North Pacific salmon study preparing for second expedition

What regulates salmon abundance?

The $1.4 million required to go ahead with the second North Pacific Salmon Study was raised over the winter of 2020, according to Richard Beamish and Brian Riddell the co-organizers of these important science expeditions to discover the unknown factors in Pacific salmon winter feeding behavior.

"We have one Canadian vessel, called the Pacific Legacy, and we leave March 11 for 25 days for the Gulf of Alaska," says Beamish.

It's a new, modern commercial trawler, he says, holding 12 scientists on this trip. The purpose follows last year's North Pacific salmon study expedition with the goal of understanding more about the salmon's winter feeding grounds of the Gulf of Alaska, when the five species of salmon are widely dispersed over this huge body of water.

The challenge is to understand what regulates salmon abundance from a multi-disciplinary and multi-national point of view. The expedition will be identifying fish by their DNA to produce the data on country of origin, including the river of origin. Scientists from Japan, Russia, USA, and Canada are involved.

They are looking at the behaviour of the fish under these winter conditions, only the second time a comprehensive expedition of this kind has been conducted in the North Pacific in winter. The focus is to understand what regulates the abundance of salmon. The study is in the winter because this is the most stressful period ,in the year for salmon. This year, the very warm water, named ‘The Blob” has returned and the scientists will determine how this warming event affects salmon survival. "Is the food source for the salmon affected by the water temperatures, and in what ways?" Are the salmon forced to deeper water with less food?

Support for the expedition comes privately and with some government funding and by the commercial fishing industry from Canada and USA.

"They survey a large area of the gulf where fish are widely dispersed," says Beamsh, "taking numerous samples from the salmon. The expedition follows a sampling plan that allows a large area to be surveyed. It's like polling for politics, taking small samples over a large area gives us population information including abundances. condition, health, diets, age, behavior and growth rates."

Beamish agrees this is a complicated scientific undertaking, and it requires a hardy spirit to take on the many tasks involved. The payoff is the new knowledge in understanding the behavior of these fish at a time when they face challenges of a changing environment and apparent losses in their survival rates.

Basic Need for Management Data

Brian Riddell has been raising money on behalf of the Pacific Salmon Foundation (PSF) and their involvement in Richard Beamish's scientific expeditions to study salmon on the North Pacific.

"Basically we have been reaching out to donors, especially in the commercial fishing industry, and they came forward with significant funding to put the second expedition in the North Pacific this March 2020," says Riddell.

He says the commercial fishermen are concerned about what they're seeing in salmon. "They want to help in identifying the changes. It's not the same picture everywhere on the west coast of Canada, but the Fraser sockeye return in 2019 was the lowest in the historical record."

The Fraser run is customarily huge, often exceeding 10 million fish, "These fish have met challenges this year as well, including the landslide called the Big Bar Incident: "In late June, a landslide in a remote, rugged canyon along the Fraser River north of Lillooet was reported to authorities. Huge pieces of rock from a 125-metre cliff had sheared off and crashed in to the river, creating a five-metre waterfall."

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/environment/plants-animals-ecosystems/fish/fish-passage/big-bar-landslide-incident

"This incident made it worse because last year most of the returning fish were destined for the Upper Fraser watershed."

Riddell has spent his scientific career in the study of Pacific salmon. "I worked for many years in DFO doing stock assessments and genetics. I moved to the Pacific Salmon Foundation for 11 years and I retired, although I am presently working on raising funds on behalf of the PSF and acting as a science advisor to the organization."

PSF is a federally registered charity operating since 1989, providing funds to restore streams and operate conservation programs in B.C.. The Vancouver-centred organization fluctuates in size depending on the programs engaged.

The PSF supports the North Pacific Salmon Study endeavors of Beamish, "These expeditions require experienced people. Last year was atypical because they had good weather. It's difficult to travel out there in winter and work under those conditions."

The science will be conducted and results will flow to the Tula Foundation for data processing and management of the results. The process requires interpretation of data to learn the important details of fish numbers, condition of fish, genetic origins, "The goal is to learn what the fish are doing that is consistent with their returns to rivers of origin."

Ultimately they will be learning how to better forecast the timing and size of salmon runs. "There is a basic need for management data in every season."

Learning the Habits of Salmon

Eric Peterson started the Tula Foundation with Christina Munck at the end of 2001 with the general objective of pursuing "Innovation and Solutions in the Public Interest." They’ve run a number of programs including since 2010 the Hakai Institute, which pursues "Science on the Coastal Margin" of BC. That science includes a focus on oceanography and salmon science.

The Tula Foundation did early work with sockeye in Rivers and Smiths Inlets starting about 15 years ago, working with scientists from UBC and SFU. "At that time the mystery was the reason for the collapse of those two sockeye runs. Later it became evident that their collapse was part of a more general trend across the coast."

"At the end of 2009 we decided it was time to get serious, to establish a base of operations on the Central Coast, to hire staff, and to work more systematically with a long term plan,' says Peterson. They established an "ecological observatory" on Calvert Island, roughly halfway between Port Hardy and Bella Bella, and a few years later a second one on Quadra Island.

"We are soup to nuts on environmental data gathering (acquisition) to managing our own and our partners data." Peterson notes that he sat at the table where the North Pacific Ocean salmon studies were hatched in discussions about learning the habits of salmon in their winter feeding grounds, a task never before undertaken.

Tula Foundation offered to put data management resources on the table to the North Pacific Salmon Study partners. The organization has been engaged with DFO, Ocean Networks Canada, and other agencies and organizations involved with sustaining Pacific fisheries.

Tula Foundation will be presented with data on the oceanography as well as the feeding and food supplies of salmon, a second look after this area was visited in the Year of the Salmon 2019.

"Part of the challenge is to work with data and run it through a major process, and disseminate it. First of all, getting it organized to do this by taking data in Russian, Japanese, Korean, and English."

Peterson says it is an interesting challenge, "We are enthusiastic about being able to take this data and harmonize, analyze, and bring it all together. It will have scientific purpose and commercial purpose."

Peterson notes that the reasons for the collapse and lack of recovery of the Rivers Inlet and Smiths Inlet runs remain a mystery. Many factors — harvesting pressure, spawning habitat destruction, disease, may all have been factors — but there is no one "smoking gun".

"Confronted with such mysteries, experts have often said to me, 'oh it’s probably because of factors beyond our control out there in the open ocean.' I see these expeditions to the North Pacific as a positive step toward tackling these questions directly and resolving some of those mysteries. We like the fact that the nations around the rim of the North Pacific are all engaged in this effort."

The Tula Foundation also operates Hakai Magazine which publishes stories on "Coastal Science and Societies."

Freelance Writing  by Mack McColl

Wild Pacific salmon studied in North Pacific winter habitat

The study of salmon in their winter feeding grounds of the North Pacific will continue with the impending voyage of the Pacific Legacy, leaving Victoria March 11 and returning April 4, 2020.

"The intent is to investigate the winter ecology of salmon and the effects of changing water conditions," says Richard Beamish, who has been spearheading deeper research into the survival rates and behaviors of wild salmon in their ocean environment along with Brian Riddell.

Survival of salmon in their first year at sea seems to be the basis for essential understanding of the return rates of spawning salmon, says Beamish The effort of scientists from several Pacific Rim nations is focused on gaining new insights about the five Pacific salmon species in their winter habitat of the Gulf of Alaska.

The 12 scientists from Canada, USA, Japan, S. Korea, and Russia, will examine how much food is available when they spend their first year at sea. "To test the idea of the importance of the first year in the ocean you have to be out there," and this second voyage builds on observations made last winter in the gulf.

In 2019 British Columbia had the lowest salmon catch in history. It was only 1.5% of the total record high commercial catch in 1985. What are the basic fundamentals determining the survival rates? What is regulating the ocean? How do we become professional stewards of this resource?"

The ocean conditions for the fish are a complete mystery. One cannot stress the point enough about the lack of knowledge there is regarding the ocean effects of the salmon's life. Salmon spend about 75% of their life in the ocean and most of it is a secret.

"What is happening with ocean water temperatures? Salinity?" Wind, weather, and climate change. All these effects need close examination, and to do it you need to sail out and be there.

"There are changes affecting preferred prey, including currents and water chemistry.

The 12 scientists of various disciplines are funded by private donations from a wide variety of sources, especially commercial fishing companies in both Canada and the United States, and BC Salmon Farmers, "The donations have come both small and large," says Beamish. We were able to raise one million and three hundred and fifty thousand dollars.

At the end of summer 2020, a major conference about Pacific salmon occurs in St. Petersburg, Russia, in September 21-23, 2020, where all participants and others will interpret results and publish the findings.

What workers have to say about Community Benefits Agreements

Science of wild salmon report on North Pacific Ocean

The North Pacific Marine Science Organization held the PICES-2019 Annual Meeting in Victoria, B.C., Oct. 16-27, 2019, "Connecting Science and Communities in a Changing North Pacific"

Dr. Richard Beamish, one of the scientists behind the 'Year of the Salmon' expedition to the North Pacific last February by an international team of scientists of various disciplines, was in Victoria, B.C., to hear the emerging reports from the first expedition.

Meanwhile, Beamish and Brian Riddell are working with the Pacific Salmon Foundation to organize a second scientific expedition to the North Pacific the late winter/spring 2020.

Beamish says, the first expedition was very successful. They estimated that there were about 55 million salmon in the survey area. Abundances were large for chum and coho but much smaller for pink salmon (which should have been the most abundant).

Fraser River sockeye abundance was very low, possibly an indication of what is now expected to be returned. Fraser River sockeye were found farther west than previously known. Pending are the reports of the overall health of fish that were caught in the North Pacific and a test of the idea that abundance of salmon is determined by the end of the first ocean winter.

Beamish and Riddell with the support of the Pacific Salmon Foundation are raising funds for a second expedition. They have receive strong support from the British Columbia Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund, a five-year funding program, established late in 2018, with 70 percent from Federal money and 30 percent from B.C. province money. The fund has been instrumental in supporting the study of salmon throughout B.C..

The underlying purpose of the salmon study expeditions to the North Pacific is to understand the mechanisms that regulate salmon abundance. "There is a mechanism that ensures a small percentage of salmon survive to return to the rivers to spawn."

Beamish has said the surviving 'spawners' have to be the 'fastest,' 'quickest' fish in the fight for survival in the oceans and that the eventual spawners must show a lot of strength in the early development phase of their four-year life-cycle. It's a fight for survival in the ocean.

In addition to the normal challenges to the salmon's survival, scientists are studying how climate change is changing ocean ecosystems. in the North Pacific. "The international scientific community has joined together as part of the International Year of the salmon to work cooperatively, to understand the effects of climate change on the salmon in the North Pacific," says Beamish.

The privately organized Gulf of Alaska Expeditions are an important facet of the salmon studies being done by researchers from several Pacific salmon producing countries.

Beard House Seafood Collaboration Dinner included Creative Organic Salmon

NEW YORK, NY - Chef Ned Bell celebrates sustainable seafood in all its forms. The Three Cheers for Seafood! dinner October 16 at The Beard House in New York, NY, was another fine example and for this meal, Creative Salmon Organic was on the menu.

Creative Salmon Organic is the first certified organic farm salmon producer in Canada and the only major farmer of Chinook – King – salmon in North America.

“This event was a celebration of National Seafood Month in the United States,” says British Columbia-based Chef Bell. “It was an opportunity to engage people in talking about and appreciating sustainable seafood.”

Chef Bell visited Creative Salmon Organic’s operation in Tofino, British Columbia, in 2017.

“Creative is organic. Creative is small scale. The focus is quality and it shows. Creative is a showcase for responsible salmon farming and it’s a pleasure to work with this product.”

Among the many spectacular menu items, the chefs prepared Slow-Roasted-and-Smoked Creative Salmon with Roasted Apples and Watercress, Black Pepper, and Brioche.

“It’s been a pleasure to collaborate with Chef Bell these past couple years. His passion for sustainability and environmental responsibility fits our company’s philosophy perfectly,” says Creative Salmon Organic General Manager, Tim Rundle.

When Indigenous direct action explodes in Canada

From my personal perspective, as a person who has been on over 200 Indian Reserves for sometimes extended periods, there is a very real fear in communities of lateral violence, which is always shading the picture. This is not a knock on these communities but an observation based on first hand witness.





In fact, you should expect nothing less, since Systemic Racism has enshrined lateral violence as the underpinning social dysfunction in Canada's Indigenous life.

I've seen 90 percent unemployment in every situation and it's tragic and has consequences. Poverty is endemic, hopelessness is rife. Obviously. Suicide rates alone are appalling. Other social dysfunction abounds.

No one can argue with these facts. Indigenous people struggle to maintain the semblance of family and community and love is the glue that binds. Often good spiritual values are present and mitigate against the daily strife in an admirable or even miraculous manner. Being in a church on reserve is about as uplifting as the Christian faith can possibly be.

I say lateral violence is fear of the change prosperity could bring (not the big fat cheques doled out by resource cash settlements either). Individual family members getting up at 6 am and going to the job causes envy down the row of houses in a community, and crab-in-the-bucket syndrome takes over. "You can't have it because I can't have it."

Reserves have boundaries with invisible walls that present real barriers to vision.

If you want to resolve the crisis as a government and a society, a crisis which is manifesting more and more often, get to work on the impossible-looking task of scrapping the egregious, racist, and demeaning Indian Act.

Of course this involves admitting the horrible mistake made by the Canadian government in composing and imposing such a regrettable piece of legislation, and this would result in a demand for huge, costly, and necessary reparation.

I believe the cost of doing this is too daunting. After all, the Canadian government makes piecemeal attempts (MMIW), and recoils at the inevitable backlash from admissions of genocide. It would take a long term plan with the best legal minds available from all quarters. It would be a monumental undertaking.

Meanwhile the question arises, what do Canadians want?





Tell you they don't want to be held blamed for the atrocious stench of the Indian Act. But until they take responsibility for this wretched way of constructing dystopia for a single, vulnerable people who dwell in often extreme isolation, forgotten, starved, water completely adulterated by Canadians' ravenous, thoughtless resource extractions, well, do you expect them to be acquiescent forever?

Indigenous people have played along, got educated, become motivated enough to regenerate their populations. They are seeing Canada's so called social safety net steal their babies, crush their security, rape their women and girls, tie them in knots with systemic racism. You think they're not gonna react?

Have you ever heard the term 'blowback'?





What you are witnessing is BLOWBACK from a century of unbridled persecution. Indeed, Indigenous people are hurting.

I am not an apologist for the Direct Action of Indigenous people in the present context, and certainly not for the eco-narcissist faction wailing for Canada to be shut down. (They are opportunistic and selfish.) But I am not condescending to the Indigenous need for support. It's obvious the Indigenous people have the hearts of the grassroots across the country from the full spectrum of Canadian society.

We're not all wearing blinders or trying desperately to look away. We don't all drive through Indian Reserves blissfully unaware of what is totally obvious. The Indigenous people have been shoved to the extreme margins of a stinking rich society that has fed like a parasite on the land once tended by an honourable people.

Some Canadians, more than a few, want the travesty to end. Some Canadian citizens will step out of their comfort zone and extend a hand to lift people out of desperate living conditions.

With a more honest appraisal of the situation our fellow Indigenous Canadians are suffering, AND SUFFERING THEY ARE, we can all get to work ripping out the Indian Act and giving back hope, dignity, prosperity and security. THIS IS OUR MISSION. THIS IS OUR PURPOSE!







Freelance Writing by Malcolm 'Mack' McColl in 2019

B.C.’s Major Forestry and Harvesting Contractor Associations Request WorkSafeBC Pilot TEAAM

[Source: RoundUpDate, Volume 19, Issue 11 REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION WFCA.CA]

British Columbia’s major harvesting and reforestation contractor associations have told B.C. Labour Minister Harry Bains that helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS) like the Squamish-based Technical Emergency Advanced Aero Medical (TEAAM) should be the standard of emergency response care for forest and other resource sector workers on remote worksites across the province.

Stating their harvest and forestry members represent a sector comprising 25,000 employees the Truck Loggers Association, the Interior Logging Association and the Western Forestry Contractors’ Association have sent a joint letter asking that WorkSafeBC fully fund a TEAAM pilot and conduct a business case analysis of the costs and benefits of implementing a provincial HEMS program.

The associations said that the current emergency response model, which often involves long distances and delays in getting injured workers to medical care, is no longer acceptable.

They pointed out that the helicopter TEAAM model can deliver emergency medicine to stabilize injured workers on site, extract them from often difficult access locations, then fly them directly to hospital. That level of effectiveness can reduce workers’ suffering and prevent injury complications leading to disablement or worse.

As reported in the RoundUpDate TEAAM has now performed four missions involving logging and planting workers since they began operating in spring 2018.

They are currently just funded by a volunteer patronage program available to employers working on Vancouver Island and up to the mid-Coast including as well the South West Interior and Chilcotin. https://www.teaam.ca

Background

Technical Evacuation Advanced Aero Medical (TEAAM) reports their helicopter emergency medicine service has flown another workplace emergency mission involving a seriously injured tree planter. This recent incident occurred at a remote site in the Chilcotin in July.

It follows a few weeks after TEAAM air-lifted an injured planter from a difficult access location near Squamish in early June as reported previously in the RoundUpDate.

TEAAM estimates their part in flying to the Chilcotin and later to the appropriate hospital saved approximately four hours of patient travel time by land. It also reduced the chances of the incident leading to a disabling injury.

The WFCA is lobbying WorkSafeBC to support this advanced helicopter emergency medicine service for injured resource workers by funding TEAAM on a pilot basis.

The purpose would be to determine the effectiveness and benefits of the service for workers and employers, although the WFCA and others think that value is already evident.

One of the company owners involved in the Squamish rescue said that “Our investment in the TEAAM patron program was the best safety investment of our career.” It now remains to convince WorkSafeBC of the same.

B.C.’s major forestry and harvesting contractor associations request WorkSafeBC Pilot TEAAM

. . . and study of Provincial Helicopter Emergency Medical Service model for all Remote Resource Workers

British Columbia’s major harvesting and reforestation contractor associations have told B.C. Labour Minister Harry Bains that helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS) like the Squamish-based Technical Emergency Advanced Aero Medical (TEAAM) should be the standard of emergency response care for forest and other resource sector workers on remote worksites across the province.

Stating their harvest and forestry members represent a sector comprising 25,000 employees the Truck Loggers Association, the Interior Logging Association and the Western Forestry Contractors’ Association have sent a joint letter asking that WorkSafeBC fully fund a TEAAM pilot and conduct a business case analysis of the costs and benefits of implementing a provincial HEMS program.

The associations said that the current emergency response model, which often involves long distances and delays in getting injured workers to medical care, is no longer acceptable.

They pointed out that the helicopter TEAAM model can deliver emergency medicine to stabilize injured workers on site, extract them from often difficult access locations, then fly them directly to hospital. That level of effectiveness can reduce workers’ suffering and prevent injury complications leading to disablement or worse.

As reported in the WFCA RoundUp Date TEAAM has now performed four missions involving logging and planting workers since they began operating in spring 2018.

They are currently just funded by a volunteer patronage program available to employers working on Vancouver Island and up to the mid-Coast including as well the South West Interior and Chilcotin. https://www.teaam.ca

Background

Technical Evacuation Advanced Aero Medical (TEAAM) reports their helicopter emergency medicine service has flown another workplace emergency mission involving a seriously injured tree planter. This recent incident occurred at a remote site in the Chilcotin in July.

It follows a few weeks after TEAAM air-lifted an injured planter from a difficult access location near Squamish in early June as reported previously in the RoundUpDate. TEAAM estimates their part in flying to the Chilcotin and later to the appropriate hospital saved approximately four hours of patient travel time by land. It also reduced the chances of the incident leading to a disabling injury.

The WFCA is lobbying WorkSafeBC to support this advanced helicopter emergency medicine service for injured resource workers by funding TEAAM on a pilot basis.

The purpose would be to determine the effectiveness and benefits of the service for workers and employers, although the WFCA and others think that value is already evident.

One of the company owners involved in the Squamish rescue said that “Our investment in the TEAAM patron program was the best safety investment of our career.” It now remains to convince WorkSafeBC of the same.

Premier Celebrates Wild Salmon Day by Supporting Conservation

VICTORIA, B.C. -  - As part of government’s work to protect salmon habitat and restore wild fish stocks in B.C., the Province is investing $5 million in the Pacific Salmon Foundation (PSF) to continue its wild salmon conservation work.

“In B.C., wild salmon are part who we are. Coastal communities, First Nations, ecosystems and local economies depend on healthy wild salmon stocks,” said Premier John Horgan. “Together with organizations like the Pacific Salmon Foundation, we are working to restore habitats that support wild salmon stocks in our province.”

The announcement was made as part of the first B.C. Wild Salmon Day, a collaborative effort by PSF and the B.C. government to raise awareness of the need to conserve this important species for First Nations and all British Columbians.

“The important cultural and ecological role that wild salmon play in our province cannot be overstated,” said Lana Popham, Minister of Agriculture. “It’s critical that we do everything that we can to protect this species for generations to come.”

The investment will help PSF, a non-profit organization, restore wild salmon stocks through its conservation, science and habitat restoration projects, as well as connect the foundation with Indigenous communities and organizations to further reconciliation and conservation initiatives.

“The Pacific Salmon Foundation is grateful to the provincial government for this investment in our work and for making wild salmon restoration a provincial priority,” said Michael Meneer, PSF president and CEO. “PSF is a collaborative organization. We intend to strategically leverage these funds through proactive partnerships developed during the past 32 years.”

The funding aligns with key recommendations from the Wild Salmon Advisory Council’s report, released in March 2019, which called on government to focus on near-term actions that could address the immediate needs of wild salmon and their habitats. It also delivers on the Province’s commitment to revitalize and protect wild salmon, which will provide greater economic certainty for B.C.’s coastal communities.

The Wild Salmon Advisory Council consists of 14 British Columbians, including co-chairs Doug Routley, MLA for Nanaimo-North Cowichan, and Chief Marilyn Slett of the Heiltsuk First Nation. Restoration and protection of wild salmon is a shared priority with the BC Green Party caucus — Adam Olsen, MLA for Saanich North and the Islands, also participated on the Premier’s advisory council.

The event included students and teachers visiting the grounds of the Parliament Buildings and meeting with representatives of the PSF and community stream-keepers to learn about salmon conservation projects and how everyone can help protect B.C.’s vulnerable wild salmon populations in their communities.

Learning opportunities about salmon science, habitat conservation and restoration were paired with art activities such as the Stream of Dreams’ Fish on Fences project, where students were able to paint wooden salmon, personalizing their learning experience at the B.C. Parliament Buildings.

Quick Facts:

On March 15, 2019, the Province of British Columbia announced an investment of $42.9 million over five years to support the B.C. Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund in partnership with the Government of Canada, for a total investment of $142.85 million over 5 years.

During the International Year of the Salmon, the B.C. government provided $75,000 to support a comprehensive study of the stock abundance, composition and condition of Pacific salmon in the Gulf of Alaska.

The B.C. government was part of a historic government-to-government process with First Nations to protect wild salmon in the Broughton Archipelago.

The Pacific Salmon Foundation is a not-for-profit conservation group dedicated to protecting, conserving and restoring wild Pacific salmon populations in B.C.

Learn More:

Pacific Salmon Foundation: https://www.psf.ca/
Stream of Dreams: https://www.streamofdreams.org/
Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund: http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/initiatives/fish-fund-bc-fonds-peche-cb/index-eng.html
For more information on the study in the Gulf of Alaska, visit: https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2019AGRI0015-000243
For more information on the Broughton Archipelago agreement, visit: https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2018PREM0151-002412
For more information on fisheries and aquaculture in the province, visit: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/industry/agriculture-seafood/fisheries-and-aquaculture/minister-of-agriculture-s-advisory-council-on-finfish-aquaculture
For more information on the final recommendations made by the Wild Salmon Advisory Group, visit: https://engage.gov.bc.ca/app/uploads/sites/426/2019/03/Wild-Salmon-Advisory-Council-Report.pdf

A short sermon on the mechanics and benefits of better training

One unit of mechanical horsepower is equal to lifting 550 lbs (250 kg) one foot (30 cm) in one second. A horse is capable of around 15 horsepower at peak capacity. An average human might be capable of producing 1.2 horsepower as a peak: extraordinary humans—like some tree planting forestry workers—might be two to three times that, says WFCA

But the real consideration, when it comes to the work day, is sustainable horsepower. Most humans are capable .01 horsepower of sustained effort: athletes twice that. This would mean the whole available human horsepower for B.C.’s tree planting sector is around 300 to 400 horsepower.

By comparison, a dirt bike averages 30 horsepower (and we know how useful they are—picture ten of them doing donuts all day in a landing as equal to a day’s provincial planting effort.)

So, the question is how do we plant an average 250 million seedlings each year while seeming so under powered?

Part of the answer is our Cro-Magnon heritage which includes a primitive capacity for physical endurance. Another is our ability to fashion tools, like other clever primates, giving us some mechanical advantage. What a happy evolutionary coincidence then that humans are so well suited to planting trees.

Nevertheless, running the business end of a first-class lever (shovel) all day requires more than brute strength and instinct. And this is the point of this missive: skill requires experience and training. We may be capable of many things, but like all complicated species we do need to learn, mostly through example and instruction. As Jonathan “Scooter” Clark provided ample evidence at this year’s annual WFCA conference.

Tree planters, like other clever primates, do better when they are properly taught. In Scooter’s case his efforts to train rookies have shown workers lasting longer while doubling and tripling their seasonal productivity compared to days when less effort was invested in new recruits. (For the full story click here) [https://jonathan-scooter-clark.blogspot.com/2018/03/step-by-step.html]

The point then is, as the forestry sector finds itself competing for talent with the rest of the economy, making the best of our available candidates is critical. The old Darwinian days of letting recruits learn on their own, with the resulting thinning of the ranks, is a human resource profligacy we can no longer afford.

Carpenter Skills Ingrained from 30 Years Building Experience

BURWASH LANDING -- This part of the Yukon Territory is home to about 120 people, "Not large," says Chief Bob Dickson, "Our Kluane First Nation is about 250 members." Burwash Landing holds a good share of Kluane's people, "Burwash Landing is on land set aside for the Kluane First Nation as part of a Yukon First Nation Final Agreement," with Kluane's agreement established in 2003.

The community lies about 300 km west of the capital, Whitehorse, "We are busy in the summer. The Kluane First Nation is the big employer in Burwash Landing. We have a relationship with a mining company, Nickel Creek Platinum."

The mine is located 25 km from Burwash Landing within traditional territory in Kluane First Nation. "The Nickel Shäw project (named with the local Southern Tuchone word Shäw, meaning Big, by Kluane First Nation Elders) is host to over 2 billion pounds of nickel and other valuable minerals, and aspires towards becoming a world-class nickel sulphide mine." (Kluane Community Development Corporation LP http://kluanekcdc.ca/nickel-shaw/)

"At one point 40 of our people were working up there on the mining project, and we are hoping it comes back to that level of activity." Dickson says Kluane Community Development Corporation LP has agreements in place with Nickel Creek Platinum involving tasks like catering, maintenance, equipment leasing, and, of course, other jobs in mining.

"It's in the developmental stage and the project has not been determined as to which way they're going to go, open pit or underground, but they have been working for the past 10 years on a site which has been around since the 1950s. There was a mill operating in the 1970s and it went dormant, and was torn down."

Nickel Creek Platinum is working with Kluane First Nation, "in coming to some kind of comprehensive agreement before they go ahead." The Kluane are doing hands-on groundwork, "We want training for technical and management and executive positions," and Kluane wants business opportunities, "We are a small First Nation but we want to know what the impact is going to be on the land and we want to bring benefits to the community from the mine."

Kluane people are not going anywhere, "For us it's about building capacity." Which brings us to the matter of the capacity Chief Dickson has built for himself, for he is a Red Seal carpenter, "I started in construction back in the days when I got out of school, but first I went into heavy equipment operator training, then I saw a program called Skookum Jim R-2000 for First Nations to enter the trades."

Dickson says, "Skookum Jim R-2000 was designed for First Nations to participate in building and renovating at a time when funding came through for houses, renovations, and construction of a friendship centre in Whitehorse. There was other infrastructure being built around the Yukon, and we worked in many communities around the Territory. I ultimately zeroed in on carpentry."

Dickson worked with a lot of people he describes as well intentioned, but, "The problem with the apprenticeship of the building trades is that we had so many skilled people working on a crew and nobody getting credit for the hours. In a First Nation community without anybody with a Red Seal qualification, people are missing credit for knowing their trades, and they don't get valuable certification."

Dickson, now in his mid-50s, intended to follow through on Red Seal carpenter certification in the early 1990s. "I signed up to a 6-week course to challenge the Red Seal exam at Yukon Advanced Education in Whitehorse. But I got elected chief of Kluane First Nation in the 1990s and I was occupied with the business of politics."

A few years later, "I saw an ad in the paper called a Red Seal Challenge (provided by Richard Dickenson's Integrated Carpentry Tutorials), so I called Jeff Sloychuk representing the BC Regional Council of Carpenters/United Brotherhood of Carpenters, Yukon, Local 2499, Whitehorse. They were sponsoring the course in Whitehorse. I wanted to sign up, and I was told, 'Whoever comes in with money gets signed up,' and Sloychuk at the carpenters union assured me there would be space."

After driving three hours from Burwash Landing to Whitehorse, he arrived to find there wasn't space in the course. Dickson perservered, "I persisted with Jeff Sloychuk with daily phone calls and finally I got my chance because Jeff made room and I paid for the course, but because of the distance and other challenges, I missed the first couple of classes, still, I went to Whitehorse every weekend and played catch-up with tutorials from Richard Dickenson." Dickson is grateful to the union for making the effort to get him there and for hosting Dickenson's ICT Red Seal Course.

He says, "Dickenson knew that a lot of carpentry skill was ingrained from 30 years of building experience, plus I was always reading and playing on my strengths." Dickson having been in construction as a builder and contractor over the years had taken various courses in plumbing, heating, electrical, courses related to building trades.

It has been a long road of experience. "The main thing in the Yukon is we don't build skyscrapers, we build houses, we work with permafrost, and we use materials like Permanent Wood Foundation (PWF) pads, a lot of cribbing and blocking. The construction is practically all carpentry, and here in the Yukon it's expensive to build, more than $220 per sq. ft.."

Having had kept his eye on the ball all those years and put Dickenson's training to practical use, "I think the Red Seal is high value. I was always reading a lot, always trying to find the mechanism to get the Red Seal certification done, but I wasn't ready to go to Yukon College where they want you to start from square one.

"When it first appeared to me in the 90s I missed the opportunity, but I finally got connected and dropped everything and went straight to Whitehorse. Dickenson prepares you for the challenge, which is an exam lasting 4 hours to answer 100 questions. It's about two minutes per question, you have to deal with math questions and not defeat yourself. I was good at math, but you must be prepared. If you're prepared, put it this way, I wrote the test once."

Dickenson, the teacher, notes that Bob Dickson is in the top rung of scorers on the Red Seal exam (and Dickenson has taught the course right across the country).

Dickson says, "In the building trades I worked with a lot of good people." He has had two stints as Chief of Kluane First Nation. The first was a long 14 year stretch, then he was out of politics for a while and recently he re-entered politics. "I am not currently apprenticing anyone since I went back to the chief's office, but I got my daughter started in the carpentry trade." Alanna Dickson is a registered carpenter's apprentice. "In fact she worked for me for a number of years doing jobs in siding, house building, and renovations."

A lot of work in housing in the Yukon is maintenance and renovation. "Alanna is also an Emergency Medical Technician and currently she is working as an EMT for an organization on road projects." There are, however, building opportunities on the horizon because Burwash Landing has obtained badly needed funding for housing. Dickson's goal in apprenticing carpenters is straight forward, "Part of what I do is teach people to do things the right way from the start."

Dickson says, "I spent a lot years working with people who really took the time to do it right. I am passing this on to the next generation. We've had meetings with Yukon College to get skilled people recognized, and get them into apprenticeship with the goal of Red Seal certification. Outside contractors come in and we will have people working, training and having hours recognized and recorded. There are fewer toss aways." A lot of good people work hard and deserve the recognition.

Burwash Landing is a community that stays busy on a year-round basis, but is remote, "We have Kluane National Park next door, there are fishing, guiding, and outfitting companies, we have big game hunting. We sell a hunting permit on a Dall sheep. The proceeds go toward conservation. We plan the hunt, scout it, my cousin guides on it, and we do it in July before the rest of the Territory's hunting season begins in August."

Most of the hunting in the area is for moose and cariboo, "Mostly it's subsistance, and we have a bison and elk specialty draw. We get a bison permit every year for Woodland Buffalo, which is a bigger bison than those of the prairies, 2000 lbs."

The community gets a lot of hunted carcasses donated, "Usually the outfitters bring them to the community and we prepare the meat for lunches and distribution to Elders and others who are non-hunters. Outfitters in the territory bring meat because usually hunters are here for the horns."

The northern winter is dark for long hours, "We have tough winters but a lot can happen in the winter with renovation. It always depends on funding and the funding comes late in the fall. When we get our funding, we start, and we always have houses that need the work done."

Freelance Writing by Mack McColl

Pacific salmon community comes together in Canada

to cast a ‘Beamish’ of light on salmon science
​​

Gulf of Alaska Expedition Departed Feb 18, 2019

A scientific expedition sailed into the Gulf of Alaska in the month of February of this winter with scientists from Korea, Japan, USA, Canada, and Russia, "We're surveying as much of the Gulf of Alaska as we can in 25 days," says Dr. Richard Beamish. "All species in the gulf waters are being studied," and, with 2019 being declared the International Year of Salmon, obviously a focus will be made on this iconic species.

There are 50 people onboard the Russian vessel to conduct the experiments, 21 scientists, and 29 crew, technicians, and assistants. The expedition is a first-ever mission to study the ocean ecology of these important fish, about 1/3 of all salmon are in the Gulf of Alaska in the winter and this includes Asian chum salmon. "Overall we are going to have an estimation of the numbers of all salmon," says Beamish. The expedition will have DNA evidence of the origins of the fish. Eighty percent of the fish in the study are most likely to be chum and pink salmon.

Salmon in the gulf will be coming from a variety of sources, "A percentage of pink salmon will have been reared in hatcheries." Fish arrive in the winter to compete for available food, "Winter is when the food for the fish is at a minimum. Thus we will calculate the 'carrying capacity' of the gulf with the purpose of evaluating effective stewardship of fish resources."

Several hypotheses have been tabled, for example, "We intend to learn the most efficient use of hatcheries. Commercial fishing effects are also part of the science. There is annual demand on salmon fish stocks. With the operation of salmon hatcheries around the Pacific Rim, there are concerns that the hatchery fish impact wild salmon. A major reason for the expedition is to understand the basic mechanisms in ocean science."

Pink and chum are the most prevalent and probably the most observable. "This study has never been done to this extent, although the Japanese have gone out and done about 10 sets on one occasion, and about 15 sets on another."

Observations will be made on growth rates, age of the fish, and fish health. "We will test the hypothesis that abundance of these salmon appears may be determined by the end of their first year in the ocean.

We will look to see if the fish that grow faster, quicker in the first months at sea show the greatest chance of survival." Dozens of measurements will be taken, including extensive observation of the present state of oceanography.

"We are looking at the presence of plankton, predators, and salinity," says Beamish. "The issues of climate will be closely examined. Salmon inhabit the top 40 metres of ocean and temperature conditions affect the presence of plankton. Plankton is a major part of the diet of pink and chum, but not the exclusive food, squid is major, and small fish."

The program for this scientific expedition was put together by Dr. Beamish, "It was privately arranged. The scientists agreed to gather data and take it to the University of British Columbia to be shared for the purpose of study and reporting." Beamish wasn't on the voyage to the gulf departed Feb. 18 and returning to Vancouver Mar 18., "I'm too old."

The data will be assembled and preliminary reports will begin to emerge by the fall of 2019. "DNA evidence takes time to collate." One of the questions they are hoping to answer is, why is the commercial fishery for salmon experiencing some of the highest catches in history? Last year the Russians caught 640,000 metric tonnes of pink salmon which was their highest catch in history.

The scientists want to provide mechanisms for discussing sustainable harvesting practices, especially in light of changing climate and ocean conditions.

"As a society, we want to be the stewards over what's available and have consistent returns of fish to the rivers. One of the amazing things about salmon on the west coast is how they rarely go to extinction of the fish in the rivers. Other species across the country such as yellow perch, walleye pike, can have complete failures in some years. But such events are very rare here with salmon."

Even so, Beamish notes, the trends on salmon abundance on the Fraser runs have been going downward in the past 30 years. "The 2009 run of sockeye returning to the Fraser was the worst in history and there has been a declining trend since the early 1990s. However, the return in 2010 was the highest in history. Chinook salmon in the Fraser River are also declining in abundance. It is important to understand the mechanisms that cause these trends and this is a main reason for the expedition. " WEBSITE FOR DR. RICHARD BEAMISH

Dr. Beamish is expecting the return of an international team of scientists from the Gulf of Alaska on or about March 18, 2019. They set off from Vancouver on February 18. "The work is proceeding better than expected," says Dr. Beamish. "They have had good weather and they are exceeding all expectations in covering the areas of the gulf to be studied."

The scientists studying fish and oceans in winter conditions in the Gulf of Alaska come from Russia, Korea, Japan, Canada and USA, "They are getting along very well. Conditions on the ship are good, although all the instructions and signage are in Russian," it's a Russian vessel after all, "and language barriers do exist among the crew and professionals, everybody is getting along very well, the food is great."

They are finding the catches smaller than may have been anticipated, however, since it's never been done before, nobody really knew what to expect. "They are catching all species of salmon. The majority have been chum salmon. They have plenty of samples, there's not much left of the fish they catch," everything is preserved for the vast amount of study underway on the ship and that which is to come in Vancouver at the University of British Columbia.

"We expect them to come into Vancouver on March 18 as planned. They will also visit the Pacific Biological Station in Nanaimo, and we expect them in Nanaimo on March 20." A historically important biological station in Russia will be sending a team of scientists and administrators to meet up at the historically important station in Nanaimo.





This anchor-project in the 2019 International Year of Salmon has been developed by Dr. Beamish and funding has come from a variety of sources, including $200,000 from the BC Salmon Farmers Association. See https://yearofthesalmon.org/gulf-of-alaska-expedition/

John Paul Fraser is Executive Director of the BCSFA, "We are all anxious to see and learn about the findings," of the Gulf of Alaska expedition, "so that we can better tackle the problems together.

"BC’s salmon farmers are proud to be a founding sponsor of this expedition, and we are all anxious to see and learn about the findings," says Fraser.

"As Dr. Beamish says, there’s a ‘black box’ out there in the North Pacific that we have shed no light on."

Fraser adds, "And because of Dick’s brilliance and perseverance, the salmon community is coming together to cast a ‘Beamish’ of light on the unknown challenges the salmon face."

Freelance Writing by Mack McColl

A Landscape Ecologist, a Mayor and a Sociologist Walk Into a Forestry Conference

WFCA Conference panelists, Landscape Ecologist Dr. Paul Hessburg, Quesnel Mayor Bob Simpson and Psychologist Dr. Robin Cox characterized the kinds of dimensions and scales of collaboration we will need to enlist to adapt to climate change as citizens and forestry practitioners.

It’s been an animated year so far for B.C. forestry conferences. The TLA annual convention was well attended again. The 2019 ABCFP conference was sold out weeks in advance. And the WFCA event at the end of January had our largest attendance ever. For those of us who organize these things we like to think it’s our programs that are so attractive. But there’s likely something else drawing people together lately in such strength.

It might be in part the shared feeling of pending change—a collective, Are you seeing this too? The sense of being on the cusp of something significant seems shared across a range of dimensions and scales from business relationships to the policy around climate change and its consequences.

Our WFCA conference panel that put an ecologist, a mayor and a sociologist on the stage to discuss forestry and its role in our adaption to climate change may well have caught that zeitgeist.

We need to plan and act at a landscape level. We need to understand the dynamics gaining momentum across forest ecosystems and work with them.

And we need to give our communities and citizens a sense of agency lest they become demoralized in the face of coming events. Given what history is just beginning to ask of forestry in aiding society to live with wildfire and other natural disasters it may be something for which only a collective response can answer.

It’s right and timely then that these conferences are attracting good crowds and the thinking and sharing that goes with them. We will need more of this kind of collaboration heading into the future by the looks of it.

Westbank First Nation's Leap of Faith

Economic development of Westbank

Chris Derickson spoke on behalf of the Westbank First Nation (WFN) at the First Nations Safety Conference in Nanaimo, mid-October, 2018, Derickson, a WFN elected councilor, lawyer, and community planner

"Building WFN has been done through trial and error," he says. The path toward First Nation self-sufficiency could be made no other way, considering Westbank First Nation's progress has been ground-breaking within Canada.

"At first we over-built, and there wasn't 'horizon' planning. We were learning about moving away from government under the Indian Act. There is a way out. For us it was a leap of faith."

He knows the WFN way surely isn't for everybody, he says, "Lateral violence, nobody is above it. It happens despite other challenges. It is our reality that in 1963 our members wanted something different." Derickson says WFN is one of the seven Okanagan Nations, "five reserves, three on the west side of Okanagan Lake."

Today there are 10,000 non-member residents on Westbank property. WFN's 800-plus members have built roads, businesses, malls, "Our youth are accustomed to paved roads and street lights," something those youth often need to explain to kids from other First Nation communities.

"We are looked at as an economic success, and the question is, what drives the success? It is a system of government that undergirds our development, a 5-member council and 200 employees. We have 35 laws to guide development, plus policies and procedures to implement those laws, and a budget of $45 million per year."

The WFN separated from Okanagan Indian Band with 40 members to form their own Band out of entrepreneurial spirit, willingness to try something new, Derickson says, "By 1980s several businesses were operating," and in the late 1980s the Hall Inquiry had been called to sort out an extraordinary amount of in-house turmoil. There was in-fighting, and division, even lawsuits.

"Lateral violence is a learned behavior, it's got a history. Hall said there would be no criminal proceedings, but also said the WFN of the 1980s and 1990s was laboring under an inept form of government."

Derickson says it would be 15 more years of tumultuous meetings between members, lawyers, the federal government and membership votes. By 2004 they had achieved a bilateral agreement with Canada that protected the reserve properties and released WFN from the Indian Act to self-government and a particularly impressive economic development path.

"We are the fastest growing community in B.C., we have a $2 billion assessed value, and a healthy, prosperous future."

Andrea Alexander took to the podium, and said, "The community commits resources to all, newborns to Elders, Westbank has a great growth curve for these programs. We have an Early Years Program, developmental and parenting skills for WFN families. We are putting resources back into the membership.

"Then we have adolescent and young adult programs that include hunting, trapping, sports (snowboarding and others), golf, and a youth council that helps in guiding programs. The council is composed of 4 boys and 4 girls, ages 15 to 25."

The WFN is dedicated to caring for community members, "We have fun, and influence, we offer our members food programs, travel events, Elder programs, vehicle transportation."

Derickson says, "Decolonization and Reconciliation is a complex issue. In our case, so many parts of the community work together to move forward."  The Leap of Faith is a successful work that continues to progress.

Working with First Nations to increase worker safety

Lisa Houle gave a presentation on behalf of WorksafeBC at the First Nations Safety Conference Oct, 22, 2018, at the Nanaimo Convention Centre. WorksafeBC is the injury insurance program for employers and employees on worksites in all industries across the province. "We work at the industry-level with partnerships in collaboration with the employers and the workforce," says Houle.

In the past few years, "We have developed a history of visiting First Nations schools to provide education resources to non-graduated students. We've been working together with First Nations to create greater awareness of safety on the job," no matter where the work is found, in the commercial fisheries, Indigenous agriculture, First Nations forestry, these are a few examples.

Houle describes a few of the many WorksafeBC initiatives and provides links to the WorksafeBC website for further information: "We have a Young Worker Campaign because work can be intimidating, especially if you’re new to the job or don’t have a lot of experience in the industry. You want to make a good first impression by showing your co-workers and your boss that you know what you’re doing.

"That’s why, while talking about safety at work, asking for training, or bringing up concerns can be hard, it’s important. Employers are responsible for providing adequate training before you start work. Proper training and orientation helps to ensure that everyone stays safe on the job.

"If you get a gut feeling that something isn’t safe, or you don’t know how to do your job safely, listen to your instincts and talk to your manager about it. It could save your life or the life of your co-worker." https://worksafebclistentoyourgut.com/

Houle says WorksafeBC runs a First Responders Mental Health Committee that provides an effective website interface for initiating contact and services like Self-Assessment "Sometimes it’s helpful to take a personal mental health check, to see how you’re managing with the stress and pressure of work (and life!)."

The website supplies a contact reference on "Ways To Help": "Is someone you work with struggling with their mental health? Do they seem stressed? Are they acting differently—or is there something a little “off” in the way they’re behaving? Here are things you can do to offer support." Learn more about valuable mental health resources http://BCFirstrespondersmentalhealth.com

Houle explains, "At WorksafeBC we have 3000-plus resources with an industry-related focus covering the entire spectrum of job-related safety." She rolled a film about one of the higher-risk careers in B.C., the commercial fishery, "There have been 26 work-related deaths from 2007 to 2017 in the commercial fishery." The injuries come every year and FishSafeBC was an organization launched in order to reduce the risk associated with employment in this valuable workplace sector.

lisa.houle@worksafebc.com

Forensic Nurse an expanding professional designation

At present, forensics nursing is an emerging field in Canada, recognized by the Canadian Nurses Federation, and taught in a growing number of schools. Nurses in the day-to-day work in hospitals in Canada are involved in forensic nursing usually without having specialized training. Nurses in emergency rooms and trauma units are dealing with public health issues and interacting with criminal cases such as gunshot wounds or sexual assaults.

Many communities don’t have a forensic nurse examiner yet, and, in cities where they do exist often their practice is limited to sex assault and domestic violence cases. But forensic nursing is the fastest growing area of specialization for nurses in North America.

Forensic nursing got a head-start in the 1990s in the USA. This expansion of medical services comes in light of the billions of dollars spent annually on the health effects from violence, particularly sexual assault, which can result in post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, substance abuse, and suicide, and a plethora of physical ailments or diseases.

Forensic nurses are trained for dealing with sex assault victims and domestic violence victims. Patients are put in the care of professionals who have been trained to understand panic, fear, shame, and other emotions coursing through the minds of victims. As medical practitioners forensic nurses have wounds to tend, while at the same time their patients are demanding of a certain comfort during very difficult proceedings.

Urban health authorities have been plodding through the past 20 years adapting a workforce of on-call health care workers with forensic expertise that is a mix of medical care, emotional support, and criminal evidence collection. When dealing with a myriad of emotions, forensic nurses are taking care of more than wounds, furthermore, they are collectors of essential evidence, including semen, pubic hairs, blood samples, and photographs of injuries.

The job in the forensic nursing profession is to look after the physical and mental health of the patient first, then to assist police in making a case against a sex offender or violent partner. Demand is growing for forensic nursing teams to expand into child abuse, elder abuse, serious and fatal car crashes, or any violent crimes in society. Yet as late as 10 years ago forensic nursing was relatively obscure. Today forensic studies certification issues from several universities and while to this day most of the students are cops, more nursing professionals enter the study every year.

The process of gathering forensic evidence in sexual assault is a difficult task involving the 'rape kit,' which includes collection of semen and hairs, bagging of clothing, taking of photos, and conduct of a HIV risk assessment. A forensic nurse will be required to spend an average of four hours with a patient-victim, but this can go on longer. In more extreme situations the patient needs to be admitted to the hospital. One in five sex assault patients require medical care beyond the processing of a 'rape kit.'

In the opinion of many in the medical profession, “Every emergency department should have a forensic nurse.” Domestic violence presents different issues for the forensic nurse, and while an adult has the choice to not involve police, a forensic nurse may act to create support for a child that has been abused. Forensic personnel are trained in the collection of evidence, how to remove clothing without destroying evidence, how to package clothing by seeing to it that a 'chain of evidence' is maintained. They are trained to take notes that will hold up in court.

All these tasks require specialized training in forensic evidence collection, criminal procedures, expertise in making legal testimony, and other areas of legal, social, and medical interaction. In fact, these health professionals act as liaison between the medical and the criminal justice systems. Police find themselves with powerful allies trained as nurses who are entirely aware of the investigative concerns of police detectives, cognisant of the legal issues inherently important in preserving the chain of evidence.

Forensic nurses are primarily employed in hospitals, emergency or trauma units, but forensic nursing goes beyond the world of criminal investigation. It is a reality that disaster recoveries require identification of human remains. This can only be determined through the use of forensic investigation. They call this type of forensic work Medicolegal Death Investigation.

Randy Hanzlick wrote in the National Academies Press, “The medicolegal death investigation system is responsible for conducting death investigations and certifying the cause and manner of unnatural and unexplained deaths. Unnatural and unexplained deaths include homicides, suicides, unintentional injuries, drug-related deaths, and other deaths that are sudden or unexpected.” He notes that, “Twenty percent of the 2.4 million deaths in the US each year are investigated by medical examiners and coroners, accounting for approximately 450,000 medicolegal death investigations annually.”

Becoming a forensic nurse does not mean the practitioner will be involved with dead bodies, however, that is one path to take in the profession. Other career branches open to forensic nurses include expert medical witness, sexual assault nursing, nurse death investigator (medicolegal death investigation), community education, and other areas like investigation of traumatized patients from whatever the cause, be it assault and battery, attempted murder, and the list goes on and on.

The term forensic nurse emerged in the early 1990s and by 1996 forensic nursing was officially recognized in the USA by the American Association of Nurses. Multidisciplinary health care teams work closely with the survivors of traumatic injury or violence and with offenders and other professionals such as law enforcement. Training courses provide the student with evidence-based practice, forensic theory, research, practice concepts, and leads to further accreditation.

Across Canada the post-secondary education system teaching forensic expertise includes colleges and universities from coast to coast. British Columbia Institute of Technology offers Forensic Science. Dalhousie University offers forensic psychology. Mount Royal College in Calgary teaches Forensic Studies; Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto offers a Forensic Accounting Program.

While nurses and doctors begin the healing of physical and psychological injuries, police and the legal establishment need evidence properly collected and preserved. In Victoria, for example, about 15 nurses have signed up to work as forensic nurses. These are nurses specially trained to deal with a victim's medical trauma, but, at the same time, to gather key evidence to put an assailant behind bars.

The forensic nurse can establish the necessary boundaries to restore a victim's a sense of autonomy. They can work to return self-control to a victim by offering options to evidence collection and police involvement. If the time is wrong to deal with police and begin a legal proceeding, a victim can put the decision off for days or weeks, even months. The standard practice for a forensic nurse is to store evidence, sometimes for up to a year.

Det. Const. Mark Knoop, of Victoria Police special victims unit, told the Time-Colonist newspaper that cases can arise when the duty to protect the public takes charge. “Then, officers must press for a chance to gather information as quickly as possible.” In such cases, he says, forensic nurses are trained to deal with a traumatized patient while gathering key evidence. Forensic nurses "are vital to us," Knoop said.

Freelance Writing by McColl Magazine Staff 

Dr. Dick Beamish's talk at BCSFA's Seafood West summit

The year 2019 was the International Year of Salmon and featured a 'signature event' in the North Pacific with a study of the behavior of Pacific salmon. The study was conducted a group of 18 scientists aboard a Russian charter vessel spending 25 days in the Gulf of Alaska. (A second voyage was in March 2020 truncated by Covid-19.)

Dr Dick Beamish was instrumental in putting together this close examination of the iconic Pacific fish species in its offshore habitat, a major science expedition included with the year of Pacific salmon recognition. Beamish spoke to the B.C. Salmon Farmers Association at Seafood West in fall of 2018.

"The Russians caught 650,000 metric tonnes of pink salmon last year. Why was the number so high? They don't know." The record pink salmon catch in Russia was made primarily for the purpose of harvesting highly prized caviar. Nevertheless there is no explanation for the extraordinary size of the harvest.

Beamish notes Russia doesn't catch salmon the same way Canadians and Americans do. Russians set nets close to shore near the mouth of the rivers and the fish swim in to be caught. Canadians and Americans remain largely engaged in hunting the catch.

"Not long ago Japan had a rising amount of chum salmon to harvest," he says, peaking at 250,000 metric tonnes, but more recently their total catch of chum dropped to 70,000 metric tonnes.

The numbers of Pacific salmon being caught in wide ranging amounts creates a fount of mystery. "In the 1970s the thinking was doubling the catch was possible until the quantity of the catch dropped in Canada to 30,000 metric tonnes. After the 70s we believed we were seeing a shortage of juveniles but that thinking has been proven incorrect."

Knowledge of the behaviour of wild salmon is still basically at square one. "We may have an understanding of the fish. it seems when they grow faster, quicker they survive better. What we need out of the study from the science teams is focus on the fundamental reasons of salmon abundance."

The International Year of Salmon was announced in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 2018 to take place in 2019. It is a chance for Pacific salmon harvesting countries to promote effective stewardship of ecosystems, says Beamish.

"We need the scientists to come up with hypotheses and test them. It costs $1.1 million to charter a Russian vessel, which we got reduced to $900,000. We have raised money from the Pacific Salmon Foundation, North Pacific Salmon Commission, and others, and the salmon farmers of B.C. have been major supporters."

The expedition's purpose is to take into account everything known, and work on the unknowns to find a way to accurately forecast returns, or even explain the size of returns, like record numbers of pinks in Russia, and shrinking numbers of chum in Japan.

The cooperating scientists from several nations will be storing the recovered data at University of British Columbia to be made available to all. "The aim is to discover fundamental mechanisms behind salmon migrations."


Beamish asks, "What are the probables? We will probably find Pacific salmon rear in the Gulf of Alaska in winter. Their abundance is determined by the end of the first winter. Specific populations grow in specific areas. Faster, quicker growth contributes to better survival."

Beamish says anomalous warming in the North Pacific in recent years has had a major impact on growth, but it's difficult to qualify the effect. Furthermore, hatchery production adds complications. There is a need to understand variables in the release of hatchery salmon. "You have to be more experimental about raising smolts to be released."

Whatever the outcome, next year promises to contain an exciting learning process related to the understanding of Pacific salmon dynamics in their ocean habitat.

Dr. Richard J. Beamish C.M., O.B.C., Ph.D., D.Sc.,F.R.S.C. http://www.richardbeamish.com/
Richard.beamish@dfo-mpo.gc.ca

Freelance Writing by Mack McColl 2018, Updated 2020

Becoming a Red Seal Carpenter in Saskatchewan

Bradon Gardypie, 26, lives at Duck Lake, Saskatchewan, 45 minutes north of Saskatoon. He grew up at the Cree Nation reserve of Beardies and Okemasis, "I know some Cree, my Dad is a fluent Cree speaker." 

He graduated school and started working in the carpentry trade. "Most of the work was in Saskatoon, I had to go there for jobs in construction on housing, building schools, or hotels." He had a goal of getting the journeyman ticket in carpentry, "I struggled. I actually fell off a roof in my first year and broke my back. I had to take a year off and do all the physiotherapy." 

He went back to work and cycled through apprenticeship levels to become a journeyman carpenter, and eventually encountered a social media announcement by Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies. SIIT is a post-secondary educational institution in Saskatoon, and Mark Pollard, Dean of Trades and Technical Training was sponsoring a special course on preparing for the Red Seal exam. 

Pollard had hired Richard Dickenson of Integrated Carpentry Tutorials to put the two week course on in Saskatoon. "It was good dealing with Mark Pollard, and I got lucky. Actually I saw it online though social media when SIIT posted, they said they were trying out a new training program. It proved a good opportunity for me, Even though there was a maximum of 13 seats, they made one more seat available for me." 

Gardypie was a skilled workman, "I had my carpentry apprentice levels but on my first try at the Red Seal test I failed by two points, I got a 68." 

He took the SIIT course offered with Richard Dickenson instructing, which was delivered in a classroom in Saskatoon for two weeks. It was a highly informative two weeks, "Richard showed me the tricks to figuring out formulas. The class was two weeks and it was very good.

"Things I found difficult, especially math, Richard explained in a different way, and made it easy. We learned the ins and outs of dealing with complex problems, material for the Red Seal exam was explained, he gave us problem-solving scenarios, and we worked through the different types of formulas to get the right answers." 

Gardypie says, "I wrote the Red Seal the second time passed with 78 percent after two weeks of instruction." The change in his career path was instantaneous, "Immediately I was offered a job as Red Seal carpenter in the oil industry and I went from $28 to $38 an hour overnight. I went to Cold Lake, Alberta, and applied for a job in the oil sector."

He works shift 7 days on 7 days off. The work varies, "It's a lot of everything, concrete, finishing, renovation, maintenance, housing, roofing, camps, plants, oil plants, an oil sands project for Cenovus." It's a big project on a large area and lots of people as they are mining the oil."

The drive to Cold Lake is 4.5 hours, then they truck north an hour to camp and job. "I started a year and 2 months ago."

Gardypie wanted the shiftwork in this arrangement. It makes it possible for time camping, hunting, boating and recreation. "It's real nice to be out in the territory." Furthermore, "With that job, in six months of being employed, I was able to buy a  house in the town of Duck Lake (population 650)."

He says, "It's a pretty small town, a few hundred. We travel to Prince Albert or Saskatoon for shopping and groceries. I have a family, my wife and I have two kids, a 5 yr old (going into K-12) and 2 month old. My brother is apprenticing in carpentry. It's a good trade to have, carpentry applies to a lot of different construction scenarios."

Gardypie says, "We use the training Dickenson provided on all the job sites, and having the Red Seal allows more confidence on the job. The boss is more confident in me. When you are Red Seal you can instruct on the job site. You can teach others."

He plans to make business his future, "With the Red Seal I can apprentice others under me, start my own business, and get things going help the local guys into the trade, like my brother and cousin, they will learn the right experience in the trade." 

He credits SIIT's Pollard for finding the right guy to get the training done, "Richard Dickenson ended up making it a completely successful classroom experience."

Dangerfield visits Gabriola Island, Summer 2018

 

Dangerfield McColl, summer of 2018

 The bouncy castle years