Farmed fish a threat
The Ketchikan Daily News editorial condemning British Columbia for lifting its moratorium on fish farms that you reprinted on Sept. 23 was right on. Farmed fish are a significant threat to wild salmon stocks and a serious economic threat to Alaska fishermen and fishing businesses.
This is certainly an issue for the Pacific Salmon Commission. The commission is usually focused on allocation issues - who gets to catch how many fish. But the Pacific Salmon Treaty also has language requiring the commission to protect salmon habitat and to provide safe passage for migrating salmon. The commission needs to do more about protecting wild salmon habitat. The fish farming issue will be a good test case of the commission's commitment to doing more than just setting harvest levels.
There is a similar issue that should be even closer to home for Juneau residents and especially fishermen - British Columbia's continued efforts to re-open the Tulsequah Chief mine.
B.C. wants to massively expand this mine and construct a waste rock tailings pond right on the banks of the Tulsequah River, the largest tributary of the Taku. The waste dump and mine would be located just upstream of Shazah Slough and Flannigan Slough, two of the most important salmon spawning areas in the entire Taku watershed.
The state of Alaska, the federal Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. State Department have all expressed opposition to this mine to the B.C. provincial government and Canadian federal government. Commercial and sport fishing groups, fishing businesses and conservation groups have all called on B.C. to halt efforts to re-open the mine or prove scientifically that the mine and waste dump would not harm Taku salmon stocks.
These same groups have also formally requested the Pacific Salmon Commission to investigate the Tulsequah Chief mine and its potential damage to Taku salmon.
The Taku is one of the richest salmon rivers in Southeast Alaska. Juneau commercial fishermen depend on its productive salmon runs for their livelihoods. Taku fish are also caught by sport charter boats and sport fishermen. The Taku contributes in the neighborhood of $10 million in direct revenues to Juneau fishing businesses. We have everything to lose and nothing to gain from this mine. The next governor of Alaska would be well advised to follow the lead of Gov. Tony Knowles in protecting the Taku and the fishing families that rely on its bounty of salmon.
Chris Zimmer
Juneau