Friday, August 28, 2009

LNG - Bay of Fundy's Endangered Right Whales Move Inshore at Quoddy - LNG Trump Card?

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Developers who wish to establish LNG Terminals in Passamaquoddy Bay seem to know that the trump card from their opposition might well be the whales that literally plug Head Harbour Passage each summer and the endangered North Atlantic right whales that, later in the season, move into the approaches to Head Harbour Passage.

This year is no exception. As whale watchers have been reporting at ilovequoddywild.blogspot.com, large numbers of finbacks and porpoise are using the passage and approaches daily and 15 to 20 right whales were reported near the entrance by whale watchers yesterday.

Together with Canada's opposition, whales brought down the Pittston Oil Refinery at Eastport many years ago. That will most certainly be the case again as listed species like finbacks, porpoise and right whales frequent this essential habitat and feed a vital Quoddy eco-economy based on tourism, fisheries, aquaculture,education,and research.

Art MacKay

Photo Credit: Danielle Dion, Quoddy Link Marine

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Head Harbour Passage and LNG - maybe it's all about something else?


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Why legislate when it could cut off Canada's options for other port expansion on the Canadian side or, more ominously, the planned filling of Head Harbour Passage and Western Passage with multiple, whale-grinding energy turbines ... a much greater threat than an LNG tanker. Or... perhaps both sides want a conflict to be adjudicated in international court? Or are we simply pawns in a bigger game?

Makes one wonder if our politicians are truly interested in the best interests of their Quoddy constituents?

I don't hear much about these upcoming issues from our erstwhile leaders of SPBC LTD.

I know, I know shhh ... you might upset someone or give succour to the enemy. But as Max says, legislation would resolve the issue! The foundation has already been prepared for a Marine Protected Area or a Marine Managed Area. Get on with it!!!  We've been screwing around with this since Pittston ... that's over 40 years!

That's my opinion tonight. Art
******************************************  
MAX WOLFE
COMMENTARY


It's not often in this frosty corner of the globe that you can get the local population to gather for a meeting on a hot, steamy evening in a church. An Anglican Church to boot.

Columnist Max Wolfe argues that Canada can protect its territorial waters on the east coast by regulating ship traffic in Head Harbour Passage.
 
The gothic arches may be an exaltation of the almighty but they don't do much for the sweat stains under your armpits. The baroque festival in Lameque is celebrated in an equally sweltering church at an equally sweltering time of the year - most years, so I guess it can be done. And it is good to see the church providing their facilities for occasions of serious community concern. It keeps them relevant

The occasion this week was the annual general meeting of Save Passamaquoddy Bay Canada, in the Anglican Church in St. Andrews. About 200 people turned out to sit on hard pews and listen. Speakers were well informed and discussion was limited. It was too hot or maybe the converted had been preached to and were more or less satisfied with what they heard. There were no dissenting or even critical voices.

SPBC Ltd. has been fighting to keep liquified natural gas tankers out of Head Harbour Passage and Passamaquoddy Bay for three years now. There were no oratorical flourishes, stirring speeches or explosive applause at the meeting. It was all very professional and low key. The time for fiery oratory passed three years ago when the issue first hit the headlines. Now the group is slogging through the mud of the required political processes working at both the provincial and the federal levels. And the process has been ongoing for so long that SPBC is now educating the next generation of bureaucrats and politicians. They don't tire, and if anyone expects them to fold their tents and slink away into the night, think again.

These people and their supporters from around Passamaquoddy Bay see the threat of tankers in their area as not just an unacceptable challenge to Canadian sovereignty. It is a massive threat to their environment and to their way of life. So why is it that the residents of Washington County, Maine don't see it that way too? Simply because they have been misled into believing that this is a "jobs for Mainers" proposition and they need the jobs. There will, of course, be jobs for Mainers, but not very many.

SPBC has already made significant progress. They have pressured the federal government into stating more than once that Canada will not cooperate with the U.S. regulatory people looking into the matter. It's our turf, we don't negotiate with you or anyone on that. Canada promised to send a diplomatic note to the Americans and has done so. Good for us! In fact, they have done everything but be effective.

As one person aptly pointed out, if we haven't been able to do "enough" to grab the American attention, why would the Americans need to do anything at all? It is hard to argue against that, but on the other hand, the longer it all drags out, the more likely that American investors will move their money somewhere else. Time is on our side, and the longer the process takes the better for us.

The mood of the meeting was one of satisfaction with the work the SPBC was doing, but only of grudging acceptance of the snail-like pace of the negotiations, if negotiations are even in process. The meeting was typically Canadian and didn't even have the gumption to say "I'm mad and I'm not going to put up with this any longer." That is not the Canadian way. To get the American attention we need to explode our own nuclear weapon or elect a fundamentalist Muslim prime minister rather than a fundamentalist Christian one.

The big trouble is that there is never just one issue on the table when dealing with the Americans. There are always half a dozen pots simmering at the same time. There's trade, softwood lumber, border crossings, Cuba, Iraq and a whole host of problems that come from allowing ourselves to be in the American hip pocket, if not attached at the hip.
There is one thing we could do that would show we are serious and that would not involve detonating a nuclear weapon in order to get the Americans to sit up and take note, and that is to legislate.

Head Harbour passage is our internal waters, so no one can stop us from legislating rules for its use. If we were to do that, chances are the Americans might back off altogether. It would certainly give the backers of the various LNG schemes cause to reconsider their investment plans. But we are too timid.

Regrettably, in the face of the Americans we are gutless.

The posturings of the Shawn Grahams and the Greg Thompsons of the world are not going to change that. Our failure to regulate passage through these waters is the measure of our ineffectiveness. Expressions of concern by our governments are not enough. It appears the politicians have to be dragged to action, kicking and screaming. And the problem is in large part ours. We should know by now if we don't push them they won't do anything.
Our governments have been doing a reasonable job so far. We need to push them to finish the job.

Max Wolfe is a freelance writer who resides at St. Andrews.

Original article in TJ: http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/opinion/article/768444

Photo Credit SeaGen turbine: wikipedia.com
 

Friday, August 21, 2009

FISHERIES - Herring missing in Bay of Fundy - Down the Toilet?

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Comment: We guess at everything that influences the arrival of "our" fish, including the weather, overfishing, near-shore pollution,  aquaculture, plastic pollution, global warming, radioactivity, or the "whales/seals are eating them". Not many years ago, there used to be weirs from one end of the Bay to the other. Not today! The fact is that we have changed the Bay of Fundy measurably since 1964. We know about many of the things that influence negative changes in fish behaviour. But ... we never do anything about them as we continue to spew crap into our water by river and air and head "down the toilet" as it where.

Have a meeting!!



Art

*********************************
Thursday, August 20, 2009 | 2:28 PM AT
Fishermen are worried that herring weirs in the Bay of Fundy are empty this season. 

Fishermen are worried that herring weirs in the Bay of Fundy are empty this season.

(CBC)Fishermen in Charlotte County are wondering why the Bay of Fundy herring catch is significantly down this season and they're worried about the impact of the lack of fish on the local economy.

During August, the most important month of the year for the herring industry, weirs along the Fundy coast are catching fewer fish.

Tony Hooper, the vice-president of resourcing at the Connors Bros. Ltd., buys fish for the world's largest sardine factory, which is in Blacks Harbour. He said the company will get by this season but says this year's poor catch is worrying.

"I've been here for 33 years and this is only the second year we've had to struggle for fish in August," Hooper said.

"So I'd be lying if I told you I wasn't concerned. I'm very concerned and most of the people in the plant are concerned."

About 400 fishermen rely on the New Brunswick weirs.

No one knows exactly why the herring aren't swimming into nets, but most blame this summer's bleak weather.

Delma Doucette, a captain of the seiner Margaret Elizabeth, has fished herring in the region for decades. He said he thinks the fish are still in the area but they are just swimming too deep to be caught. "We've been at the scientists to find out why the fish are at the bottom nowadays instead of at the surface but nobody's come up with an answer yet," Doucette said.

Read the entire article and the "interesting" comments here: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2009/08/20/nb-missing-herring-149.html#socialcomments

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Have we placed the Bay of Fundy's Spiny Dogfish on the growing list of endangered species?

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Marine Biologist Awarded $237,000 NOAA Grant To Research Contentious Issue Of Spiny Dogfish Stock  - Underwatertimes.com News Service August 19, 2009 20:46 EST

BIDDEFORD, Maine -- University of New England marine biologist James Sulikowski, Ph.D., has placed himself in the middle of a contentious debate between conservationists and the commericial fishing industry over the health of the spiny dogfish stock.

Sulikowski, assistant professor, Department of Marine Sciences, has been awarded a $237,000 grant from the NOAA Saltonstall-Kennedy Grant Program to use satellite tags to examine the behavior of spiny dogfish in the Northwest Atlantic. The research will try to determine the habitat, depth and movement patterns of the spiny dogfish to better understand the inconsistencies in data collected by federal agencies and the commercial fishing industry.

The status of the spiny dogfish, Squalus acanthias, stock in the northwest Atlantic Ocean has become a volatile issue. Distributed from Labrador to Florida, this species was once considered to be the most abundant shark throughout this geographic range.

However, with the decline of traditional groundfish resources in the last 15 years, an increase in directed fishing for spiny dogfish resulted in a nearly ten-fold increase in U.S. landings from 1987-1996, reducing the stock below survival threshold levels.

The Debate Based on this reported decline, conservation groups are suggesting the species should be protected while commercial fishing interests say that spiny dogfish are abundant in northeastern U.S. waters.

Read the entire article here: http://www.underwatertimes.com/news.php?article_id=35269804107


Photo Credit: wikipedia.com

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

US Coast Guard and Canadian Coast Guard - Bottom of the pecking order?

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Will US Coast Guard go the way of the Canadian Coast Guard? And what will this mean at our contentious Quoddy border?

************************************

Heavy Weather Ahead for the Coast Guard

By Captain Jim Howe, U.S. Coast Guard (Retired) and Lieutenant Jim Dolbow, U.S. Coast Guard Reserve

Competing priorities and shrinking budgets threaten to swamp the service.

The U.S. Coast Guard faces a stark and troubled future. If our nation's fifth and smallest military service was a cutter it would be listing severely, crippled by decades of undercapitalization, a lack of political support, an overwhelming workload, and the five words most feared by any Guardian: "the curse of can-do." In the face of an impending budget meltdown, the Coast Guard must confront severe challenges that threaten its performance and long-term viability, as it comports with the realities of the post-9/11 environment. Will it remain the world's best Coast Guard or will it proceed down the path of Britain's Royal Navy, becoming a shadow of its former self?
Just A Mirage

When viewed through the lens of the pre-9/11 era, the Coast Guard appears strong. It has grown to its largest size since World War II, embarked on a sweeping recapitalization of its cutters and aircraft, landed a central role in a newly created department, and undertaken a massive realignment of its command-and-control architecture. By any measure the Coast Guard is a far more robust, capable, technologically advanced, and nimble service than it was at the end of the 1990s.

But this appearance of strength is nothing more than a mirage.

See the entire article here: http://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/story.asp?STORY_ID=1979

Thanks Vivian!

Sunday, August 16, 2009

LNG's Dean Girdis calls New Brunswick Premier Graham "Hypocritical"

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Dean Girdis, from http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/city/article/691294

In case you missed it, the following quote from Downeast LNG promotor Dean Girdis appeared in an article in The Working Waterfront recently.

In a related development, New Brunswick Premier Shawn Graham also filed a statement with FERC on July 6. It stated, "This [FERC EIS] report indicates that our environment would be negatively affected, our tourism and environmental-based economy would suffer, and the safety and security of the region could be compromised by this proposal."

He added, "We've engaged all government departments for a comprehensive review of those concerns whether they be public safety, or if we have the resources in place if there is an accident on the Canadian side of the border."

Downeast President Dean Girdis called Graham's statement "purely political" and "hypocritical, with little factual evidence to back any of it up."

It seems Girdis can insult anyone he wishes since he draws on such a huge understanding about the Quoddy ecosystem and those of us and our relatives who have helped maintain and develop this place for centuries.The stance of local, provincial, and federal governments in Canada and our leaders, is exactly correct and reflects the longstanding position here in Quoddy that we do value our "backyard" and will protect the abundant natural assets that support our multimillion dollar sustainable economy and that, not incidentally, make this a special place on the globe. We do not and will not accept unsuitable development along our shores that endangers this special place. We will protect it to the full power of our little "NIMBY" hearts!

Dean Girdis, the pompous Yankee Carpetbagger from Downeast LNG, and his colleagues at Quoddy Bay LNG and Calais LNG are starting to wear thin over here in Canada. Everyone knows that we are a friendly peoples who are slow to anger. Well, "duh", we even loaned Calais some gun powder for their 4th of July celebrations during the War of 1812! 

But, let's face it, if you awakened one morning, as the residents of St. Stephen did, to see a crude "F___ St. Stephen" scrawled along a retaining wall on the Calais waterfront,  followed by a string of insulting and inflammatory remarks and acts from LNG supporters on the Maine side, you too might begin to get the message and wonder about your long-time friends and relatives in Washington County.

 
Wall to the left was used for the insulting graffiti.
Photo from: http://www.mainenewbrunswick.com/gallery/album06

In fact it is now so bad that many of us no longer feel welcome in the "other half of our turf" and many, many folks are no longer shopping or vacationing in Maine. Certainly the line ups are virtually gone in St. Stephen. Why would we bother when we are treated like some alien threat by our paranoid neighbours who, with us, once made up a vibrant, unusual and successful community of Canadians and Americans? Now we hear a Maine senator advocating force to prop up LNG tanker passage through Head Harbour Passage!

There is nothing friendly about Maine anymore folks. Osama is winning the war and Girdis, Smith, Emery and the others are ramping up the tension within our international community.

I thought that Pittston was a sad battle. It was nothing compared to this LNG fiasco. It is time for everyone to remember that Canada is a sovereign country and that it has and will continue to protect the interests of its people at all levels of government. Politicians disregard the citizens at their own peril. We now expect them to move to the next level and protect the Quoddy Area under law!

Dean Girdis, I congratulate you. You have done the nearly impossible. You have really pissed off a large number of folks who are typically cooperative by nature. You have started a sad "war" that pits community against community, friends against friends, and family against family. You have forced us to the next level and we will be ramping up the battle.

Remember:

When peace is possible seek it. When war is inevitable fight! (AM)


That's my opinion today. Art

Monday, August 10, 2009

Is new Fundy highway the wrong step?

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Published in Telegraph Journal LETTERS, Saturday August 8th, 2009

 
As provinces and states across North America take steps to protect unique and sensitive eco regions, New Brunswick has decided to destroy and deface the last remaining stretch of wilderness coastline between Mexico and Nfld. with the construction of the Fundy Trail.
The region commonly known as 'shore country' has been enjoyed by generations of NBers whether hiking, camping, hunting, fishing, ATVing or snowmobiling; none needing a $40 million highway to do so.

The Fundy footpath is also losing its attractiveness to hikers. Construction is being carried out within feet of the path. The footpath is a low-impact and fiscally responsible way to promote tourism between St. Martins and Alma.

There is little doubt that the status quo is not working for the region. An absurd amount of clear cutting and lack of protected land threaten this unique landscape. Standing on the beautiful remote beaches and watching bulldozers and excavators at work would be disheartening for most people.

The government has been very secretive about their plans for the land in shore country. Will the coast be closed to those who do not wish to pay to support their trail? Will recreation activities continue around the highway? Will the area be given more protection?
There are many unanswered questions.

As an outdoorsman who has a true love for shore country, I am deeply concerned for its future. I am convinced the Fundy Trail will be viewed as a mistake in the years to come.

PETER DEMERCHANT
Sussex

Photo credit: wikipedia.com

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

A lesson for the Bay of Fundy? Sound impacts endangered western gray whale in Russia

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According to an article by the World Wildlife Fund, noise and seismic activity are threatening the remaining endangered Western gray whales. There are only about 130 Western gray whales remaining, including just 25 breeding females according to the WWF. These whales feed only in the summer and autumn, and their primary feeding area lies in and adjacent to Exxon’s Sakhalin-1 project in the Piltun Bay area of Salkhalin Island.

Wikipedia.com describes a second project, Sakhalin II, that has come under fire from environmental groups for dumping dredging material in Aniva Bay. The consortium has re-routed the pipeline to avoid the whale migration which doubled the projected cost, resulting in the Russian government threatened to halt the project for environmental reasons. There have been suggestions that the Russian government is using the environmental issues as a pretext for obtaining a greater share of revenues from the project and/or forcing involvement by the state-controlled Gazprom.

The impact of sound appears to be clear as related to these projects. What will this mean to endangered and threatened right whales, finbacks, and harbour porpoise in Head Harbour Passage and the Bay of Fundy in general?

Get the entire picture at:
http://www.panda.org/wwf_news/?171481/Exxon-ignores-calls-from-50-000-people-to-stop-threatening-rare-whales
and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sakhalin_Island

Photo Credit: Wikipedia.com

AQUACULTURE - New Brunswick sea lice pesticide treatment generates opposition

 by Larry Lack. See the entire article at The Working Waterfront

Controversy about deltamethrin and the way the fish will be dosed with it in this summer's experiment heated up shortly after June 8 when Cooke Aquaculture (which owns the most of the cage sites that will be treated with the insecticide) announced that it has received "Certified Quality Salmon Eco-Certification" from Seafood Trust for the salmon that its True North marketing division sells in Canada. Seafood Trust uses International Food Quality Certification (IFQC) standards to assess companies that apply for its certification.

Environmentalists, consumers and fishermen have raised questions about how Cooke's salmon can meet IFQC's key standard which requires "maintenance of a pristine quality marine environment" if its salmon and the bays in which they are raised are dosed with deltamethrin.

Dale Mitchell of Deer Island fishes lobster and scallops, operates herring weirs and serves on the board of directors of the Fundy North Fisherman's Association as well as that of the Fundy Weir Fishermen Association. "A lot of us who fish," Mitchell says, "just don't think the aquaculture industry should be using these chemicals in the water where we're fishing. We don't necessarily believe they're safe, and even if they are, we don't think the aquaculture people can be trusted to use them safely."

Reid Brown of Deer Island, who also serves on the Fundy Weir Fishermen Association board, says he is "very concerned about this experiment. We can't understand why they have to do this in so many cages. Well, we do, really - it's because they have the lice getting out of control in those cages, but they don't want people to know too much about that."

Dr. Vladimir Zitko, a chemist and former head of toxicology at the Fisheries and Oceans Canada biological station in St. Andrews, New Brunswick, now retired, is concerned about the planned release of deltamethrin into marine waters. "Deltamethrin is a very toxic insecticide," Zitko says, "very similar to cypermethrin, the chemical that killed the lobsters in Back Bay in 1996. It's extremely toxic to aquatic animals and I'd be very hesitant to use it this way in the ocean. It's strongly acid and I think it should at least be treated with something alkaline to help neutralize it and then disposed of in a toxic waste facility."

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Photo Credit: NWNature.net