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Issue 9 July 2012

Wild Game Fish Conservation International (WGFCI): Established in 2011

to advocate for wild game fish, their fragile ecosystems and the cultures and economies that rely on their robust populations.

LEGACY The Journal of Wild Game Fish Conservation: Complimentary,

no-nonsense, monthly publication by conservationists for conservationists

LEGACY, the WGFCI Facebook page and the WGFCI website are utilized

to better equip fellow conservationists, elected officials, business owners and others regarding wild game fish, their contributions to society and the varied and complex issues impacting them and those who rely on their sustainability.

LEGACY features wild game fish conservation projects, fishing adventures,

accommodations, equipment and more. Your photos and articles featuring wild game fish from around planet earth are welcome for possible inclusion in an upcoming issue

of LEGACY. Your Letters to the Editor are welcome.

Successful wild game fish conservation efforts around planet earth will ensure existence of these precious natural resources and their ecosystems for future

generations to enjoy and appreciate. This is our LEGACY.

LLeeggaaccyy

Wild Game Fish Conservation International

Wild Game Fish Conservation International founders:

Bruce Treichler Jim Wilcox

Co-editor Legacy

Publisher and co-editor Legacy

LLeeggaaccyy TTThhheee JJJooouuurrrnnnaaalll ooofff WWWiiilllddd GGGaaammmeee FFFiiissshhh CCCooonnnssseeerrrvvvaaatttiiiooonnn

By Wild Game Fish Conservation International

Celebrating Nine Consecutive Months of Wild Game Fish News

SalmonAreSacred.org

Contents Featured Topic: Infectious Hematopoietic Necrosis (IHN) 6

Salmon Aquaculture Dialogue Releases Environmental and Social Standards ...................................................... 7 Wild migrating salmon likely infected their farmed cousins in B.C., say experts ................................................... 8 Meet salmon farming's worst enemy .......................................................................................................................... 10 B.C. salmon farm takes big financial loss as virus forces cull of 560,000 fish ...................................................... 11 Quarantine violation puts farms and jobs at risk ...................................................................................................... 13 Third fish farm quarantined over virus concerns ..................................................................................................... 14 Salmon-farm industry denies risk to wild fish ........................................................................................................... 16 Salmon farms do not belong near wild salmon ......................................................................................................... 16 An Online Database for IHN Virus in Pacific Salmonid Fish: MEAP-IHNV ............................................................. 17 Viral outbreak in Cermaq farm in Clayoquot ............................................................................................................. 18 Irresponsible anti-salmon farming activists continue to put farms, jobs at risk ................................................... 20 Mainstream Canada costs unknown after Atlantic salmon virus outbreak ........................................................... 21 Salmon virus lab results expected ............................................................................................................................. 22 The public deserves the truth ..................................................................................................................................... 23 Fish-farm viruses cause for concern ......................................................................................................................... 23 Fish infections raise issue of public's right to know ................................................................................................ 24 Trying to get answers .................................................................................................................................................. 24 Keep diseased salmon out of our markets and restaurants Get involved .......................................................... 25

Planet Earth 26

Chicago Protesters Decry Canadas Tar Sands Oil Extraction Methods................................................................ 26 Deformed Fish Found Downstream of Tar Sands Mines ......................................................................................... 27 US Senator Maria Cantwell (Washington State): proposed Keystone XL pipeline project................................... 29 Tarsands: Before and After ......................................................................................................................................... 31 Enbridge launches multimillion-dollar ad campaign to combat B.C. pipeline opposition ................................... 32 Keystone XL Will Increase Gas Prices ....................................................................................................................... 34 104-car train hauling oil crosses Maine ..................................................................................................................... 35 On World Oceans Day, celebrate the little fish, unglamorous but essential ......................................................... 36 Accumulation and distribution of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin, dibenzofuran, and polychlorinated

biphenyl congeners in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). ............................................................................................. 37 Fights brewing over massive coal-export plans for the Northwest ........................................................................ 38 Coal Exports and Carbon Consequences II ............................................................................................................... 39 Seattle opposes coal-export ports.............................................................................................................................. 40 The Truth About China's Coal ..................................................................................................................................... 41 Coal Industry Pays Fake Activists $50 To Wear Pro-Coal Shirts At Public Hearing ............................................. 42 Support restaurants that feature wild Pacific salmon: ............................................................................................. 46 Pants on Fire Recognition: Laurie Jensen (Mainstream Canada) ....................................................................... 48 Continued Atlantic Salmon Recovery Hinges on International Meeting ................................................................ 49

Canada 50 Budget cut overkill? Canada axes entire marine pollution program ...................................................................... 50 Salmon standards under fire ....................................................................................................................................... 51 C-38: Environmental Devastation Act ........................................................................................................................ 52 Gwen Barlee: Environmental standards should build, not erode ........................................................................... 53 British Columbia ................................................................................................................................................................. 54 Alexandra Morton and the Battle against Disease in BC Fish Farms by Rosa Saba......................................... 55 Dear Mr. Alf-Helge Aarskog, CEO Marine Harvest: ................................................................................................... 56 Fraser River sockeye face triple whammy of threats: new SFU study ................................................................... 58 Fisheries Act changes: Seeking the right mix between protection and development .......................................... 59 More straight shooting from Anissa Reed ................................................................................................................. 60

Ireland 61 Save Bantry Bay group accuse officials of ignoring facts ....................................................................................... 61

Scotland 62 FoI by Salmon and Trout Association shows reality of failure on sea lice control in salmon farms .................. 62

USA 64 President Barak Obama: Americas Natural Resources and Landscapes ............................................................. 64 EPA proposes new rules for muddy logging roads .................................................................................................. 65 Seafood Species Substitution and Economic Fraud ................................................................................................ 66 Alaska ................................................................................................................................................................................... 67 Bristol Bay mining would harm Alaska salmon habitat, EPA analysis says ......................................................... 67 Kentucky .............................................................................................................................................................................. 69 Even in Coal Country, the Fight for an Industry ........................................................................................................ 69 Maine .................................................................................................................................................................................... 70 Hat Trick on the Penobscot River: Fewer Dams, Same Energy, More Fish ........................................................... 70 Montana................................................................................................................................................................................ 72 Missoula City Council supports study of coal trains' effects .................................................................................. 72 Oregon .................................................................................................................................................................................. 74 Coal Train and Barge Numbers Staggering. Oregon Environmental Disaster Assured. ...................................... 74 Washington State ................................................................................................................................................................ 76 Deadly Virus Makes First Appearance in Washington Salmon Farm ..................................................................... 76 Salmon from infected pens sold for compost and, possibly, food ......................................................................... 77 IHN virus detected in Atlantic salmon farm near Bainbridge Island ....................................................................... 78 Proposed site for Chehalis River dam near Pe Ell .................................................................................................... 79 Irresponsible logging practices directly responsible for repeated catastrophic flood related damage in the

Chehalis River Basin .................................................................................................................................................... 80 Our Views: Data Support Dam to Control Chehalis River Flooding ........................................................................ 81 A burning question: Should Northwest be coal-export hub? .................................................................................. 82 Wash. Gubernatorial Hopefuls Weigh In On Coal ..................................................................................................... 83 Coal trains through Washington: few benefits, much to fear .................................................................................. 84 Wyoming .............................................................................................................................................................................. 85 Wyoming delegation says China coal forum worth the trip ..................................................................................... 85

Featured Fishing Adventure: Washingtons coastal waters - ling cod and sea bass 86 Conservation Video Library Why were involved 87 Attention Conservation-minded Business Owners 88 WGFCI endorsed conservation organizations 88

LLeeggaaccyy

Forward

A handful of dedicated wild Pacific salmon activists in British Columbia, Canada continue to submit samples from free-swimming and pen-raised salmon to world class laboratories for testing and analysis in order to determine the presence of one or more deadly salmon diseases that could potentially impact wild Pacific salmon and their ecosystems. These sample collections and analyses are privately funded. We invite you to join with us, other organizations and caring individuals to donate to this very worthy cause. We understand full well that it is our responsibility through Legacy to share current and planned actions that directly impact the future of wild game fish and their ecosystems around planet earth with our on-line audience. Please feel free to share these monthly publications with others. Our hope is that those who read Legacy month in and month out will come to understand that what is good for sustainable wild game fish is also good for humans. Similarly, what is bad for wild game fish is also really bad for humans! Its exciting that a growing number of recreational anglers and conservationists around planet earth are passionate about conserving wild game fish and their continued availability for this and future generations to enjoy and appreciate. We continue to urge our global audience to speak out passionately and to demonstrate peacefully for wild game fish and their ecosystems; ecosystems that we are but one small component of. As recreational fishermen, conservation of wild game fish for future generations is our passion. Publishing Legacy each month is our self imposed responsibility to help ensure the future of these precious gifts that have been entrusted to our generation.

Bruce Treichler James E. Wilcox Wild Game Fish Conservation International

Featured Topic: Infectious Hematopoietic Necrosis (IHN)

Aka: Oregon Sockeye Salmon Disease, Columbia River Sockeye Disease, Sacramento River

Chinook Disease

Outbreaks of IHN in open pen salmon feedlots sited in British Columbia, Canada and in Washington

State, USA have recently been reported. Some of these articles are reprinted in this issue of Legacy.

Hundreds of thousands of these infected fish have been killed - some will be processed and sold for

human consumption while others deemed to not be marketable will be composted.

Ineffective quarantines have been established around the BC pens. Of course this does nothing to

contain the virus within the pens nor does it keep wild salmon smolts, herring and other wild species

from swimming in and near the infected pens; thus also putting these wild species in harms way.

A few IHN facts:

Importance

Infectious hematopoietic necrosis (IHN) is a serious viral disease of salmonid fish. This disease was

first reported at fish hatcheries in Oregon and Washington in the 1950s. The causative virus now

exists in many wild and farmed salmonid stocks in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. It

has also spread to Europe and some Asian countries. Clinical infections are most common in young

fish, particularly fry and juveniles. Infectious hematopoietic necrosis can have a major economic

impact on farms that rear young rainbow trout or salmon; the cumulative mortality rates on these

farms can reach 90-95%. Occasional epizootics have also been reported in wild salmon.

Species Affected Infectious hematopoietic necrosis affects rainbow/ steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), cutthroat trout (Salmo clarki), brown trout (Salmo trutta), Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), and Pacific salmon including chinook (O. tshawytscha), sockeye/ kokanee (O. nerka), chum (O. keta), masou/ yamame (O. masou), amago (O. rhodurus), and coho (O. kisutch).

Transmission IHNV is transmitted by clinically ill fish and asymptomatic carriers. This virus is shed in the feces, urine, sexual fluids and external mucus. Transmission is mainly from fish to fish, primarily by direct contact, but also through the water. IHNV can survive in water for at least one month, particularly if the water contains organic material. This virus can also be spread in contaminated feed. The gills or the digestive tract have been suggested as the major sites of virus entry, but recent evidence suggests that IHNV may enter at the base of the fins. Egg-associated (vertical) transmission also occurs; whether IHNV can be present inside the egg as well as on the surface is controversial. Invertebrate vectors may exist.

Salmon Aquaculture Dialogue Releases Environmental and Social Standards WASHINGTON, DC, June 13, 2012 Today, the Salmon Aquaculture Dialogue announced the completion of global standards for salmon farming. The voluntary standards are the result of a comprehensive multi- stakeholder process that sought innovative approaches to addressing the industrys environmental and social impacts. The Dialogue is handing over the standards to the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC), which will oversee certification of farms. We are faced with the challenge of feeding seven billion people on a finite planet with limited resources. To succeed, food production systems have to change, including improvement in the salmon aquaculture industry said Jason Clay Senior Vice President of Market Transformation at World Wildlife Fund (WWF), who helped to initiate the Dialogue. Engaging with multiple stakeholders to develop environmental and social standards and voluntary certification schemes for a range of commodities is at the core of WWFs work to transform markets and, ultimately, conserve the worlds biodiversity. The new standards are intended to address the key negative environmental and social impacts associated with salmon farming and allow for the economic viability of the industry, which has grown by more than 50% by volume since 2000. Impacts addressed through the standards include water pollution, sourcing of feed ingredients, disease transmission between farmed and wild salmon and labor issues on farms. The standards will challenge the industry to improve in many areas, and they are one of many tools that must be used to ensure the health of the environment, industry, and society. said Hernan Frigolett from Fundacin Terram and a Dialogue Steering Committee member. The final standards represent an extraordinary accomplishment, and sets a new and unprecedented standard for responsible farmed salmon production. said Petter Arnesen from Marine Harvest, who is a member of the Dialogues Steering Committee. I look forward to seeing the results of their implementation and hope that retailers and customers will value the efforts of farms that choose to work towards certification. As an industry we are often challenged on lack of transparency and data from farms, and these standards require an unprecedented amount of transparency. Implementing the standards will therefore provide useful documentation on current environmental and social status of salmon farms and the efficacy of the standards. The standards-development process began in 2004 and has included more than 500 farmers, conservationists, scientists, seafood buyers, government officials, Aboriginal people and other salmon farming stakeholders. The Steering Committee is handing the final standards and a draft audit manual to the ASC. The ASC will oversee field-testing and finalization of the audit manual. The ASC will be responsible for working with independent, third-party entities to certify farms that are in compliance with the standards being developed by participants of the eight Aquaculture Dialogues. Two members of the Steering Committee sit on the ASC Technical Advisory Group, which helps oversee implementation of the standard. The Steering Committee that manages the salmon Dialogue is composed of individuals from both conservation and industry sectors and includes representatives from Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance, Coastal Alliance for Aquaculture Reform, Fundacin Terram, Marine Harvest, Norwegian Seafood Federation, Pew Environment Group, SalmonChile, Skretting, and WWF. For more information about the salmon Dialogue, go to www.worldwildlife.org/salmonstandards

Editorial Comment:

Voluntary standards such as this are

not worth the paper they are written

on This standard and associated

certification process will in fact enable

the ongoing devastation of wild fish

around planet earth

Wild migrating salmon likely infected their farmed cousins in B.C., say experts

June 11, 2012

VANCOUVER - Observers of the decades-long argument over fish farming in B.C. can now add one more shade of grey to the debate. Industry critics have long feared Atlantic salmon raised in open-net cages in the ocean can pass on diseases to wild salmon and as a result, jeopardize those wild stocks. But an outbreak of infectious haematopoietic necrosis, known as IHN, on an Atlantic salmon farm off Vancouver Island's west coast in May appears to have been caused by passing wild stocks, a reversal of the traditional arguments against the industry. Instead of harming wild stocks, the May outbreak actually led to the quarantine of Mainstream Canada's Dixon Bay farm, north of Tofino, the cull of more than 560,000 young Atlantic salmon, and fears of a larger outbreak industry-wide.

The all-clear bell was rung by the BC Salmon Farmers Association on Friday, when it announced that independent tests for the virus on all active Atlantic salmon farms in the province have now come back negative.

But farms will continue to watch and test their fish, the association announced.

"Any infectious agent has the potential to cross from fish to fish, and some of those fish might be outside the pen and some of those fish might be inside the pen," said Gary Marty, a veterinarian and fish pathologist for B.C.'s Ministry of Agriculture.

"We have to assess each infectious agent individually."

Native to Pacific waters, IHN can cause death in young finfish raised in freshwater hatcheries, juveniles recently introduced to sea water and older finfish raised in sea water, states the Canadian Food Inspection Agency on its website.

About 20 species found in the natural environment, including pink, chum, coho, sockeye and Atlantic salmon, as well as Pacific herring, are susceptible to infection, as well, the agency adds.

But Marty said while Pacific salmon have developed a natural resistance to the virus, which means they can be infected but not show any signs of infection or even die, Atlantic salmon have not.

"It basically kills the blood forming cells in the fish, and that includes white blood cells so the fish cannot fight disease, and red blood cells which carry oxygen," said Marty. "Both things essentially shut down. The fish dies."

Vaccines for IHN are available, but Mainstream Canada did not vaccinate fish at the company's Dixon Bay farm, said Marty.

Fears about IHN and its impact on the industry emerged for the first time in nearly a decade when Mainstream Canada reported May 15 that third-party tests results had detected it at a farm, later identified as Dixon Bay.

Editorial comment:

Clearly, the problem is that the industry (with

government backing) is raising Atlantic

salmon in open pens sited in wild Pacific

salmon migration routes. This irresponsible

practice is destructive and is not sustainable.

You can help remove these problematic

farms by not purchasing pen raised

Atlantic salmon from your local markets

and restaurants. Its up to you!

The food inspection agency quarantined the site, and the company announced plans to cull its salmon, which were then transported to a composting facility in Port Alberni, B.C.

Two other B.C. farms were also quarantined briefly, but those quarantines were lifted after followup testing failed to detect the virus.

In the midst of the scare, the industry announced heightened bio-security procedures to prevent the spread of the virus from farm to farm.

While the cost of the outbreak and scare to Mainstream remains unknown, it won't be minuscule,

Laurie Jensen, a Mainstream spokeswoman, said previously that in addition to the cull, the company had to absorb the costs of cleaning the site and replacing equipment like nets that couldn't be disinfected.

Larry Hammell, a professor of aquatic epidemiology at the University of Prince Edward Island, said he's predicting more outbreaks because the virus cycles every seven to 10 years.

"Once you get it in this one exposure, it probably means that there's wild populations out there that have a slightly higher infection prevalence this coming season," he said.

The origins of the virus remain uncertain, said Sonja Saksida, executive director and researcher at the Centre for Aquatic Health Sciences, in Campbell River, B.C..

Based on studies of its genotype, though, she suspects it came from sockeye salmon migrating from Washington state.

"The more likely source is some population of out-migrating sockeye salmon smolts because, I mean, this is, you know, we generally call it sockeye disease," said Saksida, who studied the last outbreak of IHN between 2001 and 2003.

"It's a very common pathogen affecting sockeye salmon."

She said the virus can spread through feces and mucus, and then it becomes a problem for other Atlantic salmon farms, much like the 2009 outbreak of avian influenza in B.C.'s Fraser Valley poultry industry.

Thousands of birds were destroyed because of that outbreak.

In contrast, the last outbreak of IHN led to the destruction of about 19 million Atlantic salmon, said Saksida.

With one outbreak under control, Saksida suggests now may be the time to do a broader examination of what viruses are in the marine environment.

She said some studies are taking place by federal fisheries officials in the Strait of Georgia and the Discovery Islands, but they need to be expanded.

"Obviously water transmission of pathogens can be a problem," she said. "So if you do have a problem you want to know how something's going to move in the water.

"But you also need to know what's out there. So I think doing some kind of wild fish surveillance and trying to figure out what they have, when they have it, if they have it is really important."

Meet salmon farming's worst enemy May 26, 2012

A B.C.-based biologist stunned U.S. scientists last year with trace findings of a virus usually linked to farmed fish in wild salmon.

BROUGHTON ARCHIPELAGO, B.C. She's perched in her boat near a fish farm, talking about diseases, the kind that might escape and kill wild salmon. Then she spies a worker peeling toward her in a boat.

Alexandra Morton, bane of North America's salmon farms, runs a hand over tired eyes and awaits a confrontation.

It's no surprise this eco-provocateur is again in someone's sights.

The biologist has spent countless days just like this zipping through a pristine jumble of uninhabited bays and islands to check on Canada's remote fish farms. Few activists try harder to convince the globe that salmon farming threatens the marine world. Few are taken as seriously much to the chagrin of her many enemies.

It was Morton who stunned U.S. scientists last fall with trace evidence found in wild salmon of a virus that killed millions of farmed fish in Chile.

Researchers from Washington state to Washington, D.C., scrambled to grasp the risks of so-called infectious salmon anemia (ISA), a virus typically linked to fish farms. Congress demanded federal agencies test American fish. Wild-salmon lovers seethed. Leaders of British Columbia's $500 million-a-year salmon-farming industry scoffed in part because they so distrust Morton.

Then, just last week, another virus raced through salmon farms at Vancouver Island and Bainbridge Island, forcing operators to kill hundreds of thousands of farmed fish on both sides of the border. Unlike ISA, this virus, infectious hematopoietic necrosis (IHN), is native to wild Northwest salmon, but experts worry that the clustering of nonnative Atlantic salmon in farm-fish net pens could amplify the pathogen and make it more virulent or cause it to mutate into something far more deadly for wild stocks.

Now, as researchers in both countries struggle to determine if a wild fish-killing pathogen is here or coming, Morton a Connecticut native and former killer-whale biologist is everywhere. She's testifying in Canadian court, blogging about viruses, shuttling about in her sea dory. She gathers farmed-fish heads at ethnic groceries and travels the province teaching groups to sample fish. She hunts for clues to support her belief that Atlantic-salmon farms are big trouble.

Her single-mindedness, bombast and memorable white mane make her a target for an industry sensitive to criticism. (One company sued an activist friend of hers for creating cartoon cigarette packs with the slogan "Salmon Farming Kills Like Smoking.")

Morton has heard rumors fish-farm workers keep pictures of her boat thumb-tacked to their bulletin boards. The B.C. Salmon Farmers Association dedicates a Web page to correcting Morton's statements. The B.C. government is considering making it a crime for anyone to release or a journalist to publish information about disease outbreaks, including on salmon farms. Fines could reach $75,000.

READ ENTIRE SEATTLE TIMES ARTICLE HERE

B.C. salmon farm takes big financial loss as virus forces cull of 560,000 fish May 18, 2012

Atlantic salmon farms around Vancouver Island have begun testing and formed a special outbreak

management team after a virus outbreak at one farm led to a site quarantine and the cull of more

than half a million fish.

VANCOUVER - Atlantic salmon farms around Vancouver Island have begun testing and formed a

special outbreak management team after a virus outbreak at one farm led to a site quarantine and

the cull of more than half a million fish.

The farm most seriously affected by the virus is one run by Mainstream Canada, which confirmed

tests conducted earlier this week showed the presence of infectious haematopoietic necrosis at its

site on the Island's west coast, located at Dixon Bay, north of Tofino, B.C.

A second farm announced Friday afternoon that the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans has

identified a "low positive result" for the same virus in coho salmon samples on a Sunshine Coast

farm.

Grieg Seafood said further tests will be conducted next week.

Stewart Hawthorn, a spokesman for Grieg Seafood, said in a statement the low-positive test does not

confirm the presence of the virus and additional tests will be conducted next week.

He said the test result is not entirely unexpected because the virus occurs in natural and wild salmon,

and coho are local and wild.

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Hawthorn said the company's fish are not showing any signs of disease or significant or unusual

mortality, and out of caution Grieg is increasing its internal monitoring and implemented a voluntary

isolation protocol.

Mary Ellen Walling, executive director of the BC Salmon Farmers Association, said an outbreak

management team is now in place on Vancouver Island after the Mainstream incident and includes

members from across the industry.

She said companies are ensuring heightened bio-security procedures are in place and are reviewing

visitor, boat and plane traffic to farms and are now taking samples and testing for the virus on a

priority basis.

"I don't think it's started yet on the east coast of the island but it will," she said. "The intention is that

all of the farms will be tested."

Walling said the last few years have been challenging for the industry because of increased

competition from Chilean farmed salmon in the U.S. market.

As a result, prices have dropped, she said, and B.C. remains the highest-cost producer in the world.

But she said the outbreak is expected to have little impact on the market because the virus does not

cause any human-health concerns and demand remains high for B.C. product.

According to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, the virus exists in B.C. coastal waters and does

not affect human health or food safety, but it does pose a risk to aquatic animal health and the

economy.

"We are taking samples at all our farm sites in Clayoquot Sound and on the east coast of Vancouver

Island," said Laurie Jensen, a Mainstream spokeswoman. "This is a precautionary measure only. We

want to know what's going on."

Mainstream Canada, which is headquartered in Oslo, Norway, is a subsidiary of Cermaq and also

operates in Chile, Canada, Scotland and Vietnam.

The company produces 25,000 tonnes of fish in B.C. annually.

Jensen said she suspects the virus came from wild salmon, and the company has already begun to

remove and cull about 560,000 Atlantic salmon, all less than a year old, from the Dixon Bay farm.

Just how much the cull will cost the company is not yet known and won't be known, said Jensen, until

the farm has been depopulated and disinfected.

Equipment, like nets, that can't be disinfected will have to be destroyed, too, said Jensen.

She expected the depopulation and cull to have a significant impact, adding the company will

probably leave the farm to fallow, without restocking, for at least three to four months.

"Right now, this is not about the cost. This is about the fish. We want to keep the fish surrounding the

area healthy, we want to keep the oceans healthy, we want to, as humanely as possible, remove

these fish," she said.

The company is taking the outbreak seriously because it doesn't want to see the virus spread, but it

doesn't foresee any layoffs in the future, said Jensen.

READ ENTIRE GLOBAL TORONTO ARTICLE HERE

Quarantine violation puts farms and jobs at risk May 18, 2012

The quarantine around our (Mainstream Canada) Dixon Bay farm was deliberately broken today by

Tofino filmmaker and anti-salmon farming activist Warren Rudd, who was collecting video footage on

behalf of CHEK TV.

This deliberate violation of quarantine puts farmed salmon at other sites at risk. The actions of the

activist and Tofino Water Taxi, which transported him, are now being investigated by the RCMP and

by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).

Mainstream Canada is considering legal action against the parties who violated the quarantine.

Salmon farming provides approximately 160 jobs on the West Coast of Vancouver Island, and

contributes millions of dollars to the local economy. The actions of Rudd and others could jeopardize

these positive economic benefits.

As Mainstream Canada announced on May 17, the site has been quarantined to control all

movements in and out of the area. The purpose of quarantine is to minimize any risks of spreading

the IHN virus from one location to another. This quarantine was ordered under the authority of the

CFIA.

The CFIA's quarantine is under the authority of the Health of Animals Act and the Health of Animals

Regulations. Any violations can be prosecuted as a criminal offence.

Mainstream Canada reminds all community members, media, activists and boats to respect the

quarantine around Dixon Bay farm.

Above: Warren Rudd and the boat he hired violated the quarantine around our Dixon Bay farm site

on May 18, despite being warned not to do so. Their actions have put our other Tofino area farms,

our jobs, and the local economy at risk.

More regarding discovery of IHN by

Mainstream Canada and American Bounty

Seafoods:

Candid Canada: Infectious Disease Going

Viral!

CHECK News video: Fish Farm Quarantine

B.C. salmon farm: virus forces cull of half

million fish

Video by Alexandra Morton: Mainstream

Canada: Offloading infected dead pen-raised

salmon

Video by Anissa Reed: Mainstream Canada

Offloading infected dead-pen raised salmon

Virus forces Peninsula company to destroy

salmon stock

Dixon Bay Mainstream farm. (Photo: Alexandra Morton)

Third fish farm quarantined over virus concerns May 28, 2012

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has quarantined a second Mainstream Canada farm. This makes for three quarantined salmon farms in the province of British Columbia in just two weeks over fears about the presence of haematopoietic necrosis virus (IHN).

Mainstream Canada said this farm is located at Bawden Point off the west coast of Vancouver Island, north of Tofino. CFIA made the move after tests results gave a "low-positive" result for IHN, The Canadian Press reports.

The first quarantine was two weeks ago also at a Mainstream farm north of Tofino. The firm was forced to destroy more than 560,000 juvenile Atlantic salmon.

In addition, CFIA quarantined a farm owned by Grieg Seafood for the same reason. The company announced on Friday that independent laboratory tests for IHN at a farm on the Sunshine Coast came back negative.

READ ENTIRE FIS ARTICLE HERE

This iconic North American Bald Eagle relies on sustainable wild Pacific salmon.

This white Spirit Bear and many other wild animals also rely on sustainable populations of wild

Pacific salmon and their fragile ecosystems.

Salmon-farm industry denies risk to wild fish May 25, 2012

Re: 'Virus raises question about salmon farming' (Your Letters, May 23)

Mr. Hancock offers no facts to support his opinions about salmon farms and fish health. I would like to provide some to correct his inaccurate statements about this issue.

The virus detected at our Dixon Bay farm north of Tofino was IHN, a virus which is naturally carried in the Pacific Ocean by Pacific salmon and herring. It is low risk to wild salmon, who often carry the virus with no signs of disease.

However, we farm Atlantic salmon, which are not native to B.C. and have not had hundreds or thousands of years to evolve a natural resistance to IHN like their Pacific cousins. That is why IHN is high risk to Atlantic salmon.

Our farmed salmon are regularly screened and tested for a variety of viruses and diseases, using good samples collected and tested under a proper chain of custody.

It is precisely this fully-documented, scientific process which allowed us to detect IHN in our farmed salmon and act quickly and decisively to prevent the virus from spreading to other farms.

Finally, every single one of the 560,000 fish at our Dixon Bay farm were removed in contained harvest boats, transported to Port Alberni along a path avoiding all other salmon farms, vacuumed out of the hold into special self-contained trucks and disposed of at a composting facility. There was no risk to wild salmon throughout this entire procedure. All of these facts have been posted on our website.

Salmon farms do not belong near wild salmon May 29, 2012

Re: 'Salmon-farm industry denies risk to wild fish' (Your Letters, May 25)

Grant Warkentin for Mainstream Canada states that "- we farm Atlantic salmon, which are not native to B.C.

and have not had hundreds or thousands of years to evolve a natural resistance to IHN like their Pacific cousins.

That is why IHN is high risk to Atlantic salmon."

He makes the case that Atlantic salmon do not belong in Pacific waters. The outbreak of IHN is evidence of

that. Where nature will self-regulate to deal with viruses and parasites, this industry has introduced an entirely

unnatural practice into the marine waters of B.C.'s most vital species.

Salmon farms do not belong near wild salmon. Those within the salmon farming industry repeatedly say that

they are learning as they go, but they fail to acknowledge that they are putting wild salmon at risk.

It is infuriating and sickening that this industry has been experimenting with and introducing unknown factors

that pose a lethal threat to wild salmon. Globally salmon farming has proven to be fatal. There are so many

things wrong with this industry that it leaves one to question a government that would rather protect such an

unsustainable and dangerous industry than invest in protecting the wild salmon that are the lifeblood of B.C.

Elena Edwards Quadra Island

An Online Database for IHN Virus in Pacific Salmonid Fish: MEAP-IHNV

North American IHN Virus

IHN virus is a well known pathogen of salmonid fish, with a host range including many species of salmon and trout (Bootland and Leong, 1999).

Taxonomically it is the type species of the genus Novirhabdovirus, within the virus family Rhabdoviridae, which includes other well-known animal viruses, such as rabies virus and vesicular stomatitis virus.

IHNV originated in western North America, where it is currently endemic to most Pacific watersheds that contain salmonid fish. In the 1970s and 1980s, IHNV was introduced to Europe and Asia by transport of virus-contaminated fish eggs.

IHNV can be transmitted either horizontally through waterborne virus, or vertically as eggassociated virus. Infection in fish can result in lethal necrosis of the hematopoietic tissues of the kidney and spleen, and disease outbreaks can cause as much as 90 percent mortality depending on various host, virus, and environmental factors (fig. 2).

IHNV is a significant impediment to rainbow trout farm culture and to hatchery and net-pen programs that grow salmon and trout.

Due to the economic impact of IHNV, spawning adult and juvenile fish in most cultured salmonid populations in western North America are routinely surveyed for IHNV.

Several molecular epidemiology studies of North American IHNV field isolates have revealed three major genetic subgroups of IHNV, designated U, M, and L because they occur in the upper, middle, and lower parts of the IHNV geographic range in North America (fig. 3; Emmenegger and others, 2000; Troyer and others, 2000; Emmenegger and Kurath, 2002; Garver and others, 2003; Kurath and others, 2003; Troyer and others, 2003; Rudakova and others, 2007).

Viral outbreak in Cermaq farm in Clayoquot May 20, 2012

On May 15 Mainstream, owned by Cermaq, which is largely owned by the Norwegian government

announced their farm at Dixon Island, Clayoquot Sound is positive for IHN virus. This is different from

the European ISA virus I have been tracking. IHN virus is local to BC, but what happens to it in

salmon farms is highly unnatural. Mainstream reports "Third-party lab PCR test results have shown

the presence of the virus. Sequencing has confirmed the presence of IHN virus in these fish." No one

I know has seen these results. Since reading all their emails posted now as Cohen Exhibits I find it

impossible to believe government and the salmon farming industry when they talk about viruses so, I

need to see the evidence. It could be IHN in that farm and if it is we need to know what strain and

what it is doing to the wild salmon going to sea past that farm, or it could be something else.

IHN is dangerous enough to be an internationally reportable disease to the OIE (similar bovine

tuberculosis and the ISA virus).

Dr. Kyle Garver who is presumably looking at this outbreak for DFO, testified at the Cohen Inquiry

into the Decline of the Fraser Sockeye that a farm with 1,000,000 fish could shed 650 billion viral

particles/hour. The Norwegian salmon farm at Dixon has 1/2 that many fish so 320 billion viral

particles per hour are potentially coming off this farm into the narrow channel where the Province of

BC has given it a license of occupation.

READ ENTIRE POST BY DR. ALEXANDRA MORTON HERE

Anissa Reed:

May 22, 2012

Industrial Disease The Ocean King came in low in the water loaded with the diseased farmed Atlantic from Mainstream. They brought these trucks in and were sucking them out from 8am til noon when we left.

Irresponsible anti-salmon farming activists continue to put farms, jobs at risk May 22, 2012

Mainstream Canada Newsletter

The actions of anti-salmon farming activists who continue to disregard biosecurity measures are

putting salmon farms and jobs at risk.

Mainstream Canada employees and contractors who were disposing of IHN-infected fish from Dixon

Bay farm in Port Alberni were harassed by anti-salmon farming activists Tuesday morning. Some of

them violated biosecurity protocols in place at the offload and disposal site.

"It is frustrating and concerning that anti-salmon farming activists choose to ignore biosecurity

protocols," said Laurie Jensen, Communications and Corporate Sustainability Manager for

Mainstream Canada. "By being careless about biosecurity they could end up spreading virus and

disease themselves."

Mainstream Canada has been working diligently with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and

following the agency's advice to maintain strict biosecurity while we dispose of our fish. The company

is concerned about any violations of these measures.

"Anti-salmon farming activists only seem concerned about advancing their anti-salmon farming

ideology. Their actions could put millions more fish at other farms and thousands of jobs at risk,"

Jensen said.

The IHN virus detected in Mainstream Canada's fish at Dixon Bay farm poses no risk to wild salmon

or humans.

"However, if the virus is not quickly and properly contained, as we have been doing, it could become

a bigger problem, especially if people do not respect the biosecurity measures we have in place,"

Jensen said.

Activists in Port Alberni included the same individual who ignored Mainstream Canada's requests to

stay away from Dixon Bay farm for biosecurity reasons.

The fish disposal has been undertaken following Canadian Food Inspection Agency protocol. The fish

have been contained every step of the way. They were taken out of Dixon Bay farm in secure well

boats; transported to Port Alberni along a route which went nowhere near any other farms; and were

offloaded and transported to the composting facility in secure containers.

Mainstream Canada costs unknown after Atlantic salmon virus outbreak May 23, 2012

A virus outbreak has Mainstream Canada killing off 560,000 Atlantic salmon at its Dixon Bay farm north of Tofino, but it's too soon to know the financial costs of the outbreak, a company spokesperson said Friday.

Mainstream Canada announced early last week that the IHN (Infectious Haematopoietic Necrosis) virus had been detected in two of the farm's 10 net pens. On Thursday, the company announced it had begun the process of killing all the Atlantic salmon, or 'depopulating' the farm, a process expected to take four to five days. Company spokesperson Laurie Jensen said the fish had been growing at the farm since last fall and were roughly one kilogram in size. She said Mainstream would normally grow them out to the five kilogram range.

She said the financial impacts of the IHN outbreak aren't yet known.

"It's always speculative as to how much profit could have been made, but of course that would depend on the price we got for them and everything," she told the Courier-Islander. "Until we do the final clean-up, depopulation, everything, we really won't know a final cost.

Certainly, it's more than we have expected to spend on that site but I can't really give a dollar figure right now.

"But it's not about the cost. It's about healthy fish and healthy oceans. We're not hiding anything. We want everyone to know. There's no human health risk here. There's no risk to the wild salmon here. The only risk is to the Atlantic salmon so we're taking this seriously."

Open net pen opponents disagree. They say fish farms can amplify salmon diseases to the detriment of wild salmon. Mainstream says studies show the risk is low for transmitting the virus from fish in a high-density situation (a farm or hatchery) to fish in the wild.

"Fish removed from the site will be euthanized and transported to a composting facility disposal," Mainstream said Thursday. "Strict biosecurity protocols will be followed during all stages of this process. The site is currently under the authority of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) which has quarantined the farm and is overseeing the depopulation and disposal process."

Mainstream said the salmon were to be seined from the pens into a harvest boat, euthanized and removed from the site. Under strict biosecurity procedures, the fish will be taken to an approved composting facility."

The total mass from the fish kill comes to roughly 1.2 million pounds of dead fish. Isn't that a lot of fish to dispose of, Jensen was asked.

"Not really," she said. "That's why it's called depopulation.

It's not like they're all taken up in one load and dumped somewhere. They're taken up over days, a few pens at a time. It's calm, cool and collected. It's very organized and very methodical.

"I guess in the scheme of things it's a large amount, but they're not full-production fish so it's actually not as big as one might think. They're early in the production cycle."

READ ENTIRE CANADA.COM ARTICLE HERE

Salmon virus lab results expected May 25, 2012

Grieg Seafood is expecting lab results within days after last weeks discovery of the IHN virus at a coho salmon farm in Jervis Inlet, as are concerned officials. We expect to get results back late this week or early next week, said Stewart Hawthorn, managing director with Grieg Seafood. The labs pretty busy just now because of the load of samples being taken out of our area.

Grieg Seafood said it first discovered IHN, or more precisely infectious haematopoietic necrosis, at its Ahlstrom Point farm, May 18, during a routine test of its coho salmon stocks.

That discovery led the company to impose a voluntary quarantine, one that was followed up with an official lockdown by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency on May 22.

As fish native to the province, coho salmon are generally less at risk for contracting IHN compared to their Atlantic counterparts. This is due to their having a stronger immunity to the virus, according to fish pathologist Gary Marty of the B.C. Animal Health Centre.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency will have the final say on what happens to the farms fish population should lab results yield a positive result.

Last week, a Tofino fish farm culled its Atlantic salmon population after discovering IHN at a Clayoquot Sound farm.

Besides destroying the fish, another possible solution could simply be to send them to market for human consumption, as the virus is not dangerous to people.

Mainstream [owners of the Clayoquot Sound farm] characterized the Atlantic salmon outbreak as code red. When we see it in coho salmon, which are native to B.C, its maybe code yellow, Marty said. Were concerned, were not sure. We need to confirm it before we move further.

Marty added that officials will also keep a close eye on nearby operations, like Totem Sea Farms, which has a licence for St. Vincent Bay that includes Atlantic salmon, among others.

For salmon virus researcher Alexandra Morton, worries are more focused on the possibility that an outbreak could have disastrous consequences on the sockeye currently emerging from the Fraser River.

The outbreak could indicate that vaccines guarding against IHN have lost their effectiveness, Morton said.

Finding IHN in coho is alarming because they arent really known to be affected by it, she explained. If this thing has mutated so that the vaccine isnt working, we really dont know what its going to do.

Novartis, a major producer of IHN vaccines, could not be reached for comment by press time Thursday morning.

More vaccines are in the pipeline, with researchers actively pursuing several viral pathogens of salmon and other fish species, read a section of their website on IHN.

Grieg Seafood said that as of May 23, no signs of any fish health concerns had been documented at the site, including unusual death rates.

The public deserves the truth May 23, 2012

To BC Salmon Farmers Association:

A few weeks ago I saw you respond negatively to a letter asking for independent testing of your farmed

salmon.

Now two of your farms have tested positive for the highly contagious IHN virus, resulting in the ordered killing

of your stocks.

Without any proof you place the blame of your outbreaks entirely on wild fish, while deceptively proclaiming

IHN won't harm wild salmon.

Those studies you quote were done on adult salmon, yet you don't mention numerous studies showing IHN to

be deadly to juvenile wild salmon, you know, the innocent ones now swimming past your filthy infected farms.

While world leading labs are confirming a myriad of "European strain" diseases from store bought BC farmed

salmon, you not only deny those findings as well, but arrogantly still refuse independent testing!

This has many of us questioning your ethics or lack thereof.

Since your main argument with independent lab results is about "foul play" or "contamination" why don't you

accompany your fish to the lab, just to make sure there's no hanky panky going on?

If your fish are as squeaky clean as you claim then there should be no problem.

The public and wild salmon deserve to know!

Angela Koch

Fish-farm viruses cause for concern May 30, 2012

I am concerned about the outbreak of viruses in salmon fish farms on our coast. I find it disturbing that some of

these diseased fish will be sent to market and end up on someone's dinner plate, likely without them even

knowing what they are eating.

I have two questions that I am hoping somebody can answer: How does one quarantine a fish farm in an open

pen in the Pacific Ocean when the water is moving constantly from tides, wind and currents?

I would also like to know if the federal government will compensate Mainstream Canada for the fish that were

destroyed. I would be awfully disappointed to see my tax dollars going to this cause.

Carolyn Wold Victoria

Fish infections raise issue of public's right to know May 30, 2012

Re: Another B.C. fish farm is quarantined following detection of lethal virus, May 28

With the cull of over a half-million salmon from a Mainstream fish feed-lot near Tofino, it is time we warn the

public what is in some of the food they may buy at local supermarkets.

While the Mainstream farm has been emptied, and fish destroyed, two more outbreaks have been reported in

B.C. and one in Washington state.

A farm in Sechelt has been quarantined for the IHN virus, as has a second facility in Tofino. Another farm in

Washington state has also tested positive for the virus.

What is disturbing about these facilities is their intention to sell the infected fish to the public, rather than cull

them.

As a result, you can expect infected fish in local supermarkets, with no warning labels.

The government and the aqua-culture industry say the virus is not known to be harmful to humans, but at one

time neither was the avian flu virus until it had a chance to mutate in overcrowded factory conditions. I don't

understand how the Canadian Food Inspection Agency can allow this product to be sold to an unsuspecting

public.

In addition, the B.C. government has a law in front of the legislature which would restrict the dissemination of

information on diseases on farms in B.C., with disclosure penalties up to $75,000 and two years in jail. Once

this is passed, information on this questionable industry will dry up.

Jim Rosgen Sointula

Trying to get answers May 30, 2012

In Mary Ellen Walling's response to "The actual truth" she states that Ms. Koch never contacted the BC

Salmon Farmers directly for answers. I cannot speak for Koch's attempts to contact Ms. Walling or getting

answers from the BCSFA, but when I tried I never received one response to my phone messages. The one

time I did get someone on the phone the fellow was very suspicious of every question asked, wanting to know

who I was "with". He could/ would not answer any of my questions, not even as to the safety of the salmon

farm structures in the event of a tsunami. (Could happen.)

My limited experience in attempting communication with the BCSFA is that they refuse to answer questions

they have not been trained to answer and quickly kill communication by deferring to the BC Salmon "Facts"

website.

While the salmon farm PR people are praising the swiftness of their response to the deadly IHN outbreak, they

are negligent or oblivious to the dangers of what such an outbreak is capable of. Suppose for a moment that

rather than IHN, which the BCSFA excuses as being "harmless" to wild salmon, that this outbreak were the

highly lethal and contagious ISAv?

Or piscine reovirus? HSMI? Why should we believe that the BCSFA will be transparent about that when

they've denied fish samples to any scientist who does not work for salmon farmers and when the CFIA

considers this all to be a "PR war"?

Elena Edwards Quadra Island

Keep diseased salmon out of our markets and restaurants Get involved

1. Click on the above and sign this petition today

2. Click below to learn more about SalmonAreSacred.org

Learn how you can help protect and restore wild Pacific salmon

Planet Earth

Chicago Protesters Decry Canadas Tar Sands Oil Extraction Methods May 18, 2012

With ties to Occupy Chicago about a dozen protesters covered themselves in fake oil and performed a symbolic death in front of the Canadian Consulate in downtown Chicago Thursday evening. Those who died were joined by more than 100 supporters in protesting Canadas extracting of crude oil from the Alberta Tar Sands, which is the worlds third-largest deposit of oil. The protesters pointed to a recent report which said the oil derived from the tar sands could emit 10 to 12 times more greenhouse gases than conventional crude oils, and the Chicago Tribune recently reported that the increased level of emissions could be as high as 22 percent.

Canada and America are colluding on getting a pipeline running from Alberta to here for processing tar sand, which its already been shown is going to release so much more carbon dioxide, said Chris Ivanovich, an oil-covered protester from Chicago.

Ivanovich and other protesters at the rally also said the extraction methods used requires the devastation of boreal forest the size of England.

READ ENTIRE ROGRESS ILLINOIS ARTICLE HERE

Deformed Fish Found Downstream of Tar Sands Mines June 14, 2012

Chief Allan Adam, the head of the Fort Chipewyan community in the far north of Alberta, has been fishing in Lake Athabasca for all of his life. His father, now 76 years old, has been fishing there even longer. And neither of them has seen anything like what they pulled from the lake on May 30: two grotesquely deformed, lesion-covered fish.

When they caught the sickly fish, each taken from a different part of the lake, the two Indigenous men immediately figured that it had something to do with the massive tar sands oil mines that lie about 300 kilometers upstream along the Athabasca River. We have been putting two and two together, and raising concerns about the fast pace of [tar sands] development, Chief Adam told me in a phone interview this week. The tailing ponds are leaking and leaching into the rivers, and then going downstream to Lake Athabasca.

Here in the United States, public opposition to the tar sands has centered on the proposed Keystone XL pipeline: how it could jeopardize the fresh water supplies of the Ogallala Aquifer and how it would increase greenhouse gas emissions by keeping us locked into the petroleum infrastructure. For now, those worries remain hypotheticals. But for the people of Ft. Chipewyan a community of about 1,200 that is only accessible by plane most of the year the environmental impacts of the tar sands are already a lived reality. According to a 2009 study by the Alberta Cancer Board, the cancer rate in Ft. Chipewyan is higher than normal. Many of the residents there blame the industrial development south of them for the disproportionate cancer rates.

The deformed fish caught two weeks ago included a northern pike that had lesions along its back and belly and a sucker that was missing many of its scales. Chief Adam says the strange fish are so worrisome because the majority of Ft. Chipewyan residents still rely on traditional foods, including fish from the lake, to eat.

Chief Adam sent the two fish to the labs of the Canadian Cooperative Wildlife Health Centre in Alberta for testing. It will take biologists there several weeks to determine the cause of the deformities.

This isnt the first time that sickly fish have been pulled from Lake Athabasca. In September 2010, the Ft. Chipewyan band released photos of fish that were also lesion-covered.

The Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation are one of the most active and outspoken critics of the tar sands development. In 2011 the tribe filed a suit against Shell Oil Canada for failing to uphold agreements it had made for two of its open pit mine projects. Chief Adam has said that his tribe may follow the example of the Beaver Lake Cree and challenge proposed tar sands projects on the grounds that increased mining could violate the tribes treaty rights to practice hunting and fishing.

They keep building and building, and something has to give, Chief Adam says. And its the environment down here in Lake Athabasca. We want answers before we want further development. If they wont give us answers, we will give them further resistance.

=

US Senator Maria Cantwell (Washington State): proposed Keystone XL pipeline project

Dear Mr. Wilcox,

Thank you for contacting me about the Keystone XL project, a proposal by the TransCanada

Corporation to construct a 1,661-mile oil pipeline to bring Canadian tar sand oil from Alberta to the

Gulf of Mexico. I appreciate hearing from you on this important matter.

Because the pipeline crosses the U.S.-Canada border, TransCanada was required to apply for a

permit from the U.S. Department of State, which began a thorough and rigorous review of the

proposed Keystone XL Pipeline project in 2008. The procedure for this review is guided by Executive

Order 13337, signed by President Bush on April 30, 2004.

Due to the magnitude of the project and proposed route adjustments, the State Department

announced in November 2011 that it could not make a determination regarding the permit application

without additional information. The proposed route changes came primarily from stakeholders in

Nebraska who raised serious concerns over the use of eminent domain to utilize their private

property and the risk of a pipeline spill in the sensitive Sand Hills region which serves as a capstone

for the Ogallala Aquifer. This giant underground source of freshwater supplies drinking water to

around 3 million and provides nearly one-third of our nation's irrigation groundwater. Nebraskans and

others noted that since TransCanada's original Keystone 1 pipeline opened in 2009, it has spilled at

least a dozen times, including a 21,000-gallon spill last spring. The State Department estimated that

a safe alternative route for the pipeline could be found and reviewed by the first quarter of 2013, a

timeline accepted by both the State of Nebraska and TransCanada.

As you may know, the Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 (P.L. 112-78) required

President Obama to determine whether the Keystone XL pipeline is in the national interest by

February 23, 2012. Due to the short timeline set by Congress, the State Department was forced to

reject TransCanada's application because 60 days was not enough time to conduct a legally

defensible review of the project. The State Department will likely consider the merits of the proposal

when TransCanada reapplies for the permit, which the company says they plan to do.

The number of jobs associated with the Keystone XL proposal has been a source of confusion. In the

original permit application, TransCanada provided expected expenses for labor associated with the

pipeline. These labor expenses would account for roughly 5,000 to 6,000 jobs for two years. A study

from Cornell University estimated fewer jobs from the pipeline, between 2,500 and 4,650 temporary

construction jobs.

While I understand the appeal of importing tar sands oil from Canada rather than from hostile

countries, it is important to note that the Keystone XL pipeline would not alter our dangerous over

dependence on foreign oil. TransCanada projects that the Keystone pipeline would carry about

700,000 barrels of oil per day, accounting for only 3.7 percent of the 19.1 million barrels of oil that the

U.S. consumed per day in 2010. This amount is also less than half of the 1.8 million barrels of refined

oil that the U.S. exports per day. Because the quantity is relatively small and some of the oil

transported through the Keystone pipeline would ultimately be exported to other countries, the

Keystone pipeline would not make a noticeable impact on oil prices or our national security.

I believe the United States needs to diversify its domestic energy supply with a mix of both traditional

fossil fuels and alternative, renewable fuels. The reality is that the United States only holds 1.6

percent of the world's oil reserves, meaning that we simply do not have enough to impact global

supplies or prices significantly -- even with the most aggressive domestic drilling plan. In fact, U.S.

crude oil production today is at its highest level since 2003, and oil imports have fallen from 57

percent in 2008 to 45 percent in 2011, but still Washingtonians are burdened by record high gas

prices. The solution is to accelerate the use of cheaper alternatives to petroleum, which can also

provide competition at the gas pump, as well as produce more efficient vehicles that do not need to

be filled up as often.

That is why one of my top priorities as a U.S. Senator has been to work on shifting our nation from

our overreliance on fossil fuels to a cleaner, more diverse energy system based on domestically

produced and environmentally friendly 21st century technologies. Our nation's continued economic,

environmental, and national security depends on finding alternative sources of energy produced right

here at home. In Washington State, and across the country, we must seize the opportunity to

become a world leader in manufacturing and deploying new energy technologies. I want Americans

to be the ones building and exporting the new clean energy technologies and fuels the world will be

demanding in the near future.

To that end, I helped author legislation that enacted historic increases in fuel economy standards

which will save approximately 1.8 billion barrels of oil over the lifetime of vehicles sold in model years

2012 through 2016. Additionally, the average consumer will save more than $3,000 in fuel costs over

the lifetime of a model year 2016 vehicle. I have strongly supported innovation and development of

the biofuels industry in order to bring advanced biofuels to market. These advanced biofuels can be

produced from a wide array of non-food feedstocks like cellulosic biomass, including perennial

grasses, agricultural and wood waste, and other sources like algae and are economically competitive

with petroleum or are likely to be soon. I also authored legislation with Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT)

which today provides up to $7,500 to consumers who purchase plug-in electric cars, trucks or SUVs.

According to Consumer Reports, the cost of running a plug-in electric vehicle is less than a third of

running even an efficient gasoline powered car like the Toyota Corolla. A recent Rice University

report concluded that the single most effective way to reduce US oil demand and foreign imports

would be an aggressive campaign to launch electric vehicles into the automotive fleet. Last

September I introduced a bill with Senator Dick Lugar (R-IN) that would break oil's monopoly over the

U.S. transportation fuel industry by ensuring that most new vehicles in the United States are capable

of running on a range of domestically produced alternative fuels starting in 2015. Please be assured I

will keep your thoughts in mind should I have the opportunity to consider this issue in the future.

Thank you again for contacting me to share your thoughts on this matter. Please do not hesitate to

contact me in the future if I can be of further assistance.

Sincerely,

Maria Cantwell

United States Senator

Tarsands: Before and After

Enbridge launches multimillion-dollar ad campaign to combat B.C. pipeline opposition May 30, 2012

The Northern Gateway pipeline is the most explosive environmental debate in B.C.

Enbridge pipeline

Enbridge Inc. said Tuesday it is launching a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign in British

Columbia promoting its Northern Gateway pipeline project in response to stiffer opposition than it

anticipated over the $5.5-billion Alberta-to-Kitimat proposal.

"You are going to see a much higher visibility for Enbridge over the next few days. In newspapers, in

television and online," said Paul Stanway, manager of Northern Gateway communications for

Enbridge. "It's become quite apparent that the debate has become a provincewide issue."

The same day Enbridge announced its campaign, which the company said will cost several million

but less than $5 million, Greenpeace activists hung an anti-pipeline banner from the Lions Gate

Bridge.

Cosmetics retailer LUSH also joined the anti-Enbridge pipeline campaign by posting "Stop Enbridge"

signs in its windows. LUSH is urging customers at its 44 Canadian stores to register their opposition

to the pipeline by voting against it in an in-store poll over the next two weeks.

The Northern Gateway pipeline is the most explosive environmental debate in B.C. since the battles

over clearcut logging in what is now called the Great Bear Rainforest on the B.C. central coast.

It pits environmentalists and many first nations worried about risks of a spill against the Harper

government, which has said the project is essential for Canada's economic prosperity as it would

open up new markets for the country's oil resources. It may also become a source of friction between

B.C. and Alberta, which have very different outlooks on the proposal. Stanway said Albertans

generally express much more support for the pipeline than do British Columbians.

READ ENTIRE VANCOUVER SUN ARTICLE HERE

225 roundtrips annually through British Columbias treacherous Douglas Channel - Each tanker will carry 2,000,000

barrels of crude oil from the tarsands in Alberta (via the Kitimat terminal) to China. Wrecks are expected and feared

given the immediate and irreversible devastation to the areas uniquely productive ecosystems.

First Nations along Enbridges proposed Northern Gateway pipelines say NO to this project

Keystone XL Will Increase Gas Prices May 30, 2012

Keystone XL, the contentious TransCanada pipeline that would deliver tar sands oil from Alberta,

Canada to Texas for refining and shipment, has met another challenge: the pipeline may actually

increase gas prices rather than drive costs down. The reason? According to NRDC, Keystone XL is

likely to decrease the amount of gasoline produced in U.S. refineries for domestic markets, and

increase the cost of producing it, leading to even higher prices at the pump.

This is unwelcome news for proponents of the pipeline who apparently will stop at nothing to get the

pipeline built. However, its very welcome news for environmental groups and concerned citizens

alike who are fearful of the short and longterm ramifications of the pipeline. Groups like ForestEthics,

350.org, Tar Sands Action and Bold Nebraska have played key roles in the fight against the pipeline,

citing environmental devastation and health concerns, but its still an uphill battle.

Last summer, in an effort to cease construction and draw national attention, Bill McKibben rallied

more than 1,000 activists to sit in front of the White House in peaceful protest against the pipeline.

Many attest this protest is the reason why President Obama continues to delay a final decision, but

even though the President has pushed off any potential construction (now until 2013) until a more

thorough environmental impact assessment can be made, construction of the southern portion of the

pipeline, running from Cushing, Okla., to Port Arthur, Texas, has curiously already begun.

Whether or not Keystone XL is fully operational in the near future, however, will determine, on many

levels, if we will live on a habitable planet. Its been said that building the Keystone XL is equivalent to

game over for our climate given tar sands oil is some of the most dirty and carbon-intense on the

planet. Bitumen, a thick and sticky form of crude oil thats found in the tar sands, is so viscous and

difficult to work with that it must be heated with hydrocarbons in order to flow. This heating process

only adds to the level of carbon thats already being emitted into the atmosphere by the tar sands

alone.

READ ENTIRE CARE2 ARTICLE HERE

104-car train hauling oil crosses Maine May 30, 2012

Crude oil from the West has begun moving across Maine -- not by pipeline, as some environmental activists

fear it will someday; but by railroad.

A train carrying 104 tank cars of crude from the Bakken oil fields in North Dakota came through Maine last

weekend on a 2,435-mile journey to the Irving Oil refinery in Saint John, New Brunswick. It rolled through

Portland, Waterville and Bangor on Pan Am Railways tracks, on its way to Canada's largest oil refinery.

This so-called unit train -- made up only of oil tank cars -- is an example of how Irving and other energy giants

are reacting to a fast-changing North American petroleum market, and how Maine figures into the

developments.

"I think we're going to be seeing more of this," said Tom Hall, a former assistant general manager for Pan Am

Railways in Maine.

New technologies and high global oil prices have made it economical for energy companies to develop

mammoth petroleum reserves in North Dakota, as well as the Canadian province of Alberta. The challenge is

getting all the oil to refineries across North America.

The easy-to-refine oil in North Dakota is locked up in shale formations and is released by injecting pressurized

water and chemicals, a process called fracking. In Alberta, a similar process is used to free heavy, tar-like oil

located in sand formations. Both methods are under fire, in part because they can pollute groundwater.

Growing controversies and delays in building new pipelines or reversing the flow of existing ones to move this

oil, are threatening production goals and export plans. That has created an unexpected opportunity for railroads,

which see a void. They're building loading facilities and adding tank cars to compete with pipelines for a piece

of the evolving business.

Maine's freight railroads stand to benefit as well. They're upgrading service to handle an expected increase in

traffic to Saint John.

The first big shipment was made over the weekend. Each of the 104 cars carried roughly 700 barrels of oil. The

train traveled through Chicago to Rotterdam Junction, N.Y., where it moved over Pan Am Railways track

through southern and eastern Maine and connected with the New Brunswick Southern Railway for the trip to

Saint John.

The train was photographed as it crossed the Merrimack River in Massachusetts by Kevin Burkholder, the

editor of Eastern Railroad News.

"Deemed a test train, this is the first of what could be a steady flow of the rolling crude oil pipeline to feed the

Irving refinery," Burkholder wrote last weekend in his newsletter.

Pan Am has been improving its tracks and adding locomotives and crews, making it a player in the growing

crude-oil competition, according to Hall.

READ ENTIRE KJONLINE ARTICLE HERE

On World Oceans Day, celebrate the little fish, unglamorous but essential June 8, 2012

Today is a day to celebrate the ocean's intrinsic majesty and the bounty it provides. Let's celebrate

World Oceans Day this year by honoring the ocean's little fish. Hardly the charismatic sea otter or

awe-inspiring humpback whale, forage fish are the unglamorous and underacknowledged little fish --

sardines, herring and squid.

Aptly called forage fish, because of their role as a food source for everything else larger than they

are, these fish also indirectly support ocean-based tourism and recreation sectors that provide

400,000 jobs and $18 billion in revenue to California, Oregon and Washington, according to the

National Ocean Economics Program.

But these little fish are in trouble.

The National Marine Fisheries Service has more than doubled the U.S. sardine catch level from

50,526 metric tons in 2011 to 109,409 metric tons in 2012, despite the fact that agency scientists

determined Pacific sardine are in steep decline and at risk of collapse.

Pacific eulachon, a type of smelt, are now listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. In

2010 alone, more than a million eulachon were killed in the pink shrimp trawl fishery off the West

Coast.

Spawning populations of herring off Oregon are way down, and some spawning populations in

Washington's Puget Sound are in critical condition or have disappeared entirely.

Meanwhile, demand for forage fish is increasing as aquaculture and agriculture expand worldwide.

Most of the forage fish catch is not consumed directly by humans, but is sold in global markets, where

the fish are ground into meal for farmed fish, chicken and pigs. Expansion of aquaculture and

agriculture can increase pressures on wild forage fish stocks, and forage fish that are not currently

fished may soon become commercially targeted.

READ ENTIRE OREGONLIVE ARTICLE HERE

Accumulation and distribution of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin, dibenzofuran, and polychlorinated biphenyl congeners in Atlantic salmon

(Salmo salar).

Isosaari P, Kiviranta H, Lie O, Lundebye AK, Ritchie G, Vartiainen T.

Source: National Public Health Institute, Department of Environmental Health, P.O. Box 95, FIN-70701 Kuopio, Finland. pirjo.isosaari@ktl.fi Abstract: Adult Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) were fed on four diets containing polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) for 30 weeks. Lipid-normalized concentrations showed that all congeners were equally partitioned between whole-fish and fillet samples. Skinned fillet accumulated approximately 30% of the total PCDD/F and PCB content in fish. Accumulation efficiencies in whole fish were 43% for 2, 3, 7, 8-chlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans, 83% for dioxin-like PCBs, and 78% for other PCB congeners. Among PCDD/Fs, tetra- and pentachlorinated congeners were preferentially accumulated in salmon, whereas hepta- and octachlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins were excreted in the feces. Substitution patterns that were associated with a preferential accumulation of PCBs in salmon included non-ortho substitution and tetrachlorination. Accumulation efficiencies and lipid-normalized biomagnification factors (BMFs) were not influenced by the PCDD/F and PCB concentrations of the diets. Biomagnification (BMF > 1) of tetra- and pentachlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans and of all the PCBs was observed. Differences in the behavior of PCDD/F and PCB congeners resulted in a selective enrichment of the most toxic congeners in salmon.

PMID: 15230320 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Reader comments:

Claudette Bethune: A farming nightmare that just gets worse, the "organic" compost being made

from the culled farmed salmon in Canada and the US will concentrate the most toxic types of

dioxins into unsuspecting consumers garden soils. The compost rendering process would need to

get up to 1200 deg Celsius to break down the dioixin, I'm afraid this is not possible when making

compost.

Gael Duchene: Compost made from dead fish is in every single garden store.

Laurie Watt: NZ King Salmon chief executive Grant Rosewarne responds:

As an aside, I am in Norway at the moment. The salmon industry is a huge success there,

delivering for all stakeholders. It is one of the most sustainable ways of producing animal protein."

What a ridiculous statement, since we all know Norway's feedlot industry moved to Canada and

other countries to take advantage of our compliant environmental controls because the industry

had killed off wild salmon runs resulting in its banning from many Norwegian fjords, plus the fact

that it consumes much larger quantities of wild fish stocks than feedlot salmon produced. Feedlot

salmon industry, GET OUT of our oceans!

Fights brewing over massive coal-export plans for the Northwest May 19, 2012

The Northwest is poised to become the country's leading coal-exporting region, but critics worry about one of the biggest impacts: increased greenhouse-gas emissions from burning U.S. coal in China.

Empty aluminum boxcars sit at the railroad yard near the Westshore Terminal near Vancouver, B.C., waiting for their return to the coal fields. Westshore, a coal-shipping operation on the West Coast, has been in business on a man-made island for 40 years.

With the Northwest poised to become the country's leading coal-export region, fights are emerging on several fronts.

On the table are proposals to capitalize on Asia's thirst for cheap energy by building a half-dozen terminals in Washington and Oregon that would export coal from the Rockies.

Physicians fret about an explosion of locomotive exhaust, while mayors grumble about the potential for long traffic-snarling trains. Washington state fears 1,200 new barge trips on the Columbia River could spark more accidents and marine-vessel groundings. Tribes worry that spilled coal could poison aquatic food webs.

But as the federal government begins its first lengthy review of plans to ship coal through Northwest ports, it's not clear how or if the feds will weigh in on perhaps the most far-reaching issue: the potential effect new markets for coal could have on greenhouse-gas emissions.

READ ENTIRE SEATTLE TIMES ARTICLE HERE

Editorial Comment:

Increased burning of fossil fuels (coal is the worst offender) has led directly to increased

acidification of our oceans and our atmosphere. This is huge given our reliance on the worlds

oceans to provide healthy nutrition to planet earths citizens.

Similarly, forests and agriculture areas near industrial centers suffer increased adverse impacts of

acid rain.

Wild Game Fish Conservation International opposes shipping of American coal to China given the

known and unknown health and environmental impacts this cheap energy source has.

Coal Exports and Carbon Consequences II May 23, 2012

How much is 145 million tons of coal?

This post is part of the research project: Northwest Coal Exports

There are at present six proposals to export coal from Northwest ports. If all of these proposals are built, and if all of them operate at full capacity, the Northwest would be shipping 145 million tons of per co