The Canaries in our Waters

Sometimes, a single newspaper can tell a larger tragic story
without even intending to do so.

Such was the case on Friday, August 28th, 2014, when The Telegram featured several disturbing environmental pieces.

The first was front-page story of Gannets in Cape St. Mary's abandoning their young chicks in nests, leaving them to starve. According to seabird biologists, Bill Montevecchi, something similar happened two years ago and he calls the behaviour "extreme".

Over on page A5, another baffling find in our waters. Recreational divers fishing for scallops near Change Islands and Fogo Island found empty scallops in not one, but nine different locations.  A similar eerie find occurred less than a year ago in Port au Port area where divers there found high mortality within scallop shells and with rock crab.

One doesn't have to be a scientist to sense that something may be amiss in our waters. Are these findings the canary in the coal mine for our oceans? Are these unusual outcomes telling us something that we are overlooking?  Are there other unreportable environmental quirks happening that could lead to a comprehensive picture of what is affecting our watery coal mine like overfishing, pollution and ocean acidification?

Most importantly WHO is investigating to try and get to the bottom of both of these incidents and others.  The answer may lie in the same paper - this time on the editorial page in very insightful piece called "Science Inc."

This editorial highlights once again the war on science that Horrible Harper has launched since he landed in the PM's chair.  From slashing scientific budgets to undermining the independence of scientists, this corporate creature continues to drive a profit agenda, at the expense of the environment. His recent Aquaculture regulations attests to this reckless approach.

As the editorial so rightly states "Science should exists as a service to all facets of society, including environmental protection."

It goes on with a more powerful message "The world is more complex than oil and jobs."

It was telling in the scallop story that DFO, upon hearing of the empty shells, asked local  divers to bring in samples, rather than launching a full-scale investigation themselves. It's like the police saying  "Bring in the body - we'll have it analysed."

The editorial points out that the decimation of the East Coast fishery shows the federal government does not have the right stuff, nor the right moral fabric to take care of our fish and our waters.

Tragedies are happening. The canaries are dying.

And there is little or no stewardship priorities in the political corridors of DFO. 

But future generations depend on what we do today.  So do what you can.

Speak up 
Vote up
Vote out

Be on the right side of history.