Seattle Daily Photo

Pollution creates the deadliest catch. Our fish are sick. Studies show Puget Sound is one of most polluted bodies of water on the West Coast. We have the proof, but local government’s hands appear tied. Why?

Local fish here are loaded with unhealthy toxins pumped into the sound by waterside manufacturing plants, even untreated waste from a hotel in Vancouver, B.C. Fining polluting factories doesn’t work ~ fines are simply added in to the cost of manufacturing and it doesn’t stop habitual offenders. This is not the kind of seafood consumers are clamouring for: it’s wild, native and toxin-free species. In May of 2006 Alaskan Copper River King salmon reached an all-time high of $36 a pound. Most of these fish are already spoken for before they hit the docks in Alaska. The high price underlines the problem of what’s swimming around in our local waters.

“I just would not go in the Duwamish unless I had to — and then if I fell in, I’d get out as fast as possible,” said Jacques White, staff scientist at the environmental group People for Puget Sound.

The problem is it’s all of us. Urban growth is the single biggest threat. Pollution that washes off streets and lawns and farms, gurgles out of failing septic tanks, or flows untreated from flooded storm drains, is taking its toll.

Pollution studies

• A study by Northwest Environment Watch found levels of toxic flame retardants in milk samples donated by nine Puget Sound women at levels 20 to 40 times higher than levels found in European and Japanese women.
• Washington State Department of Health has issued fourteen regional fish consumption advisories and one statewide fish advisory.
• Recent studies have found high levels of PCBs in Lake Washington salmon and high levels of toxic flame retardants (PBDEs) in Puget Sound salmon and harbor seals.
• Levels of PBDEs in Puget Sound orcas are 2-10 times higher than levels found in whales around the whales.

Because of ramped up “consumer demand” for seafood thanks to published studies of its benefits, the oceans around the world are overfished and in trouble. But where there’s a profit to be had….The current administration is pushing to overturn our 1976 Magnuson Act (banning foreign fish mining) to open up our ailing waters to high volume permitting and commercial fishing practices within 1 mile of oil and gas rigs, without conducting the environmental assessment as required by law. Introducing another species and harvesting them from our polluted waters seems to be an exercise only in pulling a profit. And seemingly at odds with Governor Gregoire’s ambitious Puget Sound Cleanup Plan.

California, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia must combine and streamline their water quality control measures. We cannot allow federal government “assistance” that leads to further degradation and depletion of our local resources. We cannot afford to ignore the need for an inter-state coastal cleanup. Local industry depends on clean water. Take action, get involved, and assess carefully what you put down our drains (hair dyes, prescription medications, weed killer, grass fertilizer). It all goes into our native fish.

This entry was posted Tuesday, May 30th, 2006 at 9:39 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.