PLANET IN PERIL

Greenpeace Canada In the days just prior to the Paris climate summit, the Quebec government quietly posted a devastating report on the ongoing ecological impacts from the oil spilt during the Lac Mégantic disaster. Entitled Train tragedy in Lac-Mégantic: Impact on fish communities of residual petroleum contamination of the Chaudière River , it details the ongoing impact of the oil that is still in the river system. Story here.

CBC NEWS Fish caught in Manitoba's three largest lakes have a "do not buy" rating from the sustainable fisheries organization SeaChoice. STORY HERE.

World Wildlife Fund WWF-Canada and the Fish, Food and Allied Workers Union (FFAW) have begun an exciting new project that aims to help an historic northern Newfoundland cod fishery return to health. Story here.

The Queen's County Advance Lake whitefish.  Image via NYSDEC. The holding ponds used to raise salmon were filled in with gravel by Canada's Department of Fisheries and Oceans earlier this year. The fish hatchery cannot run without them. Story here.

The Globe and Mail An unprecedented court injunction has barred the DFO from opening a commercial fishery off Vancouver Island after a judge concluded DFO was “fudging the numbers” and that the federal minister declared it open against her own bureaucrats’ advice. Details here.

CBC News Five nations work on deal to block commercial fishing until more studies done. Details here.

TheTyee.ca Dismantling of Fishery Library 'Like a Book Burning,' Say Scientists. Details here. Gimli, Manitoba on Lake Winnipeg. PLT photo

(Video by Kirk Lyttle) What caused the fish-kill (or the extent of it) are still unknown. Was it the dramatically-lower lake levels caused when the authorities deliberately "drew them down," in anticipation of serious flooding this spring? Was it lack of oxygen? Or both? Lake of the Prairies formed decades ago with the construction of the Shellmouth dam on the Assiniboine River, near Russell, MB. This year, authorities have drawn its water levels down dramatically, in anticipation of serious flooding this spring. See "then" and "now" shots below, both taken at the bridge which crosses the lake, east of Yorkton, SK. Above, during the record flood on the Assiniboine in 2011. Note the high water levels below the bridge. Below, note the low levels and exposed abutments,  in full "pre-flood" mode this past weekend.  (PLT photos)

Winnipeg Free Press Frank Kenyon wants to sell fish. Not let them die. Details here.

CBC News Alberta scientist calls for research on fish malformations in Lower Athabasca River. Details here.

CBC Radio - As It Happens As we've discussed on the program this week, federal funding for the Experimental Lakes Area in northern Ontario will be cut off at the end of March. And scientists will not be allowed to conduct research at the facility this summer, even those with their own funding. David Schindler is the founding director of the world-renowned freshwater research facility. He is best-known for his research on phosphates, and on the environmental impact of the oilsands. Listen to the interview, here.

by Larry Powell                    Robert Sopuck, MP for Bottom-Trawling & Shark-Finning.                                                                              It may be deplorable.  But, for the Harper government (and my own MP, Robert Sopuck), not quite deplorable enough. I'm talking about "shark-finning." Each year, worldwide, an estimated 100 million sharks are caught for their fins, only. The sharks, still alive and bleeding, with their fins cut off, are then dumped back into the ocean, either to die a slow death, or be eaten by other predators.  Shark fins are considered a delicacy. While shark fishing is legal off Canada's coasts, finning was banned here years ago. Still, tonnes of fins obtained elsewhere in this manner, often from endangered species, are imported, yearly. So an NDP MP introduced a private members' bill to help curb the practice by simply banning imports into this country. Sopuck (CPC - Dauphin/Swan River/Marquette), sp