Frustration And Saddened Shame: A Historical Look At PEI's Fish Kills

[noreaster]

Fish Kills on PEI | Macphail Woods Ecological Forestry Project


I grew up fishing with my dad in New Brunswick and PEI. Dad always took a responsible approach teaching me about land and stream stewardship. I was led to believe that responsible government was out to protect it's wild life resources, waterways, wild areas and forests. I never thought that land use management practices and principles could be so at odds with healthy watershed ecology. I really wish they could solve this problem. We just need to do things a little more diligently and with stewardship in mind.

The problem seems to be inadequate buffer zoning, run off containment and lack of contour farming. P.E.I. has no real gravel in its soil. Mostly clay, silt, and sand. We are basically a sandbar. All runoff quickly finds its way into watersheds and runs red with silt for days after.

I am not angry at this group or that group about this problem. Well maybe all the past governments for not doing anything about it. I am just a fly fisherman and outdoor enthusiast who really does see the value of a healthy watershed ecosystem, and someone who would like to see this annual problem go away for good.

[wt bash]

Wow Noreaster that's something else! A 200 dollar fine that is sad, even worse it happened again!

[latshki]

It really is sickening, especially on the trout river, where so much work goes in to restoring the fish population, only for it to happen again!

A lot of the achievements that have been accomplished on that river will not happen again as the great minds behind them have moved on, in life, and some have passed.

It is a shame that this happens, and that it will likely keep happening, and it is not just about the fish, it affects the whole ecosystem...

[noreaster]

Originally Posted by wt bash

Wow Noreaster that's something else! A 200 dollar fine that is sad, even worse it happened again!

Pretty pitiful I know. I really don't blame the farmers unless gross negligence. It's the local governments, and government departments that are to blame. The ones who have the science neatly shelved gathering dust but who won't put previously proposed round table recommendations into place. This is a classic head in hand case.
This kind of record clearly demonstrates inadequate land use regulations.

[noreaster]

Originally Posted by latshki

It is a shame that this happens, and that it will likely keep happening, and it is not just about the fish, it affects the whole ecosystem...

You nailed it there. The fact that our climate is changing as well i.e. more severe weather fluxuations, with higher wind, more precipitation in shorter bursts of time, drought and flood, large temperature variations in short periods of time, and soil erosion. All this means that our policy is way old and outdated. It doesn't reflect reality and new climate trends.

[overmywaders]

You can blame the farmers and the government. The farmers are too lazy to do any contour plowing and the government has told them for years that all they need is to add more nutrients (read: fertilizers) to the soil. The thought of fallow years, crop rotation, and contour plowing - which we learned in middle school fifty years ago - has been replaced with more chemicals.

In the late 1800's through the early 1900's PEI farmers cut holes in the ice of the rivers and dredged "oyster mud" which they spread on their fields. Along with other properties, they actually were putting some muscle into their soil.

Ach well, Angus, they are all heretics but thee and me... and sometimes I'm no so sure about thee.