Hope in the Water


            You have to love a day when you actually find good news among the headlines! It’s a rare, but wonderful experience.

            And I was lucky enough to have that experience, the other day, when I happened upon this article. I was thrilled to read that the salmon are coming back!

            It’s pretty amazing the level of argument and controversy that this relatively small and unassuming fish can cause. Yet wherever it goes (or, more to the point, stops going), the debate rages endlessly.

            The salmon hatches in an inland river, swims out to sea for a year or two, then makes its way back to the river it started in, to lay a clutch of eggs and then die. It’s famous for this routine. We’ve all heard about it.  It’s amazing that they can navigate so far and so flawlessly, sometimes in murky water, dodging the bears and wolves, travelling up to a thousand miles just for this age-old ritual.

            Unfortunately, we’ve also heard about all the threats to this spectacular sight. All too frequently we’re hearing about mines, pipelines and other developments that are often situated in such a way as to interrupt the fish and corrupt the water. The salmon are a staple food to our grizzly bears, wolves and eagles. When their lives are over, the remains replenish and nourish North America’s vast and irreplaceable rainforests, keeping them flourishing and beautiful. We simply can’t lose the fish.

            But to be fair, it’s not like we don’t all use the fuel and other materials they’re mining, out there, every day. To suddenly do without them would require massive lifestyle changes that most of us may not be equipped to handle.

            So, development continues. And as it does, the numbers of fish returning to their spawning sight diminishes and shrinks every year. The debate rumbles on in articles like this National Geographic coverage of Alaska’s Pebble mine. Here a gold mine in the wilderness cuts through the salmons’ path in multiple places. It’s like a modern day gold rush, except with instruments much more destructive than a little pan and screen.

            Every year, that is, except last year. In several places in the Canadian province of British Columbia, scientists and citizens have very happily reported more salmon than have been seen in years. In particular, attention has been drawn to Still Creek, situated in East Vancouver. For eight decades the fish have been absent from this urban tributary. There’s no mine, here, but reports are that, with increases in population and traffic, this water became increasingly more and more polluted, and the fish more and more scarce. The place had become unlivable for them.

            A few enterprising citizens have put a foot down, however, and, in the last few years, threw themselves into cleaning up the mess. Now the water sparkles much more clearly and, in an amazing and wonderful turn of events, it also splashes and swirls with salmon, some eighty years since fins and gills last traversed this place! People can actually walk through town and see the fish swimming around in this little brook!
 
            And Still Creek isn't alone. Click here to see yet another example. And Oregon joins in the fun. This article describes the salmon's amazing return to the Fraser River, too.

            It’s great news, but it’s not the end of the story. Too many salmon runs are still endangered and several species of the fish remain threatened or endangered.

            But it’s hope.

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