'Fish died in minutes' at Port Alice
A marine biologist testified last week he had never seen mortality among fish occur so swiftly as when he carried out tests in 1972 in waters adjacent to the pulp mill town of Port Alice on northern Vancouver Island.
Federal environment department scientist Darcy Goyette told the Pollution Control Board July 17 he was astounded by results of tests conducted with chum salmon fry and herring at varying distances from the mill.
Goyette was testifying during protracted hearings by the board of an appeal by Rayonier Canada Ltd., owners of the mill, against provincial regulations which would require the firm to install anti-pollution equipment over the next five years.
Goyette said that in August last year he placed batches of caged herring in the waters of Nerou-tsos Inlet, into which the mill discharges its sulphite wastes.
Within one day, all herring in batches placed about five miles from the mill site died within 10 minutes. On another occasion, all herring placed more than eight miles distant died within five minutes, Goyette said.
In other tests conducted about the same time, chum salmon fry placed in waters of the inlet at various points up to five miles from the mill suffered 100 percent mortality within a 24-hour period.
Attributing the deaths to oxygen depletion or the presence of chemicals, Goyette said he could "only conclude that is the result of the mill discharge."
Goyette's testimony, backed by evidence obtained through scientific investigation, conflicted directly with evidence given earlier by Port Alice town doctor Dr. Darryl Morris, who asserted the inlet was "teeming with life," and by University of Washington oceanographer Dr. Thomas English, who claimed that echo soundings indicated the inlet supports extensive stocks of fish and other marine life.
Rayonier has said the mill might be closed down for a period if anti-pollution regulations are enforced in the form proposed. Responding to questions earlier this month, company vice-president George Cramer said any final decision on whether or not to close down the operation, and for how long, would be made by the parent company, Rayonier Inc. of New York, itself a subsidiary of the giant U.S.-based monopoly International Telephone and Telegraph.
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• This 170-pound yellowfin tuna was caught off Hawaii by Terry Jacks, a member of The Poppy Family recording group, who had it mounted and then donated it to Vancouver Public Aquarium. Here
he is seen presenting it to curator Gil Hewlett (left) to add to the aquarium's displays, already among the finest on the continent.
UFA WU local sends letter to premier
Fishermen back Iceland's stand
Vancouver Fishermen's Local of the UFAWU has expressed support for Iceland's declaration of a 50-mile fishing limit and strong opposition to the British Conservative government's armed defiance of the new zone.
In a letter to Icelandic Premier Olaf Johannesson outlining the local's views, Vancouver orga-
nizer John Radosevic said it was "outrageous and shameful" that a major power like Britain should "infringe on your right to protect and preserve your natural resources."
Apart from having a "moral obligation" to support Iceland's stand, organized B.C. fishermen believe their own economic in-
terests may be affected by the outcome of the dispute between Iceland and Britain over the extension of fishing limits, Radosevic said.
"The principles we would like to see initiated (by Canadian representatives in negotiations affecting this country's fishing boundaries) are similar to those
you are now fighting for," he said.
Several incidents resulting from Britain's defiance of the 50-mile limit and its use of warships to back up violations of Icelandic waters have taken place within the past two weeks, including two collisions between British naval vessels and Icelandic boats.
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6 THE FISHERMAN
— JULY 27, 1973