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PEI Fish Kills Not Acceptable |
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ST. ANDREWS, PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND, Jul. 26 -/E-Wire/--
The Atlantic Salmon Federation (ASF) is calling on the government of Prince Edward Island to enforce current legislation and pass tougher legislation to ensure that no more fish are killed in Island rivers from farming practices.
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"Since 1994 there have been 27 reported fish kills in PEI rivers because of agricultural runoff. We used to be able to rely on the PEI funded hatchery program and hatchery fish to restock the salmon and trout populations after the kills. The provincial government withdrew its funding for PEI's only hatchery program in 2005, so now there are no fish to re-seed the rivers when tragedies like these occur," said Todd Dupuis, ASF's Director of Regional Programs.
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Mr. Dupuis made these comments after thousands of dead fish were found from the Tryon and Dunk rivers earlier this week.
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The Dunk River, PEI's largest river, is a major sport-fishing river and home to a population of Atlantic salmon. Juvenile salmon were among the dead fish recovered from that river. ASF and other conservation organizations have worked to protect and rebuild salmon and trout populations in Island rivers over the past decades and these kills negate all that hard work. "Those juveniles were the hope of the future and now they are dead," said Mr. Dupuis.
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"Current legislation regarding farming practices is not being enforced, and even if existing legislation was being enforced, there could still be chemically-related fish kills because it is not tough enough," added Mr. Dupuis.
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"The government of PEI must put strong legislation in place and then enforce it. As well, the government must reinstate a hatchery program for salmon and trout as insurance to allow mitigation of these disasters. Our salmon and trout populations are too important to our culture and economy to be lost," concludes Mr. Dupuis.
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The Atlantic Salmon Federation is an international, non-profit organization that promotes the conservation and wise management of wild Atlantic salmon and their environment. ASF has a network of seven regional councils (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Maine and Western New England), that cover the freshwater range of the Atlantic salmon in Canada and the United States. Contact Info:
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Todd Dupuis
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Tel : 902-628-4349
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Alt Tel : 902-628-7689
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Muriel Ferguson
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Tel :506-529-1033
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Alt Tel : 506-529 4581 Website : Atlantic Salmon Federation
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