The Pebble Mine Partnership promises they can mine responsibly, but they’re already screwing up the area, as this video pretty plainly documents. (Note: I’m not sure why a rock soundtrack was needed, but just turn off the sound — and see what the world’s largest remaining salmon run has to look forward to if Pebble’s approved…):
It seems that eveyrone agrees that the Matilija Dam should come down, but in an example of negative inertia, it hasn’t been removed yet. Somebody clearly thinks it’s time:
It’s not clear who painted the scissors on the dam, but it’s graffiti the Underground can live with.
(via the L.A. Times)
Sure, demolition’s just begun on the Elwha River Dams and people are pretty excited about it — but there’s already a growing backlash against the establishment of a hatchery on the river to “jump start” the recovery:
The groups say hatchery fish reduce the vigor and survival of fragile runs of native fish, and that the decision to plant nonnative Chambers Creek winter steelhead in the river poses particular risk. The filers are far from alone in their concern: Scientists from every agency that has weighed in on the question of stocking nonnative steelhead in the river have opposed it as an unreasonable and unnecessary risk to wild-fish recovery.
Hatchery proponents seem to be backed into a corner, citing the need for a tribal fishery after a five-year moratorium on fishing is ended as the rebounding fishery will still be “too fragile.”
Opponents of the hatchery — pretty much everybody else — say its existence will ensure a fragile wild/native fishery for a lot longer than five years, and others note that $16 million is a lot to pay for what amounts to a temporary solution.
Who’s stacked up against the hatchery?
The lead fish biologist for Olympic National Park, the habitat biologist for the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, and scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Marine Fisheries Service and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife are all on record opposing the practice.
“This is the world’s largest river-restoration program and it should reflect the world’s best science,” said Kurt Beardslee, head of the Wild Fish Conservancy, one of the groups involved. “We think the hatchery is threatening the recovery of wild fish and we really don’t think it went through the proper review process.”
Also joining in the action are the Wild Steelhead Coalition, The Conservation Angler and Federation of Fly Fishers Steelhead Committee.
Stay tuned; the group has filed an “intent to sue” which means they’re giving the hatchery folks 60 days to discuss the issue before the suit is filed.
The lord giveth, the lord taketh away…
Commercial fishermen are netting invasive Asian carp species out of the Illinois River in huge numbers, which is probably good news for both jobless folks and native species.
This New York Times story outlines the growth in the commercial carp fishery and the government dollars flowing into the industry, and for those concerned about depressed native fish stocks, the news is frankly pretty good:
For many people, Asian carp are proving more boon than bane. Bolstered by government support, the Asian carp harvest has leapt thirtyfold in the past decade, creating a new industry, attracting fishermen and entrepreneurs, and feeding people all over the world.
“We’ve been ramping up for years,†said Mike Schafer, owner of Schafer Fisheries.
In 2010, the company sold some 20 million pounds of Asian carp to clients as far-flung as Turkey and Indonesia, up from two million pounds in 2006.
“We’re out in front,†Mr. Schafer said, “and it’s going to get bigger.â€
The story goes on to detail the multi-million dollar grants and new plant expansions taking place — all of which sound great until you get to the final paragraph of the story:
“We want to crash the population,†said Kevin Irons, aquaculture and aquatic nuisance manager for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. “We’re not trying to find a sustainable yield.â€
I understand the aim, but it sounds like we’re going to build an industry based on a runaway population of invasives — one that will not exist (if managers have their way) five years from now.
I’m all for making lemonade out of lemons — and commercial netting sure as hell cut the legs out of plenty of other fish stocks — but I’m having a hell of a time squaring that final sentence with all that went before it.
See you wondering who edited that article, Tom Chandler.
Longtime readers know I’m not exactly a fan of Nestle Waters of North America — a corporate predator if ever there was one.
They were ultimately run out of McCloud after people became fed up with their secret backroom negotiations and use of their sizable legal department to bludgeon the opposition, and the old mill site they bought is now for sale:
Be a nice gesture for someone to buy it and turn it into the Corporate Retreat/Underground Rod & Gun Club exclusively for the use of the Undergrounders (of which there would suddenly be a lot).
Just thinking out loud (I’ll bet it goes for a lot less than the full asking price).
See you in the Real Estate section, Tom Chandler.
Ãœber-environmental writer Elizabeth Royte recently fired up an article about the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission conducting some remarkably questionable sales to energy companies. To whit:
Gas companies in southwestern Pennsylvania are leasing portions of streams from Pennsylvania’s Fish and Boat Commission to build a 16.5-mile pipeline to move locally drilled gas to larger markets. Why is an agency that promotes sport fishing making it easier for gas companies to operate in and around waterways used for fishing? Because it’s $36 million short on cash to repair dams in danger of collapse (the dams are classified as high risk because they’re incapable of holding 50 percent of the maximum precipitation that a region could receive). The Fish Commission also plans to sell water to the gas companies for use in drilling operations. (Wait: aren’t surface waters in the public trust—owned by the people? Maybe they’re selling groundwater – the story is unclear.) So far, about one-third of the commission’s waterways—some 14,000 acres–are potential drilling sites.
It gets worse; not only will the pipeline cross a few bazillion streams and wetlands, but they’re going to let the industry police itself?
The pipeline will cross wetlands 71 times and streams 41 times. Kelly Swan, a spokesperson for Williams Production Appalachia, which is pursing a permit to drill under Donegal Lake, a popular trout-fishing spot in Donegal Township, among other sites, minimizes the potential for environmental damage: “Company inspectors will be stationed along the pipeline daily to ensure that construction adheres to state DEP requirements.†Very reassuring: the company guards itself, under requirements set by a notoriously drill-friendly agency. (We’ve seen how well this worked with BP in the Gulf, ExxonMobil in Yellowstone, and so on.)
Royte is not a fisheries person, but she is a meticulous writer and researcher, and I wonder if any of the Undergrounders in Pennsylvania can offer any information or perspective?
See you at the pipeline, Tom Chandler.
The latest from the Button Valley Bugle about the Exxon spill in the Yellowstone River:
In what seems to have become SOP for the oil giant, they told federal regulators today that their pipeline was buried 12 feet below the streambed of the Yellowstone. On Tuesday ExxonMobil Pipeline Co. President Gary Pruessing said, before talking to the Exxon PR department, “Soundings to determine the pipeline’s depth were taken in December, and at the time, the line appeared to be 5 to 8 feet below the riverbed,â€. On Tuesday, a company executive told the Governor that they had shut the line down within 30 minutes of the spill. The new documents show that the pipe leaked for nearly an hour before being shut down. Initially, company spokesmen said that they saw “very little soiling†of the river banks beyond the 10-mile mark. Currently the company has workers sopping up oil along a 25-mile stretch of the river and there were reports of a 25-mile long slick near Hysham, nearly 100 miles downstream.
The rest of his article here.
Update on the Yellowstone River oil spill response from the Button Valley Bugle (the news isn’t that wildly good).
The same wacky gang who brought you the Exxon Valdeez adventure apparently spilled an “undetermined” amount of oil into the Yellowstone River; a 12″ Exxon pipeline running beneath the Yellowstone River ruptured early July 2.
The spill began near Laurel, MT (not far from Billings MT):
Emergency evacuations were conduced near the spill, though interestingly, counties farther down the river never received notification of the spill from either the state or Exxon.
More as it happens…
Moldy Chum posted an impressive list of actions you can take to rid our little rock of another damaging steelhead hatchery, this one the Snider Creek version on the Olympic Peninsula’s Sol Duc River.
You can read Moldy’s post (it lays out the whole argument, including links to other sources), or simply invest a few seconds sending an automated comment (not as much impact as a personal email, but fast) at this link.
From Moldy:
We need you and your friends that are interested in saving wild steelhead in this river to write the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) quickly and tell them it is time to establish wild steelhead gene banks and management areas where wild fish can reproduce without the impacts of hatchery fish.
This action will allow the early run of wild stocks to recover genetically and productively to a level similar to those of the 1950s—prior to hatcheries—and create an early fishery as valuable as the late winter run.
Over the last 25 years the Snider Creek Hatchery on the Sol Duc River has negatively altered the genetics of the population, reduced its productivity and encouraged increased fishing effort for hatchery fish, which has been detrimental to the wild run.
Click here, and in about 20 seconds, your voice can be heard.
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