All that time, and DFO wants to blow dam up
One of the most productive coho salmon runs on southern Vancouver Island is likely to be wiped out by a Department of Fisheries and Oceans decision to destroy a dam that was built to conserve salmon, according to a January 28 article in The Times Colonist.
Here's the letter I sent to the editor of the Times Colonist. It was published on Feb 5.
Dear Sir,
When it’s cold and raining – like it was this morning when I was reading the Times Colonist over a cup of latte in a warm café – two hours of unpaid labour outdoors seem like an inconvenience. Repeated over time, and factoring in the kids’ homework, caring for an aging parent, or simply the exhaustion after a hectic work week, it adds up to a real sacrifice.
The Coho run in De Mamiel Creek was rebuilt because thousands of people invested their caring, time and energy in the health of their local stream. Their labour of love and unflagging generosity created true wealth for their community – measurable social and environmental capital.
Now the Ministry of Fisheries and Oceans wants to blow up the dam that prevents the creek from drying up in the summer. It says it cannot afford to pay $ 50,000 for an engineering review of the De Mamiel Creek dam and/or any repairs that may be needed. Yet it has no qualms about the billable hours involved in fighting a federal court decision aimed at protecting resident orca whales, nor is any expense spared in contesting peer-reviewed science by Alexandra Morton and others that shows salmon feedlots harm wild salmon.
Why does DFO begrudge the funds for protecting marine resources and food security in our communities while subsidising activities that are harmful to ocean health? And why are we, the people, letting them get away with it?
Sincerely,
Ana Simeon
Sierra Victoria local group
