Sunday, December 23, 2012

B.C.’s salmon guardian needs you to listen – before it’s too late


Ron MacLeod, former director-general of the Canadian Fisheries and Oceans Department is photographed at his home White Rock, British Columbia, Saturday, December 1, 2012.
(Rafal Gerszak for The Globe and Mail)

FISHERIES

B.C.’s salmon guardian needs you to listen – before it’s too late

MARK HUME


Vancouver, The Globe and Mail, Dec 02 2012

He’s 88 and admits to failing health, but Ron MacLeod’s mind remains as sharp as a well-honed fish hook and his passion for protecting salmon is undiminished.

Proof of that lies in a brilliant paper he has just written with long-time colleague Al Wood that he hopes will stir a public outcry against government.

This is an old warrior who is squaring up for one last fight. And politicians will ignore him at their peril.

His paper, “Epic Fail,” chronicles the decline of Pacific salmon stocks and warns that a total collapse – on the scale of the Atlantic cod catastrophe – is in the making, unless things change.


Mr. MacLeod, a former director-general of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, goes beyond doom-saying. He lays out the history of failed government policies that have propelled us to this point, and offers solutions.

Read more here

"This short paper is well written, easy to read and will help us all to understand how "we" (Canada) got to where we are as to fish and fisheries." - Jim Wilson, The Pacific Streamkeepers Federation

Read "Epic Fail" here.

Looking back along the Bow River - 2012 Season

Photo, Copyright Bow River Shuttles All rights reserved 2012
April 2012

Saturday, December 22, 2012

FDA says Newfoundland's 'Frankenfish' unlikely to be harmful



FDA says Newfoundland's 'Frankenfish' unlikely to be harmful 

Health regulators 'clear the way' for approval of genetically modified salmon 

CBC News/The Associated Press, Dec 21, 2012 

Federal health regulators say a genetically modified salmon that grows twice as fast as normal is unlikely to harm the environment, clearing the way for the first approval of a scientifically engineered animal for human consumption.  

Read more here 

Related story: GE Salmon Headed to Your Dinner Plate

Wildlands Advocate - December 2012



Several articles might be of interest to fly fishers, "A Castle-Crown Collage" in particular.

Wildlands Advocate - December 2012 

 Note: Adobe Reader is required to open this magazine

Looking back along the Bow River - 2012 Season

Photo, Copyright Bow River Shuttles All rights reserved 2012
April 2012

Friday, December 21, 2012

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Oil, gas development banned in B.C's Sacred Headwaters


The B.C. government is set to announce a ban on 
coal-bed methane gas drilling in the 
Sacred Headwaters area. 
(David Zalubowski/Associated Press)

Oil, gas development banned in B.C's Sacred Headwaters 

CBC News  Dec 18, 2012 

The B.C. government has confirmed a ban on oil and gas development in the Sacred Headwaters region of northwestern B.C. 

"As part of a tripartite agreement, Shell Canada is immediately withdrawing plans to explore for natural gas in the Klappan by relinquishing its tenures," the province said in a release. 

"In addition, the Province of British Columbia will not issue future petroleum and natural-gas tenure in the area." 

A four-year ban on oil and gas exploration in the area was set to expire Tuesday. 

Shannon McPhail, the executive director of the Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition, says announcement is a welcome relief. 

"There are no words to even describe how we're feeling about this right now," she told CBC News. "This has been a long road of 10 years of working on this and I think it has been a huge victory." 

The moratorium has prevented Shell Canada from doing exploratory drilling in the area, which is home to the headwaters of three salmon-bearing rivers: the Skeena, Nass and Stikine.  

LINK:(CBC News)

Related story, Globe & Mail: B.C.'s Sacred Headwaters to remain protected from drilling

Looking back along the Bow River - 2012 Season

Photo, Copyright Bow River Shuttles All rights reserved 2012
April 2012

Monday, December 17, 2012

Preserving our Lifeline - December 2012



Check out one of the feature articles written by Brian Meagher, Provincial Biologist, Trout Unlimited Canada. 

Preserving our Lifeline - December 2012

Looking back along the Bow River - 2012 Season

Photo, Copyright Bow River Shuttles All rights reserved 2012

A fly fisher's dashboard 'mascot'. April 2012

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Looking back along the Bow River - 2012 Season

Photo, Copyright Bow River Shuttles All rights reserved 2012
Greenlining :-). April 2012

Saturday, December 15, 2012

Looking back along the Bow River - 2012 Season

Photo, Copyright Bow River Shuttles All rights reserved 2012

Michelle chatting with a shuttle client. April 2012

Friday, December 14, 2012

Fish can’t speak out, but you can! Save the Fisheries Act- it’s not too late!

Fish can’t speak out, but you can! Save the Fisheries Act- it’s not too late! 

The changes to the Fisheries Act and new regulations made under it, will have implications for the health of rivers and lakes across the Canada – not just for fish – but for all species, including us humans, who all depend on safe, healthy waters. Fish can’t speak out, but you can. 

Fishermen fishing for salmon in the Humber river, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
© Noah Cole, WWF-Canada


Posted by Tony Maas, World Wildlife Fund,  December 13, 2012

While the news this week that the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) has no formal plans to consult the public or stakeholders on still-pending changes to the Fisheries Act included in Bill C-38 back in June is not surprising, it is troubling.

On June 27, 2012, in the wake of Bill C-38, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Keith Ashfield announced a “nationwide public engagement and consultations process to be held throughout the summer and fall to develop the policy and regulatory framework that will support changes to the Fisheries Act adopted by the House of Commons earlier this month.” Background documents supporting this announcement state: “Through Summer and Fall 2012, the Department will engage Canadians, through a series of roundtables and meetings, and online, to get their feedback on various elements of the Government of Canada’s fisheries protection approach.”

These announcements signal that there may still be an opportunity for people and organizations like WWF to influence the governments’ new approach to fisheries management, and to appeal to the Minister and the Department through a formal process to maintain the important protections for fish habitat – not just fisheries – that have not yet been removed from the Fisheries Act(but remain on the chopping block). But it seems now that the department is backing away from this commitment to consult or is being quite selective and surgical, far from transparent with respect to who they consult and how.

The changes to the Fisheries Act and new regulations made under it, will have implications for the health of rivers and lakes across the Canada – not just for fish – but for all species, including us humans, who all depend on safe, healthy waters.

Please take a moment to call or email the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans to share your concerns on this issue and to ask if the government plans to make good on their commitment to engage Canadians on protecting our fisheries and the waters that sustain them.

Looking back along the Bow River - 2012 Season

Photo, Copyright Bow River Shuttles All rights reserved.   
Please click directly on photo for larger 1024X image.

Stopped on a gravel bar. April 2012