News

10/17/11

A lethal and highly contagious marine virus has been detected for the first time in wild salmon in the Pacific Northwest, researchers in British Columbia said on Monday, stirring concern that it could spread there, as it has in Chile, Scotland and elsewhere. 

Farms hit by the virus, infectious salmon anemia, have lost 70 percent or more of their fish in recent decades. But until now, the virus, which does not affect humans, had never been confirmed on the West Coast of North America.

The researchers, from Simon Fraser University and elsewhere, said at a news conference in Vancouver that the virus had been found in 2 of 48 juvenile fish collected as part of a study of sockeye salmon in Rivers Inlet, on the central coast of British Columbia. The study was undertaken after scientists observed a decline in the number of young sockeye.

Richard Routledge, an environmental scientist at the university who leads the sockeye study, suggested that the virus had spread from the province’s aquaculture industry, which has imported millions of Atlantic salmon eggs over the last 25 years, primarily from Iceland and Scandinavia. He acknowledged that no direct evidence of that link existed, but noted that the two fish had tested positive for the European strain of infectious salmon anemia.

The virus could have “a devastating impact” not just on the region’s farmed and wild salmon but on the many species that depend on them in the food web, like grizzly bears, killer whales and wolves, Dr. Routledge said. “No country has ever gotten rid of it once it arrives,” he said in a statement.

The only barrier between the salmon farms and wild fish is a net, he noted at the news conference, opening the way for “pathogens sweeping in and out.” No vaccine or treatment exists for infectious salmon anemia.

At the news conference, the Simon Fraser researchers said Fred Kibenge, a researcher at Atlantic Veterinary College at the University of Prince Edward Island, the global center for tests detecting the virus, had confirmed its presence in the two fish. They called for widespread testing to determine where the virus exists in the region and in what fish.

Fishery experts with no connection to the study agreed that the threat was serious. James Winton, who leads the fish health research group at the Western Fisheries Research Center in Seattle, an arm of the United States Geological Survey, called it a “disease emergency” and urged that research begin at once to determine on how far the virus had spread.

According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, infectious salmon anemia virus morphed from a benign form in nature into a “novel virulent strain” when salmon stocks entered Norway’s densely packed salmon farms. Rather than getting picked off by a predator, a sick fish would undergo a slow death in a crowded pen, shedding virus particles.

Offshore saltwater pens supply most of the Atlantic salmon sold in the United States.

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10/16/11

Those bracing dips in the local lake or river may not be as healthy as they were cracked up to be judging by a new list of polluted waterways released last week by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Recent tests have found more toxic material, bacteria and pollution in California rivers, streams, bays and lakes than has ever been documented before, according to the federal agency. The study shows a 170 percent increase in the number of waterways showing toxicity in 2010 compared with 2006, the last time the study was done. Less than half of the state's lakes, bays and estuaries are meeting water quality standards. "Unfortunately, the grade is not getting better. It's getting worse. At the moment it is a failing grade," said Jared Blumenfeld, the administrator for the EPA's Pacific Southwest region. "The public needs to use the information to make sure state, local and regional governments fix these eminently fixable problems."

The Clean Water Act requires states to monitor and assess their waterways and submit a list of impaired waters to EPA for review. 

The list was compiled using 22,000 data submissions from counties, cities and the various regional water quality control boards. That's substantially more information than was available in 2006, Blumenfeld said. The sheer amount of data is probably one reason for the increase, but "we all need to roll up our sleeves and get to work because the problem is worse than we thought it was."

The study showed that EPA water quality standards are not being met on 1.6 million acres of California's 3 million acres of lakes, bays, wetlands and estuaries. Federally mandated cleanup plans have not been submitted for 1.4 million acres, according to the report.

The EPA study also showed that 30,000 of the state's 215,000 miles of shoreline, streams and rivers do not meet the water quality goals. Cleanup plans still need to be prepared for 20,000 of those miles, according to the report.

Pesticides and bacteria were the most common pollutants found in the waterways followed by metals and too many nutrients, mostly from runoff.

Instances of excessive trash in the water increased 76 percent and the number of fish with levels of mercury and other toxins too high for human consumption increased 24 percent between 2006 and 2010.

Pesticide pollution increased 36 percent and bacteria levels reached unsafe levels for swimming on more beaches, both inland and coastal, than in 2006. Most of the increases were attributed to higher levels of reporting.

"Now that we have numbers, we can improve them," Blumenfeld said. "The goal is to use that information to make things better."

10/13/11

“That's a good example of where the commission went to great lengths to strike the right balance,” said Charles Lester, 49, who was named the commission's executive director in September.

He is taking over from Peter Douglas, who headed the commission since 1985 and co-wrote the 1972 ballot initiative that created it. Douglas, whose retirement begins next month, is battling lung cancer.

Sonoma County's Sea Ranch development, where coastal access was a key point of argument, helped spur the movement that led to the commission.

Today, Lester said, the same issues resound.

“The vast majority of us don't live along the immediate shoreline, so therefore we need to make those opportunities available to everyone,” he said.

Defending the environment from population and development pressures remains an equally crucial battle, he said.

At the longtime blue-collar resort of Lawson's Landing, Lester said the task was finding a balance “between preserving shorelines access for a wide range of visitors and across a wide range of classes, but also to protect our vital resources.”

The issues at Lawson's, a 960-acre property that includes environmentally sensitive dunes and wetlands, involved an unpermitted, low-cost recreational area where private trailers were parked year-round on a prized slice of coast.

Commissioners ordered the trailers be removed but gave a five-year grace period to do that. After that, about 200 trailers will be allowed on the property but must be made available to the general public.

Though many of the trailer owners and the property's owners decried the order — saying it was unfair and would put the resort out of business — Lester said it achieved twin objectives.

He defines one as “how to make shoreline access and resources available to those citizens who can't afford five-star hotels” — and the other, as preserving delicate natural habitats.

“That was very much the other side of the equation in Lawson's Landing,” Lester said, “making sure we protect and hopefully enhance environmentally sensitive areas — wetlands and creeks and riparian areas.”

A factor that will play a larger role, he said, is rising sea levels due to climate change; some projections are that the ocean will rise 4½ feet over the next 100 years.

“This is going to exacerbate issues we've struggled with already, particularly in urban areas where there is a conflict between pre-existing development and shoreline levels,” Lester said.

Addressing that threat will require close cooperation with the 76 local governments with which the commission works, especially as they redraw the mandated Local Coastal Program plans that were adopted in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

In Sonoma County, which is updating its coastal program plan now, Gleason Beach and Highway 1 will be among the major issues, Lester said.

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10/8/11

A series of bills designed to ensure the availability of clean drinking water was signed off by Gov. Jerry Brown Friday.

The legislation, sponsored by area senator Lois Wolk, includes planning for basic infrastructure in disadvantaged, unincorporated communities.

"Clean drinking water is a basic human right," said Brown in a statement released by his office on Wolk's bills. "The bills I have signed today will help ensure that every Californian has access to clean and safe sources of water. Protecting the water we drink is an absolutely crucial duty of state government."

Wolk's Senate Bill 244 would ensure that cities and counties review and update the elements of their general plans to include data and analysis, goals, and implementation measures regarding unincorporated island, fringe, or legacy communities. This requirement would apply the next time that local officials revise their general plans.

Additionally, this bill provides authority for local governments to access the Clean Water State

Revolving Fund Loan Program for planning costs to implement infrastructure projects. This would give disadvantaged communities like those targeted in this bill the ability to gain financial assistance for planning costs and level the playing field for various classes of local government.

"This measure addresses a very serious public health and planning problem in California that has for too long been largely hidden from view," said Wolk, D-Davis. "There are hundreds of underserved communities in this state, many of them in my district. They are home to an estimated one million Californians who lack basic necessities such as clean drinking water, adequate sewage disposal and other critical infrastructure. My legislation takes the first step toward ensuring that these neglected communities, some of the state's poorest, are provided with the basic necessities for a safe and healthy living environment. I applaud the Governor's decision to sign this measure into law.

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