3/12 Silver, BC herring, climate activists, kelp loss, BC spot prawns, bird songs, Site C dam, Bach to you

Hi-Yo, Silver

 
Silver
According to the episode "The Legend of Silver" (September 30, 1938), before acquiring Silver, the Lone Ranger rode a chestnut mare called Dusty. The Lone Ranger saves Silver's life from an enraged buffalo, and in gratitude, Silver chooses to give up his wild life to carry him. Hi-Yo, Silver. (Wikipedia)

Commercial herring fishery opens amid calls for moratorium
Critics are sounding the alarm with the Pacific herring commercial fishery underway this week. The seine fishery opened on Tuesday (March 9th) at 6:00pm. The gillnet fishery started dropping their nets yesterday (March 10th) at 1:00pm. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) has set the harvest rate at 20 percent of the spawning herring population, which is the same as last year. That means the Strait of Georgia’s harvest rate will cap out at 16,330 tonnes. Troy Landreville reports. (Comox Valley Now)

Washington climate activists disagree about how to cut carbon
Competing efforts to enact landmark climate change legislation have fractured the state’s environmental coalition and Olympia’s all-powerful Democratic caucus, with some activists arguing that the proposal pushed by Gov. Jay Inslee shortchanges minority and low-income communities. Levi Pulkkinen reports. (InvestigateWest)

Southern Sound kelp are in a pinch
Kelp in some areas of Puget Sound are struggling to survive amid the pressures of climate change, according to a new study from the Washington state Department of Natural Resources. The study, which was done in conjunction with scientists from Marine Agronomics and the U.S. Geological Survey looked at kelp in South Puget Sound — long and narrow inlets at the bottom of the Sound. The study found that over the last 145 years, these shorelines have lost about two-thirds of their bull kelp forests. (Snoqualmie Valley Record)

Spot prawn industry under threat after DFO regulation change, small local harvesters say
Spot prawn season is still a few months away, but a change by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans has some harvesters worried the celebrated B.C. fishery — and a large part of their livelihood — is about to be wiped out. For decades, small scale harvesters have frozen tubs of spot prawns in salt water while still at sea to preserve them for transport to local markets. But the practice is now outlawed, because DFO says on-board inspectors need the prawns to be readily available for measuring to ensure they meet size regulations. Previously, inspectors measured prawns as they were being sorted. Karin Larsen reports. (CBC)

A quick guide to the birds you’re hearing now in Seattle area
The birds most likely to capture our attention with their songs during early spring in the Pacific Northwest are not migratory visitors, nor exotic strangers, but good old perennial neighbors. Christine Clarridge reports. (Seattle Times)

The Site C dam isn’t the B.C. NDP’s first over-budget megaproject
When a northern B.C. railway extension ran dramatically over budget in the 1970s, the B.C. NDP government also failed to stop its predecessor's infrastructure project. Amanda Follett Hosgood reports. (The Tree/The Narwhal)

If you like to watch and to listen: Forest Xylophone Plays Bach

Now, your weekend tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  244 AM PST Fri Mar 12 2021   
TODAY  S wind to 10 kt becoming E in the afternoon. Wind waves  1 ft or less. W swell 3 ft at 10 seconds. 
TONIGHT  NW wind to 10 kt becoming S after midnight. Wind waves  1 ft or less. W swell 4 ft at 9 seconds. 
SAT  SE wind to 10 kt becoming E in the afternoon. Wind waves  1 ft or less. W swell 4 ft at 10 seconds. 
SAT NIGHT  E wind 5 to 15 kt rising to 15 to 25 kt after  midnight. Wind waves 2 ft or less building to 2 to 4 ft after  midnight. W swell 5 ft at 11 seconds. 
SUN  SE wind 15 to 25 kt becoming W 20 to 30 kt in the  afternoon. Wind waves 2 to 4 ft building to 3 to 5 ft in the  afternoon. W swell 8 ft at 11 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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