Inside Passage 2009

Thanks to everyone who came out for our slideshow last night at REI.  We had over 80 people!!  And had lots of great questions.  Thank you for the donations, which will be passed on to Living Oceans Society.

If you have any suggestions for how we could improve future slideshows, please email us.  Or if you have any questions we didn’t cover last night or just want to go paddling some time, email us at:
philandapryle@elevatedattitude.com

And an update on the salmon provided by Farmed and Dangerous:

Victory! Massive new net-cage salmon farm proposal denied

A proposal by Grieg Seafood to put in a massive new salmon farm along a migratory route at Gunner Point in the northern Georgia Strait has been denied! The Strathcona Regional District’s decision to restrict the proliferation of open net-cages on this important migration route has sent a clear message to industry that closed containment is the only acceptable direction for the aquaculture industry in BC. Read more»

British Columbians set to walk for wild salmon

In the streams and rivers of BC, the wild salmon migration has begun and citizens across the province are gearing up for a migration of their own. Initiated by researcher and wild salmon activist Alexandra Morton, the Get Out Migration will focus on bringing widespread demand for change to open net-cage industrial fish farming out into the open at the same time as our vulnerable wild salmon are migrating to the ocean. Read more»

First Nations group wants net-cage farms out!

Over the past year, CAAR has been travelling in the Fraser and Thompson River Basins, meeting with representatives of a number of Indigenous Nations to share information about the potential danger to out-migrating juvenile salmon as they pass by open net-cage salmon farms in the northern Georgia Strait. We have been well received and heard grave concerns that net-cage farms may be partly responsible for the loss of wild salmon – an essential part of the land and culture. Read more»

Weigh in on international standards for salmon farming

The Salmon Aquaculture Dialogue (SAD), a science-based forum initiated by World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in 2004 to engage NGOs and the world’s largest aquaculture companies, is working to set international standards for salmon farming. CAAR has been actively involved in this multi-stakeholder dialogue to help develop rigorous standards that minimize or eliminate the key environmental and social impacts of salmon farming. Read more»

View details and register at:

http://www.rei.com/event/3933/session/4583

registration not required.  Hope to see you there!

Date: Fri, April 16, 2010
Time: 7pm
Location: REI, Boulder, CO

We’ll share pictures and stories from our 1,200 mile trip from Gig Harbor, Washington to Glacier Bay, Alaska, answer questions, and talk about the issues facing the wild Pacific salmon.

Check out our recap on Kokatat’s blog:

http://blog.kokatat.com/index.php/go-wild-expedition-presents-first-slideshow-2220/

A big thanks to Justin and Carla at Ed’s Cantina for hosting our first slideshow!

Just a quick reminder that we’ll be presenting a slideshow on our Inside Passage trip tonight!

Date: Thurs, Feb 25, 2010
Time: 7:00 PM
Location: Ed’s Cantina, Estes Park, CO (map)

We’ll share pictures and stories from our 1,200 mile trip from Washington to Glacier Bay, Alaska, answer questions, and talk about the issues facing the wild Pacific salmon.

Let’s Thank Target!

Target’s decision to drop net-cage farmed salmon from their stores across the United States proves the power of our collective voice as consumers demanding sustainable products and business policies. Your support in this campaign has helped pressure corporations to change. Take this opportunity to celebrate a victory and vocalize your appreciation for Target’s decisive action!

Send an email or fax to Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel, thanking him for acknowledging the destructive environmental impacts of the open net-cage salmon farming industry and making this major contribution to the sustainable seafood movement. Cut and paste the text below or send your own words of appreciation.

Below is an email you can send if you would like to show your support for their decision:
Dear Gregg Steinhafel,

I applaud Target’s recent decision to discontinue the sale of farmed salmon in all stores across the United States.

Acknowledgement of the impacts of net-cage salmon farming by a major retailer and the subsequent removal of this product from your stores is a huge step forward in the sustainable seafood movement.

It is this kind of corporate responsibility that consumers are increasingly expecting from the businesses they rely on, and I happily commend Target for showing such leadership.

Sincerely,

I’m very pleased to let you know about an opportunity to get the message about sustainable seafood out to an important national audience. To do so, we need your help.

Whole Foods Market recently tested a pilot program, in partnership with the Monterey Bay Aquarium, to promote sustainable seafood choices to its customers in a few select stores.

Now’s our chance to help persuade Whole Foods Market to make this a permanent and national program.  Click here to jump immediately to help!  It only takes about 10-20 seconds.

Using the Seafood Watch recommendations, Whole Foods will label wild-caught seafood in their case so consumers will be able to tell at a glance if a wild-caught product is a Monterey Bay Aquarium “Best Choice” or otherwise.

Please take action today and ask the president of Whole Foods Market in your region to adopt this program so that consumers across the nation can make good choices for healthy oceans.  It only takes about 10-20 seconds.

Curious what’s happening with the salmon?  We were pleased to learn that Marine Harvest (they owned the majority of the salmon farms that we paddled by during our Inside Passage Kayak Expedition) has requested federal funding for a closed-containment trial.  It is great to hear that one of the biggest farmed salmon producers is considering switching from open-net pens, which allow parasites and waste to flush directly into the ocean infecting wild salmon, to closed-containment, which would prevent pollution.

Marine Harvest requests federal funding for closed containment

In an exciting development in the final days of 2009, Marine Harvest Canada (MHC) sent a letter to Gail Shea, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), that included a request for support and funding for a closed containment pilot project. Read more>>

Esteemed scientists advise removal of farms along wild salmon migration routes

Early last month, a think tank of scientists gathered at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver to discuss possible causes of the Fraser River sockeye collapse and urgent next steps needed to protect this iconic species. The group released a statement noting that the 2009 return was the lowest in 50 years and that the productivity of Fraser River sockeye has been declining since the mid-1990s to levels so low that they are almost unable to replace themselves. Read more>>

Sea lice out of control in Norway

Salmon farms in Norway are experiencing explosive increases in sea lice, likely a result of growing resistance to chemical treatments for the removal of the parasite. This increase is severely threatening the survival of migrating juvenile wild salmon. Read more>>

On August 21, 2009, Apryle Craig and Phil Magistro paddled the last few strokes into Glacier Bay National Park, completing their 111 day journey on the Inside Passage. The “Go Wild Expedition” began on May 2, 2009 in Gig Harbor, WA and covered 1,251 miles through Washington, up the wild coast of British Columbia, and along the panhandle of Alaska.

One of the primary goals of the expedition was to examine the issues that are thought by the scientific community to be contributing to the localized extinction of pink and chum salmon along the British Columbia coast, specifically the open-net farming of non-native Atlantic salmon. To meet this goal, the pair began with background reading on salmon history, life cycle, and modern challenges. The couple also had dialogue with various involved parties, including discussion of closed containment with a representative from the BC Salmon Farmers Association, correspondence with a Norwegian citizen about awareness in Norway (where most of the BC salmon farms are based) regarding the issues surrounding salmon farming, analysis of information provided by a manufacturer of closed containment systems, and recommendations from the staff of the Living Oceans Society.

Actually paddling the Inside Passage proved more difficult than either partner had imagined. “At 2 miles per hour, the world goes by very slowly,” says Magistro. Strong headwinds in the Johnstone Strait slowed progress, and communication with the outside world tapered off as the pair made their way into the wilder parts of British Columbia. Muir said it best, however, that wilderness can “heal and cheer and give strength to body and soul alike.” The Go Wild team hit their stride in central British Columbia, as they began to increase their mileage and take fewer rest days. Hearty, delicious meals fueled the duo, and paddling big storm swells around Cape Caution in the Queen Charlotte Sound inspired confidence. Blue skies for much of the summer made sunburn a greater concern than hypothermia. When bad weather, rough conditions, and fatigue set in, the team was thankful for their Kokatat drysuits, Current Designs kayaks, and Werner paddles. Furthermore, Magistro and Craig took heart in the exceptional kindness and hospitality offered by locals and fellow travelers all along the route.

Salmon are ubiquitous on the Inside Passage, and their presence pervaded the entire expedition. As such, Magistro and Craig enjoyed plentiful opportunities for salmon study, beginning with a stop at a wild salmon smokehouse in Washington. They enjoyed copious discussion with local residents, fisherman, and paddlers along the route, as well as a study session at the Living Oceans Society office in Sointula. The pair hoped to tour a working salmon farm near Campbell River, however, they passed through the region before the start of organized tours and a representative of the BC Salmon Farmers Association was unable to return their calls in time. However, they did have the opportunity to paddle near a host of working fish farms near Quadra Island and discuss farm density, fish habits, and health with a staff person at one of the farms. Magistro and Craig did not personally witness any problematic behavior on the part of the salmon farms, nor did they observe trash that could be linked directly to a farm. However, they were struck by the presence of what appeared to be abandoned fish farms as well as the amount of detritus, abandoned machinery, plastic, and rope found on the beaches in southern British Columbia, likely resulting from a combination of logging, passing ships, commercial fishing, and salmon farming.

Further north, the team became intimate with wild salmon. Traveling by kayak through massive schools of returning adult salmon, the “whump-splash” of piscine missiles launching out of the water and crash landing mere feet from their kayaks became a daily occurrence as the spawning season started in earnest. They observed salmon traveling upstream to spawn all along the coast from central British Columbia to Glacier Bay. On Admiralty Island, they explored on foot a salmon stream thick with pink salmon, strewn with dead and dying fish, and liberally peppered with grizzly tracks and scat.

Never far from the wild salmon were the host of fisherman pursuing them, with gillnets, trollers, and purse seines. Encounters with sport and commercial fishermen provided frequent opportunities to discuss opinions on salmon farming and its apparent effects on wild salmon. That salmon farming is almost universally opposed by fisherman, their families, and residents of fishing towns was not entirely surprising, though it seemed that these adverse opinions stem equally from competition for market share from farmed salmon and from their environmental impacts on wild salmon.

Wild and domestic salmon were not the only creatures keeping the Go Wild team company; frequent wildlife encounters also provided inspiration on the long paddle north. Some of the wildlife highlights were watching throngs of humpback whales migrating through the Fitz Hugh Sound near Bella Bella, BC, losing count of bald eagles on a daily basis, witnessing a humpback breach eighteen times in a row near Wrangell, warily avoiding close grizzly bear encounters on Admiralty Island, dodging a playful sea otter in Icy Strait, and enjoying daily visits by curious harbor seals and Stellar sea lions.

While there are arguments on both sides of the salmon farming issue, by August both paddlers agreed that salmon farming has significant negative impacts. Juvenile mortality possibly resulting from parasitic infections originating in open-net salmon farms is just the most recent of two centuries of abuse: logging impacts from “splash dams” and improper waste disposal, gold dredges reworking entire streambeds, tremendous commercial fishing pressure, and massive dam projects. However, this issue may be the proverbial straw on their humped backs.

Since the end of the expedition, research has implicated the salmon farms Magistro and Craig paddled by in the Okisollo region in the recent (and massive) collapse of the Fraser River sockeye. However, awareness of these issues outside of a very narrow geographic band along the Pacific Coast appears to be almost nil. It seems that the problems could be largely mitigated through scientific analysis, informed governance, common sense, and educated consumerism. The team hopes that in writing about the journey, performing slideshows, and discussing these issues they can continue to raise funds for the preservation of wild salmon through the Living Ocean Society and awareness of the issues among the general population. Says Craig, “I hope that after hearing our story, people will consider what types of salmon to put on their table with a greater understanding of where that fish came from and how it lived in or interacted with the natural environment.”

Traveling the Inside Passage by kayak is an intriguing experience, difficult beyond belief but at the same time incredibly rewarding. The expedition could never have come together and would not have meant as much without the support of friends, family, sponsors, and all the amazing folks who lent a helpful hand and kind words along the way. Kayaking to Alaska was an accomplishment for the pair, and provided both with greater respect for the natural world, time for reflection and personal growth, and the chance to become very intimate with a fascinating and beautiful part of the world. They are proud of their achievement and are looking forward to carrying the lessons learned on the Inside Passage into “civilized” life, and hopefully the next adventure.

Our expedition was featured on thereeftank.com.  Check them out for forums and interesting articles about marine life.