Iceland supermarket vows to eliminate plastic on all own-branded products!

Click on the words above “Iceland supermarket vows to eliminate plastic…” to see this entire post.

Talk about positive action!

Iceland has become the first major retailer to commit to eliminate plastic packaging for all its own-brand products.

The supermarket chain, which specialises in frozen food, said it would go plastic-free within five years to help end the “scourge” of plastic pollution.

The current plastic packaging would be replaced with paper and pulp trays and paper bags, which would be recyclable through domestic waste collections or in-store recycling facilities.

The supermarket recently carried out a survey in which 80% of 5,000 people polled said they would endorse the move to go plastic-free.

Read the entire story here.

As you can see from what I collected below Slide Ranch on Monday, the US would be wise to follow suit.

The road to get to Slide Ranch directly has been closed for some time and only recently opened to one-way traffic. It has been over 2 years since I have picked up this area.
What you see below is a tiny fraction of what is down there. I was short on time and could only do a quick sweep of a small portion of the beach.

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Slide Ranch and the southern Marin Coast

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The Washington Dept. of Ecology completed the final environmental assessment of a proposal to use the pesticide imidacloprid to control burrowing shrimp.

Click on the words above “The Washington Dept. of Ecology completed the final…” to see this entire post.

The supplemental environmental review found:

 

  • Significant impacts to sediment quality and benthic invertebrates.
  • Adverse impacts to juvenile worms and crustaceans in the areas treated with imidacloprid and the nearby areas covered by incoming tides.
  • Concern about non-lethal impacts to invertebrates in the water column and sediment.
  • New information shows a risk of impacts from imidacloprid even at low concentrations.
  • Likely indirect impacts to fish and birds if food sources are disrupted.
  • Little known direct risk to fish, birds, marine mammals, and human health.
  • Increased uncertainty about long-term, non-lethal, and cumulative impacts.
  • Continued knowledge gaps about imidacloprid.

Read more here.

This matters to everyone, not just Washingtonians. Nearly a quarter of the oysters grown in the US are grown in Willapa Bay and Grays Harbor.

These oysters are shipped all over, including to growers on Tomales Bay.

Read more about imidacloprid, the neurotoxin Washington growers want to spray in local waters to kill native shrimp here.

Washington State shellfish growers propose spraying of neurotoxin over coastal bays

Click on the words above “Washington State shellfish growers” to see this entire post.

The banner image above shows the terminals at Grays Harbor.

After watching their promotional video below, you might ask yourself
“What’s in that Grays Harbor water, is it clean enough to grow food for human consumption?”

Watch a public hearing on this issue here. Meeting was held 10 Oct. in Lacey WA, near Olympia.

Watch a public hearing on this issue here. Meeting was held 7 Oct. in South Bend WA, at Willapa Bay.

Shellfish growers from Willapa Grays Harbor Oyster Growers Association (WGHOGA) have requested a permit to use the pesticide imidacloprid on burrowing shrimp in Willapa Bay and Grays Harbor.

You can read more about this here.

Both bodies of water are located on the Washington State coast, SW of Puget Sound.

Shellfish growers in Tomales Bay import oysters grown in Willapa Bay from time to time.

Please comment on the proposed spraying of toxic pesticides, you can do so here< NOTE: COMMENT PERIOD IS CLOSED

Read all comments here.

Read a letter from Washington Fish and Wildlife Office here.

Read a letter from the National Marine Fisheries Service here.

Read a letter from The Northwest Center for Alternatives to Pesticides here.

Let Washington State know that spraying a highly toxic, highly soluble, and highly persistent pesticide in Willapa Bay is unacceptable. Other methods to grow oysters can be used.

Please let Tomales Bay shellfish growers know that you will NOT buy oysters grown by those who poison the ocean.

The poison in question has been directly linked to the widespread deaths of honeybees worldwide, known as Colony Collapse Disorder CCD. Read about that here.

Speak up to protect Humboldt Bay from harmful expansion by Coast Seafood

Click on the words above “Speak up to protect Humboldt Bay…” to see this entire post.

Coast Seafood has once again applied to expand their shellfish growing operation on Humboldt Bay.

Description of proposed project is here.

Please write the Army Corps of Engineers before 20 April with your request that this expansion be denied.

Be sure to note the Public Notice number of PN-2002-26912N. Highlight the environmental impacts of allowing the expansion rather then simply stating “I am against the expansion.”

These may include: Impact on eel grass, which then impacts brant, salmon, steelhead, coastal cutthroat. If you are a duck hunter, this will certainly impact your ability to navigate on the bay, as well as the number of brant feeding (or not) in the bay. The added plastic that will escape into the ocean is another cause for concern.

Those of us that value the natural diversity supported by an untrampled bay over increased oyster production ask that this expansion be denied.

As in Tomales Bay, shellfish operations in Humboldt Bay harm the eel grass beds that serve an important role for many, many species beyond the non-native oysters, clams and mussels grown for private profit on public lands. Two groups of animals of particular concern are the black brant and a number of salmonids (chinook salmon, coho salmon, steelhead trout and sea-run coastal cutthroat trout. Eel grass provides food for the brant (their main food source) and it provides refugia (cover) for the salmonids when they are young and need a place to hide.

Expanding shellfish operations on another 256 acres would significantly impact a large number of species that rest and feed on Humboldt Bay. Coast already has approximately 300 acres upon which to profit.

Please write L. Kasey Sirkin (l.k.sirkin@usace.army.mil) at the Army Corps of Engineers with your concerns.
The deadline for comments is 20 April, so please do this now.

See what Eureka Resident Susan Penn has to say on this important issue here.

Below are some documents that will educate you on the issues at hand.

Comments on the application from Audubon of California, EarthJustice and Oceana

[gview file=”https://coastodian.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Audubon-EJ-Oceana-Coast-RDEIR-comments_9-16-16.pdf” save=”1″]

 

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers comments on this project.

[gview file=”https://coastodian.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/ACOE_coast-letter_final.pdf” save=”1″]

 

National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) comments on this project.

[gview file=”https://coastodian.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/20160912_Cmmt-Ltr_Coast-Seafoods_RDEIR.pdf” save=”1″]

NPS battles global warming by installing refrigerator on North Beach

Please click on the above words “NPS battles global warming by installing refrigerator on North Beach” to see this entire press release.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

News Release Date: April 1, 2017
Contact: Amanda Sidebyside, 415-464-5678

Park Service scientists have determined that the ocean is just too darn warm.

To cool things off a bit, they have begun installing refrigeration units along Point Reyes Beaches with doors removed, set to cold.

The first device was installed at North Beach this past week.

As soon as all necessary extension cords have been installed, additional units will be deployed at 50 foot intervals from The Golden Gate north to the southern tower of the Pierce Point – Bodega Bridge and set on cold with the doors removed.

Please do not remove any of the shellfish from the refrigeration units, they are used for calibration purposes.

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Stop Pebble Mine in Bristol Bay Alaska – Yes to Sockeye Salmon – No Pebble Mine

Click on the words above “Stop Pebble Mine in Bristol Bay Alaska – Yes to Sockeye Salmon – No Pebble Mine” to see this entire post.

Please write the EPA now to protect this one of a kind salmon fishery in Alaska.

Tell EPA Administrator Pruitt: Protect American Jobs – Pebble Mine is the Wrong Mine in the Wrong Place

Learn more watching a trailer for The Breach – Feature Documentary Film.

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We must protect wild salmon runs. Farmed salmon is NOT the answer.

The answer is to leave nature be and let her do what she’s done forever.

Learn about Marin’s endangered coho salmon and steelhead here.

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Red male and darker female coho salmon spawning on Lagunitas Creek, 9 Decmber, 2012 ©Richard James

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Geoduck clam cultivation in Puget Sound, is Tomales Bay next?

Click on the above words “Geoduck clam cultivation in Puget Sound, is Tomales Bay next?” to see this entire post.

I support responsible, sustainable shellfish aquaculture, practiced in the public waters by authentic stewards of the land and sea.

The recent application from San Andreas Shellfish of Dillon Beach to cultivate, among other species Geoduck Clams in Tomales Bay is cause for concern.

Read about the lease application process here.

Citizens of the Puget Sound area have for many years been working hard to protect their beautiful coastal seascape from commercial geoduck clam cultivation. This practice, quite profitable to some, pollutes far and wide, contributing significant amounts of plastic to an already toxic sea, as well as turning an otherwise sublime natural scene, into a dystopian nightmare.

The images that follow show what the practice of geoduck clam cultivation does to the environment. Do these images portray authentic stewardship?

Tomales Bay is already significantly degraded by the current and past practice of oyster, clam and mussel cultivation. Over 140 years of aquaculture have left a deep, disgraceful legacy in Tomales Bay. Before any new leases are approved, the California Fish & Game Commission and California Department of Fish & Wildlife shall clean up the tons of debris littering the bay, the Oyster Farming Legacy (OFL – rhymes with awful).

See the OFL still polluting Tomales Bay here.

If you feel strongly about protecting the unique beauty of Tomales Bay, please write the following people and let them know you want them to clean up the Oyster Farming Legacy trash blighting Tomales Bay before any new leases are approved.

Diane Windham – Southwest Regional Aquaculture Coordinator, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) – Sacramento, CA
diane.windham@noaa.gov

Randy Lovell – State Aquaculture Coordinator – ‎California Dept of Fish & Wildlife (CDFW) – Sacramento, CA
randy.lovell@wildlife.ca.gov

Valerie Termini – Executive Director of California Fish & Game Commission (CFGC) – Sacramento, CA
fgc@fgc.ca.gov

Click on an image to see a larger version.
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Image courtesy https://coalitiontoprotectpugetsoundhabitat.org

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Image courtesy https://coalitiontoprotectpugetsoundhabitat.org

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Image courtesy https://coalitiontoprotectpugetsoundhabitat.org

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Image courtesy https://coalitiontoprotectpugetsoundhabitat.org

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Image courtesy https://coalitiontoprotectpugetsoundhabitat.org

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Image courtesy https://coalitiontoprotectpugetsoundhabitat.org

High pressure water jets are used to liquify the substrate to loosen the clam for harvest. Damaging or destroying any other organisms in the area.

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Image courtesy https://coalitiontoprotectpugetsoundhabitat.org

High pressure water jets are used to liquify the substrate to loosen the clam for harvest. Damaging or destroying any other organisms in the area.

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Image courtesy https://coalitiontoprotectpugetsoundhabitat.org

What Puget Sound looks like after harvest is complete.

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Oakland’s Lake Merritt – first flush on 16 October, 2016

Click on the words above “Oakland’s Lake Merritt – first flush on 16 October, 2016” to see this entire post.

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Being somewhat learned about trash, and less so about water, I called the guys at the boat store where I buy my kayaks in Oakland, California Canoe & Kayak last October just as a huge storm was bearing down on us.

“Where will I find the trash.” I asked?

“Lake Merritt!” , was the reply, without hesitation.

So off I went, cameras, umbrella and rain gear packed.

Not only does the first big rain of the year make roads slick with oil, it also scours the streets and drains of all the trash left by humans in the wrong place, carrying it towards the sea. Or, in this case, Lake Merritt.

The inlets that bring storm drain run off from the streets of Oakland to Lake Merritt are swirling pools of detritus.

Imagine walking 4 miles down South Beach after a storm, compressed into three-hundred square feet.

This is where much of the 8.5 million tons of plastic that we humans dump into the oceans each year (and growing) comes from.

We need to fix this. Soon.

Maybe TOTUS (Twit Of The United States) has some answers on how to make Lake Merritt fabulous again?

Sure glad Tomales Bay looks nothing like this.

IMPORTANT : Go here to read an excellent story by Lindsey Howshaw at KQED titled “Trashy Bay: Has Oakland Really Cleaned Up Its Act?

If you’d like to educate yourself about one of the major causes of the opioid crisis depicted below in images, read the following articles:

Origins of an Epidemic: Purdue Pharma Knew Its Opioids Were Widely Abused

Investigation: The DEA slowed enforcement while the opioid epidemic grew out of control

The Family That Built an Empire of Pain

Full Coverage: Oxycontin Investigation

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Crab fisherman on strike for $3 a pound, should hold out for $6! Seafood tax a healthy idea.

Click on the text above “Crab fisherman on strike for $3 a pound…” to see this entire post.

Another crab season is upon us, like last year it is far from “normal”. But then again, with respect to the global environment, normal is undergoing radical changes.

Last year the season was delayed for months due to toxic levels of domoic acid in crab flesh (along with many other sea creatures).

This year the agency tasked with regulating crab fishing, the California Department of Fish & Wildlife has sequentially opened small regions of the California Coast to fishing as domoic acid levels drop below safe thresholds.

Instead of one price negotiation at the beginning of the season, wholesale buyers have decided to hold new talks for each region that opens up for fishing.

Bodega Bay fisherman are none too happy about this and have gone on strike. Fisherman want $3 a pound, buyers are offering $2.75 a pound.

Crab fishing is a boom and bust proposition, a few good years followed by a few not so good years. Fisherman try to offset these declines with a good salmon season, though “good salmon season” is a bit of a contradiction in terms of late.

Humans have for decades damned rivers, denying these ancient fish the spawning grounds they need, diverted water from rivers to give farmers water so they can grow almonds, cotton, pistachios and other high margin crops in what was originally the California desert. Pesticide and Herbicide use, clear-cut logging and creek-side construction have further degraded the environment to the point of near extinction for many historically huge salmon runs.

Both Salmon runs and crab populations are under attack, by humans!

Instead of asking for $3 a pound, I advocate crab fisherman hold out for $6.

Give fisherman $3 for each pound and put the other $3 into a fund used to undo the damage we humans inflict on the sea with our insatiable appetite for, well, damn near everything.

Think of it like a carbon tax. The new crab tax.

Set aside money for people like myself and the legions of others that walk our beaches picking up the mess of plastic ropes, plastic bait jars, plastic foam floats, crab traps left on our beaches each crab season to be ground in to a plastic soup by wave action. A soup that becomes part of the food chain of the planet See this post from two years ago for images of what crab fishing does to Point Reyes National Seashore each year.

Human trash collected from Point Reyes beaches during six visits

Research on how to collect crabs without endangering whales could be funded with this crab tax.

Humpback Whale entangled in crab fishing gear Photo: E. Lyman/HWS and NOAA

Humpback Whale entangled in crab fishing gear

Thankfully California has for the first time enacted a law that allows crab fisherman to collect abandoned gear after the season closes to reduce these horrible entanglements (and often deaths) caused to whales and other sea-life.

Reports of recent entanglements:

After huge blue whale gets tangled in crab lines, Californians struggle with elaborate rescue mission

Daring rescue of whale off Farallones

Whale entanglements on the West Coast rise again in 2018, is this the new normal?

While we are thinking clearly and proposing that human harvesting activities pay the true cost to the planet, let’s double the price of salmon and oysters, clams and mussels. Set aside money to be used to clean up the messes we have made, and then figure out how to stop making new messes as we feed ourselves.

Four damns are soon to come down on the Klammath River, opening up over 300 miles of historic spawning grounds to a salmon run completely wiped out 80 years ago. Let’s restore the natural river habitat that nature found worked, instead of trying to use science to build fast growing salmon.
Another view of this troubling news here.

In a few months the California Dept. of Fish & Wildlife will be holding a meeting to discuss Best Management Practices (BMP) for oyster growers in California. A long needed set of common sense rules for an industry that has historically been operated in a “wild west” sense, with lax or little oversight. Please watch this space for an announcement on where and when that meeting takes place so you can voice your support for common sense rules in all leases for use of public lands/waters to profit by private companies. Send me your email address if you’d like to be notified.

Let’s make sure that Tomales Bay looks more like this

Great and snowy egrets in flight. Tomales Bay, mouth of Walker Creek.

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Instead of this

abandoned plastic trays

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