9/11 Snailfish, smoke plume, BC fish lice, water conservation, Cooke Aquaculture permit, Nanaimo fire

 

Showy snailfish [Lawrence Tulissi]

Showy snailfish Liparis pulchellus
Small to medium size. Pelvic fins modified as disk; adheres to underside of rocks. Not closely related to similar-looking clingfishes. The most common snailfish in Puget Sound; less so farther north. Russia to Alaska to central California. (Marine Wildlife of Puget Sound, the San Juans, and the Strait of Georgia)

Massive smoke plume from Oregon wildfires about to invade Puget Sound region
As hazy as it has been around Western Washington this week, the region has been spared the worst of the wildfire smoke and ensuing unhealthy air quality that has smothered much of Oregon and California this week, but unfortunately, the local air quality looks like it's about to get considerably worse. A shift in the winds is about to blow a 'super massive' plume of smoke from Oregon and California wildfires up into Western Washington Friday and it appears to want to hang around for the entire weekend. Scott Sistek and Joel Morena report. (KOMO)

B.C. salmon farms regularly under-counting sea lice, study finds
Discrepancies between the number of sea lice found on farmed salmon during in-house company checks and the number recorded when counts are audited by Fisheries and Oceans Canada reveal that salmon farming companies are regularly under-reporting the number of lice on their fish, a newly released study has found. The spread of sea lice from salmon farms to wild fish is linked to shrinking wild salmon runs, so farms are required by Fisheries and Oceans Canada to do regular louse counts. If more than three adult lice are found on individual fish while juvenile wild salmon are migrating through the area, the company is obligated to conduct expensive delousing treatments to protect wild fish. Judith Lavoie reports. (The Narwhal)

B.C. urges water conservation as drought strikes southern rivers and streams
The British Columbia government is urging water conservation as streams and rivers experience drought conditions across the southern half of the province. The Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development says in a news release there are particularly low water flows in the south Okanagan and Vancouver Island regions. The Coldwater River watershed near Merritt is ranked at Drought Level 4 or extremely dry and eastern Vancouver Island is at Drought Level 3 or very dry. (Canadian Press)

Comments sought on Cooke Aquaculture permit
The state Department of Ecology is accepting comments on a draft permit that would allow Cooke Aquaculture to raise steelhead trout in four net pens in Puget Sound, including one near Hope Island in Skagit County. An online hearing Oct. 14 will allow the public an opportunity to learn about and comment on the draft water quality permit. Comment will be taken through Oct. 26. All documents and hearing information can be found here, and comments can be submitted online. (Skagit Valley Herald)

Major fire at scrapyard near Nanaimo, B.C., prompts water quality warning
About 50 firefighters from eight different departments are battling a blaze at an industrial lot near Ladysmith, B.C., immediately south of the Nanaimo Airport. However, the Cowichan Valley Regional District said the fire is now contained as wind has died down.  Crews responded to the fire on Thursday morning at a scrapyard owned by Schnitzer Steel Canada in Cassidy, just off the Trans-Canada Highway. (CBC)

Now, your weekend tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  258 AM PDT Fri Sep 11 2020   
TODAY  NW wind to 10 kt becoming W in the afternoon. Wind waves  1 ft or less. NW swell 3 ft at 9 seconds. Areas of fog in the  morning. Areas of smoke. 
TONIGHT  W wind 5 to 15 kt becoming to 10 kt after midnight.  Wind waves 2 ft or less. NW swell 3 ft at 9 seconds. Patchy fog  after midnight. 
SAT  SW wind to 10 kt. Wind waves 1 ft or less. NW swell 2 ft  at 9 seconds. Patchy fog in the morning. 
SAT NIGHT  NW wind to 10 kt in the evening becoming light. Wind  waves 1 ft or less. NW swell 2 ft at 9 seconds. 
SUN  E wind to 10 kt in the morning becoming light. Wind waves  1 ft or less in the morning becoming less than 1 ft. W swell 2 ft  at 9 seconds.

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"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. To subscribe, send your name and email to msato (@) salishseacom.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.

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