Salmon Kills And Gravel Mining

In the Fraser Valley, a world removed from Vancouver, local papers followed livid fishermen and environmentalists on a near daily basis. To many on the riverbank, the Big Bar incident was the latest outrage committed by an industry seemingly indifferent to the survival of salmon, sturgeon and anything else reliant on the floodplain environment for life. But most of the vitriol was reserved for the Federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), the federal body entrusted with protecting fish and fish habitat. "Heads should roll at DFO over this," said ex-DFO habitat biologist Otto Langer to the Chilliwack Progress on March 15. "In a sense, they're putting the coyote in charge of the chicken coup…[the gravel industry's] only real obligation is to make money, it's not to protect the environment." The March episode at Big Bar illustrates the clash of widely diverging views regarding the benefit of large-scale gravel extraction from the Fraser River. To some, it's a dishonest cash grab for industry, a scourge on the earth and water; to industry and government, it is a creator of jobs and tool to protect property and people from the next great flood. The only thing that is certain in this entire heated exchange is that southwest British Columbia needs more gravel and needs it soon. http://thetyee.ca/News/2006/04/19/SalmonKillsMining/ [Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on April 23, 2006]

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