BC Indigenous Coalition lobbies Ottawa on the salmon farm industry ​

OTTAWA -- Chris Roberts, elected chief councillor, Wei Wai Kum First Nation, based out of Campbell River, on Vancouver Island, in coastal British Columbia, spoke in Ottawa today.


"It's through our rights and title that we must have a say on how, if and what kind of salmon farming can take place in our territories, in our backyards, where we have lived for millenia.

"After the disrespectful and damaging decisions to close salmon farms in my territory the Laichwiltach People, in the Discovery Island without proper consent of the rights holders, we at the coalition can no longer trust that the minister Murray can deliver a thoughtful, unbiased transition plan for the remaining salmon in our sovereign territories.

"That is very worrisome as I stand here with my brothers and sisters . . .

"We as First Nations, we are the original environmentalists, not the fancy downtown activists that you hear about.

"Our people have been looking after wild salmon for thousands of years, and we continue to do so through our guardian programs and our monitors, and we will continue to do so.

"People 5,000 km away will not be making political activist driven decisions for ancient nations that have been stewards of our lands and waters and resources, since time immemorial.

"Now we know there are divergent views on salmon farming among First Nations on the coast of British Columbia. And that's their right. But it's also our right as First Nations to be able to say, YES.

"If a nation can say no to a resource extraction development activity in their territory, they should be able to say yes. And that's because it's done on their terms, on terms that are set out by the laws and traditions of our people.

"Those laws and traditions guide how business is carried out and how things are to be monitored properly.

"This enduring stewardship obligation that I talk about is bestowed to all of us by the Creator of the territories that we call our home, all across Turtle Island.

"And we must respect each other as sovereign nations, and trust in each other that we will uphold those. And when we disagree, we should come together nation-to-nation to talk about our difference of opinion to find areas of compromise, and to seek to understand how we might be able to move forward collaboratively.

"The DFO minister Murray's decision to close all salmon farms in the Discovery Islands, against the wishes of the right's holder nations, in our case the Laichwiltach people, has set a dangerous precedent.

"Not only does it mean that the rest of the transition planning process for the sector is unstable, it threatens salmon farm operations in the rest of the territories where the nations want those farms to operate.

"More importantly, her decision has threatened rights holder First Nations ability to pursue their self-determination, and their right to economic reconciliation by allowing outside influences to make decisions in our territories.

"Just a little bit more about the proposal that was put forward from the Laichwiltach Nations, we were seeking to understand what the impacts are, every sector, every single activity in our territories have an impact, and it's our responsibility to understand what those are, to determine if we can come to grips with it and manage them in a way that is sustainable, and in keeping with our true values and traditions.

"It's really sad that our proposal was unaccepted, because it's a lost opportunity. The opportunity that existed was to advance our guardian watchmen programs, our fisheries stewardship technicians, to directly participate in the research and monitoring to evaluate the impact from salmon farming on the environment and on wild salmon.

"I am not going to deny those exist, but as we talk about a transition, as this government likes to call it, we wanted to be on the front lines of what that would be, to embrace new innovations and the possibility of new technologies that could be implemented to reduce or eliminate the risks to wild salmon.

"And the fact that our proposal was disregarded is troubling. It sends a signal that I don't know if there was ever a genuine interest in supporting a transition.

"And so to just kind of mandate something to land-based in this case, it doesn't make sense to me, because there's a lot of evidence and investment across the world where this has been attempted, and maybe it will be figured out one day, but if we talk about a transition and going towards something better, we have to embrace and work with what we have now.

"To try and flick it off like a switch I think it flies in the face of what is required to have investment in research and development and bring new innovations.

"So we call on Prime Minister Trudeau to pass a critical file on to more responsible and unbiased minister to complete. We strongly recommend the minister of Indigenous Affairs and Reconciliation, the Hon Mark Miller, for this job.

"We are also fathers and mothers, grandmothers, grandfathers, like you, who want to see our families succeed and communities thrive and have a promising future.

"Like you, we want our people to have good jobs, and like you we want everyone to be able to afford healthy food and put food on their tables for their families.

"The government of Canada is on a dangerous track, with policy decisions to close sustainable farming in our waters. They are suggesting that we grow Canadian salmon on land, even the B.C. government says it's not feasible, and at this point in time it does not make sense.

"We have with us, an example here, the salmon that you see, it was not grown in Canadian waters, where it could have been or should have been. It was not grown in any of our territories, where it could have been and should have been.

"It was not processed by workers in the community of Klemtu of the Kitasoo/Xai'Xais, or the community of Port Hardy on north Vancouver Island, because Minster Murray has severely impacted the production of the salmon farming industry by closing down farms in our territory, and we're concerned of the track that might continue on with the rest of the coast.

"The piece of salmon was flown all the way from Norway or Chile, thousands of kilometres away, and when you think about the net effect and of citizens of the planet that we care for, of climate change, and carbon emissions, how is that sustainable?

"And because of decisions by Minister Joyce Murray, this costs you and your family more on your grocery bills to put this healthy meal on your table for your family.

"I'm not sure what the price of it says, but I think, uh, yikes!" he looks at the label on the package, "It's $55 for this slab of salmon, something that would have previously costed around $30.

"And this piece of salmon is going to become even more unaffordable for you and your families if these decisions continue, not only because it's imported from far away, but because we no longer have the jobs of farming salmon in the communities.

"And we have also been fishing nations, it's engrained in my blood for several generations. But we are also salmon farming nations as we stand here together, and we are coastal nations.

"And we should have the right to say what happens in our territory.

"This is an important job that we have, and I am reminded by some of my Elders and people in my community that often have a difficult time coming to grips with various industries, because of their perceived impact, but when we talk about it, we're reminded that, as newcomers came to our territories, balance has been disrupted from day one, and we have constantly had to adapt to changing times.

"A lot of the things that are being sought to protect are the commercial salmon industry, which I am proud of my family's participation for many years, but an industrial full scale commercial fishery on the whole coast of British Columbia with countless canneries dotting the coastline, that was not our way as a people, but we were participants in that and we embraced it.

"Unfortunately, our rights to make decisions on how that fishery would be managed were not recognized early enough and we are suffering the consequences of a vast reduction of salmon on the coast.

"So when we look at a new industry like salmon farming, we're also meeting it head on, embracing it for the opportunity that it could be, and ensuring that things are happening on our terms.

"And that's very important because each nation is distinct and unique, and have their own set of laws and values that must be upheld, for this industry to continue."

Firewood CMTs an Anthropological Oddity

In the days prior to the Industrial Revolution First Nations built canoes to travel the extensive waterways of the Pacific coast. Each dugout canoe was manufactured out of a single cedar tree and these dugout war canoes were designed for ocean voyages of long duration.

 Sometimes during these journeys canoeists ran afoul of the weather. The water on the Inside Passage is a reasonably constant 6 or 7 degrees Celsius but the weather varies and rainfall is a potential threat all year long, especially from October to March. Dealing with these wet conditions called for planning, which included the invention of the 'firewood CMT,' a form of culturally modified tree (CMT) found on remote islands and inlets of the Pacific Coast of Canada.

 "Knowledge of the history of forest use is crucial for understanding the development of forests, which in turn helps to understand how societies react to forest development," said Rikard Andersson, Faculty of Forest Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. "Culturally modified trees (CMTs), recorded in the western U.S. (and Canada), northern Scandinavia, and south-eastern Australia, are features that can be dated precisely, and they bear witness to unique events of human activity."

 David Garrick is a Canadian anthropologist with specific expertise in CMTs in west coast rainforests. "These artefacts define the First Nations communities in a practical way. They had camps all over the place, often at the mouth of a river. If they were taking a three-day voyage by canoe and it started raining they would pull out of the water, but how would you start a fire?"

David Garrick and his son Aki gaze at Johnstone Strait

 An essential CMT would be found ashore where they could and often did make land and find the firewood CMT, each site containing a dry source of wood. The travelers would find a small cavern dug above the roots inside a massive cedar tree trunk. "They would peel shreds of the dry cedar found inside the hollowed trunk and they would ignite a fire inside the tree."

 These firewood CMTs were commonplace, "There's one found at every encampment." Garrick has studied these peculiar modifications from Banks Island all the way to Kitkatla. He and others have found abundant evidence of a kindling source that provided instant fire to travelers. For the past three decades David Garrick concentrated on the study of humans interacting in forests  on the Pacific Coast.

 He found a perfect place to do CMT research on Hanson Island, about 15 km south west of Alert Bay, B.C.. He set up the Earth Embassy in the heights of the 4 sq. km. island and he worked under the auspices of the Yukusem Heritage Society (composed of four First Nations from the Broughton Archipelago and Johnstone Strait).

 "If you keep the ecosystem intact it becomes a living laboratory and a living museum, and a living classroom." For further study, "We have a post-secondary learning opportunities in the area. We have trails into all kinds of nooks and crannies on Hanson Island."

 Garrick's laboratory on Hanson Island has been a welcome presence in the First Nations of coastal B.C. because his research provides a good history lesson about cedar usage in the culture and economy of the people. For instance a 'core-popped' cedar tree looks like a traumatic injury to those who pass by, but core-popping was no problem to First Nations, instead, it was a marker of time, "What happened to the cedar tree core was caused by a memorable event like a potlatch."

 First Nation forest use went into a state of chaos for a period after contact with Europeans and the anthropology is specific about describing the trauma, "After epidemics reduced the population of Indigenous people, you see the sickness of the people reflected in the cedar peelings. Suddenly there are one-tenth the number of people available to peel cedar tree bark or cultivate and harvest other plants in the cedar groves."

 Garrick's work will continue on Hanson Island where he equipped others to teach everyone from small groups of First Nation students to the First Nation CMT researchers who identify the evidence of occupation and prior use in traditional territories. He maintained beautiful gardens at the Earth Embassy and he had members of the multi-nation Society trained to cut and maintains trails to the instructive cedar groves that will stand in perpetuity on Hanson Island.

David Garrick and Mack McColl cross Hanson Island summer 2008

What about reforestation by drones?

Don't put away shovels yet

VICTORIA B.C. -- John Innes, Forestry Planning, said drones can plant trees 150 times faster and 10 times cheaper than tree planters. "Tree planting is the same for the past 4,000 years. Same technology, humans. There are now terrestrial tree planting machines that work for easy terrain. These are not designed for cutblocks in the forests. But there are machines that multitask things like scarification, injecting fertilizer and planting the trees."

A man named Jack Walters designed a propellant system to shoot seedlings into the forest floor. It's a process that can be seen in nature. Natu
re does it in mangrove seeds that sprout into plants and literally plant themselves by an aerial process into the mud below by falling. But dropping living seedlings into a slash pile on a clear cut will not penetrate to the soil.

Aerial broadcasting of seeds is done in Australia on sites where the surface has been burned off, and these are distributed by small plane or helicopter. They drop seeds, or drop pelletized seeds, or drop pellitized germinated seeds, depending on the soil conditions, and now they are firing pellitized germinated seeds into the ground.

Seeding drones are used to spread 40,000 seeds a day in bushfire areas in Australia.

A company called Droneseed USA uses drones with LIDAR (an acronym of "light detection and ranging" or "laser imaging, detection, and ranging". LIDAR is a method for determining ranges by targeting an object or a surface with a laser https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lidar) and aerial imagery into post wildfire landscapes for analyzing soil quality and determining which seeds go where. These methods over-use seeds.

Dendra Systems says they can spread millions of seeds in a few hours, and predict the planting of 500 billion trees by 2060: 120 seedpods per minute, pre-germinated seeds, using pressurized air.

AirSeed Technologies, efficient at post planting surveys. They can go back and survey for re-seeding and predict planting 100 million trees by 2024.

Looking at all these possibilities, however, planting a seed doesn't mean planting a tree.

FlashForest claims 1 billion trees by 2028, operating in B.C., Alberta, and Ontario. The company is using drones on post-burn sites, post-harvest sites, and grassy areas. It seems the post-burn sites are best and high severity burn sites are the best sites for drones.

Timing is everything in these planting operations, which now operate earlier in the season, depending on weather. They have been successful in areas with reasonably high precipitation. Wet summers are better.

Grassy areas are not effective, grass competes too successfully with the tree seeds, so they use pellets, and collect significant quantities of wild seeds, which seeds are then encased in a mixture (proprietary) in encasements, including moisture retention material. The germination rate is quite high, said Innes.

Drones are constantly improving, and the technology of drones tends to be evolving rapidly, with planting capacity increasing progressively at a rate of 1000 percent capacity growth over the past couple of years. They can distribute 100,000 seed pods per day depending on number of drones deployed.

Planting drones now carry LIDAR and other technology. Early drones had smaller capacity, 80 pods, now they have the capacity for a million pods per day using three operational drones. The pods are fired into the ground, velocity and height are variables. Current drones fly high, but in the future the drones will fly lower with obstacle avoidance technology.

They geolocate every pod fired. Germination success is closely monitored by surveys. Top-up flights will be undertaken at sites with low success rates. The goal is to produce growth out of 20 percent of the seed, wasting 4 out of 5.

The question is, will drones replace tree planters?

Drones are cheaper and faster and do replacement planting both faster and easier, but mortality rates are higher. Drones can work in areas where tree planters have problems, steep sites, high bug areas, and sites with health issues like fire areas with ash. There are sites in Alberta where drones are operating in the north because it's hard for tree planters to get in there.

Drones are catching up and AI is moving things ahead, LIDAR on drones is one of the amazing advancements. The pellets and germination success rates are improving. But there will always be room for tree planters, says Innes.

Tree planting involves intuitive practices by planters, and these sensitivities are being emphasized by drone companies. Drones are dropping seeds obtained from the wild, while in tree planting, improved seed stock comes from nurseries. Two hundred kilos of wild seeds were collected by FlashForest this year. There is no apparent problems with seed supply at present. B.C. has seed zones, and A class seed is expensive. Seed lines up with the area being planted and seed transfer rules apply to drone planters just as they do to tree planters. "We need to make sure the seed rules are being followed." Wastage could be an issue while trees produce huge volumes of seeds.

Drones are mainly deployed to try to get forest cover back into place. They aren't being used to make harvestable forests at present.

It will become a numbers game, and drones will reforest areas affordably that might not be planted otherwise. Furthermore, tree planters will be drone pilots.

Optimium sites for drones are post fire sites, whereas cut sites are less drone worthy with all the slash impeding successful seed placements. "Drones could still surprise us," says John Betts, "but don't turn in your shovels just yet, planters."

April is Construction Month

Carpenters' Regional Council of BC

By Mark Derton, CRC of BC President

This year, B.C.’s construction industry celebrates the fourth annual Construction and Skilled Trades Month in April.

I would like to thank and recognize the sacrifices and important efforts made by our members every day in every region of B.C. When the women and men of our union lace up their boots and head out the door to provide for their families, they contribute to the economy, help sustain jobs in other sectors, and help build the community. In B.C., up to $100 billion in construction projects can be underway at any given time, which represents over 8% of the province’s gross domestic product.

Our industry was declared an essential service throughout the pandemic, and CRC members have consistently provided their talents and commitment to contractors and clients, working safely under Covid guidelines and additional regulations. Large projects have introduced strict safety protocols, and we have had to adapt new practices. There have been very few cases of Covid-19 in the construction industry, with union jobsites being among the safest. Thank you for staying safe and looking out for each other.

The construction sector and trades-workers are set to play a major part in the province’s post‑pandemic economic recovery plan. Skilled tradespeople are going to be crucial and relied upon for major industrial projects and massive infrastructure investments.

Today, the CRC is busy training the next generation of construction workers to carry on the important work UBC members have been doing in B.C. for over 100 years.

Submitted by CRC of BC and Canada to McColl Magazine

Major Economic Damage, Job Losses, If Salmon Farm Licenses Are Not Renewed

  Feb. 23rd, 2022

BC COASTAL COMMUNITIES FACE MAJOR ECONOMIC DAMAGE, JOB LOSSES IF SALMON FARM LICENCES ARE NOT REISSUED BY DFO CAMPBELL RIVER, BC –

NEW ECONOMIC ANALYSIS REVEALS MORE THAN 4,700 JOBS and $1.2 BILLION IN ECONOMIC ACTIVITY AT RISK IF 79 LICENCES NOT REISSUED

BC Salmon Farmers Association

The BC Salmon Farmers Association have released an independent economic analysis outlining the consequences to BC’s Indigenous and non-Indigenous coastal communities if 79 salmon farming licenses are not reissued by the federal government by June 2022. The report by RIAS Inc. found BC would lose more than 4,700 jobs, $1.2 billion in economic activity annually, and $427 million in GDP if these licences aren’t renewed.

An additional $200 million in economic activity and 900 jobs would be lost outside of BC. Federal aquaculture licences at 79 BC salmon farms are due to expire on June 30, 2022. Eighty per cent of these salmon farms operate in agreement with the First Nations in whose territories they operate in. For these salmon farms to continue producing a sustainable alternative to declining wild salmon stocks, while working with First Nations, their licences must be reissued by the new Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) Minister Joyce Murray.

In December 2020, former DFO Minister Bernadette Jordan failed to reissue licences for salmon farms operating in the Discovery Islands, creating economic hardship and uncertainty for many of BC’s Indigenous and non-Indigenous coastal communities. In making her decision, Minister Jordan ignored the scientific consensus that salmon farms do not pose more than minimal risk to wild Pacific salmon, as well as her own department’s advice.

The decision is currently before the courts in the form of a judicial review. If the 79 licences up for renewal are not reissued, Indigenous and non-Indigenous coastal communities will face even greater devastation. “Coastal communities in BC deserve better, especially during an ongoing pandemic that has already caused severe stress, mental health strain, and economic pressure on many families, households and communities,” says Ruth Salmon, Interim Executive Director of the BC Salmon Farmers Association.

“After years of instability and concern, these communities deserve a secure and prosperous future,” says Salmon. To minimize any further loss to coastal communities, BC Salmon Farmers need legitimate reissuance of all 79 licences. The reissuing of these licences would drive BC and Canada’s economic recovery, deliver on Indigenous reconciliation, support the restoration of wild salmon populations, safeguard Canada’s food security and sustainability, enhance Canada’s contribution to climate change mitigation, and align with the federal government’s Blue Economy agenda as outlined in the 2021 Speech from the Throne. “We invite Minister Murray to visit the affected rural, coastal communities to better understand the integral role salmon farming plays to the socio-economic wellness of these small towns,” says Salmon.

Find the full report here: https://bcsalmonfarmers.ca/licences/

Find the Impact Map on Coastal Communities here: https://map.bcsalmonfarmers.ca/

BACKGROUND INFORMATION: BC’s salmon farming sector is the provinces #1 seafood export, #1 agri-food export, and is designated an essential service by Federal and Provincial governments. BC Salmon Farmers hold agreements with 17 First Nations on B.C.’s coast. 79 (all remaining) federal finfish aquaculture licences will expire on June 30, 2022. More than 4,700 well-paid jobs are at risk in communities like Courtenay, Comox, Cumberland, Port Hardy, Port McNeil, Tofino, Ucluelet, and Port Alberni. About the BC Salmon Farmers Association: Farm-raised salmon is B.C.’s highest valued seafood product, the province’s top agricultural export, and generates over $1.6 billion towards the B.C. economy, resulting in thousands of jobs. The B.C. Salmon Farmers Association represents over 60 businesses and organizations throughout the value chain of finfish aquaculture in B.C. Our members account for over 95% of the annual provincial harvest of farm-raised salmon in British Columbia.

Made-in-BC Semi-closed System Installed at Grieg Seafood BC Farms in Esperanza Inlet

After trialing a made-in-BC semi-closed technology solution at its farms off the Sunshine Coast region, Grieg Seafood BC Ltd. (Grieg) has announced it will be proceeding with the installation of these semi-closed system at all three of its farms in Esperanza Inlet, off the west coast of Vancouver Island.

The new CO2L Flow system (pronounced Cool Flow) is a form of semi-closed containment, which allows for farmers to raise or lower custom designed farm enclosures – ensuring the farmed fish benefit from natural ocean conditions, while also providing protection for wild salmon. The system has been used successfully to rear several generations of fish at Grieg’s farms in the Sunshine Coast region. 

In all the trials, farmers noted better growth, lower mortality, better feed conversion rates (meaning the fish are more effective at converting feed into growth), and most significantly - a dramatic reduction in the need for sea lice treatments.

“As a company, we are always looking for ways to improve our operations, and this includes transitioning from standard farming equipment, to new, cutting-edge technology aimed at reducing potential impacts from our operations. This new system utilizes retractable barriers, which are capable of being lowered to 15 metres, fully encapsulating the sides of the farm. This has several benefits, including preventing the lateral interaction of wild and farmed salmon populations, providing protection for farmed populations from harmful algae, and allowing our farmers to better control water quality in the system using a unique aeration technology,” says Rocky Boschman, Managing Director for Grieg Seafood BC Ltd.

“As ocean-based farmers, one of the most common questions or concerns we hear is regarding sea lice, and the transfer of lice between wild and farmed populations. The CO2 L Flow system with its barrier protection has resulted in drastically reduced sea lice numbers on the farmed population, which in turn reduces the need for us to treat. During the trial period at our west coast site, we were able to keep sea lice levels so low that the fish did not require treatment for lice. Overall, we are pleased with the results and there is no denying that this new system represents a transition towards what in-ocean farms can one day become.”

What sets this system apart from others is the use of local knowledge, and on-the-ground learning to guide the development of a system which would work in partnership with nature to address challenges.

“I have been farming in these waters for over 30 years. In that time, I have learned that nature is the best engineer. If you want to find a solution, you need to work with the ocean and the natural conditions. So, when we started looking at how we could adapt semi-closed technology into our operations, we looked first and foremost to the oceans’ naturally occurring deep, clean water as a guide,“ says Dean Trethewey, Seawater Production, Certifications and Regulatory Director.

“The CO2L Flow Max system has taken some tried and true technology, such as sea lice curtains, and paired them with cutting edge aeration technology, to create a completely new system. During sensitive wild salmon migration periods or times when we know there is harmful algae in the region, we can lower the barriers on the farm, forming a barrier between the wild salmon and the farmed population, this prevents lateral interaction, and significantly reduces the transmission of sea lice between the populations. The barriers can be fully lifted outside of these periods, allowing the farmed fish to benefit from natural ocean conditions, temperatures, currents, and oxygen levels.”

To bring this technology to life, Grieg relied on the expertise, knowledge and successful collaboration with several Vancouver Island based technology and services companies – like CPI Equipment and Poseidon Ocean Systems. A leading international oxygen solution company, Oxzo Technologies, was also involved in the creation of some components for the system.

Although the system has shown amazing results in initial trials, Grieg continues to look for ways to improve the system to help further reduce any potential impacts from its operations.

“As a company, we will continue to look for ways in which we can innovate and continue to improve our operations. Currently, the new system already has tremendous benefits through the elimination of lateral interaction between wild and farmed populations and provides both welfare and performance benefits for our farmed salmon – but it doesn’t collect solid waste which is the next opportunity we want to address. We are continuing to look for solutions that will support the recovery of solid waste and ways in which it could be used for some type of value-add product like fertilizer or soil enrichment,” added Boschman. “We will continue to look to nature, local technology, and our farmers to help provide us with solutions as we continue to innovate, transition and improve.”

The system will be installed at all three farms in Esperanza Inlet (Lutes Creek farm, Steamer Point farm and the Esperanza farm) in time for the outmigration of juvenile wild salmon in early 2023.

CO2L Flow system quick facts and additional Information: 

• Grieg Seafood launched the first trial of the system in 2019

• Since then, three pilot cycles of fish have been raised in the system

• Overall, fish raised in the system see an average increase of 40 per cent in growth, a 19 per cent (19%) increase in survival, and a 13 per cent (13%) improvement in feed conversion ratio (FCR)

• The system uses retractable barriers to ensure there is no lateral transmission between wild and farmed salmon populations – which is important during the critical in and out wild salmon migration periods

• During periods when the barriers are down, the system uses an innovative, cutting-edge oxygen technology, to address low-oxygen levels within the farm system - helping to ensure the welfare of the farmed population

• To date, Grieg Seafood BC has seen a dramatic reduction in the frequency or need to treat farmed populations within the system for sea lice

• The system is unique in that it can be adapted to fit existing Grieg Seafood farm sites

• The system is sourced and built locally, contributing to the local economy and supporting the development of innovation and technology on North Vancouver Island

• Moving forward, Grieg Seafood will continue to look for ways to collect solid waste for value added products such as fertilizer or enriched soils

Kris McNichol, President, CPI Equipment Inc., says, “CPI Equipment Inc. is proud to partner with Grieg Seafood BC on their full-scale CO2L Flow semi-closed system in 2022. Over the past two years, CPI has worked diligently with Grieg Seafood on trials to improve the efficiency of oxygen transfer to seawater in their sea pens by using CPI’s ODiN Aerations system in conjunction with Moleaer’s nanotechnology. By achieving a greater supply of water quality within the semi-closed environment, we have been able to support the creation of a new ocean-based system. Working with our customers for over 20 years and striving to develop better technology within the aquaculture market both locally and internationally is an important part of our company's success. The knowledge-sharing and teamwork between Grieg Seafood and CPI Equipment shows how people, ideas, and new technology can collaborate to meet the needs of aquaculture for the future.

Heather Clarke, Co-Founder, Poseidon Ocean Systems, says, “When we were first approached by Grieg Seafood to collaborate on the new semi-closed technology they were developing, we jumped at the opportunity as this project will not only provide solutions to global problems, but also addresses some of the biggest challenges faced by the industry in terms of sea lice, algae, and improved conditions within the farm system. Poseidon is a Campbell River based company, which was founded only six years ago. Because of the vision of industry leaders like Grieg Seafood who are committed to constant improvement, evolution and working head-on to address the concerns raised regarding salmon farming, we have been able to expand our business internationally to assist producers like Grieg Seafood and others meet their biggest challenges.”

Gonzalo Boehmwald, Commercial Assistant Manager Oxzo Technologies Canada, says, “This project – the CO2L Flow system - is demonstrating what is possible in salmon farming in terms of using innovation and new technology to improve operations, and Oxzo Technologies Canada is proud to be part of the team working on delivering these new systems for Grieg Seafood BC Ltd. Oxzo has been helping farmers find unique solutions for more than a decade using innovative and cost-effective solutions of supplemental aeration and oxygenation. Our proven, patented technologies and Grieg Seafood’s drive for innovation and overall operational improvements are a perfect fit."

A Red Seal takes you to next-level carpenter

Carpentry and building is the right choice of jobs and careers

Ryan Barker 31, was born and raised in Port Alberni, B.C.. "I went to school in Port Alberni, Nanaimo, and Victoria." The building industry caught his attention early, "I started in carpentry between grades 11 and 12 and that's why I went to Victoria to take a construction class in my final year of high school." Even as a teenager, "I was a construction labourer, mostly in roofing, and later I moved into house construction and renovation. I wanted to apprentice as a carpenter and within the first five years after school I think I had enough hours to do a Red Seal challenge," he laughs.

Work was sometimes sporadic, however, and there were times when getting the hours under apprenticeship was difficult. 'Basically I did the first year of apprenticeship early, then years later I did 2nd year," and he persisted in getting the work until finally, "I decided it was time to challenge the exam."

Enter Richard Dickenson, Integrated Carpentry Tutorials, "I found out about his course -- actually my wife saw it on Facebook, and she said I should apply to get on the list. I did the Prep for the Red Seal Exam course, which was delivered in Courtenay over three weeks."

Barker says, "I liked it, it was informal, with lots of information. It's math and a refresher to the memory on things like calculating volumes on concrete," (carpenters do a lot work in concrete; every inch of concrete has to be poured into a form) and all the intricacies on building stairs, trusses, joinery.

"The course was set at the right pace. You have to pay attention, you have to go ahead with all the assignments. For me it was right place at the right time."

On June 20th, 2017 Barker received his certificate of qualification for Red Seal Carpenter. All those years of building houses on the west coast of the island paid off. "I was employed by two different employers in all those years. We built dozens of houses in Ucluelet and and 100 houses in Tofino." He was experienced indeed.

So the time came to start his own business. "I started my own company five months ago, called R. Barker Contracting, in Port Alberni. I decided, why not? I had all the knowledge and all the tools over the years, and had been waiting for my journeyman ticket. Me and my wife made a couple of calls to the business bureau."

It was another move at the right time and the right place for Barker. "We've been super busy since then and I have six guys working for me now. We've been doing concrete slabs, sidewalks, retaining walls, concrete stairs, a lot of different projects keeping us busy through the summer, and now, two weeks ago, we started a house."

To be a contractor on a house construction you need to be a Red Seal. "We continue to do decks and siding and roofs and fencing. Whatever comes up, our name is out there for everything."

R. Barker Contracting is working in the city of Port Alberni. "I've got 2 carpenters and rest are labourers, two guys I picked up had run out of work, and I put an ad on Facebook to hire others."

Port Alberni is where the jobs are happening, which is great for a young man who spent so much time, 10 years, working out on the west coast of Vancouver Island. "Now I am home with the family at dinner time."

The current house building project is from start to finish, "Footings and foundations were done, now the floor system is being built, next is framing and then siding. It's 2,300 square feet and we will be on it for about six months on this build. We started it at the beginning of November and it's progressing well."

Running a business has its challenges, "The stress is there, I can sympathize with the people who employed me over the years. This past summer we would have four or five jobs on the go and I found myself trying to be in several places at once."

Barker's wife Tess does the bookwork and paper work, permit applications, other office duties. Tess and Ryan have two children, Ryson, 7, and a daughter of 4 named Brynlee.

The construction business in Port Alberni is competitive, "but we've managed to keep finding the work, There are quite a few other companies in town. At least the economy is pretty good for building right now."

R. Barker Contracting works right through the year, "Winter jobs are good, and we're enthusiastic about working year-round," including new builds, additions, and renovations.

Barker is from Tla-o-qui-aht Nation in Tofino, "I maintain connections and we spend time with family on the west coast."

Carpentry and building is the right choice of jobs and careers. "We're working anywhere from 8 to 12 hours a day. The Red Seal means everything to me. Ever since I was in high school I wanted to attain this designation." and being on job sites since his teenage years, he learned from the experienced hands that, "Having a Red Seal makes you a next-level carpenter."

Now he's apprenticing others in the trade, hours are going on the record, "Some of these guys are working toward the Red Seal certification and they have their hours going on the books."

Freelance Writing by  Mack McColl  

Seafood Section of McColl Magazine

B.C.’s Salmon Farmers Call for Reconsideration of Discovery Islands Decision: Feb. 23, 2021 - Based on the findings of an independent economic analysis released today, B.C.’s salmon farming community is calling on the federal government to set aside its decision to force the closure of farms in the Discovery Islands area and engage a new process.

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.