Of Fish Farms, the Absurd, and the Unnatural

Guest Blog by Michael Shurgott

The American Heritage Dictionary defines absurd as: "Ridiculously incongruous or unreasonable; [lack of] order or value in human life or in the universe; meaningless." Unnatural means: "Violating natural law; inconsistent with an individual pattern or custom; deviating from a behavioral, ethical, or social norm."

I submit that the proposal to add a huge fish farm in the Strait of Juan de Fuca (as reported earlier in the Seattle Times: “Plan for huge fish farm in Strait roils the waters”) is hideously absurd and unnatural, and should be scrapped immediately.

Fish farms raise Atlantic salmon, a non-native (i.e., unnatural and invasive) species, in huge nets that cram millions of fish into an unnatural and unhealthy environment. In these pens, fish waste is concentrated and the pens promote disease, including the highly contagious and deadly ISA virus, which has been spread across the planet by farmed fish. It has contributed not only to the deaths of millions of farmed fish around the world but also been implicated as a potential cause for the collapse of the famed Fraser River wild sockeye runs in Canada.

Further, to compound the unnaturalness and absurdity of these farms, the farmed fish are fed wild fish and the fish farmers kill hundreds of seals and sea lions that are attracted to the pens. Anticipating the impending restoration of a free-flowing Elwha River and presumably huge runs of wild salmon, if the Juan de Fuca fish farm is allowed to operate will we see fish farmers seeking to kill not only more seals and sea lions but also endangered orcas that will be attracted to the Elwha’s wild fish runs? Would we tolerate the absurdity of killing increasingly large numbers of ocean predators, and thus further upsetting the natural balance of ocean wildlife, because we have destroyed so many wild salmon runs that we have to rely on farmed fish? Does ANY part of this scenario make sense?

Meanwhile, despite mountains of science, the federal government continues to resist efforts to remove the unnecessary earthen dams on the lower Snake River that block more than five thousand miles of wild salmon spawning grounds – the largest, wildest, healthiest and best-protected salmon habitat in the ‘Lower 48’. In fact, the Obama administration’s first approach to salmon recovery in the Columbia and Snake Rivers embraced the Bush administration's that once argued that since the Snake River dams are in place we should think of them as being part of the river's "natural environment." Really? How much more absurd can this situation become?

Instead of building more fish farms that breed invasive species, spread disease, and devastate ocean wildlife, we should promote and restore the natural ocean environment and abandon the absurd idea that we can ignore natural processes that have evolved over millenia.

Michael Shurgott is the former chair of the Conservation Committee at The Mountaineers and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Mountaineers Foundation.

Thank you, Judge Redden

From the desk of Pat Ford, executive director of Save Our wild Salmon:

If salmon could talk, each one would have the same words for U.S. District Judge James Redden, who announced Tuesday that he is stepping down from the Columbia/Snake salmon case he has presided over for 12 years.

The words: Thank You.

Over those 12 years, Judge Redden has done more to restore Columbia and Snake River salmon and steelhead than any other individual. He has struck down three status quo-protecting salmon plans from three different administrations. He has ordered since 2006 the single most beneficial action to restore Columbia Basin salmon: spring and summer spill at the federal dams. He deserves most of the credit for all the actions now being taken or funded by federal agencies to improve spawning, rearing and estuary habitats for Columbia Basin salmon - actions which are not enough to restore the endangered stocks, but which will benefit them.

Thanks to Judge Redden, there are far more salmon-based jobs in the Northwest and on the West coast than we would otherwise have. Hundreds of communities and thousands of families are in his debt for that. By upholding the law, he has done more to protect and create salmon jobs in the six salmon states than three administrations combined.

Thanks to Judge Redden, the Obama Administration must now take a comprehensive new look at removing the lower Snake River dams, at boosting flows through federal dams on the Columbia and Snake, and at other actions needed to address the core problem that three Administrations have refused to address: the federal dams kill too many salmon, and those deaths must be reduced if Columbia and Snake River salmon are to be rescued from extinction and returned to productivity.

He did his job; he applied the law fairly and clearly. We hope and urge the Administration to do the same.

Judge Redden, on behalf of everyone in the salmon states and our country who cares about salmon: Thank You. We are in your debt. We are more grateful than we can say.

Highway to Hell Freezes Over

From the desk of Pat Ford, executive director of Save Our Wild Salmon:

I am happy to report a victory, incomplete but real, for people and rivers, salmon and wildness. Exxon's plan to use the lower Snake River and Idaho and Montana scenic local roads to transport gargantuan mining/milling equipment to the Alberta tar sands seems close to death. A year ago, Bobby Hayden of SOS named the scheme "Highway to Hell", a good literal description. Like Frankenstein in the northern ice at the end of Mary Shelley's tale, it is now frozen. 

There will be sequels, and we know ice melts. We cannot prematurely count out the world's largest corporation, Exxon has shifted its plans geographically rather than giving up (its new proposed highway route threatens parts of Spokane), and the beast this one tentacle was to serve, tar sands production itself, goes on. But last week Exxon announced its equipment will still be barged on the Columbia River to the Tri-Cities, but for now will not come on to Lewiston to then threaten Highway 12, the communities along it, and the salmon of the Snake, Clearwater, and Salmon Rivers. 

Read more from Pat at the SOS website. 

Read a recent blog on the issue from Rocky Barker of the Idaho Statesman.

WA Leaders: Support Salmon with Solutions Table

This week, Washington State’s Governor Christine Gregoire and Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell were urged to take a new approach to Columbia Basin salmon restoration. The letter, signed by 15 Northwest conservation groups, asks Washington’s leaders to support the establishment of a new, stakeholder-based solutions table to save Columbia and Snake River salmon and steelhead.

The letter echoes a message nearly 1,200 American businesses sent to President Obama in August, just after a federal judge ruled the government’s plan inadequate and illegal. Conservationists, fishermen, and business leaders are calling for a new approach to salmon restoration that brings together affected communities to work collaboratively and craft a lawful, science-based plan that meets the needs of affected communities.

Click here to read the full letter.


Do you live in Washington State? Click here to contact Governor Gregoire and Senators Murray and Cantwell.

With four federal salmon plans ruled illegal since 1995, we’re long overdue to convene an inclusive, collaborative stakeholder process that is serious about saving salmon and protecting communities. Let’s make it happen.

Letter signers include: Sierra Club, NW Energy Coalition, Earthjustice, American Rivers, American Whitewater, Orca Network, Wild Steelhead Coalition, Save Our wild Salmon, People for Puget Sound, Washington Environmental Council, Trout Unlimited, National Wildlife Federation, The Lands Council, Center for Environmental Law & Policy, The Mountaineers

First Elwha, then White Salmon. Next up: SNAKE

Watching the Condit Dam precision explosion today on the White Salmon River was an emotional experience. (In case you missed it, watch it HERE online.) The crowd was excited and jumpy in the final minutes leading up to the blast. Loud horns sounded the countdown. There were some tears of relief and joy, but mostly smiles and laughter. A strong sense of camaraderie was felt; everyone who was present cares about proper river restoration. Cares about wild fish recovering. Cares about the jobs to be created and the businesses to benefit. And everyone present knows just how hard it was to get to this day.

Like the two dams coming out on the Elwha River in Olympic National Park, Condit Dam took more than a decade of negotiation, collaboration and review before breaching became a tangible possibility. Many heated debates, political and legal battles were waged to reach agreement. As a result, today is a day of celebration.

For other campaigns in river restoration, the Elwha and Condit dams represent renewed enthusiasm. They are extremely powerful reminders of what is possible. We CAN achieve a better future. We CAN save rivers, and save fish. And we WILL continue to do so.

There are many differences between Elwha dam removal, the breaching of Condit dam, and the four dams on the lower Snake River. But there are similar fundamentals. One is that when it costs more to leave dams in operation than it does to remove them, the dams are likely to go.

As the Elwha and White Salmon Rivers are reborn, and we see the communities around them benefit, jobs increase, and salmon return, we also step closer to success in restoring the lower Snake River, and the highest- and longest-migrating salmon assemblage in the world.

We won’t give up. While we’ve always known that we must, today we are reminded that we can, and will, succeed. 

Many thanks to partners that have worked hard to make a free-flowing White Salmon a reality: American Rivers, American Whitewater, Columbia Riverkeeper, Friends of the White Salmon, Friends of the Columbia Gorge, Gifford Pinchot Task Force, Mountaineers, Trout Unlimited.