Seven new species of miniaturised frogs have been found in the Brazilian Atlantic rainforest. Among the smallest vertebrates on the planet, these colourful creatures can fit comfortably on a human thumbnail.

To understand just how tiny these frogs are, consider this: the largest living vertebrate is the blue whale, measuring around 26m, while the smallest was believed to be a fish (Paedocypris progenetica) with an adult size of 7.9-10.3mm.

Then two years ago a new species of miniature frog was described, and it was a record breaker. Paedophryne amauensis, which lives on the island of New Guinea, only grows to an average size of just 7.7mm and is now considered the world’s smallest vertebrate.

The latest discoveries in Brazil, announced in the journal PeerJ, are slightly larger, at between 9 and 13mm. But they’re still tiny compared to pretty much anything else with a backbone.

The frogs belong to the genus Brachycephalus, sometimes labelled ‘pumpkin toads’ due to the often bright orange skin of some members. They live only in permanently-foggy patches of mountainside in Brazil’s Atlantic rainforest known as ‘cloud forest’.

The first Bracycephalus species was described as early as 1824 but most of the currently recognised 21 species have only been discovered in the last 15 years. The recent finding of seven new species and the difficulty of exploring the inaccessible habitat in which these animals live, suggests the actual diversity in the genus is considerably higher.

Why so small?

Most miniaturised frog species have simplified things as a consequence of their reduced size. They have fewer vertebrae than their larger relatives, and fewer skull elements. They also often have reduced numbers of digits; regular frogs generally have four fingers and five toes, whereas miniature frogs have just three and two respectively.

Miniaturised frogs share a number of ecological traits – they are found in wet tropical regions, primarily in forests, living near the ground in the moist leaf litter. This makes sense for such tiny amphibians. After all, their high surface-to-volume ratio makes them vulnerable to desiccation (drying out) and thus they are very sensitive to water loss.

Many, however, are not dependent on water for reproduction. In fact, some species entirely lack the larval tadpole stage typical of most frogs. Females in these cases instead produce a small number of large eggs that develop directly into small independent froglets.

Although this elimination of a tadpole stage may have paved the way for the exploitation of new niches and miniaturisation, the relationship between miniaturisation and terrestrial breeding is not well understood.

It is believed that miniaturisation has evolved independently at least 11 times in terrestrial frogs and species measuring less that 13mm include representatives from 5 families and 9 genera.

Brazil’s tiny frogs inhabit an endangered paradise

The Atlantic cloud forests of Brazil have the sort of diverse and humid microclimates in which frogs thrive. The forests are home to more than 400 different species, around 8% of the world’s frog and toad species.

The region’s frogs are noted for the extraordinary diversity in reproductive modes, In fact, they exhibit 27 different reproductive modes in total including, of course, the typical reproductive cycle characterised by aquatic eggs (or ‘frog spawn’) that develop into tadpoles that in turn metamorphose into four-legged frogs.

But in many other species, including several found in the cloud forests, eggs and/or tadpoles are partially or completely removed from water. For example, some frogs lay their eggs in foam nests that float on the surface of ponds or on water accumulated on plants. The eggs hatch into tadpoles that complete development in water.

The recently found species, and most of their closest relatives, have gone a step further and completely removed their eggs from water and in the process eliminated the tadpole stage completely.

Decimation of the Brazilian Atlantic forest is one of the most alarming and desperate conservation problems in the world. In the year 1500 at the beginning of European colonisation, the area covered by the forest was approximately 1,300,000 sq.km. Today the forest has been reduced to 7.6% of its original extent and the remaining forest is still under severe anthropogenic pressure.

Deforestation causes areas to dry out and eliminates those species, like miniature frogs and toads that depend on humid forests in order to breed successfully. Of the frog and toad species occurring in cloud forest, 81% occur nowhere else on earth.

No doubt there are many other frog species in Brazil that have not yet been discovered. Sadly, given the current rate of destruction and species extinction, it is possible they never will be.

Miranda Dyson is Senior Lecturer in Biology at The Open University.

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Seven new species of miniaturised frogs have been found in the Brazilian Atlantic rainforest. Among the smallest vertebrates on the planet, these colourful creatures can fit comfortably on a human thumbnail.

To understand just how tiny these frogs are, consider this: the largest living vertebrate is the blue whale, measuring around 26m, while the smallest was believed to be a fish (Paedocypris progenetica) with an adult size of 7.9-10.3mm.

Then two years ago a new species of miniature frog was described, and it was a record breaker. Paedophryne amauensis, which lives on the island of New Guinea, only grows to an average size of just 7.7mm and is now considered the world’s smallest vertebrate.

The latest discoveries in Brazil, announced in the journal PeerJ, are slightly larger, at between 9 and 13mm. But they’re still tiny compared to pretty much anything else with a backbone.

The frogs belong to the genus Brachycephalus, sometimes labelled ‘pumpkin toads’ due to the often bright orange skin of some members. They live only in permanently-foggy patches of mountainside in Brazil’s Atlantic rainforest known as ‘cloud forest’.

The first Bracycephalus species was described as early as 1824 but most of the currently recognised 21 species have only been discovered in the last 15 years. The recent finding of seven new species and the difficulty of exploring the inaccessible habitat in which these animals live, suggests the actual diversity in the genus is considerably higher.

Why so small?

Most miniaturised frog species have simplified things as a consequence of their reduced size. They have fewer vertebrae than their larger relatives, and fewer skull elements. They also often have reduced numbers of digits; regular frogs generally have four fingers and five toes, whereas miniature frogs have just three and two respectively.

Miniaturised frogs share a number of ecological traits – they are found in wet tropical regions, primarily in forests, living near the ground in the moist leaf litter. This makes sense for such tiny amphibians. After all, their high surface-to-volume ratio makes them vulnerable to desiccation (drying out) and thus they are very sensitive to water loss.

Many, however, are not dependent on water for reproduction. In fact, some species entirely lack the larval tadpole stage typical of most frogs. Females in these cases instead produce a small number of large eggs that develop directly into small independent froglets.

Although this elimination of a tadpole stage may have paved the way for the exploitation of new niches and miniaturisation, the relationship between miniaturisation and terrestrial breeding is not well understood.

It is believed that miniaturisation has evolved independently at least 11 times in terrestrial frogs and species measuring less that 13mm include representatives from 5 families and 9 genera.

Brazil’s tiny frogs inhabit an endangered paradise

The Atlantic cloud forests of Brazil have the sort of diverse and humid microclimates in which frogs thrive. The forests are home to more than 400 different species, around 8% of the world’s frog and toad species.

The region’s frogs are noted for the extraordinary diversity in reproductive modes, In fact, they exhibit 27 different reproductive modes in total including, of course, the typical reproductive cycle characterised by aquatic eggs (or ‘frog spawn’) that develop into tadpoles that in turn metamorphose into four-legged frogs.

But in many other species, including several found in the cloud forests, eggs and/or tadpoles are partially or completely removed from water. For example, some frogs lay their eggs in foam nests that float on the surface of ponds or on water accumulated on plants. The eggs hatch into tadpoles that complete development in water.

The recently found species, and most of their closest relatives, have gone a step further and completely removed their eggs from water and in the process eliminated the tadpole stage completely.

Decimation of the Brazilian Atlantic forest is one of the most alarming and desperate conservation problems in the world. In the year 1500 at the beginning of European colonisation, the area covered by the forest was approximately 1,300,000 sq.km. Today the forest has been reduced to 7.6% of its original extent and the remaining forest is still under severe anthropogenic pressure.

Deforestation causes areas to dry out and eliminates those species, like miniature frogs and toads that depend on humid forests in order to breed successfully. Of the frog and toad species occurring in cloud forest, 81% occur nowhere else on earth.

No doubt there are many other frog species in Brazil that have not yet been discovered. Sadly, given the current rate of destruction and species extinction, it is possible they never will be.

Miranda Dyson is Senior Lecturer in Biology at The Open University.

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Seven new species of miniaturised frogs have been found in the Brazilian Atlantic rainforest. Among the smallest vertebrates on the planet, these colourful creatures can fit comfortably on a human thumbnail.

To understand just how tiny these frogs are, consider this: the largest living vertebrate is the blue whale, measuring around 26m, while the smallest was believed to be a fish (Paedocypris progenetica) with an adult size of 7.9-10.3mm.

Then two years ago a new species of miniature frog was described, and it was a record breaker. Paedophryne amauensis, which lives on the island of New Guinea, only grows to an average size of just 7.7mm and is now considered the world’s smallest vertebrate.

The latest discoveries in Brazil, announced in the journal PeerJ, are slightly larger, at between 9 and 13mm. But they’re still tiny compared to pretty much anything else with a backbone.

The frogs belong to the genus Brachycephalus, sometimes labelled ‘pumpkin toads’ due to the often bright orange skin of some members. They live only in permanently-foggy patches of mountainside in Brazil’s Atlantic rainforest known as ‘cloud forest’.

The first Bracycephalus species was described as early as 1824 but most of the currently recognised 21 species have only been discovered in the last 15 years. The recent finding of seven new species and the difficulty of exploring the inaccessible habitat in which these animals live, suggests the actual diversity in the genus is considerably higher.

Why so small?

Most miniaturised frog species have simplified things as a consequence of their reduced size. They have fewer vertebrae than their larger relatives, and fewer skull elements. They also often have reduced numbers of digits; regular frogs generally have four fingers and five toes, whereas miniature frogs have just three and two respectively.

Miniaturised frogs share a number of ecological traits – they are found in wet tropical regions, primarily in forests, living near the ground in the moist leaf litter. This makes sense for such tiny amphibians. After all, their high surface-to-volume ratio makes them vulnerable to desiccation (drying out) and thus they are very sensitive to water loss.

Many, however, are not dependent on water for reproduction. In fact, some species entirely lack the larval tadpole stage typical of most frogs. Females in these cases instead produce a small number of large eggs that develop directly into small independent froglets.

Although this elimination of a tadpole stage may have paved the way for the exploitation of new niches and miniaturisation, the relationship between miniaturisation and terrestrial breeding is not well understood.

It is believed that miniaturisation has evolved independently at least 11 times in terrestrial frogs and species measuring less that 13mm include representatives from 5 families and 9 genera.

Brazil’s tiny frogs inhabit an endangered paradise

The Atlantic cloud forests of Brazil have the sort of diverse and humid microclimates in which frogs thrive. The forests are home to more than 400 different species, around 8% of the world’s frog and toad species.

The region’s frogs are noted for the extraordinary diversity in reproductive modes, In fact, they exhibit 27 different reproductive modes in total including, of course, the typical reproductive cycle characterised by aquatic eggs (or ‘frog spawn’) that develop into tadpoles that in turn metamorphose into four-legged frogs.

But in many other species, including several found in the cloud forests, eggs and/or tadpoles are partially or completely removed from water. For example, some frogs lay their eggs in foam nests that float on the surface of ponds or on water accumulated on plants. The eggs hatch into tadpoles that complete development in water.

The recently found species, and most of their closest relatives, have gone a step further and completely removed their eggs from water and in the process eliminated the tadpole stage completely.

Decimation of the Brazilian Atlantic forest is one of the most alarming and desperate conservation problems in the world. In the year 1500 at the beginning of European colonisation, the area covered by the forest was approximately 1,300,000 sq.km. Today the forest has been reduced to 7.6% of its original extent and the remaining forest is still under severe anthropogenic pressure.

Deforestation causes areas to dry out and eliminates those species, like miniature frogs and toads that depend on humid forests in order to breed successfully. Of the frog and toad species occurring in cloud forest, 81% occur nowhere else on earth.

No doubt there are many other frog species in Brazil that have not yet been discovered. Sadly, given the current rate of destruction and species extinction, it is possible they never will be.

Miranda Dyson is Senior Lecturer in Biology at The Open University.

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Seven new species of miniaturised frogs have been found in the Brazilian Atlantic rainforest. Among the smallest vertebrates on the planet, these colourful creatures can fit comfortably on a human thumbnail.

To understand just how tiny these frogs are, consider this: the largest living vertebrate is the blue whale, measuring around 26m, while the smallest was believed to be a fish (Paedocypris progenetica) with an adult size of 7.9-10.3mm.

Then two years ago a new species of miniature frog was described, and it was a record breaker. Paedophryne amauensis, which lives on the island of New Guinea, only grows to an average size of just 7.7mm and is now considered the world’s smallest vertebrate.

The latest discoveries in Brazil, announced in the journal PeerJ, are slightly larger, at between 9 and 13mm. But they’re still tiny compared to pretty much anything else with a backbone.

The frogs belong to the genus Brachycephalus, sometimes labelled ‘pumpkin toads’ due to the often bright orange skin of some members. They live only in permanently-foggy patches of mountainside in Brazil’s Atlantic rainforest known as ‘cloud forest’.

The first Bracycephalus species was described as early as 1824 but most of the currently recognised 21 species have only been discovered in the last 15 years. The recent finding of seven new species and the difficulty of exploring the inaccessible habitat in which these animals live, suggests the actual diversity in the genus is considerably higher.

Why so small?

Most miniaturised frog species have simplified things as a consequence of their reduced size. They have fewer vertebrae than their larger relatives, and fewer skull elements. They also often have reduced numbers of digits; regular frogs generally have four fingers and five toes, whereas miniature frogs have just three and two respectively.

Miniaturised frogs share a number of ecological traits – they are found in wet tropical regions, primarily in forests, living near the ground in the moist leaf litter. This makes sense for such tiny amphibians. After all, their high surface-to-volume ratio makes them vulnerable to desiccation (drying out) and thus they are very sensitive to water loss.

Many, however, are not dependent on water for reproduction. In fact, some species entirely lack the larval tadpole stage typical of most frogs. Females in these cases instead produce a small number of large eggs that develop directly into small independent froglets.

Although this elimination of a tadpole stage may have paved the way for the exploitation of new niches and miniaturisation, the relationship between miniaturisation and terrestrial breeding is not well understood.

It is believed that miniaturisation has evolved independently at least 11 times in terrestrial frogs and species measuring less that 13mm include representatives from 5 families and 9 genera.

Brazil’s tiny frogs inhabit an endangered paradise

The Atlantic cloud forests of Brazil have the sort of diverse and humid microclimates in which frogs thrive. The forests are home to more than 400 different species, around 8% of the world’s frog and toad species.

The region’s frogs are noted for the extraordinary diversity in reproductive modes, In fact, they exhibit 27 different reproductive modes in total including, of course, the typical reproductive cycle characterised by aquatic eggs (or ‘frog spawn’) that develop into tadpoles that in turn metamorphose into four-legged frogs.

But in many other species, including several found in the cloud forests, eggs and/or tadpoles are partially or completely removed from water. For example, some frogs lay their eggs in foam nests that float on the surface of ponds or on water accumulated on plants. The eggs hatch into tadpoles that complete development in water.

The recently found species, and most of their closest relatives, have gone a step further and completely removed their eggs from water and in the process eliminated the tadpole stage completely.

Decimation of the Brazilian Atlantic forest is one of the most alarming and desperate conservation problems in the world. In the year 1500 at the beginning of European colonisation, the area covered by the forest was approximately 1,300,000 sq.km. Today the forest has been reduced to 7.6% of its original extent and the remaining forest is still under severe anthropogenic pressure.

Deforestation causes areas to dry out and eliminates those species, like miniature frogs and toads that depend on humid forests in order to breed successfully. Of the frog and toad species occurring in cloud forest, 81% occur nowhere else on earth.

No doubt there are many other frog species in Brazil that have not yet been discovered. Sadly, given the current rate of destruction and species extinction, it is possible they never will be.

Miranda Dyson is Senior Lecturer in Biology at The Open University.

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Seven new species of miniaturised frogs have been found in the Brazilian Atlantic rainforest. Among the smallest vertebrates on the planet, these colourful creatures can fit comfortably on a human thumbnail.

To understand just how tiny these frogs are, consider this: the largest living vertebrate is the blue whale, measuring around 26m, while the smallest was believed to be a fish (Paedocypris progenetica) with an adult size of 7.9-10.3mm.

Then two years ago a new species of miniature frog was described, and it was a record breaker. Paedophryne amauensis, which lives on the island of New Guinea, only grows to an average size of just 7.7mm and is now considered the world’s smallest vertebrate.

The latest discoveries in Brazil, announced in the journal PeerJ, are slightly larger, at between 9 and 13mm. But they’re still tiny compared to pretty much anything else with a backbone.

The frogs belong to the genus Brachycephalus, sometimes labelled ‘pumpkin toads’ due to the often bright orange skin of some members. They live only in permanently-foggy patches of mountainside in Brazil’s Atlantic rainforest known as ‘cloud forest’.

The first Bracycephalus species was described as early as 1824 but most of the currently recognised 21 species have only been discovered in the last 15 years. The recent finding of seven new species and the difficulty of exploring the inaccessible habitat in which these animals live, suggests the actual diversity in the genus is considerably higher.

Why so small?

Most miniaturised frog species have simplified things as a consequence of their reduced size. They have fewer vertebrae than their larger relatives, and fewer skull elements. They also often have reduced numbers of digits; regular frogs generally have four fingers and five toes, whereas miniature frogs have just three and two respectively.

Miniaturised frogs share a number of ecological traits – they are found in wet tropical regions, primarily in forests, living near the ground in the moist leaf litter. This makes sense for such tiny amphibians. After all, their high surface-to-volume ratio makes them vulnerable to desiccation (drying out) and thus they are very sensitive to water loss.

Many, however, are not dependent on water for reproduction. In fact, some species entirely lack the larval tadpole stage typical of most frogs. Females in these cases instead produce a small number of large eggs that develop directly into small independent froglets.

Although this elimination of a tadpole stage may have paved the way for the exploitation of new niches and miniaturisation, the relationship between miniaturisation and terrestrial breeding is not well understood.

It is believed that miniaturisation has evolved independently at least 11 times in terrestrial frogs and species measuring less that 13mm include representatives from 5 families and 9 genera.

Brazil’s tiny frogs inhabit an endangered paradise

The Atlantic cloud forests of Brazil have the sort of diverse and humid microclimates in which frogs thrive. The forests are home to more than 400 different species, around 8% of the world’s frog and toad species.

The region’s frogs are noted for the extraordinary diversity in reproductive modes, In fact, they exhibit 27 different reproductive modes in total including, of course, the typical reproductive cycle characterised by aquatic eggs (or ‘frog spawn’) that develop into tadpoles that in turn metamorphose into four-legged frogs.

But in many other species, including several found in the cloud forests, eggs and/or tadpoles are partially or completely removed from water. For example, some frogs lay their eggs in foam nests that float on the surface of ponds or on water accumulated on plants. The eggs hatch into tadpoles that complete development in water.

The recently found species, and most of their closest relatives, have gone a step further and completely removed their eggs from water and in the process eliminated the tadpole stage completely.

Decimation of the Brazilian Atlantic forest is one of the most alarming and desperate conservation problems in the world. In the year 1500 at the beginning of European colonisation, the area covered by the forest was approximately 1,300,000 sq.km. Today the forest has been reduced to 7.6% of its original extent and the remaining forest is still under severe anthropogenic pressure.

Deforestation causes areas to dry out and eliminates those species, like miniature frogs and toads that depend on humid forests in order to breed successfully. Of the frog and toad species occurring in cloud forest, 81% occur nowhere else on earth.

No doubt there are many other frog species in Brazil that have not yet been discovered. Sadly, given the current rate of destruction and species extinction, it is possible they never will be.

Miranda Dyson is Senior Lecturer in Biology at The Open University.

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Dear Dr Martin

Thanks for your letter. The debate in the Moses Room to which you refer was not about the nature, design or location of a nuclear waste storage facility but about whether or not such a facility constitutes an infrastructure project of national significance. Which clearly it does.

As for the decision making process for nationally significant infrastructure clearly a balance needs to be struck, however, our elected national Government and its Secretaries of State are entrusted with decision making powers on many issues in order to ensure national priorities can be advanced, informed by local considerations.

Climate change is my top priority

Far from being a superficial concern, as you seem to imply, climate change is for me the pre-eminent threat facing our society and I have dedicated most of my career to seeking to address it. I have changed my position on nuclear power because I have studied it in depth and concluded that much of the opposition to it is not based on science and the economics can and will be improved over time.

It is clear that as is the case with every technology, there are more appropriate and less appropriate ways of using it and I am no apologist for the mistakes that have been made in the nuclear industry. As a proven source of reliable low carbon energy it would, however, be reckless to rule it out in the fight against climate change just as it would be reckless to rule out large scale hydro, solar, biomass, wind and carbon capture and storage.

I’m afraid the evidence you cite in support of the idea that nuclear is not a low carbon energy source is not very persuasive. Firstly, the article to which you refer in The Ecologist misunderstands the nature of the 50g/kwh CCC’s proposed target for the carbon intensity of electricity in 2030.

This is proposed as a yearly average for emissions arising from all electricity generation in that year. The carbon budgets from which this figure is derived cover the emissions arising upstream of generation and therefore the LCA of technologies is not relevant and as you yourself point out highly uncertain. To use it in this context is inappropriate and involves double counting.

When considering direct emissions from electricity generation please bear in mind that unabated coal emissions are in the range 850-1200g/kwh not including up-steam emissions from the extraction and transportation process.

Turning to your fears about the potential future cost of Uranium it is true that the natural radioactive elements, which sustain life on this planet, will one day cease to produce radiation. But that day is an incredibly long time away.

The process of splitting an atom generates new radioactive elements that can be recycled for use as fuel. This need not be limited to Uranium as the much more abundant element Thorium can also be kick-started in this way to provide a virtually limitless source of energy.

The lack of progress in advanced forms of nuclear is lamentable but it is because of politics and the structure of the existing industry not physics and engineering. You appear confident that no new nuclear technology will emerge any time soon, however, having spoken to many of the people working on new reactor designs around the world I’m afraid I do not agree.

Time will tell which of us is right but in any case this question has little if any bearing on the question of how Government deals with current nuclear waste.

I find it curious that you fear suppport is currently being diverted away from renewables, when the only projects currently receiving direct support are renewables. I believe the best way to achieve secure, affordable, low-carbon energy supplies is by encouraging a diversified mix of generating technologies, especially as many renewable and energy storage technologies are still developing.

Nuclear power has an important role in our energy mix

Nuclear projects may also be granted the same support in the form of contracts for difference but that will not be to the exclusion of renewables. The task of decarbonising our energy system, still dominated by unabated fossil fuels, is large enough to accommodate all forms of low carbon technology. And I disagree that these long-term contracts will “guarantee fuel poverty” since they will insulate against higher future carbon prices.

When it comes to our use of energy there is very little beyond photosynthesis for growing for food that is truly ‘natural’. I believe we need an informed debate about the different risks associated with our energy use now and in the future.

It is clear that to sustain the world’s population and lift millions from poverty we now need to harness a huge amount of resources to generate clean power. All technologies involve the conversion of ores, manufacturing and distribution processes, all have a foot print on land or sea and all compete with the preservation of natural landscapes and biodiversity.

Nuclear power is the most concentrated source of power available today with the smallest footprint. It is not without its challenges but these are not insurmountable. I urge you on moral, ethical, scientific and environmental grounds to rethink your opposition to it.

Yours sincerely, Bryony.

Note: Dr Becky Martin wrote an open letter to Baroness Worthington, published by The Ecologist, regarding the debate in the House of Lords of the draft Infrastructure Planning (Radioactive Waste Geological Disposal Facilities) Order 2015, and also her concerns about nuclear power.

Baroness Worthington was Labour’s Shadow Energy and Climate Change Minister in the House of Lords in the last parliament. An experienced climate campaigner who has worked for Friends of the Earth, Wildlife and Countryside Link, in government and in the energy sector for SSE, Bryony was a key member of the team that campaigned for and drafted the UK’s world-leading Climate Change Act. Bryony is also the director of Sandbag, an NGO focused on research & campaigning for effective carbon markets, and a patron of the Alvin Weinburg Foundation, advocating next-generation nuclear power.

In British Columbia, salmon are sacred. For centuries, they have nourished First Nations and settlers alike, and continue to sustain virtually all of the wildlife we cherish in BC: orcas, eagles, bears, seals and sea lions, wolves and even our forests. Wild salmon make life possible on the West Coast.

So why are our federal and provincial governments trying to kill them?

I do not speak of simple neglect. I mean actively working towards the destruction of wild salmon. At first, the idea might sound far-fetched.

But remember, we live in the age of climate change denial, Bill C-51 and robo-calls, where diabolical government plots have become an everyday fact of life.

Wild salmon – the keystone species of an ocean-to-mountain ecosystem

Consider then, that salmon habitat extends all the way from the open ocean, tracing our coastlines and estuaries, into our many rivers and branching out into a network of spawning grounds that reaches almost every corner of the province.

That means that virtually every new resource development project – be it a tar sands pipeline, LNG port, fracking well, mine or coal port – impinges on wild salmon habitat.

So to resource extraction industries, wild salmon are nothing but an obstacle: a nuisance that cause increased costs and project delays, through environmental assessments and the like. And unfortunately for wild salmon, removing obstacles for the resource industry is what our federal and provincial governments do best these days.

But they aren’t the only ones with something to gain from the disappearance of wild salmon. The Norwegian and Japanese salmon farming corporations operating along our coast would shed few tears over the elimination of their only competition (a healthier one, at that).

And it could hardly have escaped government notice that open-pen salmon feedlots represent one of the gravest threats to the health of our wild salmon populations. Is it any wonder then that ocean-based salmon farming is the darling industry of our Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO)?

A 17-pronged attack on wild salmon

Here’s just some of the ways Canadian and BC governments are orchestrating the demise of our wild salmon:

1. In 2012, Stephen Harper removed environmental protections from 99% of our lakes and rivers. Among them, the Upper Fraser and Kitimat rivers, both critical salmon and steelhead habitat that just happen to lie in the path of the Northern Gateway pipeline.
2. Three years later, 74 of the 75 recommendations made by the 18-month, $26 million Cohen Commission Inquiry into the state of the Fraser River Sockeye have yet to be acted upon. In many cases, as noted below, the provincial and federal governments have actually done the opposite of the recommendations.
3. In 2012, Harper eliminated the requirement for environmental assessments for all but major resource projects. This includes run-of-the-river hydro projects, which can divert up to 95 per cent of a river’s flow into a tunnel or pipeline and can critically impact salmon.
4. In every country where ocean-based, open-pen salmon farming has taken hold, wild salmon populations have collapsed. While the expansion of the aquaculture industry is a key priority of the DFO, protection of wild fish isn’t even mentioned in their mission statement.
5. Although the Cohen Commission recommended a moratorium on new salmon feedlot tenures along salmon migration routes, the B.C. government is considering at least 10 new or expanded licenses, almost all directly in our wild salmons’ pathways to the open sea, exposing them to the feedlots’ disease and parasites.
6. Instead of the usual year-long licenses, the Harper government is now offering salmon feedlot operators extended nine year licenses that will leave our salmon at risk from foreign corporations long after the next federal election.
7. For decades, the Federal government has let foreign salmon farming corporations knowingly place salmon infected with viruses linked to deadly salmon diseases, in pens situated along the migration routes of wild salmon.
8. At the same time they permit salmon farmers to introduce new salmon viruses into our coastal waters, the DFO has muzzled its scientists when it comes to talking about wild salmon diseases.
9. When biologist Alexandra Morton and colleagues found the deadly ISA virus in wild B.C. salmon, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) confiscated her samples and publicly declared they were unable to repeat her results. A year later, they privately admitted they didn’t actually test the samples.
10. The CFIA took a further step to prevent the detection of salmon viruses by stripping the certification of the laboratory that detected the ISA virus – Canada’s only certified laboratory.
11. The B.C. government recently permitted the use of hydrogen peroxide baths in salmon farms to try to control sea lice. Yet there is no research on what this chemical will do to the tiny migrating wild salmon forced to pass the farms.
12. In 2014, the Harper government blocked an inquiry by the environmental dispute body established under NAFTA to determine if it had failed to protect wild salmon from the dangers of salmon farms as required in Canada’s Fisheries Act.
13. The federal government is now proposing a revolutionary change to the Fisheries Act that will grant foreign corporations like Mitsubishi the unprecedented privilege of owning fish that live in our ocean. This is a serious blow to the law of the commons, where the fish in our oceans are a resource shared among all the citizens of Canada.
14. The proposed changes to aquaculture regulations will also grant salmon feedlot operators the authority to kill wild salmon to ‘protect’ their farmed fish from disease.
15. Still other changes to the aquaculture regulations will allow salmon feedlot operators to release “deleterious substances” – antibiotics, pesticides, insecticides and other drugs directly into our coastal waters, directly in the path of migrating wild salmon.
16. The primary industry putting our wild salmon at risk receives massive government subsidies. Salmon feedlot licenses, which cost about $1 million in Norway, are free in Canada. But diseased fish aren’t – the federal government buys them all from feedlot operators for up to $30 each. Taxpayers paid close to $50 million for dead, diseased farmed salmon in one year alone.
17. At the same time they are ramming tarsands pipelines down our throats, the federal government is closing coast guard bases that act as first responders when trouble hits. Witness the bunker fuel spill in Vancouver last month or our Coast Guard’s inability to save a stranded vessel off Haida Gwaii in January.

We cannot sit idly by while our most important, iconic species is sacrificed for the sake of corporate greed. So it is time for people of the Pacific Northwest to stand up for our wild salmon.

Jeff Matthews is Sea Shepherd Vancouver Chapter Coordinator.

This article was originally published by Sea Shepherd.

Action in Canada:

Tell BC Senator Nancy Greene Raine, a member of the Senate committee reviewing aquaculture regulations that you oppose the proposed changes to the aquaculture act and want salmon farms off our coast. Sign the petition to stop salmon feedlot expansion in BC. Join the farmed salmon boycott. And support the work and research of Alexandra Morton, without whose tireless efforts, we may already have lost our most precious resource of all.

Action in the US:

Boycott farmed salmon. Support the restoration of salmon habitat in your community. Learn about and support dam removal. And don’t let Oregon blame sea lions for the decline of Columbia River salmon.