Thursday, March 4, 2010

Alexandra Morton, Salmon Queen



Well friends, meet my hero, Alexandra Morton, a woman who has dedicated her life to the survival of Wild British Columbia Salmon, no gold medals,no silver,no bronze, no directorships in her offing from foreign corporations, just an unbridled passion for our BC Salmon.


I have no words that can truly describe her dedication, but emotionally, I know what she feels, I get shivers of excitement whenever I see Coho Salmon leap out of the water or big Tyee Salmon swirling on the surface, my dad took me fishing when i was knee high to a grasshopper, we fished at places like Gower point,Salmon rock, Gibsons gap, all over Howe Sound, the marina`s were alive with boaters,fisherman, Horshoe bay boat rentals from Sewells Marina, I can`t describe the abundance of Salmon, my favorite food is fresh baked Salmon on a bed of white rice with a smidge of butter, a simple pure meal,nothing fancy.


But Salmon are far more than food to me, I have thousands of memories of mom,dad and my sisters boating,fishing, there is nowhere on the coast I can go without all those memories flooding into my mind.


In the 80s the fish started to vanish, no more Howe sound Coho, Howe sound Chinook Salmon became so scarce overnight, Pender Harbour Salmon vanished,one by one everywhere on the inner coast the Salmon seemed to vanish, we started fishing on the West Coast where Salmon were still plentiful, but sadly the West Coast Salmon have fallen off a cliff, and it`s not from sports fisherman over fishing, the price we pay for Salmon, ferry fares,fuels,boat maintenance,supplies, trailers,believe me, it probably cost us $50 dollars a pound minimum for the fish we caught, that price goes up every year with fewer and fewer fish, there have been many reasons for the collapse of the Salmon, forestry,unregulated forestry killed millions of Salmon, mining has poisoned millions of fish, development and habitat destruction took it`s toll as well.


Regulations,fines and compliance helped stop the habitat destruction, fish farms were but in their infancy back then,no one paid much attention, so at the time forestry regulations were getting enforced and Salmon farms were under higher scrutiny along came Gordon Campbell, the deregulator, the man who looks the other way while the corporation rapes the environment.


You know friends, you can`t force someone to care about Wild Salmon, either they mean something to you or they don`t, Gordon Campbell doesn`t care about Salmon, water, Eagles, Whales, the man just doesn`t care, who will be responsible for killing the last 2 wild Salmon in BC? ....Marine Harvest, no,they aren`t responsible, Gordon Campbell has allowed the fish farmers into our waterways, he`s allowed them to expand exponentially, despite report after report citing the harm fish farms are having on the entire eco system, Alexandra Morton, jeez, how big is her heart, how many setbacks can she endure without losing faith, we just had an Olympic games, our athletes performed great, BCers and Canadians across Canada took to the streets and cheered and waved flags, they cried and screamed at every ski slalom, they gasped at every shot the Americans took on our Canadian goal, but in the scheme of life, the big picture, skiing down a mountain, speeding around a frozen loop, 10 years of training and a couple of Olympics and their done, the medal winners will get multi million dollar endorsements and lucrative job offers and....


And Alexandra Morton, I could walk the streets and ask a hundred people who she is and all I get is a shoulder shrug, what colour medal do you give to the woman who saved Wild Salmon in British Columbia, because friends, Alexandra Morton is winning, I can sense it in her writings, her court wins, Target foods have stopped using Farmed Salmon, no more aquaculture licenses are being issued in BC, yes, little steps, little bit bigger steps and soon she will be galloping, what can I say to Alexandra to show my appreciation, what can I do, I can write(sort of) .....


There was another victory on Tuesday for Alexandra Morton, there was a Sea Lice study the government did in 2004 which showed how sea lice infestations were occurring, Gordon Campbell has withheld that report, similar to the toxic air report Gordon Campbell withheld which endangered countless lives, like I said friends, Gordon Campbell doesn`t care,he never will,it`s his corporate ideology, I personally think Gordon Campbell is criminally insane, those buggy eyes, I thought at one time Gordon Campbell would resign after the olympics, I think Campbell isn`t going anywhere,he will have to be dragged out of office kicking and screaming.


Read the story here, the Government has 30 days to release the sea lice study, http://www2.canada.com/albernivalleytimes/news/story.html?id=4b7be46f-58cb-4267-8454-87621544a9e5
Can you imagine, a sea lice infestation report that was completed in 2004 and Gordon Campbell has refused to release the study, the office of freedom of information has ordered the release, what kind of human being refuses to tell a town that their air is toxic, what kind of person refuses to release a damning sea lice study, well, a person not fit to live with us humans, a man who does nothing but lie and destroy species, a man Tzeporah Berman gave an award too, what happens to people, Berman chained herself to trees in a rain forest and now she has chained herself to Gordon Campbell,Plutonic power and Marine Harvest, meanwhile Alexandra Morton fights our war practically un-noticed by society, no she didn`t slide down a hill on a skateboard, she didn`t spend 40 seconds on a skeleton, she didn`t shoot the puck in the net, Alexandra Morton saved a species of Salmon,preserved an eco-system, Alexandra Morton taught me to care,fight and never say never, for that I nominate her for.
The Greatest Canadian!
The Straight Goods
Cheers-Eyes Wide Open

14 comments:

Crankypants said...

There was another bit of good news regarding wild versus farmed salmon courtesy of CTV tonight. They have been running a series on food this week and today they ran a segment on the quality of our wild salmon versus the farmed crap. Well lo and behold, wild salmon topped farmed salmon in all categories except for fat content. Apparently the fact that farmed salmon has more fat content means that one gets more Omega-3 fatty acids. But with that comes a price in that farmed salmon also contain much higher levels of PCBs. They also had some medical type who stated that the human body has no way of eliminating PCBs from the body once ingested and seeing as PCBs promote certain cancers, one must wonder why anyone would consume anything such as farmed salmon. Of course they did also feature a spokeslady representing the aquaculture industry doing her damage control schtick, which was pretty lame. Finally, they had a nutritionist who stated that eating wild salmon was the best option, but if one could not afford it then farmed salmon was better than none. I somehow think that this nutritionist must have graduated at the bottom of her class. Why would one consume farmed salmon for minimal benefits and risk the dangers associated with PCBs in the process?

Cam

Evil Eye said...

This lady should win the Order of Canada! Oh yes, she is defying the government in order to save the wild salmon, thus she is an enemy of the state.

Leah said...

Alexandra is the epitome of what an environmentalist should be. A true heroine, to many including me. If I'm ever fortunate enough to fish the Iron Mines around Lund again - I'll do it with her in mind and heart.

It must drive Campbell nuts to know there is no price high enough to buy her integrity...unlike Suzuki and Berman. With any luck they'll fade away into the woodwork when their political hero does his final face plant. Dare we hope that might be soon?

Anonymous said...

On another note I see Gordon (Korsakoffs) Campbell and his gang of misfits have raided ICBC and taken $ 400 something million to pay down the Owelympic debt. God ive had it with this peice of you know what. time to start posting material in our communities on this crook. Anyone in ?

Kim said...

Ms. Morton is my hero too, and I think, the Greatest Canadian. If I were PM, she would be my minister of DFO and Richard Hebda would be Forest minister.

Grant G said...

On CKNW...Bill Good stated and I quote...

"John Furlong and Jack Poole should be given the order of Canada award for their oustanding work bringing and staging the Olympic games"

Yea right!!!1 A great Canadian Furlong, 5 years of being treated like royalty spending taxpayers money....

People have their priorities confused, and who won the Greatest Canadian contest several years ago...

Wasn`t it Don Cherry the hockey guy,or was it Bobby Orr the hockey player?

Sheesh

jaydee said...

My thanks goes to Alexandra Morton for all her hard work. I would think she has received many threats but stayed the course. A great and brave lady.

Anonymous said...

Grant, that dumbass Carole James also just said the same thing about Furlong -

"I want to express our appreciation to John Furlong. If there's anyone who deserves a vacation and a rest, it's John Furlong right now."

"I think in fact the leadership being shown by the Olympic committee and by Furlong is in fact just the kind of leadership that we need in B.C."

http://communities.canada.com/VANCOUVERSUN/blogs/viewfromtheledge/archive/2010/03/02/carole-james-on-john-furlong-is-that-your-final-word.aspx

What a twit! And nothing about Alexandra Morton.

Grant G said...

1:45 PM...I understand why you would be mad at Carole james but....

John Furlong has been put on such a pedestal by the Media,by the BC Liberals and swallowed "hook,line and sinker" by the public..
It wouldn`t do her any good to diss Furlong...

Furlong is/was nothing but a competent employee,nothing more,nothing less...

I am not trying to defend Carole James,she is a disappointment,however it would do Carole nothing but harm to slag Furlong.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Grant! You have a certain way of putting everything into perspective!

kootcoot said...

Grant, believe it or not it was Tommy Douglas, as the father of National Healthcare that won the Greatest Canadian. His victory restored my hope that the majority of Canadians might actually get it.

Leah, it is almost insulting to mention Alexandra Morton and those twits Suzuki and Berman on the same page, much less same paragraph or sentence. I will admit Mr. Suzukin over the years has done a lot to educate people to environmental issues, but he is either going senile or has been bought by the Campelloids today. Or as I once suggested elsewhere, he should launch a suit to recover the tuition charges from his education.

Grant G said...

Thanks Kootcoot, I looked it up after my comment,indeed is was Tommy Douglas,the man who got us pubilc healthcare...Funny stuff,Gordon Campbell/Kevin Falcon are beating the drum that healthcare is un-affordible...I was surprised with David Berner,he agrees with Falcon on Healthcare..

John Macolm yesterday on NW...Did a rant on how health spending keeps going up and up and up,and we have to start charging more and more or cut services...

I fired off a couple of emails to him,just to remind him that universities pay more to the BC government than all corporate taxes combined from the likes of the highly profitable..Telus,Ecana gas,Tech comenco,...

And how less of GDP in BC is spent on healthcare today than a decade ago, I reminded him about $600 million for BC Place roof, lowest minimum wage in Canada, MSP going up,Hydro rates up 7% last year,5% the year before,9% this year and another 24% being asked for next year and the year after...He ignored it..

He has his marching orders...

And,how much is healthcare paying for the massive spike in diabetes(coke/pepsi/Mcdonalds) and cancers,like breast cancer spikes,and Gordon Campbell conceals damning air quality reports,cancer rates are highest in Northern BC..Prince George,really high rates,now we know why....

Anonymous said...

Morning everyone, just reading the T.C. about the ice rink in hazleton cold, leaky, water bottles freeze on the benches, at the end of the story its reported that after the budget not one single question asked by the press in the scrum.. i guess everything is great? who needs to question these guys, no question about the largest budget and debt load in B.C. history and not a single question from the press core... how very very sad

Anonymous said...

Please join Alexandra Morton on her 'Get Out Migration' - details online now via: www.salmonaresacred.org