Environmental Act? What Environmental Act?

Okay, so the picture on here says "the office", well thankfully I am on the replanting side and not the destructive deforestation side of it. Yay for us dirty ass treeplanters. Heh.

So, I have a "technical report" to write for my fisheries ecology class. It has to be on the topic of atlantic fish farming in BC. So I can take any stance I want, but anyone who knows me, and pays attention, already knows I have absolutely nothing good to say about anything that fucks with nature.

Nevertheless, I can come from any angle and really say what I want about it just as long as it follows the structure of a "technical report". So, I am trying to write a bit about it first so as to get my thoughts in line. Sometimes I have a really hard time figuring out my angle. Once I have it, it usually just flows. The thoughts are all there, they just aren't really lined up.

Here goes.....

It is important to clarify one thing first before diving into the topic of Atlantic salmon fish farming in BC. Atlantic salmon, as we commonly know them as, are in fact a member of the trout genus. Additionally, they are, as the name suggests, a species native to the Atlantic ocean.

Fish farming corporations from countries like Norway, Scotland and Chile, have moved their "farms" up here where the conditions are prime and environmental law is transparent. They would probably have colonized Alaska too, but believe it or not, Alaska has prohibited fish farming in its waters. Yes, Americans have us beat on this one. Why have they banned fish farming? Most likely because they trust the studies that were conducted in Scotland and Norway that revealed the direct and devastating impact that fish farms were having on wild fish stocks. They keyed into the fact that soon after the studies, when there were no remaining commercially valued native fish left to "harvest" in Norwegian and Scotish waters, who was coming knocking at their door looking to rent a space on the coastline? Was it too much for the Canadian to resist? At a time when rural coastal BC was suffering from a dwindling forestry industry, which they had come to rely on almost exclusively, the multi-million dollar industry of fish farming couldn't have come at a better time. It wasn't long before the BC government lifted the 1996 moratorium on open-pen fish farming in 2002, only to result in an explosion of fish farms that now blot BC's coastline like the jaw of a kid with bad acne.

Well that's all for now.

Paper Birch, Betula papyrifera

Paper Birch, Betula papyrifera

Section Thirty-five of the Constitution Act, 1982 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Section Thirty-five of the Constitution Act, 1982 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Navajo Nation Government | 1868 Treaty

Navajo Nation Government 1868 Treaty

Species at risk - Northern Abalone

Species at risk - Northern Abalone

Species at risk - Karner Blue

Species at risk - Karner Blue

AUG 8-13

Hi everyone (if anyone),

Time for me to head out to Shambhala Music Festival!! YAY, should be good times.

I'll be back on Monday, and checking out for anything new. PEACE Y'ALL. Check out my bebo site for a cool video.

Nesa7.

Things currently disturbing me:


1. Lack of government response to global warming. You would think some new initiatives to start living a "greener" life would start popping up, but it seems that the government has responded to global warming by doing absolutely nothing about it.



2. Racism and discrimination. Canada is by far the most openly racist and discriminatory country that I have been to. The racism and discrimination I have witnessed in this country is present in all contexts of society from government and public services to the average joe and jane on the street.



3. The Indian Act and Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC). It is absurd that Canadians don't fight for the elimination of the Indian Act due to its violations of human rights, yet they will jump on the band wagon for human rights fights half way around the world. How is that for the pot calling the kettle black?

When will Canada ever admit that Aboriginal peoples have rights and are capable of determining their own destiny?

When will the title "Indian" ever cease to be used? Indians are from India! Get it right.



4. The following political leaders: George Bush, Gordon Campbell, Phil Fontaine, and Stephen Harper.

5. The Government of Canada (for many reasons other than the following). I used to feel a sense of hope and belonging when thinking about Canada. I don't know whether I was just younger and naive or what, because I sure don't feel that way now. This country is becoming more and more like its southern neighbor every year. I used to feel like we were so much different, but now with the Walmarts, McDonalds, pollution, population bursts, homelessness, corruption, increasing crime rates, increasing drug problems, lack of respect for nature, over development, deceitful politicians, etc. I really don't see that there is much difference.

Shouldn't we be trying to do the right thing? Cross Canada and see the continual natural beauty coast to coast. We need to protect what we have by thinking of ways to exist without destroying what is around us. We have to do this on an individual level of course, but we need to steer our government in the right direction also. There needs to be laws against the big kahunas as they are the main destroyers. We need to figure out ways to subside without removing elements of the delicate ecosystem, we are damaging the earth. We underestimate just how sensitive the earth is and it is proving itself now. The change begins with our climate, what other changes do you anticipate as the climate gets warmer and warmer, drier and drier? Does it make sense to continue to sink billions of dollars into the oil and gas industry when we know we need to use other forms of energy to sustain our planet's life? We have the technology; we already know what to do and how to do it so why aren't we? Because people care more about the money they will make than they do about doing what is right. Well money won't mean anything when it's water that is the most valuable thing on earth.

You may feel hopeless, like you won't make a difference, but you can. Here is how:

-start by making every effort to combat global warming in your daily routines:
-shut off lights, computer, all electronics when not using them
-do not idle your car engine
-conserve water
-reuse things
-RECYCLE everything that can be recycled
-make a compost
-buy bulk whenever possible
-stop using air conditioners
-buy a hybrid instead of a fancy gas guzzler
-don't buy unnecessary things
-don't drive if you don't have to
-talk to your friends,kids, relatives enlighten them, form a group
write your local mp a letter about your environmental concerns. demand recycling services if you don't have them already. demand no idle bylaw. protest the stripping of natural resources and the governments investments in industries that are harmful to the environment....ask your government to invest in green energy instead.

KINGCOME INLET (BC COAST)

Me and Tsitsi at Vernon Jubilee Hospital on October 3, 2006
William Patch White's birthday.