DEAD ZONES
The following underwater videos were taken about 10 years ago. They show dead and dying zones in the St. Croix River Estuary adjacent to Bayside Port and Quarry. The cause? Probably a combination of local quarry activities and a 10 year period where the pulp mill in Woodland dumped highly toxic black liquor into the river.
Odds are this was never acted upon and was ignored by all levels of government.
1. The "normal" look of the bottom where currents prevent sedimentation,
2. Intermediate sedimentation with active recolonization by mud-dwelling invertebrates.
3. Virtually "dead" bottom covered by sediment.
Im sure pollution plays a big part but I have seen the difference that bottom dragging for scallops, groundfish, etc. can make,
ReplyDeleteEg.Ive done a photo and video survey of a protected area adjacent to a fishing zone in the Gulf of St Lawrence and the difference was startling. Also, what used to be known as an inexhaustible bed of scallops across from my home at the mouth of the Waweig river is apparantly now dead, I presume from over-fishing by scallop draggers.