8/13 Skeena sockeye, herring disease, paralyzed birds, Clayouquot protest, Kitimat refinery

Sockeye salmon

Sockeye salmon returns have plunged to historic lows in the Skeena River system of northwestern British Columbia, forcing drastic, never-before-imposed fishing closures. Commercial and non-native recreational fisheries were shut down on the river last month, and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans issued a directive last week noting the fisheries are also closed on Babine Lake and Babine River. First Nations Skeena sockeye fishery shut for first time  

Independent fisheries scientist Alexandra Morton is raising concerns about a disease she says is spreading through Pacific herring causing fish to hemorrhage. Ms. Morton has called on the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans to investigate, saying it could cause large-scale herring kills and infect wild salmon, which feed heavily on herring.... Ms. Morton, a researcher and environmental advocate who campaigns against fish farms, said she caught some herring with similar symptoms in beach seine nets in 2011, but was unable to get DFO to investigate. Mark Hume reports. Disease killing Pacific herring threatens salmon, scientist warns

The mystery surrounding dozens of paralyzed birds that were discovered in B.C.'s northeast has deepened after veterinarians ruled out West Nile virus but found wing and leg fractures. Last month, dozens of paralyzed ravens and crows were dropped off at a Dawson Creek rehabilitation clinic, sparking concerns about West Nile, which can also affect humans. Despite efforts to save them, all 30 birds eventually died. Mystery of paralyzed birds deepens

Wilderness Committee, Georgia Strait Alliance and Friends of the San Juans are holding an international town hall meeting at noon on August 21, taking place simultaneously on either side of the Kinder Morgan tar sands tanker route through the Salish Sea near Victoria and the San Juan Islands. How to participate? Get more info at Save the Salish Sea and at Facebook event.  

It is the quiet amid the chaos just as the logging trucks and police rolled in that Tzeporah Berman remembers acutely about the War in the Woods, the fight by environmentalists 20 years ago over Clayoquot Sound that the now-seasoned campaigner says set the stage for today's battles over pipelines and other resource development issues.... Every day for almost three months during the summer of 1993, Berman and hundreds of other protesters stared down the logging trucks destined for some of Canada's most pristine old-growth forests on Vancouver Island, B.C. Kim Nursall reports.  War in the Woods: 20 years later, legacy of Vancouver Island protest lives on

A B.C. media mogul says he has found the $25 billion he needs to build a crude oil refinery in Kitimat, but he had to raise more than $6 billion in Canada after Chinese investors backpedalled on the deal.... The owner of Black Press Group would not say where the $6 billion was coming from. The plant, to be built north of Kitimat, would refine oil from the Alberta oilsands shipped either by pipeline or rail. David Black 'confident' money in place to build Kitimat refinery  

Farewell and congratulations: Kurt Hart, Communication Manager of Ecology's Spills/Shorelands/Puget Sound Initiative programs, writes: "Thursday, Aug. 15 will be my last day at Ecology. I’ve worked at the agency for 20 years. On Aug. 19, I’ll start my first day as Communications Director for the Washington Department of Enterprise Services." Good working with you, Kurt, and best wishes for the new job.

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 300 AM PDT TUE AUG 13 2013
TODAY
LIGHT WIND...BECOMING NW 5 TO 15 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 2 FT AT 9 SECONDS.
TONIGHT
W WIND 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 FT. W SWELL 2 FT AT 9 SECONDS.
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