Opinion: Sampling of chemicals in floodwaters suggests we must do better to protect fish, including salmon
With government agencies dealing with the urgent public safety needs of the day, the health of fish habitat ranked low on the list of priorities. But as floodwaters rose, the distinction between terrestrial and aquatic habitats blurred, salmon and sturgeon swam across farmers’ fields, and contaminants from human activities washed unfettered into streams and rivers.
While many agencies have roles to play when it comes to water, the silos designed to distinguish among ministerial mandates meant that salmon — those enigmatic fish to which we all ascribe value — risked falling into the cracks. Salmon must navigate contaminated corridors from their natal streams to the ocean and back, transiting several regulatory and physical boundaries.meandering through the remnants of Sumas Lake, drained nearly 100 years ago by the Barrowtown Pump Station.
And while guidelines serve to inform our understanding of risks to aquatic life, no guidelines exist for 77 per cent of the contaminants that we sought to measure. This meant that we have no sanctioned means of determining whether the levels of such things as cocaine, sucralose, or 6-PPD quinone are below, at, or above levels of concern to salmon.
Before the arrival of settlers, the Sumas Prairie was a lake — a lake that quadrupled in size every fall as the rains fell. A lake that teemed with salmon, whitefish, sturgeon, freshwater clams and migratory birds. For the Sto:lo peoples, the banks of this lake were not only home, but a vital means to access the lake’s resources.
المملكة العربية السعودية أحدث الأخبار, المملكة العربية السعودية عناوين
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