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The exclusive, invitation-only meeting left out some important voices, including Chief Bob Chamberlin - Chair of the First Nations Leadership Council-mandated Aquaculture Working Group - who was turned away at the door. I spoke with both Chief Chamberlin and Watershed Watch's Dr. Craig Orr - apparently one of the few people in the meeting who raised the issue of salmon farms and their possible connection to the Fraser crisis. Dr. Orr describes here some of the latest science being done on the subject and reveals what went on inside the meeting. He also rebuts the erroneous explanations by industry and government as to why salmon farms can't be connected to the sockeye collapse.
Join the Wild Salmon Circle!
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DFO's booth at AquaNor
Something is fishy in Norway.
Damien Gillis confronts the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans at the world's biggest fish farming trade show in Trondheim, Norway. Gillis asked Minister Shea how she responds to criticism of the optics of DFO being in Norway while the iconic Fraser River Sockeye run collapses, with possible links to the salmon farming industry. "I'm here in Norway to support our aquaculture industry in Canada because it's a very important part of our economy," responded Shea.
What about WILD SALMON, the department's constitutional responsibility to protect it, and the piles of scientific evidence that suggest serious impacts from open-net salmon farms on the lynchpin of BC's coastal ecosystems?
While Minister Shea acknowledged possible links between salmon farms and the collapse of the Fraser sockeye, she said there wasn't enough information to be certain. What's missing in this discussion is the PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE, to which Canada is committed as a signatory of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity. The precautionary principle says that when there are significant risks to the environment or public, we must err to the side of caution. The weight of evidence connecting salmon farms to the decline of wild salmon - coupled with the recent discovery of sea lice from salmon farms infesting wild Fraser sockeye smolts - to warrant immediate action to protect wild stocks from possible impacts from salmon farms.
According to Otto Langer, who left the department after a 32 year career over its stance on fish farms, "They have a great conflict of interest within that agency. They are promoting fish farming, and yet they have the Fisheries Act which says they have to conserve and protect fish habitat and protect wild fish." With DFO set to retake responsibility of regulating fish farming from the BC government - thanks to Alexandra Morton's recent landmark legal victory - the public is left to question how seriously it will take this responsibility and whether it is capable in its current form of preventing a total collapse of wild salmon on BC's coast.
Watch "DFO at AquaNor while Fraser Sockeye Crash"
And Gillis' short documentary with the Pure Salmon Campaign - "Dear Norway: Help Save Canada's Wild Salmon"
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At issue was Montreal-based Axor Group's plan to divert 5 rivers in the
Purcell Wilderness, northeast of Kootenay Lake, for a 125-megawatt private
power project - the largest such proposal in the region. The people of the Kootenays join British Columbians who have come out en masse to oppose projects on the Ashlu River, Upper Pitt River, in Bute Inlet, and elsewhere - showing citizens around BC how to mobilize to protect our rivers and public energy system.
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Requests for a meeting in the region's biggest city, Nelson, were denied by the company and government, leading to the huge turnout in Kaslo. But the public will get a chance to discuss the proposal in Nelson after all - local Nelson-Creston MLA Michelle Mungall will host a public meeting there on July 15 at 7 PM at the Prestige Inn, 1301 Front St. More info: http://michellemungall.blogspot.com/
Read Rafe Mair's Tyee article on the Kaslo meeting: In Kaslo, a Big No to River Power
And for more details on the proposed project and its environmental impacts, watch the short film "Rivers at Risk: Glacier & Howser Creeks": play video
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Click here to view part I.
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This 4 min film, entitled "Rivers at Risk: British Columbia" brings the series to a close with a visual tour of rivers in every corner of the province - shot by filmmaker Damien Gillis throughout the past several years - including those threatened by proposals and those already being torn apart by private river power construction. This film is essential viewing for all British Columbians. All six short documentaries in the "Rivers at Risk" series are available here.Watch high resolution video
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Bute Inlet - Sunshine Coast: One of the world's top eco-tourism and sport fishing destinations is under assault from General Electric/Plutonic Power's proposal for the largest proposed private hydro power project in Canadian history. Includes footage from recent highly-charged public meetings about the proposed mega-project, and high-definition aerial footage of this natural wonder on BC's Sunshine Coast. The project would see 17 different rivers diverted through miles of pipes, requiring some 450 km of transmission lines, 250 km of heavy industrial roads and over 100 bridges. Any pretense of "green" power goes out the window with this mammoth proposal. 24 min.
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Glacier and Howser Creeks - Kootenays: Five pristine rivers around Duncan Lake - near Kaslo in the spectacular West Kootenay - are threatened by a 120 MW private river power proposal by Axor Corp. The plan is to divert up to 90% of each of these rivers, including beloved Glacier and Howser Creeks, into a 4.5 metre-wide 16 KM tunnel to generate electricity and private profits for Axor Corp. and its investors. As the water will never return to the original creeks from which it is diverted (instead dumping it into the Lake below) this cannot be rightly called "run of river" power. One of the most environmentally troubling aspects of the proposal is the plan to get the power out of the valley by way of a 100 metre-wide 91KM transmission corridor carved out of old growth forests through the pristine Purcell mountain range. 11 min.
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Koch Creek - Kootenays: Journey to the Slocan Valley - in BC's spectacular Kootenays - to meet a biologist, community organizer, and group of kayakers all joining forces to save their beloved river from a private power project. The project, proposed by Vancouver developer Harold Kalke, would divert a significant amount of the river's flow through a 2.7 metre-wide pipe for 3.5 km. The kayakers, as part of the Endangered Creeks Expedition, have been paddling rivers and creeks all throughout the Kootenays - among the 80 or so in the region threatened by the Campbell government's private power gold rush - taking pictures and video to raise awareness about this agenda that will deprive British Columbians of control over our water and energy security. Featuring action-packed whitewater footage! 10 min.
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Ryan River - Sea to Sky Country: The mighty Ryan River in the agricultural valley of Pemberton, BC is slated to have a significant amount of its natural flow diverted through a 10 KM-long, 5 metre-wide tunnel for a massive 145 megawatt private river power project proposed by Regional Power Inc. Farming families going back generations here in "Spud Valley" are concerned the project would increase flood risks from the wild, powerful Ryan - and that heavy environmental impacts like road and tunnel building, and the proposed 26.5 KM transmission line would damage eco-tourism and fish and wildlife values. 9 min.
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To view the video in higher resolution, click here.
To learn more or purchase a copy, click here.
Also watch Damien Gillis' 9 minute video on the ECE and their battle to save one of their favorite Slocan Valley paddling spots - Rivers at Risk: Koch Creek
As he steps down from the Nelson-Creston seat he has held for three election terms, Evans reflects on threats to the public trust and the very social fabric of his beloved province from the Gordon Campbell government. Discussing our rivers, forests, democracy, and heritage, Evans shares some important thoughts on the grave challenges we face today - telling it like it is in a way only he can."If you want to understand the BC Liberals, you kind have to understand people with no loyalty to a territory - just a loyalty to an ideology that is a market idea.
"It is simply a lie that we're short of power, it's a lie that these are green projects that the Liberals are selling, and it's a lie that it's good for the people." - Corky Evans
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