Skeena River Estuary, Life-blood Of Our Environment(Move Your Site Petronas)

 This is why Petronas will never get social license to build at their chosen Lelu island site..

Move along Petronas, find another site..

And to you, the people, the public, read, learn, complain, report, protest if you have to, so many comments on various sites about the Petronas offer, almost everyone neglects the environmental issues surrounding the location...

Stop listening to corrupt lazy corporate owned media...The below information is available in more detail in a PDF link below...The PDF file link also has pretty pictures and graphs to go along with all the below data..

Is our environment for sale, when will the people wake up, when all the salmon, all the ocean fish are gone...?

We, the people have to take care of ourselves, take care of the environment, our governments are bought off, corrupt..Christy Clark is a dumb-ass flunkie who tows the corporate line, anything goes for those corporations that give bribes to the BC Liberal party...

Take the time please and read the below data...

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"The Skeena is the second largest river in the province, and one of the longest un-dammed rivers in the world.

The Skeena River estuary is a unique system in that it does not have a single

distinct intertidal delta typical of most estuary systems. Instead, suspended sediments are deposited in shoals along the lower river and the channels which connect the estuary to the openocean, creating a region of extensive mudflats and shallow, intertidal passages.

.

The estuary mudflats and other  intertidal areas have been identified as critical habitats for Skeena River juvenile salmon, as well as important habitat for eulacho nand migratory/wintering water fowl.

Although estuaries provide essential nurseryand juvenile rearing habitats with up to 80%

of coastal wildlife species relying on estuaries during at least one stage of their life history, they frequently occur in areas highly valued for industrial development. In the Skeena River estuary, the Port of Prince Rupert is expanding its already extensive commercial activities. Increased vessel traffic associated with newly proposed terminals, as well as potential oil tanker activity from proposed projects such as the Enbridge Northern Gateway, will also increase the possibility

of spills and other marine accidents.

 Estuaries worldwide are often areas of conflict between human resource need and environmental sustainability. A more holistic approach to habitat protection is required, underpinned by a thorough scientific understanding of the roles and vulnerabilities of the different species and habitats in the estuarine environment. 

 In order to implement this approach, there is a need to better understand the cumulative, and often complex, anthropogenic impacts on estuarine environments.

A number of local environmental organizations and community groups are working together to try to protect the Skeena River estuary from poorly planned over-development, and to establish the framework for a Skeena estuary management plan. As a part of these efforts, the focus of this study was to analyze the habitat in and around the Skeena River estuary in terms of suitability as valuable or critical habitat to juvenile salmonids. Juvenile salmonid habitat in the Skeena River estuary was modeled based on concepts similar to those from the Ecosystem Diagnosis and Treatment (EDT)methodology used for summer and fall chum salmon in the Hood Canal and the Strait of Juan de Fuca

This model can provide a "snapshot", both spatially and temporally, of qualitative changes in habitat attributes as they relate to juvenile salmonid survival. From the model, the following conclusions were made.

The northwest and southwest shores of Kaien Island and the southwest shore of Ridley

Island are poor habitat for all salmonid species as a result of

industrialization and the attendant shoreline straightening and hardening, industrial pollutants, and poor water quality resulting from sewage andindustrial effluents.

x Flora Bank is excellent habitat for epibenthic feeding salmonid species (e.g., pink,chum,and Chinook). It is in the direct path of approximately 331 million juvenile salmon outmigrating from the Skeena River, of which about 279 million are epibenthic feeders. Therefore, both location and habitat quality make Flora Bank an extremely important juvenile salmon rearing area.

x Stapledon Island is a high value habitat for all six salmonid species, and is also in the

direct path of outmigrating Skeena River juvenile salmonids.

x The southwest shore of Lelu Island and Delusion Bay are highly valuable habitats for

neritic feeding species (e.g., Coho, sockeye, and steelhead).

x The shoreline segments in the basins on the east side of Kaien Island

and on southeastshore of Prince Rupert Harbour provide important nursery and rearing habitats for salmonoutmigrating from the local natal streams. While these populations are small, they are important to the overall health and diversity of salmon in the

region.

Chatham Sound (see Figure1) is situated in the northern part of British Columbia, located between Dundas and Stephens Islands and the Tsimpsean Peninsula near Prince Rupert and bordering on Alaska. It is a semi-enclosed basin with an area of approximately 1500 km2, and is influenced by fresh water from two large rivers, the Skeena and the Nass (Trites1956). 


 The Nass River discharges into Portland Inlet, and fresh water flows from there into the northern end of Chatham Sound and eventually out through Dixon Entrance (Tera Planning Ltd.1993). Water from the Skeena River enters Chatham Sound through a series of channels. Approximately 75% of the Skeena River flows equally through Marcus Passage (separating Smith and DeHorsey Islands from Kennedy Island) and Telegraph Passage, while the remaining 25% of the Skeena River flows through Inverness Passage (Trites1956). As a result of the fresh water discharges of the Nass and Skeena Rivers, the whole of Chatham Sound is essentially a large compound estuary(Tera Planning Ltd.1993).Figure 2 shows the regions in Chatham Sound affected byfreshwater outflows from the Skeena and Nass Rivers. 

Generally, estuarine circulation occurs when a large volume of fresh water from a river flows out along the surface at the head of aninlet. As it moves seaward, this layer entrains saline water from the layer beneath it, and carries this entrained water seaward. The loss of water from the lower layer is replenished by a deepwater flow which has a net landward movement. However, as a result of the fresh water influx from two rivers, a highly irregular coastline, and a large horizontal extent, the circulation patterns.

Skeena River Estuary 8

Ocean Ecology in Chatham Sound are considerably more complex than inmost coastal BC inlets (Tera PlanningLtd.1993).

Snowmelt dominates the hydrology of the Nass and Skeena watersheds. Highest freshwater discharge (freshet) for the Skeena and Nass Rivers normally occurs from May through to June(EC2014a; EC2014b;Tera Planning Ltd.1993) as a result of the melting snowpack, with a secondary peak from October through to December caused by rain on snow events (EC2014a;EC2014b). Although present throughout the year, estuarine circulation and the currents produced by this circulation are most pronounced during spring freshet. At this time of year, the amount of freshwater present in Chatham Sound can be 3 to 4 times the mean value (Cameron1948).

 During normal (non-freshet) river discharge conditions, approximately 70% of the Skeena River water moves northward past Tugwell Island, along the Tsimpsean Peninsula to merge with Nass River water (Trites1956). This water then exits Chatham Sound through Dundas Passage,with a smaller amount exiting through Hudson Bay Passage. Only a small proportion (30%) of the Skeena River discharge reaches Dixon Entrance and Hecate Strait through central and southern passages. This northward diversion of the Skeena River is due, in part, to the Corioliseffect, which diverts water to the right of the direction of flow in the northern hemisphere. 

 Nass River water tends to be concentrated along the north shore of Chatham Sound, moving past Wales Island north of Dundas Island into Dixon Entrance. During freshet, fresh water flows are increased through all the passages and channels exiting Chatham Sound. Nass River water

during freshet is thought to extend as far south as Melville Island, where it may interfere with the northern movement of Skeena River water past Dundas Island (Tera Planning Ltd.1993; seeFigure3). The Nass and Skeena Rivers ±

two major Pacific salmon producing rivers ± are unique in having a common estuary.

The Skeena River originates high in the Skeena Mountains of northwestern British Columbia, at the edge of the Spatsizi Plateau, and flows 610km to reach the Pacific Ocean (see Figure 5). Draining a total area of 54,400 km2, the Skeena is the second largest river in the province, and one of the longest un-dammed rivers in the world.

 The Skeena River estuary is a unique system in that it does not have a single distinct intertidal delta typical of most estuary systems (Hoos1975). Suspended sediments from the Skeena River are deposited in shoals along the lowerriver and the channels which connect the estuary to the open ocean. This creates a region of extensive mudflats and shallow, intertidal passages around DeHorsey Island, through Inverness Passage, and between Kitson Island and Lelu Island (Flora Bank; see Figure 4 and Figure 6). Along the delta front, there is a sharp transition from sandy, channel sediment to muddy, deeper ocean basin sediment. 

At the mouth of the river, between Kennedy and Marrack Islands, sandy sediment extends into deeper water, suggesting that sediment deposition there is relatively great(Hoos1975). These deposits in deeper water, which can be up to 40 m thick, result from debris flows down the steep delta front in areas of the delta where rapid sedimentation has occurred(Conwayet al.1996)

The Skeena River estuary has a rich and complex ecosystem. Terrestrial nutrients carried from inland are as by the turbid Skeena River water mix with clear ocean water at the edge of the Skeena plume. This region of mixing, where the water is both rich in nutrients and clear enough to allow sunlight to penetrate, supports prolific populations of phytoplankton (microscopic plant-like organisms).

 These phytoplankton are, in turn, fed on by zooplankton (small animal-likeorganisms). The zooplankton become food for fish. Large eelgrass beds, such Flora Bank, are supported by both the sediments and the nutrients from the Skeena River. Both eelgrass beds and the abundant kelp forests found along the rocky shorelines of the coast provide important nursery, foraging, and spawning areas for fish. Epiphytic zooplankton, which spend their lives associated with the blades of eelgrass or fronds of kelps, also provide an important food source for fish.

 Many species of fish are supported by this ecosystem, including salmon, eulachon, herring, capelin, smelt, sandlance, flounder, halibut, rockfish, and lingcod. 

A Department of Fisheries and Oceans fisheries habitat study identified Inverness Passage, Flora Bank, and DeHorsey Passage, in that order, as critical habitats

for Skeena River juvenile salmon, as well as important eulachon habitat (Higgins and Schouwenburg1973). Abundant fish species, such as herring, eulachon, and salmon, support a wide variety of predators.

Eulachon. The timing of the eulachon run (March) provides a large influx of energy-rich

food into the Skeena River ecosystem at a time when food supplies tend to be low.

Eulachon are important to breeding sea lions, seals, eagles and gulls. In the spring

months when the eulachon are near shore priorto entering spawning rivers, they also comprise a large portion of the dietary intake of salmon,halibut, and sturgeon, as well as hake, dogfish and Pacific cod (Hay & McCarter 2000;Lewis 2001; Stoffels 2001).

x Herring. At all stages of their lives, herring are an important link in marine food webs.

Annual herring spawn events contribute greatly to the overall productivity of the local area. Invertebrates, fish and seabirds, and particularly ducks and gulls, are all predators

of herring eggs. Adult herring are fed upon by fish, sharks, whales, seals, sea lions, and

marine birds. Herring are a considerable proportion of thediet of many commercially

important fish species, such as lingcod, salmon, halibut, Pacific cod, hake, sablefish, and dogfish(Hart 1973; Hay & McCarter 2000;Ardron 2003; DFO 2013d).

X Salmon. Salmon are consumed by many different organisms throughout the various

stages of their life cycle. As juveniles, they are fed on by herons, osprey, terns and gulls, alcids (murres, murrelets, guillemots, puffins, auklets), mergansers, and river otters. As

adults in the open ocean, they are prey for orcas, salmon sharks, harbour seals, sea

lions, and various fisheries. When the spawn, they become food for bears, wolves, bald

eagles, and ravens.

 Even in death, they enrich the ecosystem, as their carcasses feed

juvenile salmon, or in decay, return nutrients back to both the freshwater and terrestrial

components of the Skeena River ecosystem (Cederholmet al.2000;Harvey & MacDuffee 2002.

The estuary mudflats and other intertidal areas have also been identified by the North Coast Wetlands Program as important migratory/winteringwaterfowlhabitat.Several rare species, including the yellow-listed trumpeter swan, which has suffered a significant reduction in range,the blue-listed brant, old squaw and great blue heron,and the red listed western grebe, have all been recorded in thewetlands

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Skeena River Estuary13 


Ocean Ecology

1.1.3 Environmental Concerns

The Port of Prince Rupert has a history of industrial development that started upon the completion of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway in 1914. Skeena Cellulose, a bleached kraft pulp mill locatedon Watson Island, was opened 1951, andwas once the major employer for Prince Rupert.In 1972, the Port of Prince Rupert was declared a National Harbour, and by 1975 ,construction of its first facility, Fairview Terminal, was completed.

Ridley Terminals was constructed in 1984 as a joint venture between the Federal Government and Federal Commerce and Navigation in support of coal developments in northeast British Columbia.

The Prince Rupert Grain terminal was also constructed in 1984.In 2001, Skeena Cellulose closed down, marking a period of slower growth for theregion. However, the Port of Prince Rupert is expanding its already extensive commercial activities(seeFigure7), starting in 2004 when the Northland Cruise Terminal was constructed, and followed in 2007 by the construction of the Prince Rupert Container Terminal(Maher Terminals) at Fairview.

 Many more projects are on the horizon, such as the Pinnacle Renewable Energy pellet export terminal (construction underway), the Ridley Terminal Inc. coal port expansion (construction underway), the Pacific Northwest LNG terminal onLelu Island (construction planned for 2015 to 2018), the Prince Rupert LNG terminal on Ridley Island (construction planned for 2015 to 2020), the Canpotex Potash export terminal (constructionplanned for 2014 to 2017), and the Maher Terminal's Fairview terminal phase 2 expansion project(construction start unknown)

.

Many of these projects, and their associated dredge sites, are concentrated in the areas around southern Ridley Island, Lelu Island, and Flora Bank (seeFigure8). With all of these potential projects on thehorizon, flat land for development, especially land

owned by the Port of Prince Rupert, is in short supply, thus forcing some of the projects intoserious trade-offs between deep-water access and sufficient land for site development. Increased vessel traffic associated with these planned terminals, as well as potential oil tankeractivity from proposed projects such as the

Enbridge Northern Gateway, will also increase the possibility of spills and other marine accidents. Although estuaries provide essential nurseryand juvenile rearing habitats, with up to 80%of coastal wildlife species relyingon estuaries during at leas tone stage of their life history(BCMOE2006), they frequently occur in areas highly valued for industrial development. In 1973, Higgins and Schouwenburg made the following comment with

reference to port development in Prince Rupert.

It can be concluded that, when the factors of fish distribution, food availability, presence of aquatic vegetation and highly variable salinities are considered in combination, the shallow estuarine areas between Porpoise Channel and the mouth of the Skeena River are of high biological significance as a fish (especially juvenile salmon) rearing habitat. Inverness Passage, Flora Bank and De HorseyBank, in that order, are habitats of critical importance for the rearing of juvenile salmon. The construction of a superport at the Kitson Island-Flora Bank sitewould destroy much of this critical salmon habitat.

What has changed in our environment that has now allowed this region to be considered a prime site for industrial development? Estuaries worldwide are often areas of

conflict between human resource need and environmental sustainability. 

 This is further exacerbated by asite-by-site approach tohabitat protection, which often saves sensitive habitat from destruction by one project only to have the same piece of habitatthreatened by a neighboring project. A more holistic approach to habitat protection is required, under pinned by a thorough scientific understanding of the roles and vulnerabilities of the different species and habitats in the estuarine environment. In order to implement this approach, there is a need to better understand the cumulative, and often complex,anthropogenic impacts on estuarine environments.

Study Purpose.

A number of local environmental organizations and community groups are working together to try to protect the Skeena River estuary from poorly planned over-development, and to establish the framework for a Skeena estuary management plan. In order to do this, these various organizations are attempting to address, through research, data analysis, and modeling,issues such as:

x Insufficient knowledge of the locations of many ecologically important, sensitive, and/or

vulnerable habitats.

x Lack of necessary baseline data on concerns such as ecologically important (e.g.,

keystone species), sensitive, and/or vulnerable species, sediment transport, sediment

chemistry, and cumulative impacts, required for sound marine planning.

x Lack of understanding of the processes, such as ocean circulation and

primary and secondary production, which control the distribution of species and habitats within Chatham sound.

x Lack of understanding of how global climate changewill impact Chatham Sound and the Skeena River estuary.

As a part of these efforts, the focus of this study will be to analyze the habitat in and around the Skeena River estuary in terms of suitability as valuable or critical habitat to juvenile salmonids."

 http://skeenawild.org/images/uploads/docs/Skeena_River_Estuary_Juvenile_Salmon_Habitat.pdf

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 Press release LAX KW’ALAAMS BAND
206 Shashaak Street
Lax Kw’alaams, BC, V0V 1H0
Telephone: 250 625 3293
Fax: 250 625 3246
PRESS RELEASE
Wednesday, May 13, 2015

The Project

1. Pacific NorthWest LNG (“PNW”) proposes a liquefied natural gas (“LNG”) project on Lelu Island in the port of Prince Rupert. Natural gas input will be transmitted on a pipeline to be owned by Prince Rupert Gas Transmission (“PRGT”), a subsidiary of TransCanada Limited.
Lelu Island / Flora Bank / Skeena

2. Lelu Island and the adjacent Flora Bank are located entirely in the traditional territory of the Allied Tsimshian Tribes of Lax Kw’alaams (“Lax Kw’alaams”). Lelu Island and Flora Bank are situated in the estuary of the Skeena River. The Skeena River is the second largest salmon producing river in BC.

3. The significance of the Skeena River estuary to area First Nations cannot be overstated. Lax Kw’alaams is bound by the traditional law of all Tsimshian and up-river communities to protect the fisheries resource – including the salmon and all other species – for future generations. This is a first line of defense in respect to the aboriginal food fishery, a fishery which has sustained coastal and upriver first nations through the millennia.

Scientific Standards / Environmental Safeguards

4. The Government of Canada recognized the importance of this specific site in 1977. An LNG project proposed by Dome Petroleum was rejected then for the same reason that makes this site unsuitable now – major fisheries values. This finding confirmed then – 50 years ago – what First Nations have known for generations.

5. CEAA 2012 does not prescribe the standard of science information required for the environmental assessment review. In the absence of a defined federal standard, Lax Kw’alaams employs an international standard of verifiable, replicable field science and expects, at the very least, the proponent and the federal government to meet this standard.

6. Lax Kw’alaams has engaged with PNW since 2011 and has consistently articulated that the proposed LNG Terminal must meet environmental safeguards appropriate for an estuary as important as the Skeena.
2.

7. Lax Kw’alaams has on staff a team of scientists directed to assess the environmental challenges posed by the existing design for movement of LNG from the Terminal. Lax Kw’alaams scientific personnel adhere closely to the international science standards.

8. The proponent has made little effort to harmonize its field methods or its standards of data collection and interpretation with those of Lax Kw’alaams, even though Lax Kw’alaams has offered several times to collaborate with PNW.

9. Lax Kw’alaams recognizes the positive economic impacts for all British Columbians that might result from a positive final investment decision by PNW. Lax Kw’alaams will continue to work with PNW in good faith to find a solution.
Aboriginal Rights and Title

10. The Terminal is planned to be located in the traditional territory of the Lax Kw’alaams. Only Lax Kw’alaams have a valid claim to aboriginal title in the relevant area – their consent is required for this project to proceed. There are suggestions governments and the Proponent may try to proceed with the project without consent of the Lax Kw’alaams. That would be unfortunate.

11. While the benefits agreements concluded by other First Nations with PNW are a fact, they are not remotely determinative in this matter and do not affect the aboriginal rights and title of Lax Kw’alaams.
Governments / PRPA

12. While the significance of the foregoing matters might not be known to British Columbians, they are known generally by the provincial government and the federal government, and specifically by the Prince Rupert Port Authority (“PRPA”) (an agent of the federal government). All levels of government (and their agents) have a responsibility, fiduciary or otherwise, to discharge. To date, it is the considered opinion of the Lax Kw’alaams that there has been indifference to the point of negligence or wilful blindness, or both, by PRPA in respect of the PNW project.

13. Hopefully, the public will recognize that unanimous consensus in communities (and where unanimity is the exception) against a project where those communities are offered in excess of a billion dollars, sends an unequivocal message this is not a money issue: this is environmental and cultural. That unanimity was achieved in three separate community meetings.

14. Lax Kw’alaams is open to business, to development, and to LNG (including PNW). It is not open to development proximate to Flora Bank.
3.

15. Lax Kw’alaams would like to thank publicly the Gitanyow Nation, the Gitxsan Nation and the Skeena Fisheries Commission for their support in this critical decision-making process.

This press release is the official position of the Lax Kw’alaams Band Council.
Mayor Garry Reece
Lax Kw’alaams Band

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Hello media, Global news...CTV news...CBC...CKNW....Vancouver Sun..Globe and Mail..

Why don`t you rat bastards do a little research, report the facts,..

All we heard yesterday was noise from ONE disgruntled voter, a disgruntled voter who admitted the vote was nearly unanimous..

This is why civil disobedience is more and more required, Governments, BC Liberals and Federal Conservatives are corrupt, bought off..

And you lazy corporate owned media only care about obeying your advertisers, who gives a flying fuck about reporting facts..

Keith Baldrey, a journalistic disgrace...Tom Fletcher, a knuckle-dragging corporate whore..

The internet...

The last bastion of journalistic integrity!

The Straight Goods

Cheers Eyes Wide Open