Climate Safety and Biodiversity

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Comment by Douglas Nadler on March 20, 2010 at 12:24pm

From B.C. Environmental network:"Inside reports from Qatar conference, reveals that Canada, led by 'advisors' in their Environment Ministry, are responsible for the ambush of the US delegation lobbying efforts to use the precautionary principle and ban the hunting of polar bears due to shrinking ice conditions. Wow, was the US in for a diplomatic shock! Canada spent Olympic size funds to lobby Africa countries and issued first class flights to several Inuit's to tell pathetic stories in Dubai about how this would take their livelihood away (the same stories as they have been telling in Europe for the seal ban!). They promised Japan to support their efforts to exploit the last of the Tuna in exchange that Canada have the right to exploit the last of the Polar Bears. What smart thinking, the US did not know what happened until after the vote.Canada has now stooped to all time historical lows on the international stage by teaming up with the evil pillagers and mafia type countries, who just see corporate dollars signs on all wildlife and free exploitation. Do we have a right wing suicidal government or not? Along with the tar sands issue, we must be the richest country in the world leading the charge to annihilate all life on earth. What a wonderful historical legacy for the Environment Minister, Jim Prentice to leave behind for our children bedtime stories."

Comment by Douglas Nadler on March 7, 2010 at 11:40am

Here is the start of some research that I am working on:
A fish-eyed view of Georgian Bay
“A very Faustian choice is upon us: whether to accept our corrosive and risky behavior as the unavoidable price of population and economic growth, or to take stock of ourselves and search for a new environmental ethic.” E.O.Wilson

A Great Lakes Blueprint: a Canadian Vision for Protecting and Restoring the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River Ecosystem was published in 2007 by EcoJustice, Sierra Club of Canada, Great Lakes United and several other groups. It gives Canadians a better understanding of the underlying reasons for deep concern for one of the largest ecosystems in the world. Invasive species have altered the Great lakes ecosystem and continue to do so with tragic consequences. The Asian Carp is now only six miles from Lake Michigan. See Great Lakes United website, www.glu.org for more information. Electric barriers and poison have not stopped this huge predator so far, and scientists believe that the $4.5 billion dollar fishing industry would be devastated if the carp infiltrate the Great Lakes. This is not the first time that that the Great Lakes have been threatened. The rainbow trout, white perch, sea lamprey, pacific salmon smelt, zebra and quagga mussels, round goby, alewife, Chinook salmon, brown trout spiny water flea are just a few of the 180 invasive species that were either intentionally brought to the lakes or came by other means such as by ship ballast water, Add climate change, pollutants, a lack of effective governance, poor sewage infrastructure and water quality plus ineffective public participation, and this glacial treasure can easily become a watery wasteland.
Another threat to the biodiversity in the Great Lakes has been leveled at aquaculture for some of the same reasons that apply to the B.C. salmon fish farms: escape of non-native species, spreading disease to wild fish and contaminants. The aquaculture industry has a huge lobby (http://www.aps.uoguelph.ca/aquacentre/index.shtml) that supports having rainbow trout and non-native salmon farms in Georgian Bay. The federal government continues to press for more fish farms; in the 2008 they gave $70 million dollars. The above University of Guelph Aquaculture Centre website will give you some background as to why this lobby and university level research backs the fish farm industry in Ontario. However, can we continue to look at only immediate economic interests and not at the long-term survival of a threatened ecosystem?
Presently there is a huge controversy over native fishing rights and whether or not they are acting in the best interests for conservation. Aboriginal fishers counter this assertion by saying that their people have the means and the will to conduct their fishery in balance with the over arching needs of the Great lakes Ecosystem. We know that non-aboriginal commercial fishing and the involvement of government, going back to the early 20th century, contributed to the collapse of the native lake trout, yellow perch and sturgeon. The lake sturgeon’s near demise has been ‘helped’ by an incredible amount of dams being built and still maintained throughout the Great Lakes.
Interestingly, the lake trout is making a comeback with the collapse of the invasive alewife. “Continued low alewife abundance would also reduce the detrimental impact of alewife predation on the fry of other species, particularly perch, walleyes, and ciscos.” Great Lakes Ecosystem http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/lamp/lh_2008/lh_2008_4.pdf
The Ministry of Natural Resources’ staff in Owen Sound has been very helpful in directing my attention to various publications such as the Great Lakes Fishery Commission’s, “Fish-Community Objectives for Lake Huron” and “Environmental Objectives for Lake Huron. There is a clear message expressed in these documents: a tremendous amount of work needs to be done to restore spawning and nursery habitat, species diversity, water quality, wetland area protection for species such as walleye, yellow perch and catfish, and promote biodiversity. Public groups such as the Georgian Bay Association (www.georgianbay.ca) are also dedicated to protecting wild fish species, and have been very vocal with regards to the dangers associated with fish farms.