Nuking Nature: It’s Time The Government Stepped In
A group of researchers gathered at the prestigious Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute a few years ago for a workshop to discuss the impact small power boats have on the marine environment. With ten to 15 million small boats in operation in the United States alone and the use of jet skis exploding (with sales of 200,000 units a year) the subject was clearly a worthy one.
Among the things they talked about was the damage done by erosion caused by the wakes of speeding boats, the disruption of nesting birds startled by the roar of outboard motors, the impact of turbidity caused by the turbulence from propellers or jets, and the biological effect of outboard emissions released into both the air and water.
The scientists concluded that 60 powerboats traveling at 30 miles per hour had as much impact on the water “per unit time” as did an average nuclear power plant.
Any fly fisherman who’s ever had their tranquility ruined by a power boat roaring past, who has seen water birds fleeing their nests in panic, who has noticed the sheen of oil or gas left behind on the surface, or who has had the quiet of a remote river pool shattered by a jet boat, will not be surprised to hear that power boats are hurting the environment.
But few of us would have guessed just how damaging small boats are. Now that we know, we have to ask : Why are we nuking our watersheds?
The Woods Hole conference was in 1996, since then regulations have been brought in on many lakes restricting the size of outboard motors. A 5 hp ban is now common on small, highly valuable fishing waters - like British Columbia’s Tunkwa Lake, for example. In the U.S., the National Park Service has banned jet skis, a particularly obnoxious form of personal water craft, and there are growing demands to ban jet boats on wild and scenic rivers. But power boats continue to foul the waters of Canadian lakes and jet boats continue to scream up Canadian rivers, eroding the banks, churning up the water, spilling oil and gas, and causing fly fishermen to stare in disbelief.
On the Pitt , a small river near Vancouver that can easily be waded bank to bank, fly fishermen have had to stop casting, because jets boats pass so close to them. One angler had to stop his back cast - because a jet boat was roaring behind him, close to shore.
BoatEd, a web site for power boaters in the U.S., reminds jet ski users not to go in shallow water (less than 24 inches) because “bottom sediments or aquatic vegetation can be sucked into the water pump and damage your PWC (personal water craft) and the environment.”
The BoatEd site also reminds power boaters to avoid creating a wake in narrow streams or rivers, and to keep in mind that the noise of their craft can be unwelcome to people trying to find tranquility.
But most boat operators could care less about such niceties, as we’ve seen time and again. On one B.C. trout fishing lake a few summers ago, we saw a guy launch a jet ski, then slalom through astonished float tubers.
It would be nice if people with power boats recognized their potential to cause immense environmental damage, and self regulated themselves, limiting the size of thier outboards and staying off all but the biggest lakes. But they don’t. And so people wonder where the insect hatches have gone on the small lakes. And they wonder why even big bodies of water, like Okanagan Lake, have become polluted.
It would be nice if jet boat operators realized that their watercraft cause erosion and destroy the peace and quite on small rivers, and limited themselves to big waterways, like the Fraser.
But they don’t. They go wherever they feel like, including up small, pristine, trophy fishing rivers like the Pitt, and leave the damage in their wake.
As the U.S. National Parks Service has recognized, the only way to control the problem is to regulate it.
It’s time governments in Canada woke up to the fact.
Jet boats should be banned from all small rivers immediately.
Power boats should be banned from all small lakes and the impact they are having on big lakes, like those in the Okanagan, should be the subject of environmental impact studies.
Fish, insects, aquatic birds and plants are all being damaged by the pollutants and the turbulence created by small power boats. Fishermen and others who go to our waterways seeking tranquility are being driven away.
It’s time the government took action.
Let’s stop nuking nature.
Eds Note: How big is the problem? Last year on Sunday June 24rd 2001, one Jet boat was seen blasting up the Pitt River. This year on the same Sunday, June 23rd 2002 no fewer than 14 jet boats of all shapes and sizes were counted spending the day in the river systen.
Send a message to people who can make a difference....
Gordon Campbell, the Premier of British Columbia: premier@gov.bc.ca
Joyce Murray, the Minister of Water, Land & Air Protection: joyce.murray.mla@leg.bc.ca
Davona Adams, Responsable for the Fraser River Sports fishing plan at the Department of Fisheries and Oceans: AdamsD@pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca
What do you think? Visit our online discussion area and post your views. 
Letters can be sent via e-mail to: letters@ariverneversleeps.com
I have just read your article about fishing with my brother, Bruce Gerhart. Your writing was stunning, and has captured his essence. I am still sitting here with tears in my eyes as I read this. He is still missed so much. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Sincerely, Audrey Raines
Parksville, B.C. Canada
audreyraines@shaw.ca
Eds Note: The story appears in our backissues section at:
http://www.ariverneversleeps.com/backissues/march02/writing.shtml
The editor:
I am so excited about your electronic magazine on fly fishing. I hope by giving you my email address I have signed on. Is there no fee? I travel all over the country fishing and have been trying to find out more about fly fishing in western Canada especially Vancouver Island . I have a daughter who has moved there and I will be visiting often. If I need to do something else to get the Magazine please let me know.
Frank Bush
Coker College
Hartsville, SC 29550
Hi Frank:
Thanks for your note and the kind praise. At the moment, A River Never Sleeps.com is free to anyone who has Internet access. Hard to believe, we know, so enjoy it while you can! In the future we may go to a paid subscription basis, or find a sponsor. For now, the magazine is a non-profit endeavor, that's made possible only because the editors, writers, artists and photographers who produce it, contribute without pay. We feel we've sort of got a web based fly fishing club here - with about 5,000 members in over 30 countries. This is our newsletter. So welcome aboard. Lot's more good stuff coming....and you are going to love Vancouver Island.
Mark Hume
Editor, A River Never Sleeps.com
Happy Birthday
A River Never Sleeps:
2 years old and still one of the BEST sites around. Congratulations.
-Kevin
Brisbane , Queensland , Australia
kevinw@powerup.com.au
Kevin:
Yeah, and just learning how to walk....cheers,
Mark Hume
Editor, A River Never Sleeps.com
Can You Run The Okanagan River?
The Editor:
I am interested in finding out how canoeable the Okanagan River is from Skaha Lake to Osoyoos Lake. It seems there may be several dams that may be portageable.
Over the years a group of us have canoed portions of the Kettle, North Thomson, Similkameen, Columbia and Kooteneay Rivers, camping on the river for a night or two.
We would certainly support restoration of this river.
Thanks
Gary Schwartz
Kelowna BC Canada
schwartz@shaw.ca
An Open Letter - About A Damaged Agency
Honourable Joyce Murray, Minister
Water, Land and Air Protection
Room 124, Parliament Buildings
Victoria, B.C.
V8V 1X4
Madam Minister:
I am writing you today first as a very concerned member of the B.C. Liberal Party and secondly as a person who has been involved in the fish and wildlife management field in this province for over 46 years. What I have been seeing since your installation as the Minister in charge of our fish and wildlife resources has shocked and sickened me.
As a bit of background, my involvement in the natural resource management field has covered the spectrum of both government and the private sector. I have worked with the fish and wildlife agencies in every province and both territories in Canada and the Federal Fisheries and Wildlife agencies. I am fully familiar with their operations, functions and capabilities.
Over and above this I have been involved with various sections of the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, fisheries and wildlife agencies in California, Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Florida and West Virginia. Outside North America I have worked with staff and agencies in the U.K., New Zealand, and Australia and did an in-depth review and assessment of the wildlife management programmes and operations in Sweden. My last position was as the Recreational Fisheries Advisor/Ombudsman for Fisheries and Oceans Canada, a post I held for 15 years until my retirement. I continue to sit as an active participant on the Canada/U.S. Pacific Salmon Commission on the Fraser Panel and a director on the Pacific Salmon Commission Endowment Fund.
I state this background simply to make it clear to you that I was and am in a position to access the quality and function of the B.C. Fisheries and Wildlife agencies. I can say without equivocation that prior to the last N.D.P. government our agencies were equal to any in the world and head and shoulders above most. Despite the damage the N.D.P. did in their 8 years, when your government and you took over the portfolio we still had in my considered opinion, two top flight, competent and world-class agencies.
I am one of the many thousands of hunters and anglers in this province who have worked closely and hard with previous governments over the years to achieve the degree of quality in management we had. As a hunter and angler and B.C. Citizen I am shocked and disgusted and as a B.C. Liberal, ashamed to see how you have gutted and virtually destroyed these agencies in less than 12 short months. The best analogy I can think of is seeing you put in charge of managing Shaughnessy Heights and in less than a year turning the area into the Vancouver Downtown Eastside.
These actions alone have raised the ire of all of us who hold the fish and wildlife resources and environment in this province dear. However, your latest flight of fancy to privatize our recreational fishery is the last straw. Such a proposal is neither sensible, rational, necessary nor acceptable to the 400,000 plus licensed anglers in this province.
If you and your government had any business sense you would be looking to upgrading our fish and wildlife industries to pick up some of the slack caused by the downturn in the forest industry. Your own reports show 16,000 plus jobs in the recreational fishery and that was before recent downturns. Recreational fishing in B.C. used to generate in excess of $1.5 billion a year in economic activity in this province. It is now down to about $1 billion. In 1985 recreational fishing in B.C. generated $36.21 million annually in direct revenue to the province of B.C. Instead of investing some of this back into the resource and the industry your government and it’s predecessor simply milked off the money and cut the agency capabilities. As already noted, you have done yeoman’s service in the latter. Also as noted this effort is not appreciated by the majority of us.
The fish and wildlife resources in this province represent a treasure that could be a driving force in our economy forever, providing excellent economic returns to the community and the government, if properly managed.
Your proposal to privatize these resources and our access to them is totally unacceptable. Quit shirking your duty and start doing your job of managing the resources of this province for the people instead of trying to sluff everything off to someone else. Failure to do this begs the question, why are we paying you to manage when you keep saying you can’t do it and turning things over to others to do the job? Why should we pay twice for the same or lessor service?
Minister, get off your flights of fancy and start doing your job and bring our fish and wildlife management back to the level where it once was so we can hold our heads up in the resource management field again. And, we can realize the full potential and benefits of these resources.
Yours in conservation:
Bill Otway, Fish and Wildlife Consultant/Writer
Port Coquitlam, B.C.
From Ice Off...
To: letters@ariverneversleeps.com
Why on earth were we not given a contact address for " From ice out to ice in", your October 01 back issue.
Any chance it's available ?
Regards
Gerry Hemmings
North Vancouver, BC
girardythr@shaw.ca
Hi Gerry;
Sadly, this great little booklet does not contain any information on where you can order a copy. I will track down the author, Mo Bradley, and ask him. I’ll post the information on A River Never Sleeps.com. In the meantime, you might ask at Ruddick's (who are now in North Vancouver) ...if they don't have it, fly fishing shops in Kamloops should (and you will want to be heading that way now that the ice is is finally off!)
-Cheers,
MH
Where’s The Book?
To: <editor@ariverneversleeps.com>
Subject: Fly Fishing in British Columbia
Hi, I enjoyed the review of Fly Fishing in British Columbia. But there is no mention of who the publisher is or where I could get a copy. Indigo and Amazon don't list it. Any help would be appreciated.
Reply:
Fly Fishing In British Columbia is published by Johnson Gorman, a publishing house based in Calgary, Alberta. Their website is: www.flyfishingsource.com
Thanks For The Great Flies!
The Fly Box BC article is great. I am heading out to central and south eastern BC in mid May and hope to hook up with a few good fish and friends. The article has helped me save some precious time.
Thanks again and keep up the great work.
You sent me a notice about your site when it first showed up.
Pat Gilmore
Okotoks, Alberta, Canada
finecast@fclc.com
More Rage Against Fish Farms....
Editors:
The fish farm issue is, in my opinion, a metaphor for our crass, materialistic society inspired by the crass, materialistic privatizers/globalizers.
-Ron Malange
Coquitlam BC
rsmalange@shaw.ca
The Editors:
I am a commercial fisherman and believe the fish farms are a demise of the wild ecosystem. The main reason for sending this note is; I noted a picture of a arrowtooth flounder with a parasite attached to it's eye on page 4 of /backissues/march02/currents.shtml and I wanted you to know, I also recently got one of these in Barkley Sound in Feb./02 . I really don't think this is a new parasite as I have been in the industry since 1967 and have seen them earlier in my carreer. Just though I'd let you know. One more thing, isn't it a coinsendence that shortly after after Nanaimo Shipyard recently got through building large fish holding farm fish pens for a customer, I've heard from Sweden , that the six year ban on fish -farms was lifted.
-Phil Burgess
Parksville , Canada
philburgess@shaw.ca
The editors:
I thank CKNW as well Rafe Mair for the continues interest in fitting the unethical environmental damage the wild salmon of our west coast is subjected to, by a group of people that can not difereciat between the well being of our wild fish the salmon, and their self serving monetary interest.
Should we not insure the well being of many ocean species that could be wiped out of our eco system as a result of man made polution and disease from fish farming we will pay a heavy price with in the next five to ten years, a price that many would not want to deal with specifically when we are talking loosing fish that may never come back should we ignore the living threat of man made disies and polution in our waters.
Thank you for your work and I will boycott all salmon fish farming.
Peter C
Burnaby, B.C., Canada
iquitsmoking@nicotinekills.com
From: Phil Burgess <philburgess@shaw.ca>
To: Alexandra Morton <wildorca@island.net>
Hi Alexandra;
I like to thank you first of all for all the hard work I have been watching you do to inform the public and trying to get somewhere with the politicians to do something about this eco-destruction fish farming.
I have been fishing on this coast since 1967 and have been trawling since 1968. I returned to trolling in 1986 and have had two of the largest troll seasons in history of trolling for salmon . One year 1989 we caught 145,000 lbs and in 1991 we caught 166,000 lbs . Now for a troller that is a lot of fish and in our poor years they were approximately around the 100,000 lb mark. Since they moved the salmon farms out of Desolation Sound and Jervis Inlet and other mainland inlets and put them in the Johnston St. areas the fishing has gone straight down hill, to the point where I have let my license go to the Gov. buyback. This is how much devastation I think these fish farms are doing.
Now the creatures we have seen in the eyes of the arrow-tooth flounder are deeply rooted and in Feb. we caught two in Barkley Sound in Imperial Eagle Channel but they were very small fish, maybe 10 to 12 inches long. I have seen them before in Hackett St. but of very little significance amount.
I have fished millions of pounds of rock cod and a great deal of sole and I can never recall seeing lice on any of these .
What you are describing about these parasites on these fish are not normal on the wild stocks , and I feel very strong on your correct analyses that these problems are a direct effect of these man made fish farms and are the by product of there eco-destruction fish farms.
We all hope you can keep up the great work you are doing.
Phil Burgess -- M.V. Summer's Retreat
From: Alexandra Morton <mailto:wildorca@island.net>
To: philburgess@shaw.ca
Sent: Wednesday, April 03, 2002 1:59 PM
Subject: arrowtooth
Hello Phil
Nick Didlick forwarded your correspondence to him. I have heard from the fishermen here too that the parasite in the eyes of the Arrowtooth flounder have been seen before - on the west coast.
I am curious about your observations. Previous to the one you just got, how many a day or season would you see and how many per fish? Where you caught the recent one, are there salmon farms, was it just one fish or many?
This parasite is a copepod - like the sea lice - and I am beginning to think that copepods may be benefiting a great deal from salmon farms, certainly the sea lice are. Here about 90% of the Arrowtooth are infected and most have more than one. But there are also sea lice on pollock, greenling, lingcod, rock cod and sole.
I don't know if any of this is normal, but I aim to find out. Any observations you have would be very helpful
thank you
alexandra morton
The Editor:
When will our howsoever-well-intentioned sports fishers grow up and realize politicians don't do a damned thing because it is "right" or "fair", ie: trout and salmon preservation, their feed, their waters, etc.
Only political power works, when sports fishers finally wake up and work together to have those responsible for the abysmal decline of our sports fishery voted out of office, watch them change their tune.
Churchill said it right in his debate with a Karl Marx supporter, who was faulting democracy, when he replied "Of course democracy is an abomination, but do you have a better system ? Our abomination needs some fixing and only political power will do it!
Regards
Gerry Hemmings
North Vancouver, BC
The Editors:
Where are the people who make WORLD Wide publicity and protest agains the killing of the seals. What about telling the B.C. goverment that ALL WORLD will know about Fish Farms at the time of WINTER OLYMPICS Games in WHISTLER, if We get the Games - even if We don't get the Winter Games.A much as I like to see the Winter Games come to Whistler, but I like even more the Fish Farms to be EXPOSED to the Whole WORLD by using Winter Games as a "BLACK MAIL".
Sorry, it's dirty "trick' - but it colud work - !!!
I rather play "dirty", and get CLEAN - Healthy fish to eat.
Please let me know, who colud be contacted to start this "dirty" World Wide campain -
using Vancouver/Whistler bid for Winter Games - ???
This is my nick name for it:
WHISTLER WINTER OLYMPICS - SICK FARM FISH - WORLD WIDE CAMPAIN
Thank You Very Much,
Henry Haynos
Vancouver , Canada
leonardb@telus.net
An Open Letter To The Premier: Don’t You Know What A Treasure We’ve Got?
Hon. Gordon Campbell
Premier of British Columbia
PO Box 9041
Station Provincial Government
Victoria, BC V8W 9E1
Dear Mr. Campbell:
While I support many initiatives that your government has introduced over the past year in order to get British Columbia back on track, I fail to understand the low priority directed at outdoor recreation in general, and recreational fishing in particular. Along with many friends I have watched
with mounting concern the lifting of the salmon farming moratorium; this at a time when elsewhere throughout the world, such operations have done nothing but create environmental havoc and destruction.
We have also watched with dismay, the continued emasculation of what were once effective and efficient fisheries and wildlife branches. More recently has been the shock of learning that one of Vancouver Island's most popular recreational fishing rivers might be turned over to native Indians living near the river mouth. Mr. Campbell, native Indians live near the mouths of many rivers in British Columbia, including the Fraser River. Are you going to give them all away?
Does no one in your government recognize the social benefits that the popular pastime of recreational fishing provides to residents, and the economic benefits to the industry that supports it? Or its impact on tourism -- a key word I failed to find mentioned in the titles of your caucus members.
I am British Columbian by birth (1935), and spent my formative years living in the Fraser Valley, North Okanagan and Cariboo. During my 27-year military career I was afforded opportunities to live in several Canadian provinces and did two tours in Western Germany, and wherever I went I fished extensively. In my present career as an outdoor writer and editor, my work has taken me across Canada, and I have fished throughout much of Nova Scotia, Quebec, Ontario, and the prairie provinces. Thus, I know of and appreciate the social and economic values generated by a healthy recreational fishery. That said, none of those provinces can match British Columbia, for in addition to world-class freshwater fishing we have a saltwater fishery that is second to none. I state that despite all of the problems we have encountered through decades of mismanagement on a federal
level.
Each year, tens of thousands of resident anglers spend hundreds of thousands of hours pursuing opportunities to fish as a form of rest and recreation. Food gathering may be a consideration in some cases, but the truth is that recreational fishing is an inefficient and expensive way to provide a meal. That said, people who spend most of their lives buying frozen or plastic-wrapped meats, poultry and fish, occasionally derive great satisfaction in harvesting and preparing their own food.
In addition, thousands of anglers from outside of British Columbia pay large amounts of money for the chance to try catching a fish and, likely as not, releasing it. A prime example of non-consumptive and low consumption activities providing dollars to our economy.
In addition to recreation and attracting out-of-province tourist dollars, recreational fishing provides jobs for many British Columbians, directly and indirectly. Fishing lodges that range from small Mom 'n' Pop operations to multi-million-dollar remote resorts that require the use of floatplanes and helicopters to access; fishing tackle manufacturing; boat building; boat rentals; marine servicing and repairs; hotel and motel management and staff; campgrounds; restaurants; self-employed fishing guides; charter boat operators. Thousands of people throughout British Columbia are involved in some way with supporting or servicing the recreational fishery.
If you compare the minimal impact recreational fishing has on a renewable natural resource against the cash flow it generates, it towers as an important industry. Money is spent on tackle, clothing, boats, motors, licenses, transportation, fishing guides, fuel, accommodation and food. Even more money changes hands for books, magazines, home videos, seminars, outdoor shows and community college courses -- all to do with recreational fishing.
In 1993, the World Fly Fishing Championships and Conservation Symposium was held at Kamloops. As the Canada Games were scheduled immediately beforehand, the fishing competition was nearly lost in the promotional rush. However, when the dust had settled, the fishing competition provided
a far greater economic benefit to the community than the much more ballyhooed games. And, according to people there who are involved with regional tourism, they are still reaping benefits from offshore anglers who now visit annually.
Mr. Campbell, I ask that you consider all of these people who are involved with the recreational fishery, and that you also consider this vital industry that produces a high dollar yield to our economy, and does so with minimal impact on the resource. With so much that is positive, this seems just the sort of renewable natural resource that should be nurtured and properly managed, not treated with what appears to be bordering on contempt for a very large sector of our population.
Sincerely,
Robert H. Jones
cc: Hon. Stan Hagen
Hon: Joyce Murray
Hon. John Van Dongen
{E-mail letters may be edited for clarity, taste and brevity. It is understood they express the opinions of the writers, not the editors.}
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