Editor:

Re: Fish spill clean up (Coast Reporter, March 8). I am extremely disappointed in the total lack of objectivity your paper showed in reporting the spillage of fish waste while being transported to the Salish Soil facility on Feb. 27.

As a local business owner being exposed to the stink emanating from the Salish Soils facility, I want to set the record straight.

First of all, there were dead, rotted fish carcasses on the side of Sechelt Inlet Road all night, until Capilano Highways cleaned the road the next morning.

There was no effort on the part of Salish Soils or the Sechelt Indian Band to clean it up. They threw some bark mulch on the street. Not effective. Not one person picked up a shovel to remove the fish from the intersection and actually clean the mess up.

On the subject of health concerns, these fish died of disease. The only fish that die of natural causes are those that live their life cycle and die after spawning in the streams where they were born. These fish died from disease associated with domestication, and no doubt were treated with antibiotics and contain residue from pathogens and those antibiotics. That’s why all antibiotic treated salmon require a minimum 60 days clearance time before they can be harvested for consumption. Rotten fish on the side of the road are clearly not good for the environment or for the health of us.

As for the spillage on the barge, Stewart Hawthorn from Grieg Seafood is quoted as saying, “Incidents like this don’t need to be reported and that’s because there are no hazardous materials involved,” and if any did end up in the ocean it would be “just like you would find in the wild.” How is washing disease ridden fish waste into Porpoise Bay not bad for the environment?

Mike Anderchek

BSc. Fisheries Biology, MBA, Sechelt