No due diligence for BC government
The Skeena River Watershed is the second largest watershed in BC and supports the second highest abundances of salmon runs in Canada, with populations of all 5 Pacific salmon species, as well as steelhead. Some of the biggest chinook (~120 lbs) and steelhead (~42 lbs) ever recorded were caught in the waters of the Skeena. Pacific Northwest LNG is an international consortium led by Malaysia oil giant Petronas.
If approved by an ongoing federal environment assessment, its $11-billion liquefied natural gas terminal would be built on Lelu Island, in the Skeena River estuary. Between 300 million and 1 billion juvenile salmon utilize this estuary each spring and between 3-10 million adult salmon return in the fall.
A lead scientist helping to survey the population structure of the watershed, Dr Jonathan Moore (Simon Fraser University) stated “...where this facility is proposed contains particularly high abundances and biodiversity of some of the most important salmon species in the Skeena".
These fish provide the local economy with over $100 million from sports- and commercial fisheries, as well as support over 7 different First Nations with food harvests.
The gem of the estuary is the eelgrass-laden Flora bank, where hundreds of millions of juvenile salmon spend 2-3 weeks of their lives before heading to the open ocean. This is the most critical period for juvenile salmon, as during the transition from fresh to salt water, there are massive physiological changes and fish are the most vulnerable to environment fluctuations and predation.
A study of Flora Bank conducted by DFO in 1973 found, “Flora Bank is the most important shallow water area of the Skeena River for rearing juvenile fish… damage to the fisheries resource would be immense… we suggest that water areas away from estuaries should be investigated as alternate port development sites”. The Prince Rupert Port Authority had this information concerning the critically delicate and ecologically important ecosystem over 40 years ago, yet they courted the very site to Petronas. Furthermore, Petronas was given a greenlight by the Liberal government of BC, with no conditions barring it from approval. The only thing standing in its way is the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA), who are currently still assessing the project.
For a local non-profit organization, SkeenaWild Conservation Trust, this project is simply unacceptable. Greg Knox, the Executive direction at SkeenaWild, stated it perfectly: “it exemplifies a broken process of industrial development”. The complete and utter lack of regard for due diligence and consultation by the BC government and Prince Rupert Port Authority is concerning, especially considering there was no upfront consultation with First Nations and local communities. And this is just one example in the past few years of how the local government has completely failed at providing environmental stewardship. This type of disregard for the coastal ecosystems of BC does not just affect the salmon, or even the thousands of people who depend on the salmon for jobs or food. The ecosystem services of the coastal marine environment cannot be quantified.
