9/22 Forage fish, greenhouse gas, climate myth, El Nino, Shell train, BC fish farm, BC LNG, old growth logging

Forage fish (Paul Dabill/Pew Trusts)

How to Identify a Forage Fish — and Why We Need To
Forage fish are increasingly being recognized as an important part of the marine ecosystem. By studying and setting catch limits on forage fish, managers can reduce the risk of population crashes for commercially valuable fish. Ted Morton writes. (Pew Charitable Trusts)

New blog: Holy Father the Chemist
"There have been some strange twists and turns in religiosity the past few weeks perhaps foreshadowing Pope Francis’ visit to our country this week. No doubt Kentucky county auditor Kim Davis is both deeply religious and an upstanding civil servant but not to choose one’s religious faith and resign from one’s sworn duties as a civil servant when it comes in conflict makes a mockery of both the faith she holds and the duties of the office she had sworn to perform…."

State moves to limit greenhouse gases
The state Department of Ecology on Monday proposed capping greenhouse gases from the state’s 35 largest emitters, rolling out a new rule-making process months after Gov. Jay Inslee failed to get legislation passed on his ambitious cap-and-trade plan. The agency began writing a rule to limit — and reduce over time — the amount of heat-trapping gases from the state’s largest industrial facilities, including power plants, refineries and landfills. Ecology officials said the rule would apply to facilities emitting 100,000 metric tons of greenhouse gases a year, which would capture about 60 percent of the state’s overall carbon emissions. Those that don’t comply could face penalties like those used to enforce other regulations. Phuong Le reports. (Associated Press)

Stephen Hume: Another climate myth debunked  
Mention global warming anywhere in a column and the inbox erupts with angry, condescending and dismissive messages from readers claiming that the planet has been cooling — or, at least, not warming — since 1998. But new research by a team of scientists at Stanford University, just published in the Springer science journal Climatic Change, finds that this so-called “hiatus” in global warming over the last 17 years never happened. (Vancouver Sun)

B.C. coast should brace for ‘monster’ El Nino year: UVic professor
The “monster” El Nino weather system expected to hit Canada’s West Coast later this fall and winter could lead to higher tides, flooding and erosion in low-lying coastal areas, says a professor at the University of Victoria. Ian Walker’s warning comes out of part of a larger study by a group of researchers from five countries bordering the Pacific who looked into El Nino and La Nina weather systems. The study was published this week in the journal Nature Geoscience. Kevin Drews reports. (Canadian Press)

Public comment period opens on EIS for Shell project
Skagit County and the state Department of Ecology are seeking public comment about the scope of the upcoming environmental impact statement on Shell Puget Sound Refinery’s plans to transport crude oil by rail. Shell has proposed building a facility that would unload crude oil from up to six trains per week. The oil would be refined in Anacortes. Comments are being accepted from until Nov. 5, more than double the 21 days required for an EIS. (Skagit Valley Herald)

Protesters threaten to renew blockade in B.C. fish farm dispute
Protesters who had been attempting to block a fish farm on Vancouver Island say they will return to their camp unless the Norwegian company behind the site removes its docks and equipment, as protesters had expected. Protesters who call themselves the Yaakswiis Warriors said representatives from Cermaq, an aquaculture company with operations in Canada, Chile and Norway, recently promised to remove the installation at a site near Ahousaht, B.C., on Monday morning. A small group of opponents had been blockading the site, located north of Tofino, since Sept. 9, citing potential environmental damage that could result from the plant. Wendy Stueck reports. (Globe and Mail)

LNG exports will impede fishing rights: First Nations
The Allied Tribes of Lax Kw’alaams are claiming title to Lelu Island and Flora Bank in the Port of Prince Rupert, arguing in a court filing that a proposal to export liquefied natural gas would interfere with aboriginal fishing rights. Pacific NorthWest LNG, led by Malaysia’s state-owned Petronas, is seeking to build an $11.4-billion export terminal on Lelu Island in northwestern British Columbia. The island is located next to Flora Bank, which contains eelgrass vital for nurturing juvenile salmon in the Skeena River estuary. Brent Jang reports. (Globe and Mail)

Planned logging of old-growth B.C. forest “shameful,” could spark blockades, say environmentalists  
The B.C. government has approved a permit for logging on one of eight planned “cutblock” areas in the central Walbran Valley on Vancouver Island, which an environmental group says could reignite the war in the woods from the 1990s. “This type of old-growth forest is simply too rare to destroy, and the fact the government isn’t responding to this crisis is shameful,” Wilderness Committee campaigner Torrance Coste said in a news release from the group. The area in question was not protected when more than 16,000 hectares of forests were placed off limits to logging in the Carmanah Walbran Provincial Park created in 1993 following protests and blockades. Gordon Hoekstra reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 230 AM PDT TUE SEP 22 2015
TODAY
SE WIND 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 1 OR 2 FT. W SWELL 4 FT AT 9 SECONDS.
TONIGHT
SE WIND 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 1 OR 2 FT. W SWELL 4 FT AT 9 SECONDS.

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