon survival: studies
• Summit County Citizens Voice, May 15, 2012, Biodiversity: Hatchery salmon hurting wild populations
• UPI, May 14, 2012, Increase in hatchery salmon brings concern
• Phys.org, May 14, 2012, Growing risks from hatchery fish
• Cordova Times, May 14, 2012, Studies suggest growing risks from hatchery fish
• Oregon Public Broadcasting, May 13, 2012, New Research: Hatchery Salmon Posing Problems For Wild Stocks

Watershed Watch Executive Director, Craig Orr, is quoted in the article stating “It raises the threshold for what is considered to be serious harm to fish.  Without a doubt we all think this really does strike at the heart of what Cohen should be considering. It has huge implications to our ability to protect salmon.”

Orr said,  “I think this act does change how Cohen must view the ability of the federal government to effectively protect fish habitat in B.C. and across Canada and thus strikes at the heart of what this federal inquiry is trying to sort out.”

The article goes on to explain that the “current law prohibits Canadians from any activity “that results in the harmful alteration, disruption or destruction of fish habitat.” The proposed new wording is far more narrow and focuses on economic fisheries, banning “serious harm to fish that are part of a commercial, recreational or aboriginal fishery, or to fish that support such a fishery.  The government defines “serious harm” as “the death of fish or any permanent alteration to, or destruction of, fish habitat.”"

For more information on the Cohen Inquiry, see our Fraser Sockeye Inquiry page and our Salmon Leaks series.

• CBC, April 30, 2012, Understanding a devastating salmon disease
• Digby County Courier, April 28, 2012, Feds to compensate fish farm for ISA losses
• Times Colonist, April 27, 2012, Farmed salmon ordered destroyed
• Global News, April 26, 2012, Viral outbreak at Nova Scotia salmon farm spreads, prompting kill order
• Chronicle Herald, April 26, 2012, Massive salmon kill ordered as virus spreads at N.S. fish farm

“Notice that the Kokish River power project had been approved was posted on the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency website late Wednesday – but that was a week after a construction company had already advertised in the Campbell River Mirror for workers to help build the facility.”

Watershed Watch Executive Director, Craig Orr, is quoted in the article stating, “The threat in the Kokish is you are really altering the flows in ways that we don’t fully understand.  There will be less water for the fish and it will be almost impossible to mitigate.”  He also explained how “fish biologists who have studied the river agree the diversion of water into a pipeline, to power generators, will harm salmon and steelhead habitat.”

For more information on concerns over the Kokish hydro project, see Watershed Watch’s update Watershed Watch signs on with more than 50 organizations to say ‘Keep the Kokish River wild.’

For more information on river diversion hydropower see Watershed Watch’s River Diversion/Run-of-River page.

Part 1: Marine mammals coming back to the Salish Sea

The first article of a six-part series on the State of the Salish Sea, the Vancouver Sun reports that “Thanks to conservation efforts, one marine mammal after another is making a dramatic comeback, their presence providing the biggest reason for hope across an ecosystem spanning 7,000 square kilometres.”  The article goes on to state, “The dramatic return of so many marine mammals at the top of the food chain also suggests good productivity at the bottom, for predators cannot thrive without the fish and smaller creatures upon which they prey. But there are also dozens of species that are not doing as well in the Salish Sea, a complex and poorly understood ecosystem.”

Part 2: Coastal waterbirds in B.C. slipping away

In the second article reports “The B.C. Coastal Waterbird Survey, a 12-year survey of B.C. coastal birds by Bird Studies Canada, found 22 of 57 species — almost 40 per cent — are in decline, according to results released to The Vancouver Sun.  Those findings are echoed in a separate study by the SeaDoc Society, which found that birds represented half, or 56 of 113, species that are threatened, endangered, or candidates for listing in the Salish Sea.”

Part 3: A river runs through it – Fraser plays part in global study measuring effect of climate change

The third article examines the role the Fraser River is playing in the “Global Rivers Project, an initiative of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution near Boston. Along with local partners such as the University of the Fraser Valley, it is tracking the health of rivers, their response to climate change and their impact on coastal ocean ecosystems.  The rivers project is looking at everything from temperatures to trace metals to the carbon cycle, gathering important baseline information against which future studies can be compared.”

Part 4: Exploring Earth’s final frontier

The fourth article examines BC pioneers who “are at the heart of the world’s submersible technology development.”

Part 5: One of Earth’s most remarkable places

The fifth article of the series reports that the “Endeavour hydrothermal vents have been described in scientific papers as ‘one of the most remarkable places on Earth,’ a sub-sea site as strangely beautiful as it can be toxic.”

Part 6: Captive-raised sea lions help research why the species in Alaskan free fall

The final article of the series details research into Steller sea lion abundance in Alaska.  The article reports that “Once the victim of bounties and culls, Steller sea lions continue to make a steady recovery in B.C. waters as a result of federal protection afforded in 1970. The latest abundance estimates peg their population at 48,000 animals in winter on the B.C. coast; the breeding population had dipped to an estimated 3,400 animals before protection. In western Alaska, including the Aleutian Islands and Gulf of Alaska, the story is different. Named after the German surgeon and naturalist Georg Wilhelm Steller, the sea lions there are officially listed as endangered. Current estimates are 39,000 to 45,000 animals, a shadow of what the population used to be in such a vast area.”

“The U.S. National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration says the western Alaska population declined by 75 per cent from 1976 to 1990, and another 40 per cent from 1991 to 2000 — for reasons that remain the subject of debate.”

Jessica Clogg, senior counsel at West Coast Environmental Law, states, “We know from experience whose interests are favoured when the federal government uses legislation to pick and choose what fish habitat gets protection – the legalized use of fish lakes as tailings ponds, and new rules that will recklessly fast track megaprojects that could result in devastation of fish habitat. Today’s announcements are peppered with new loopholes and exemptions that come at the expense of fish and those whose livelihoods and cultures rely on healthy fish habitat.”

For more information and recent media coverage on proposed Fisheries Act changes see Watershed Watch’s updates Watershed Watch Executive Director Comments on Proposed Fisheries Act Changes in Vancouver Sun and Fish habitat at risk from proposed changes to Fisheries Act (updated).

Also see Raincoast Conservation Foundation’s media release The bear necessities: Managing salmon for grizzlies and people for additional details.

For more information on salmon farming, also see Watershed Watch’s videos Wild Salmon in Trouble and Aquacultural Revolution.