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PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND FISH KILL
Prince Edward
Island officials are investigating whether the province's potato
industry is killing its fish.More than 12,000 dead and decaying
fish have been collected from Prince Edward Island's lakes and
rivers over the past two weeks. "It might be reasonable to say
the actual number [of dead fish] is three times that, " Bruce
Raymond, a Department of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Environment
spokesman, said. "If we picked up 12,000, there's a hell of a
lot more than that. " The fear is that PEI's burgeoning potato
industry is eroding the soil, making it easy for pesticides and
other farm chemicals to drain into water systems, especially
after rainfalls. The dead fish have been found at several sites,
including the Wilmot River, where more than 6,100 were collected
during the weekend. The province has had 17 smaller fish kills
dating back to 1994. All but one have been attributed to
farm-chemical runoff. "We have a major soil-erosion problem in
PEI," Kate McQuarrie of the environmental group Island Nature
Trust said Tuesday. "We've been having fish kills for the last
six or seven years."
Several years ago, the government
agreed to take several steps — including the creation of agricultural buffer
zones and passing crop-rotation laws — to reduce the problem. However, many
measures have yet to be introduced. The past two years have seen little rain,
which has reduced the use of pesticides. However, this year the rains have
returned and the fish have been dying in large numbers. "It is alarming," said
Mr. Raymond, who added that the issue is a top priority for the government. The
problem also affects PEI's recreational-fishing industry, which is dwarfed by
the province's potato industry. A 1999 report by the Atlantic Salmon Federation
pins the dead-fish problem on potato farmers, and it says that farming practices
must change.
"Potato production has almost
doubled in the past 10 years and farmers are slow to implement soil-conservation
practices," the report says. Up to four million tonnes of soil end up in
streams, along with chemical residue, the report says. "Exposed soil means soil
erosion and chemical spray means water-borne toxins." Several years ago,
stakeholders come up with recommendations meant to curtail the problem; however,
not all those suggestions have been implemented. Mr. Raymond said the province
must determine whether existing policies are enough. Counting the dead fish is
difficult because by the time officials reach the affected areas many fish have
decayed. In addition to the 6,100 dead fish collected from the Wilmot this
weekend, 1,500 were found in another watercourse. On July 10, 4,500 were
collected from the Wilmot. Most were brook trout, lake trout and sticklebacks.
By COLIN
FREEZE
From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
Tuesday,
July 23
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