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Tuesday, June 23, 2015
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FISHERY
Water levels low for salmon Researcher says temperatures too high for sockeye MARTIN WISSMATH ALBERNI VALLEY TIMES
Winters, a tenant who was already using the waterfront land when the lease was made. “Industrial or marine enterprise does not include log salvage operations similar to those being undertaken on the land prior to the effective date of this lease,” states the document. The land deal faced some public frustrations when it was made last year as residents were left out of private negotiations made between the city, port authority and Alberni Engineering. According to B.C.’s Community Charter, discussions over the acquisition of public land can be made in camera, but an online petition is quickly gaining support to cancel the unsuccessful property deal. By Monday afternoon 240 names were collected on the Change.org notice.
Sockeye salmon in the Somass River and Alberni Inlet are being held back by warm temperatures and low water levels, says a research scientist with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. An usually warm winter and dry spring have left a near-record low snowpack on Vancouver Island’s mountains, leaving rivers and streams with less water than normal this summer. Sockeye salmon are not moving as they should, said Dr. Ian Perry, a researcher with the DFO. “Basically they just kind of pool up and wait for the river temperatures to go down,” Perry said, adding the fish are cold-blooded and react poorly to the heat, which depletes their energy. Temperatures of nearly 24 degrees Celsius in the Sproat River are approaching the “lethal limit,” according to the DFO. Low water levels are even more of a problem for the salmon, Perry noted. “We’ve had such a dry May and June,” he said. “It makes it hard for the fish to migrate up [the river.]” Unusual winds caused a warm body of water – also known as “The Blob” – in the Pacific Ocean was detected in 2013 in the Gulf of Alaska. That warm water has moved to the west coast of North America, stretching from Alaska down to Mexico, and is expected to persist until the end of the year. The higher water temperatures bring predators, such as mackerel, up to the Island that are normally only seen down in California, Perry said. The mackerel eat the small, young salmon that migrate out of the Inlet in the spring. This warmer area of ocean has allowed a large bloom of toxic algae to grow up from California to the West Coast, which has adversely affected the quality of food for salmon. The area around the algae contains fewer crustaceans and krill; instead there are more gelatinous plankton, which is not as nutritious for fish, said Perry. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency will be monitoring the salmon to test them for dangerous levels of domoic acid – a neurotoxin contained in the plankton, Perry noted. There is no danger from swimming in the ocean water or ingesting small amounts, he added. A combination of higher temperatures, lower water levels and poor nutrition could result in fewer salmon in the next two or three years, Perry said.
Eric.Plummer@avtimes.net
Martin.Wissmath@avtimes.net
Traditional feast Tanya Olebar, left, collects a fresh lunch served on Monday at the Port Alberni Friendship Centre, which included servings of salmon caught by the Tseshaht First Nation, crabs gathered by the Ditidaht First Nation and 30 Watermelons donated by Tyler’s No Frills. The traditional feast was part of National Aboriginal Day festivities. [ERIC PLUMMER, TIMES]
WATERFRONT
Plywood site lease under axe ERIC PLUMMER ALBERNI VALLEY TIMES
Members of city council are taking steps to cancel the lease of a municipally owned waterfront property next to Canal Beach after seeing no signs of development on the site. In an email to the Times on Monday Coun. Chris Alemany spoke of plans to kill the land deal with the Port Alberni Port Authority, which began July 1, 2014. If approved by city council, the 90-day notice of termination would begin July 15. “Barring any significant changes in circumstances between now, the in camera and the regular meeting tonight, you can expect Sharie (Minions) and I to put forward this notice of motion,” said Alemany on Monday. The councillor’s notice of motion pertains to an agreement drafted between the city and the port authority last year
ALEMANY
to develop the former Alberni Plywood site, a long underused property since the mill shut down operations in 1991. In 2013 one third of the old plywood site was converted into Canal Beach, and last year ambitious plans from Canadian Alberni Engineering to expand its shipyards onto the remainder of the waterfront land led to a $1,200-a-month arrangement with the city to make the prop-
erty available. The port authority intended to sublease the site to Alberni Engineering for a development that was expected to create nearly 100 well-paying jobs through the shipyard expansion, but nearly one year into the lease an agreement has not been inked between PAPA and the shipbuilding operation – or any other company. “The port authority has been fulfilling all of its obligations to the city under the terms of the lease,” said David McCormick, the port authority’s director of public relations and business development. But time is running out for obligations to be met once the lease reaches the one-year mark on July 1. Stipulations of the agreement state that industrial activity must be commenced within the first year – not including the log sorting and de-watering operations of Tony
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