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Fishing for answers
Opinion | Calgary Herald | Opinion | September 21, 2010
Read the full article on the originating site
W e hope that federal Environment Minister Jim Prentice is committed to investigating the so-called “mutant” fish pulled from the Athabasca River downstream of the oilsands and recently displayed at a press conference in Edmonton. The lesions and golf ball-sized tumours are not pretty to look at. “Not things you’d like to see on your plate when you go to a restaurant,” aquatics ecologist David Schindler said in a height of understatement.
He is among the prominent scientists, First Nations leaders, doctors and the mayor of the Wood Buffalo municipality that includes Fort McMurray who support a letter sent to Prime Minister Stephen Harper last week requesting an independent study of the river.
Their concerns must not be dismissed or taken lightly. There is too much at stake in the oilsands for it not to be as environmentally pure as it can be. If the Alberta government relies too heavily on industry monitoring as has been suggested, that must change. If for no other reason than optics, the foxes must not be left guarding the henhouse, not matter how tame and responsible the foxes.
Are the oilsands to blame for the diseased fish? That certainly was the implication at the press conference, which came the same day three U.S. senators were in Alberta looking at oilsands impacts. It does not look good, but some perspective is in order.
Lesions are common in fish populations around the world. Outbreaks have occurred in Japan, Australia, in Chesapeake Bay, along the U.S. mid-Atlantic coast and in the Caloosahatchee River basin in southwest Florida around Fort Myers — all with supporting photos as equally as disturbing as those circulated of the Athabasca fish. A common cause is a fungus known as Aphanomyces invadans which can be caused naturally by unusual weather conditions, including warm temperatures creating a deluge of nutrients.
Ulcerative lesions can occur on fish where there is no industry. “Disease outbreaks and mortality occur naturally in all wild populations. What causes concern, however, is when huge numbers (i. e., hundreds of thousands) of fish exhibiting lesions, morbidity, or death occur in a relatively short time period,” researchers at the University of Maryland reported in the late 1990s. Exhaustive investigation by the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources’ Marine Resources Division and Auburn University concluded that rashes and lesions occurred on fish stressed by a culmination of natural environmental changes.
It may well be that the oilsands are responsible, or not. If they are the cause, the problem must be fixed. One First Nations leader said it is time for the Alberta government to step aside and let Ottawa take over. Regardless of jurisdictional oversight, only a credible independent review will suffice.
Tagged with: alberta, fish, environmental pollution, first nation, toxics
