Massive Farmed Salmon Jailbreak In British Columbia

by: JayinPhiladelphia

Mon Oct 26, 2009 at 17:35:27 PM PDT

As if that wasn't enough of a problem, it seems that the company may have taken their emergency response procedures directly from FEMA's playbook, circa 2005 -

But the recapture vessel was not able to start fishing until Thursday and by that time, gillnetters in areas such as Sointula, about 40 kilometres from the Broughton Archipelago, were reporting catches of Atlantic salmon.

"The response time really troubles me," said Chief Bob Chamberlin of the nearby Kwicksutaineuk-Ah-Kwaw-Ah-Mish band.

"One of the only reasons we found out was because a commercial fishery was going on and they were catching Atlantics."

Marine Harvest, the company who runs this particular salmon farm, has also been responsible for other major previous escapes.  Escaped farm fish have been found in 80 rivers in the province, and over 100,000 farmed salmon escaped into British Columbia's waters in 2008.  Gilford Island, where the escape occurred, is also home to a large First Nations population, many of whom rely upon subsistence fishing in the area.

Chamberlin, who is also secretary-treasurer of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, an organization that's pushing for more First Nations involvement as regulation of fish farms passes from the provincial to the federal government in February, said assurances from the industry that Atlantic salmon won't affect Pacific salmon have been proved wrong.

Blog Action Day: Conserve money and resources without spending a dime!

by: rossl

Thu Oct 15, 2009 at 13:04:29 PM PDT

I posted this last April, but there's no reason why it isn't still useful.  I decided to re-post it because of Blog Action Day today (the topic is climate change).  The last few items on the list are either new or were added due to suggestions from the first time I posted it.  I'll be taking suggestions and adding to the diary as them come in.

I've got an investment opportunity for you.  It doesn't involve a Nigerian prince, a billionaire investor, or any kind of mortgages.  It is not the kind of thing that will cause another financial crisis - in fact, it could help solve multiple crises that we as a nation are facing.

Whether you've been laid off or you're doing fine and just care about the environment, I've got some answers for your problems.  In this diary, I'll try to compile a list of things you can do to save money and conserve our resources without spending any money.  If you have any good ideas in the comments, I'll be sure to update my diary as they come - this is a collaborative effort because this community knows more than any individual.

So join me below the fold to find out how you can save money and save the environment!

Water, Water Everywhere

by: loggersbrat

Wed Sep 30, 2009 at 20:23:50 PM PDT

I promised one of my kids (Yes, Jill, that's what you are now as far as I'm concerned) that I would write a diary on the subject of clean water.  

This is something that has concerned me greatly for years now - I notice articles and TV programs on the subject of water now the way I have registered material on archaeology since I was 8 and somebody told me what archaeologists did.  I am not a professional in either field, but I am a concerned amateur, and have learned a few things over the years.

On the subject of clean water, one thing I've learned is that a lot of the available material is in textbooks - which means expensive.  Another thing I've learned is that a lot of the rest of the available material is obscure.  Which means if you don't know where to look, you won't find it.

Here's one good place to start looking:  http://www.islandpress.com/

Sampler Platter 09.25.09

by: JayinPhiladelphia

Fri Sep 25, 2009 at 13:00:00 PM PDT

• The State of Oklahoma's lawsuit against the poultry industry for fouling (easy pun passed over, heh) the Illinois River watershed got underway in a Tulsa federal courthouse yesterday.  Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson is suing Tyson, Cargill and nine other companies for violation of numerous state and federal laws.

• Jim Hightower takes on local-washing and corporate-speak.  "Such 'down-home' companies as Unilever and HSBC"... lol!

• The Humboldt jumbo squid that have been swarming the San Diego coastline all summer are now beginning to wash up as far north as the central Oregon Coast; a sardine mystery is being investigated on Oregon's North Coast; and US Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco publish an Op-Ed on the government's Northwest salmon plan.

• Here's another piece on the culture clash between the old and the new in New York City street food.

• The City of San Jose, California has just passed what is called the nation's strictest bag ban. The ordinance will prohibit all retailers except for restaurants and nonprofits from giving out single-use plastic bags, and will only allow them to give out paper bags (which must be at least 40% recycled) for a fee.

• Sustainable transportation news roundup: a census survey released today ranks Portland as #1 of America's 30 largest cities in terms of bicycle commuting, with 6.4% of Portlanders getting to work via bike, a jump of more than 50% since 2007; Streetsblog NYC makes the case for openness in MTA data to improve riders' transit experience; and the feasability study on reinstatement of Amtrak's old Pioneer Route (Seattle & Portland to Salt Lake City & Denver via Eastern Oregon and Idaho) has just been released.  Why is it that highways and airports are never expected to be self-sustaining, while rail transit always is?  It's long past time that we stopped leaving most of the West to the tyranny of compulsory private automobile travel.

• The Bend-La Pine School District in Central Oregon is seeking to make its new elementary school one of the greenest public schools in the nation.

From New Zealand Hoki to Peruvian Anchovy

by: JayinPhiladelphia

Tue Sep 15, 2009 at 20:00:00 PM PDT

Each year 30 million tonnes of small wild-caught fish -- one third of the global declared catch -- are ground up to feed industrially farmed fish, chicken, and pigs. In light of widespread overfishing and malnutrition, is it ethical to turn one out of every three marine fish into powdered pig feed?

We were dismayed when we heard that the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) announced recently that the process has begun which could lead to the certification of Peruvian anchovies -- a fish which contributes to about a third of the world's fishmeal production.

The Tyee piece is really worth a read, as it sums up quickly and concisely exactly what the problems are with letting the commercial fishing industry regulate itself, and define what is "sustainable" through the Marine Stewardship Council, a creation of the World Wildlife Fund and Unilever, which just so happens to be one of the world's largest seafood retailers.  The reasoning for Unilever's participation in the creation of the MSC was that...

[Unilever] wanted to source all of their fish from sustainable sources by 2005.

...and since nations are hesitant to get into defining 'sustainable' fisheries, what better way to accomplish that goal than to create an industry certification scheme with a little bit of environmental credibility (teaming up with WWF) to do your bidding?  WalMart, btw, is also currently basking in the MSC's "green showers" for much of the fish that they sell.

At first, MSC was only able to certify small, actual sustainable fisheries using real science.  Of course, that didn't aid in reaching industry's goals (which are unsustainable by definition - there is simply no possible way for corporations whose only concern (by law) is profit, to be able to work with the earth at the expense of a few pennies for shareholders)... so MSC has lately been acting as a Rubber Greenwashing Stamp for Big (Sea)Food.

There's nothing at all "sustainable" about grinding up millions of tons of fish for animal feed, when such fish could of course just be used to feed people in the first place.  Especially in Peru, where the anchovy caught just off their coast could go quite a way towards eradicating hunger and malnutrition amongst the Peruvian people themselves, in a much more efficient manner than turning the fish into pellets or powder for industrial pig and salmon farms thousands of miles away ever could.

"Maybe if we run into the wall from this angle..."

by: JayinPhiladelphia

Thu Sep 10, 2009 at 14:56:22 PM PDT

The world's insatiable appetite for fish, with its disastrous effects on populations of favorites like red snapper, monkfish and tuna, has driven commercial fleets to deeper waters in search of creatures unlikely to star on the Food Network.

One of the most popular is the hoki, or whiptail, a bug-eyed specimen found far down in the waters around New Zealand and transformed into a major export. McDonald's alone at one time used roughly 15 million pounds of it each year.

[...]

The problems, [Peter Trott, the fisheries program manager in Australia for the World Wildlife Fund] said, include population declines, ecosystem damage and the accidental killing of skates and sharks. He added that New Zealand hoki managers let industry "get as much as it can from the resource without alarm bells ringing."

The hoki is used to make the Filet-o-Fish sandwich at McDonald's (there is actually some fish in there, I guess!), as well as being a regular 'guest' on menus at Long John Silver's, Denny's restaurants in New Zealand (Denny's is in New Zealand?  Sorry, mates...), amongst others.  

Another part of the story here is the recertification of the fishery as sustainable in 2007 by the MSC, over the objections of the World Wildlife Fund, one of the council's initial founders -

Without formally acknowledging that hoki are being overfished, New Zealand has slashed the allowable catch in steps, from about 275,000 tons in 2000 and 2001 to about 100,000 tons in 2007 and 2008 - a decline of nearly two-thirds.

Wouldn't such drastic cuts seem to indicate that the fishery was never managed as responsibly as thought in the first place?  It's all about the McMoney, isn't it?  You'd have thought they would have learned their lesson from orange roughy, but I guess not.  Another interesting fact: Yum Brands, the parent corporation of Long John Silver's, included purchase of New Zealand hoki on its corporate responsibility report as an example of their 'sustainability' just last year.  This year, according to the article, the fish is no longer "on the menu".  What a difference a year makes when it comes to industry-defined "sustainability", eh?

Global Illegal Fishing Treaty Agreed Upon

by: JayinPhiladelphia

Tue Sep 01, 2009 at 20:00:00 PM PDT

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, which brokered the talks, said the treaty will make it harder for illicit catches to be brought ashore and sold on the market.

This should reduce the incentive for activities such as fishing without a license, using banned gear, disregarding fishing seasons and making catches that are illegal or undersized. Such behavior can threaten endangered species and damage the legitimate fisheries industry.

More below the fold...

Sampler Platter 08.31.09

by: JayinPhiladelphia

Mon Aug 31, 2009 at 11:12:31 AM PDT

• Here's an excellent High Country News piece on the dangers faced by immigrant workers in the West's dairy industry.

• I really like this idea, and wonder how widespread it is?  The city of Orange, New Jersey replaces cash with cards for everybody in the school lunch line.

• This one's another great idea - Neighborhood University, neighbors coming together, sharing knowledge and building stronger communities.

• A Vancouver, B.C. journalist and urban farm consultant visits Havana, and asks what we can learn from their post-Soviet-collapse urban farming transformation.

• This piece on a Somerset County, NJ garden for the hungry reminds us again of the sad fact that hunger is everywhere, even in the fourth wealthiest county in the United States.

• Hoping fresh produce stands in stadiums catch on everywhere... but as Michael Hurwitz, director of the Greenmarkets in NYC mentions in the article, it's disappointing that right now during their season, the peaches for sale at Yankee Stadium in The Bronx come from a Los Angeles-based international produce importer and distributor.

• A Dutch engineer has developed a water footprint equation.

• From Youffraita:  Here's how some Lancaster County, PA Plain Sect farmers are coming together to form their own co-ops.

Balancing Fisheries on the Backs of Workers

by: JayinPhiladelphia

Mon Aug 03, 2009 at 09:07:30 AM PDT

With too many boats chasing too few crab, fishermen started going broke. They also -- literally -- started going under. In the scramble to catch as much of the quota as possible, boats frequently sailed into fierce Bering Sea storms, and some never returned. Between 1989 and 2005, 10 crab boats sank in the Sea, taking 51 men with them. Another 34 men were lost overboard or killed.

Let's talk about this below the fold...

Water vs Oil - Which One Will Be More Important?

by: Asinus Asinum Fricat

Thu Jul 23, 2009 at 15:27:24 PM PDT

I have observed first hand the gradual soil erosion and the accompanying decimation of cattle in some parts of Australia during the great drought of the seventies and it is no accident that I chose to live in Ireland, a country blessed by generous rainfalls.
                                         

Wednesday Morning Sampler Platter, 07.22.09

by: JayinPhiladelphia

Wed Jul 22, 2009 at 06:03:29 AM PDT

Carrying on, here we go...

• Jamming for the Hungry!  This piece makes me believe again...

• In Richland, Washington, WIC is working with local farmers' markets to ensure access to better nutrition for local citizens.

• Why can they not understand this?  Another local piece claims we "can't feed ourselves locally".  OMG, panic!!!  Ummm, btw - did the author of that piece ever stop and ask herself why nothing but commodity cranberries are currently grown in Coos County; and if those are the only things that can ever be grown there, in what could (and should) be one of the most productive and diverse agricultural regions in America?  Hello, McFly?

• US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) introduced legislation yesterday to improve school lunches.  Sadly, it sounds like some "same ole, same ole" to me... but if anybody knows better can you let us know?  I'd love to be proven wrong here...

• Even though those in positions of power in Pennsylvania seem to be helpless in feeding those who work for them, food banks are extending their hours for these people (for as long as they can).  Pardon me, but - wtf, y'all?  Pass a budget, Pennsylvania politicians...

• Bikes are not cars, and they don't produce the same waste as dogs (not to mention cars!).  And even though I, an Inner SE Portland pedestrian, get quite pissed off at certain asswipes on bikes who think they're above car and pedestrian laws... bikers certainly aren't the problem in our region, and should not be taxed extra.  Look at your own backyard first, Vancouver "City" Commissioner Stuart, and maybe consider designing a city of your own that doesn't require new taxpayer-subsidized (by Oregonians, of course) 20-lane bridges (considering on-and-off ramps in North Portland neighborhoods) into Portland, mmmmkay?

• Good magazine brings us a list of the the biggest groundwater contamination cover-ups in U.S. history.  I actually worked on one of these sites back in my environmental remediation days, the Newtown Creek spill (on the Queens side), which is considered the worst oil spill in U.S. history.

Sampler Platter 07.16.09

by: JayinPhiladelphia

Thu Jul 16, 2009 at 17:22:04 PM PDT

• Boo!  California's Developmental and Reproductive Toxicant Identification Committee, the board charged under that state's Proposition 65 with identifying and listing substances that can cause birth defects, developmental or reproductive harm, quivered and kneeled down before NAMPA and their other BPA industry chronies, voting 7-0 against listing BPA as a chemical believed to cause reproductive harm.  The difference between the US and the EU's approach to the public health was clearly on display here - the board members "voiced concerns over the growing scientific research", yet ignored their own concerns because human lives have always taken a back seat to corporate profits in America.

• Beware of stealth Starbucks stores posing as local independent coffee shops, coming soon to a neighborhood near you...

• A massive, jellyfish-entangling mystery blob has been found floating off the Alaskan Coast.  The US Coast Guard has ruled out any manmade explanations (i.e. - oil spill); although it may be an algae bloom, none of the researchers have ever before seen anything quite like this.

• A second breeding pair of wolves have now taken up residence in Eastern Washington.

• A Bush Administration-era bull trout protection plan was just tossed by a judge in Montana, now giving the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service six months to come up with a new plan to protect the endangered fish's habitat.  Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Interior Julie MacDonald was found in December 2008 to have taken "actions that potentially jeopardized the Endangered Species Act decisional process in 13 of the 20" decisions investigated by the Office of the Inspector General, and this (bull trout habitat protection) plan was deemed "too illogical to withstand legal review" by the court.

• From the Christian Science Monitor, another article on urban beekeeping.

• Homeless advocacy groups, after reviewing policy and practices in 273 US cities, have released a report this week naming Los Angeles as the American city which most criminalizes homelessness; other cities on the "Top 10 Meanest" list include Orlando, Atlanta, Honolulu, San Francisco and Berkeley, CA.

California and its Dirty Little Secret, Water Waste

by: Ellinorianne

Mon Jul 13, 2009 at 18:41:21 PM PDT

I was reading La Vida Locavore when I saw that Jill Richardson posted something about missing her beloved cantaloupes this season due to the lack of water and making it a short growing season for her favorite melon.

But what struck me was the fact that the City of San Diego has a moratorium on community gardens because of said lack of water.

2009 Oregon Legislative Session Ends: Industrial Hemp Passes, and Other News...

by: JayinPhiladelphia

Tue Jun 30, 2009 at 07:00:00 AM PDT

With an efficiency rarely seen in Oregon politics, Democrats took advantage of supermajorities in the House and Senate to push an aggressive agenda, rolling through Republican resistance and facing down Democratic Gov. Ted Kulongoski.

Looking back, the 2009 session, the shortest since 1995, will be remembered largely as a fight against the economic tornado that ripped billions of dollars and thousands of jobs from the state. Despite the hard times, lawmakers approved more than $1 billion in new taxes, vastly expanded health care programs and signed off on some of the most expensive transportation and capital construction plans in state history.

Specifically, lawmakers approved higher taxes on upper-income earners, on corporations, on hospitals and health insurance providers and on gasoline. Combining the tax increases with federal stimulus dollars, lawmakers staved off what might have been crippling cuts to public schools, prisons and programs that help the poor, elderly and disabled.

Some bills I really would have liked to have seen passed - specifically HB 2800, the Oregon Farm to School bill, and HB 2995, which would have created an Oregon Food Policy Council - stalled in Salem (again, in the farm-to-school bill's case) for now.  We may have another chance when the Oregon Legislature convenes for a brief session early in 2010.

Below the fold is a list of what will now be (or in some cases, already has been) sent on to Governor Ted Kulongoski (D) for his signature...

Sampler Platter 06.17.09

by: JayinPhiladelphia

Wed Jun 17, 2009 at 10:53:29 AM PDT

• At the Ethicurean, Janet takes us on a tour of Missouri's Heartland Harvest Garden, 12 acres of edible landscaping which officials claim is the biggest such garden in the country.

• A couple of years ago, New Jersey attempted to eliminate its State Department of Agriculture in a shortsighted cost-cutting move.  Terrible idea, and fortunately protests and public opposition ensured that it never happened.  Although New Jersey did eventually lose a great advocate in the process.  Now, California is considering eliminating their Department of Food and Agriculture.  Rose Hayden-Smith believes it's a bad idea.

• A federal prosecutor in Brazil is seeking to ban fast-food toy promotions in the country.

• Since taking office in 2006, Governor Jon Corzine's (D-NJ) Hunger Initiative has meant millions of dollars for state food banks, and fresh healthy local produce for New Jersey's poor.  The program requires food banks receiving funds to prioritize local growers and producers.  The governor was at the Food Bank of South Jersey yesterday, continuing to promote partnerships between food banks and local farmers.

• Despite being sued by two coal companies over municipal ordinances banning coal mining and requiring corporations to disclose their activities to local officials, a tiny Pennsylvania town is refusing to back down.  Its lawyer is predicting this case will eventually make it up to the US Supreme Court in a challenge to corporate "personhood".  In 2006 the town passed an ordinance that reads, in part: "This illegitimate bestowal of civil and political rights upon corporations prevents the administration of laws within Blaine Township and usurps basic human and constitutional rights guaranteed to the people of Blaine Township".  Go Blaine!  (h/t to Anonymous Bosch)

• Here's another great piece on the growing trend of bringing better food to hospitals.  The article goes on to mention that one hospital cafeteria in Burlington, Vermont, which focuses on local seasonal organic produce, has even become a destination for downtown lunch crowds!

• As the old saying goes, denial ain't just a river in Egypt.  Hard to deny these days, though, the drastic changes occurring in the Pacific, much sooner than researchers had expected.

Update: Check this out - seed industry structure charts and graphics