https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/…/roadway-runoff-known…
We’ve been tracking this for many years, and have observed coho mortalities many times on Byrne Creek in Burnaby, BC, at both the smolt and spawner stages.
I saw a post from Tire Stewardship BC float by on my Facebook feed this morning, touting a new product they are producing from used tires — “landscaping mulch.”
When I commented on their post with concerns about 6PPD-quinone in tires, which is known to kill coho salmon, they just told me to watch their wonderful recycling video again.
A second query about 6PPD-quinone was ignored completely.
Runoff from roads contains 6PPD-quinone from tire dust. Wouldn’t this “mulch” also leach it? And what about all those other outdoor products?
Until potential 6PPD-quinone in “landscaping mulch” is addressed, we should keep an eye on this, and contact our municipalities about the potential impacts of such products. And, of course, federal and provincial environment/pollution/fish agencies.
Link to the recycling page here.
If you search “6PPD-quinone recycled tire products” you’ll find plenty of articles and studies with concerns about them.
UPDATE: Tire Stewardship BC has responded to my FB post, and basically are saying the Canadian and US tire industry associations are working on it. Yes, I know, I’ve spoken with reps from both associations over the years, and invited them to present to stewardship groups.
I responded that that still didn’t answer my concern that products being made from recycled tires are being promoted as “eco-friendly.”
We had a SEHAB (Salmonid Enhancement & Habitat Advisory Board) meeting on the Sunshine Coast over the last weekend.
We stayed at the wonderful Linwood House, visited the Chapman Creek hatchery, and participated in a Sockeye fry release into Sakinaw Lake.
The board meets three times a year, collating information from community stewardship groups, and taking key issues to DFO Regional Headquarters to inform mangement and the Minister.
I have had the priviledge of being on the board initially as an alternate and then a full member for about 12 years now. The breadth of fishy experience and knowledge in the room is amazing, and I am always learning.
For example, I was not aware that Sakinaw Lake sockeye are on the verge of extinction. The restocking effort by volunteers and DFO is an attempt to stave this off, but the outlook is not good with climate change warming the lake to temperatures detrimental to salmon. Fingers crossed. . .
Thanks to all the local folks who shared their good work with us!
We released beautiful Coho salmon smolts on Byrne Creek in Burnaby, BC, this morning.
Thanks to Isaac and Brian from DFO for bringing the fish, and thanks to the volunteers at Kanaka Creek who help raise them!
And thanks to the streamkeeper volunteers, teachers, and parents who helped supervise.
The kids were excited to see this Barred Owl juvenile on our way to the release site
How about a “Salmon Rescue Plan” for Byrne Creek in Burnaby, BC, dating back to October 1995?
Found in a box of records collected by the late Ken Glover, one of the Vancouver Angling & Game Association members who began cleaning up Byrne Creek about 30 years ago.
I am struck by how many of the issues/impacts on the creek have little changed in all those years. . .
We are still seeing regular sediment flows from construction sites, we are still having pollution events, and we still have nearly no systems (particularly on City land and around City buildings) to “hold back, filter and gradually release rainwater runoff.”
The photo is hard to read, so allow me to share the last two paras:
“The Byrne Creek volunteers have one major frustration–the water quality sometimes kills the fish. The quality deteriorates most following a rainfall after a prolonged dry spell. Toxic chemicals and silt wash down from roads, lawns, and construction sites.
“The runoff pollution is getting worse as construction increases in Edmonds, which is slated for a major population increase.”
Remember, this was written in 1995.
Uh-huh. . . Just in the last few months volunteer streamkeepers and concerned citizens have been calling the City about repeated silty flows from construction sites, and other spills into the creek . . .
For several years now, a popular topic has been pondering “what brings you joy?”
And I don’t mean socks neatly rolled and arranged in drawers in color-coded series 
.
The answer for me is simple — being outdoors in nature.
Increasingly arthritic knees and hips be damned (I have good days and not so good ones in that department), within a minute of being out the front door and on my way down a Byrne Creek trail in SE Burnaby, BC, my spirits soar.
Rain or shine.
Let me see a salmon spawning, an eagle soaring, an owl silently staring, and my aches melt away.
It’s that endorphin surge of excercise and the primal heightening of the senses.
We are blessed here in Burnaby, with many salmon-bearing streams and a variety of parks with varied ecosystems.
Forests? Yup. Meadows? Uh-huh. Rivers and streams? Check. Lakes? Roger. Saltwater inlets? Sure.
I walk at least an hour a day, sometimes two or three, as work and other committments allow.
I’m gradually getting better at getting rid of stuff.
We inherited a good amount of furniture from my late Mom and her husband when they downsized many years ago. A lot of that we still use, but some has been sitting in the garage for years.
It’s hard to let it go, but I’ve been listing some on Craiglist for ridiculously cheap prices, with nary a bite. So the other day we donated two armchairs in great condition to the local Salvation Army Thrift Store.
A couple of well-used rolling office chairs likely beyond anyone’s interest we arranged for a City of Burnaby “large item” pickup. One of them we got at a Restore outlet for $5 or $10 about five years ago, and the other was a salvage when Yumi’s workplace downsized during Covid.
And the garage looks much more spacious as a result.
Yay!
I’m gradually seeing these more often — nice! Corner of Marine Dr. and Southridge Dr. in SE Burnaby, BC.
Here we go again.
Byrne Creek in SE #Burnaby is running like chocolate milk. This has been happening over and over the last few weeks. This is not rain runoff, some site in the upper watershed is being pumped out into a street drain, which is illegal.
Called it in to City of Burnaby dispatch.
