lorneparker1
Banned
http://www2.canada.com/oceansidestar/news/story.html?id=8a62d85f-8a09-451e-ba90-5957a7fa7f60
http://www.ramblingfisherman.com/2011/04/nile-creek-hatchery-in-danger-of-being-closed/
Baby pinks may drown in red tape
Pamela Suzanne Smyth, Special to Oceanside Star
Published: Thursday, April 14, 2011
Never mind hooks and climate change; red tape may kill some 1.5 million salmon fry in the Nile Creek hatchery.
The Qualicum Bay Horne Lake Waterworks District has told the Nile Creek Enhancement Society it needs to get a water license by April 30 or "the hatchery will be shut down," says NCES past-president Ken Kirkby.
The water district used to draw drinking water from Nile Creek but stopped after switching to wells.
Pipes leading from Nile Creek to the NCES hatchery. The water is used during the incubation stage and in fish tanks that hold the young fry. The water is then recycled back into the creek.
In 1995, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans received approval from the QBHL water board to build an egg incubator and tie into the retired potable water line. In 1998, to build side channels, the water board also agreed to allow access to an upstream intake pipe.
In partnership with DFO, NCES volunteers cleared sediment deposits, removed landslide materials, refurbished a forestry road, installed an access gate, built a hatchery, and salvaged and reconnected pipes. They then began incubating, raising and releasing wild salmon back into the environment, some 20 million pinks to date.
Pinks were brought back to levels not seen since the 1950's and large numbers of coho and cutthroats found refuge in the restored watershed area.
The water board, however, became concerned about licenses, boundaries and liability should the salmon fry die.
In 2009, it informed DFO that water being diverted into the hatchery from "the Nile Creek water supply system" is "out-of-compliance."
Representatives from NCES, DFO and the Ministry of Environment met with the water board. DFO provided assurances that the water board would not be held responsible for any salmon mortality and agreed to submit a water license application on behalf of NCES (licenses aren't usually issued to volunteer groups). DFO also asked the water board to develop a joint operations, maintenance and 'use of water supply' agreement.
The Ministry of Environment authorized the water board to supply water to the hatchery until a formal agreement was reached.
Last month, however, the water board sent a letter to DFO, reminding them that extension period is about to end April 30 and that an "agreement must be in place so we can continue to supply water to the hatchery."
"No water means no fish," Kirkby said. "We're caught in a bureaucratic deadlock because we don't qualify to hold a water license but the water board's chair, Gordon Lundine, insists we produce a license or the hatchery water will be cut-off."
If that happens, he said, the fry, still too small to be released, will die.
http://www.ramblingfisherman.com/2011/04/nile-creek-hatchery-in-danger-of-being-closed/
Baby pinks may drown in red tape
Pamela Suzanne Smyth, Special to Oceanside Star
Published: Thursday, April 14, 2011
Never mind hooks and climate change; red tape may kill some 1.5 million salmon fry in the Nile Creek hatchery.
The Qualicum Bay Horne Lake Waterworks District has told the Nile Creek Enhancement Society it needs to get a water license by April 30 or "the hatchery will be shut down," says NCES past-president Ken Kirkby.
The water district used to draw drinking water from Nile Creek but stopped after switching to wells.
Pipes leading from Nile Creek to the NCES hatchery. The water is used during the incubation stage and in fish tanks that hold the young fry. The water is then recycled back into the creek.
In 1995, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans received approval from the QBHL water board to build an egg incubator and tie into the retired potable water line. In 1998, to build side channels, the water board also agreed to allow access to an upstream intake pipe.
In partnership with DFO, NCES volunteers cleared sediment deposits, removed landslide materials, refurbished a forestry road, installed an access gate, built a hatchery, and salvaged and reconnected pipes. They then began incubating, raising and releasing wild salmon back into the environment, some 20 million pinks to date.
Pinks were brought back to levels not seen since the 1950's and large numbers of coho and cutthroats found refuge in the restored watershed area.
The water board, however, became concerned about licenses, boundaries and liability should the salmon fry die.
In 2009, it informed DFO that water being diverted into the hatchery from "the Nile Creek water supply system" is "out-of-compliance."
Representatives from NCES, DFO and the Ministry of Environment met with the water board. DFO provided assurances that the water board would not be held responsible for any salmon mortality and agreed to submit a water license application on behalf of NCES (licenses aren't usually issued to volunteer groups). DFO also asked the water board to develop a joint operations, maintenance and 'use of water supply' agreement.
The Ministry of Environment authorized the water board to supply water to the hatchery until a formal agreement was reached.
Last month, however, the water board sent a letter to DFO, reminding them that extension period is about to end April 30 and that an "agreement must be in place so we can continue to supply water to the hatchery."
"No water means no fish," Kirkby said. "We're caught in a bureaucratic deadlock because we don't qualify to hold a water license but the water board's chair, Gordon Lundine, insists we produce a license or the hatchery water will be cut-off."
If that happens, he said, the fry, still too small to be released, will die.
Last edited by a moderator: