Abstract.—Recent infestations of sea lice Lepeophtheirus salmonis on wild juvenile pink salmon Oncorhynchus gorbuscha and subsequent declines in the number of returning adult pink salmon have raised concern for the health of wild fish relative to salmon farming activities in the Broughton Archipelago, British Columbia. I used available (but limited) industry data to estimate sea louse egg production from Atlantic salmon Salmo salar farmed by Stolt Sea Farm (now Marine Harvest Canada, Inc., Campbell River, British Columbia) in 2003 and 2004. The 12 active farms contained between 1 and 5 million Atlantic salmon during the 2 years and about 800,000 fewer mature salmon at the start of 2003 than in 2004. Sea louse egg production peaked during winter–spring in both years prior to the seaward migration period of the area's small and vulnerable juvenile pink salmon and chum salmon O. keta. Marine Harvest Canada salmon hosted over 6 million gravid sea lice that produced 1.6 × 10⁹ eggs during 2 weeks in the winter of 2003–2004. Only half as many eggs were produced from the fewer hosts present during this period in 2003. Sea lice on farmed fish were further reduced to near zero each year through multiple uses of emamectin benzoate (Slice). Fewer farmed Atlantic salmon and sea lice in 2003 coincided with lower abundance and prevalence of L. salmonis on juvenile pink salmon and chum salmon near farms. A recent agreement between industry and conservationists may help improve data quality, our understanding of the dynamics sea louse–salmon interactions, and our chances of conserving wild salmon.

Received: February 3, 2006; Accepted: May 1, 2006;
Published online February 19, 2007

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Federal court says Army Corps violated Act by letting mine kill Alaska lake

March 17, 2007

From the Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the Kensington Gold Project, Vol. 1, USDA Forest Service (December 2004)

San Francisco -- The federal Clean Water Act cannot be used to destroy an Alaskan lake, a federal appeals court said today, in a ruling that may set precedent about how the Act is interpreted nationwide.

Although the full ruling is not yet released, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was wrong in letting a gold mine company dump toxic mine tailings into a lake near Juneau.

"In issuing its permit to Coeur Alaska for the use of Lower Slate Lake as a disposal site, the Corps violated the Clean Water Act," the court said in the first of a two-part ruling on Kensington Mine dumping operations.

Today's ruling disallowed a diversion ditch which the court said was environmentally destructive and which violated a previous injunction against the mine. But, the court said it would rule against the entire dumping procedure in its final opinion.

The ruling should prevent mines across the United States from likewise dumping into lakes, streams and rivers, said Tom Waldo, attorney for Earthjustice, a non-profit law firm that filed the appeal on behalf of citizen and conservation groups.

"The Kensington permit was a test case by the Bush Administration to resurrect destructive mining practices from the pick-and-shovel days," Waldo said.  "We've learned from the mistakes of the past. The Clean Water Act prohibited these practices, and today's court ruling confirms that."

Waldo expressed hope that the court ruling would deter such operations elsewhere in Alaska -- notably the proposed Pebble Mine in Bristol Bay, home of the world's largest sockeye salmon fishery. Pebble Mine, like Kensington, is designed to dump vast quantities of toxic mine tailings into lakes. A broad coalition of business, environmental, fishing and native groups is opposing the mine because of its damaging potential.

In 1982, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) adopted regulations under the Clean Water Act prohibiting new gold mines from dumping their tailings into waterways.  Even at that time, EPA determined that most mines no longer dumped their tailings into water bodies, and that

"The plain language of the Clean Water Act simply prohibits the discharge authorized by the Corps of Engineers,'' Waldo said.

The Corps' permit granted Coeur d'Alene Mines Corporation the right to dump 210,000 gallons per day of a toxic waste slurry into the lake, despite the availability of disposal methods less damaging to the environment.

The slurry is a byproduct of a gold extraction process that blends water with crushed ore. Attorneys representing mine developers and the federal government said the slurry is legal fill material in their view of the law, but the court rejected that argument.

The mine site is in Berners Bay, about 35 miles northwest of Juneau. The disputed permit would fill Lower Slate Lake, a 23-acre wooded, sub-alpine lake in the Berners Bay watershed. All fish and most other life forms would have been killed.

Coeur already had approval to build a conventional dry land tailings disposal facility, but the company applied for a permit to dump tailings directly into the lake as a cost-cutting measure.

Earthjustice represents the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, Lynn Canal Conservation, and the Sierra Club.

Read the decision (PDF)

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Watershed Poetry Mendocino, Sept. 27, 2008 Contact: Larry Sheehy Phone: 707-485-7072 Email: watershedpoetry(at)gmail.com On Sept 27th, 2008, Watershed Poetry Mendocino will take place in Ukiah. This day long celebration will use poetry, art and discussion to help raise awareness of the importance of Mendocino County watersheds, and environmental and cultural issues. Watershed Poetry Mendocino is affiliated with and modeled after the annual Watershed Environmental Poetry Festival held in Berkeley and sponsored by Poetry Flash. The program begins at 8:30 am at the Ukiah Saturday Farmers' Market with speakers, performers, and tabling by local/regional environmental and watershed groups and green businesses. At 11:30 am the program will continue at TB Greene Galley with a poetry reading/Open Mic and water/watershed awareness talk and workshop lead by Rebecca Kress of the Mendocino County Water Agency and Russian River Cleanup. Concurrent with the poetry and workshop will be the September TB Greene Gallery art showing, "Rivers - Photos of the Local Watersheds," presented by gallery owner Nadia Tarlow. Continuing at 4pm, the program moves to Mendocino Book Company with another poetry reading of featured poets, followed by a reception hosted by Ann Kilkenny. Poets will be signing copies of their published works. The celebration concludes with the Evening Reading at the Grace Hudson Museum beginning at 6:30 pm with eight poets reading from their works. This final presentation of the day is hosted by Sherrie Smith-Ferri and sponsored by the Poet Laureate Committee of Ukiah and the Grace Hudson Museum. Among those reading during the celebration are: Jan Allegretti, Louisa Aronow, Devreaux Baker, Dan Barth, Peter Berg, Zida Borcich, Armand Brint, Sharon Doubiago, Mary Norbert Korte, Gabe Kregler, Aisha Matthai, Linda Noel, Dan Roberts, Robin Rule, Leslie Sheridan, Liam UiCearbhaill, Sandra Wade, Roberta Werdinger and Theresa Whitehill. The four participating venues are the Alex R. Thomas Plaza (310 S. State St.), TB Greene Gallery (104 W. Church St.), Mendocino Book Company (102 S. School St.), and Grace Hudson Museum (431 S. Main St.). Watershed Poetry Mendocino is sponsored by Cloud Forest Institute and co-sponsored by Tenacity Press/Writers Read. Hope to see you there if you happen to be in Mendocino County, Northern Cali on Sept.27th! Peace & Green, Larry

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How does one format these posts? Maybe the host might consider changing to the new group program? Thanks! Larry

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or maybe I should learn how to format posts!

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