Pat Pattillo, salmon policy coordinator for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, deserves recognition for his patience with me and the numerous sport and commercial fishers who ask him questions. He and WDFW Director Phil Anderson are two of the most mild-mannered guys you will ever know, and yet they manage to work through tough salmon negotiations year after year.

Let me recount some of the issues expected to come up over the next few weeks, with a focus on things not covered in my story.

— Ocean chinook fishing should be up this year, with run size up higher by 234,000 fish. If selective fishing is adopted, recreational fishers should have plenty of time on the water this summer, and the charter boats should do well.

— Ocean coho fishing could be down this year. About 390,000 returns are forecast, compared to about 1 million last year. It is not yet clear how reduced quotas will translate to time on the water. (If the catch is down, fewer people usually go out, which can extend the seasons.)

— In addition to protecting threatened and endangered salmon species, new state regulations are designed to protect rockfish, three of which are likely to be listed under the Endangered Species Act before salmon season begins. See NOAA Fisheries. For most areas of Puget Sound, you must return any rockfish you catch and fishing for bottomfish is prohibited in waters deeper than 120 feet. In Hood Canal, no fishing for bottomfish is allowed.

— Fishing in the Skokomish River could go selective this year. The number of anglers has been growing in recent years. Human waste problems became acute last year, and everybody will be watching the health issues next time around. This fishery could be a hot topic, since managers for WDFW and the Skokomish Tribe must figure out a way to reduce the exploitation rate on wild salmon from 60 percent to below 50 percent, as proposed in the new management plan for chinook.

— Tribal managers are leery of the state’s ability to manage a selective fishery in the Skokomish River. In the Nisqually, selective fishing apparently has worked, but the Skokomish involves far more fishers and remains somewhat untamed. Both state and tribal managers would like to resolve ongoing conflicts on the river between state and tribal fishers.

— In Hood Canal, last year’s four-fish limit for coho will be reduced to two. Hood Canal might become be a driver stock — meaning low returns could limit fishing in other areas — but that will be determined through modeling. There is some talk about a selective fishery in Hood Canal.

— Director Anderson talked about budget problems, saying it will be difficult to add selective fisheries in most areas, because they take more staff for monitoring and enforcement. The Skokomish selective fishery could be funded through a special account set aside to improve coded-wire tag data in freshwater fisheries. (Coded wires, imbedded in the fish heads, provide info about the specific stocks of origin.)

— Concerns continue for coho in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, but measures adopted the past few years to protect Thompson River coho in British Columbia may be adequate to protect those returning to rivers in the Strait without reducing fishing seasons.

— Coho numbers look pretty good for rivers in North Puget Sound, namely the Skagit, Stillaguamish and Snohomish.

— Conservation efforts negotiated under the Pacific Salmon Treaty with Canada will allow more fish to return to the United States, but those fish must be passed through to spawning grounds. Under the treaty, the U.S. fishery cannot be allowed to scoop up savings negotiated in the treaty, officials said.

— A plan to protect threatened Puget Sound chinook will expire this year. State officials hope NOAA Fisheries will approve an interim plan based on a draft that the state has submitted to the feds and is currently undergoing review.

— With less snowpack in the mountains, managers will need to keep an eye on what streamflows are doing to salmon stocks. Where salmon have not entered streams because of low flows, fishing may be restricted to protect fish waiting in front of rivers for higher flows.

— Anderson said he has heard the call from people who would like to discontinue fishing altogether for a number of years to allow threatened stocks to recover. While that would provide a temporary increase in returns to the rivers, it would do nothing to address habitat issues, which ultimately limit salmon production. Anderson said he does not want to give a “free pass” to those responsible for restoring habitat.

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At the time, it seemed to me that it would be much easier said than done for various shippers to allocate the cost among themselves. Industry representatives agreed that negotiations would be difficult, as I reported in a Kitsap Sun story last March 31.

The Legislature had looked at a cost-allocation system but decided to allow the industry to work it out themselves. Progress reports were required by Oct. 31 and Dec. 1.

And this is where I may have misunderstood the Legislature’s intent. I thought the idea was that if the shippers failed to put a system in place by the end of last year, then the Legislature would come back and do something this year to ensure no disruption in tug service. By then, the industry would have little room to complain. But that’s not what is happening.

This week, I wrote about progress in those negotiations and learned that the two major groups are still some distance apart. (See Thursday’s Kitsap Sun.) But the Legislature has no intent of stepping in. The law requires that the tugboat be on station before ships can operate in Puget Sound, and everyone seems confident that the law will be followed.

Department of Ecology officials have indicated that penalties for shippers could run to $10,000 a day if the tugboat is not there. (You may review the correspondence on the subject.) Sen. Phil Rockefeller, D- Bainbridge Island, a key player in the bill, told me that the fines would be enough to cover the cost of the tug, so he would allow the process to play out.

Since the shipping industry is generally divided between oil shippers and cargo shippers, the only alternative I can see, if negotiations fail, is to have two tugs at Neah Bay. Of course, that would be ridiculous and a waste of money.

As in many negotiations, these are likely to go down to the wire. Everyone expects a new tug to be in place by July 1.

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Twanoh State Park on Hood Canal near Belfair. Photo by John Stokes.

Another opportunity to photograph high tides begins today, according to Ecology officials. For information about submitting photos to Ecology, go to the agency’s EcoNet blog.

By the way, Kitsap Sun reporter Rachel Pritchett reported about the high tides as well as those mentioned in Ecology’s blog.

The following, along with numerous photos, is posted on Ecology’s Web site:

“More extreme high tide events are expected to occur on a more regular basis in the future as a result of rising sea levels. In the Olympia region, for example, these high tide events could occur ten times per year by 2050 instead of just once or twice per year, based on a medium projection of 6 inches of seal level rise in 2050 for the Puget Sound region.

“This is expected to intensify flooding of coastal areas, especially during major storm events. Rising sea levels also shift coastal beaches inland and increase erosion of coastal bluffs, endangering houses and other structures built near the shore or near the bluff edges. Saltwater intrusion into coastal freshwater aquifers is also expected as sea levels rise.

Why it matters

“Understanding the future impacts from sea level rise and creating tools and information to assist local governments and the citizens of the state is a priority for Governor Gregoire and the Department of Ecology. A recent executive order signed by the Governor in May 2009 directed the agency to ‘evaluate the potential impacts of sea level rise on the state’s shoreline areas.’”

High tide at the mouth of Gorst Creek comes close to reaching Toys Topless in Gorst.
Photo by Meegan M. Reid, Kitsap Sun

“Governor Gregoire also signed legislation in the spring of 2009 (E2SSB 5560) that included provisions for the formation of an ‘integrated climate change response strategy’ for the state. Ecology and other state agencies are currently working with stakeholders to develop the strategy, which will better enable state and local agencies, public and private businesses, nongovernmental organizations, and individuals to prepare for, address, and adapt to the impacts of climate change.”

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The first direct evidence of ocean acidification across a broad expanse of ocean was revealed this week in a new report detailing an ongoing study focused on waters between Hawaii and Alaska.

Ocean acidification, related to the buildup of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, is believed to be affecting the ocean’s food web, beginning with creatures that form external shells of calcium and carbonate.

A new report, based on direct measurements of acidity at the ocean’s surface, as well as biological changes down to half a mile, show an increase in acid concentrations. Principal investigator Robert Byrne of the University of South Florida said there is no longer any doubt that increasing levels of CO2 in the atmosphere are affecting the world’s oceans.

“If this happens in a piece of ocean as big as a whole ocean basin, then this is a global phenomenon,” Byrne said in a news release.

Scientists from 11 academic institutions and two labs operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are taking part in a long-term study of ocean conditions in the Northeast Pacific Ocean, where changes are happening rapidly.

Christopher Sabine, one of the leaders of the investigation, commented in the news release:

“It is now established from models that there is a strong possibility that dissolved carbon dioxide in the ocean surface will double over its pre-industrial value by the middle of this century, with accompanying surface ocean pH decreases that are greater than those experienced during the transition from ice ages to warm ages. The uptake of anthropogenic carbon dioxide by the ocean changes the chemistry of the oceans and can potentially have significant impacts on the biological systems in the upper oceans.”

We have talked before in Water Ways about ocean acidification, but in a more speculative way. More information is coming out all the time. An excellent synthesis of current knowledge can be found in the latest issue of the journal “Oceanography.” Although somewhat technical, the subject is broken down into focused articles that are easy to get through. I recommend that anyone who cares about the oceans spend a little time with this online information.

For a more general description, check out the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory’s page on Ocean Acidification including a brief fact sheet (PDF 280 kb) on the topic.

Sandi Daughton, science reporter for the Seattle Times, wrote about the latest findings in a story on Wednesday.

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The Institute of Cetacean Research, which speaks for the Japanese whaling fleet, made no mention of the collision in its latest news release (PDF 38 kb). But the group complained that the Ady Gil came within collision distance, tried to entangle the Shonan Maru 2 propeller, deployed a green laser and fired projectiles that contained butyric acid.

In other new developments, Sea Shepherd has acquired a new ship, the Bob Barker, named for the television personality who donated $5 million to the cause. The vessel, a former Norwegian harpoon ship, has joined the battle. Reuters is covering the story.

Split-screen video of the collision, one shot from Bob Barker, the other from the Shonan Maru 2.
———-

UPDATE, Jan. 1, 2010
The Sea Shepherd vessel Steve Irwin has left Australia. Here’s the comment from Capt. Paul Watson in a news release:

“Thanks to the stormy weather, there was no possibility of a chartered flight locating the Steve Irwin and we were able to pass back into international waters without any sign of the Shonan Maru No. 2. They will be hard pressed to locate us now and without them on our tail, I am confident that we will be able to track down the whale poachers in the Australian Antarctic Territory.”

—–

The so-called “Whale Wars” continue in the Antarctic, involving Japanese whalers and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which is trying to thwart their activities.

Ady Gil

The conflict has escalated this year, with new vessels, new “weapons” and new tactics. And the battle line for publicity seems to be growing more intense. I’ll recount some of the action in a moment, but first allow me to set the scene.

Sea Shepherd left Australia for Antarctic waters on Dec. 7 and soon learned that the enemy, the Japanese whalers, had shifted tactics, keeping a ship close to the Sea Shepherd and allowing ship-to-ship clashes to become more frequent.

Sea Shepherd brought a new ship into the battle this year. The high-speed trimaran, formerly the “Earthrace” and recently renamed the “Ady Gil” — can do 50 knots in good conditions.

Unlike Sea Shepherd’s mother ship, the Steve Irwin, the futuristic Ady Gil can keep up with, and even outrun, the Japanese harpoon ships.

On board the Steve Irwin, a film crew is capturing the action again this year and preparing for the third season of “Whale Wars” — the highest-rated television series on the Animal Planet network.

In many ways, the primary battlefront in these whale wars is public perception about the actions and motives of the Japanese whalers and the Sea Shepherd crews. Sea Shepherd officials are quite up front about this, as Laurens de Groot, director for the Netherlands branch of the organization, stated in a news release:

“Letting the world see what happens to the whales in the Southern Ocean is the most powerful anti-whaling weapon at our disposal. The cameras are more powerful than cannons, and our ammunition is the naked truth about illegal whaling. We intend to keep the focus on Japanese crimes, and we intend to sink the Japanese whaling fleet — economically.”

So I guess it is no surprise that the Japanese whalers are responding by speaking out through an organization called the Institute of Cetacean Research. Last year, its director, Minoru Morimoto, issued a statement (PDF 20 kb)

“It is difficult to understand why a mainstream network would stoop so low as to produce a series that glamorizes and thereby gives support to ecoterrorism. Sea Shepherd’s criminal actions last year in the Antarctic were encouraged directly through the presence of the Animal Planet film team. Animal Planet is responsible for inciting this increased violence and aiding and abetting an international criminal organization.”

As the war of war of words escalates, let me recount some of this year’s actions:

Dec. 7: The main Sea Shepherd crew departs from Fremantle, Australia, aboard the Steve Irwin. The family of the late Steve Irwin — Terri, Bindi and Bob — were there to see them off.

Capt. Paul Watson with Terri, Bindi and Bob Irwin // Photo by Barbara Veiga, Sea Shepherd

Dec. 10: After passing through the 200-mile territorial boundary, the crew of the Steve Irwin realize they are being followed by a white ship. Though eight miles away, the ship appears to be one of the Japanese harpoon vessels, the Shonan Maru 2. Sea Shepherd Capt. Paul Watson orders a series of sharp turns, which the trailing ship mimics, staying back eight miles.

Dec. 11: The Ady Gil clears customs and heads south out of Tasmania with skipper Pete Bethune in charge.

Dec. 14: Still followed, the Steve Irwin passes behind an iceberg, conducts a figure-8 maneuver and pulls back out within a quarter mile of the Shonan Maru 2, according to accounts from the Sea Shepherd. The Japanese ship fires water canons at the Steve Irwin while fleeing from the Sea Shepherd. After a two-hour chase, Watson breaks off the pursuit and resumes the trip south.

“It was awesome seeing them run like cowards when we turned on them,” Third Mate Vincent Hayes says in the statement.

Dec. 17: By tailing the Steve Irwin, the Japanese ship can radio the location of the Sea Shepherd and keep the rest of the fleet out of reach. In an attempt to lose the Shonan Maru 2, the Irwin receives permission to move into French territorial waters in the Antarctic. The Japanese vessel follows without permission, according to Watson, who orders the helicopter into the air to photograph the Japanese ship in “illegal pursuit.”

The Japanese ship turns on its Long Range Acoustical Device (LRAD) and aims it at the helicopter.

“This was an extremely irresponsible thing to do,” says helicopter pilot Chris Aultman in a news release. “That device can cause nausea and disorientation, and the use of it against an aircraft is both extremely dangerous and grossly irresponsible.”

The helicopter returns to the mother ship, and Watson reports the incident to French authorities.

To explain the Japanese side of the story, the Institute of Cetacean Research issues a news release (PDF 40 kb) saying the LRAD was deployed to transmit a warning message to the Steve Irwin, which was approaching the Japanese ship.

In a new development not mentioned by the Sea Shepherd, the ICR statement mentions a “green laser device” aboard the Steve Irwin that was aimed at the Shonan Maru 2. No injuries were reported. But, given the distance, “one cannot but conclude that it is a high-powered contrivance,” according to the ICR statement.

Dec. 18: The helicopter carrying pilot Aultman and First Officer Locky MacLean visit the French base at Dumont d’ Urville. There, the two receive a plaque and letter of support on behalf of Sea Shepherd. The Steve Irwin waits at anchor for the Ady Gil.

Close encounter between Steve Irwin and Shonan Maru 2 // Photo courtesy Sea Shepherd

Dec. 22: With water cannons blasting away, the Shonan Maru 2 moves in close to the Steve Irwin, turns on its LRAD and broadcasts a strange message, according to a news release from Sea Shepherd: “Steve Irwin, cease your aggressive action. Stop your aggressive action. We have the authority to repel you.”

The ship chases and circles the Sea Shepherd vessel, which deploys a stern line to entangle the prop of the pursuing vessel, according to Sea Shepherd, which fires up its own newly installed water cannon. Both crews get wet, but the only reported damage was to some camera gear aboard the Irwin.

The Institute of Cetacean Research’s version (PDF 20 kb) begins with an acknowledgment that the Japanese vessel is “monitoring” the Steve Irwin, which deployed the tangle line, fired the green laser and hurled bottles of butyric acid, according to a statement.

“Five or six of these bottles hit the Japanese vessel’s deck. Neither injuries to the Japanese crew nor damage to the Shonan Maru No. 2 resulted from the Steve Irwin attack. High-power laser devices (laser pointers) are known to be extremely dangerous as they can produce blindness if irradiated to the naked eye… Aiming a laser at a craft where vision and situational awareness are critical for safety may be considered criminal behavior.”

Dec. 23: The Ady Gil meets up with the Steve Irwin while the Shonan Maru 2 was seven miles back, according to a report from the Sea Shepherd. The Ady Gil stays behind to harass the Japanese ship while the Steve Irwin moves on. The tactic only works a short time, as the Shonan Maru renews its pursuit of the Steve Irwin.

The Sea Shepherd claims the Shonan Maru 2 attacked the Ady Gil, which “defended itself with photonic disruptors,” the first acknowledgement that the Sea Shepherd is using laser devices.

The Institute of Cetacean Research has a much different account (PDF 20 kb):

“The attack by the Ady Gil surpasses in viciousness past interference and violent harassment by the Steve Irwin. The Ady Gil clung around the Shonan Maru No. 2 at high speed in disregard of the danger of collision, and the closest approach distance was only 20 meters. In addition, their irradiating a green laser device and their firing of projectiles aiming directly to the Shonan Maru No. 2 crew are flagrant unlawful acts.”

And that’s where the Sea Shepherd has paused to celebrate the holidays. The latest information comes from ABC News, which says the Steve Irwin is back in Australia for fuel and supplies.

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Catch share quotas have been in place for halibut fishing in Alaska for more than a decade
NOAA photo

Instead of a race to catch the most fish in the shortest time, operators are allowed to choose when to fish, taking into account safety and market conditions. For harvest managers, the process provides greater control over the total annual catch.

Phil Anderson, director of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, told me his agency is generally supportive of this kind of management. The Pacific Fishery Management Council, which governs fisheries on the West Coast, will launch catch shares in 2011 for groundfish.

Of all the possible fisheries to choose from, the PFMC is working on what could be the most complicated one of all, Anderson said. (I’ll describe his other comments in a moment.)

Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke said this in a press release about the new policy:

“We have made great progress in rebuilding many fisheries, but more than 20 percent of our fish stocks have not been rebuilt, and even larger proportion of our fisheries are not meeting their full economic potential for the nation. Catch shares is a tool that can help us realize the full economic and biological benefits of rebuilt fisheries.”

NOAA estimates that rebuilding U.S. fish stocks would increase annual commercial values at the dock by an estimated $2.2 billion, a 54-percent increase over current dockside values of $4.1 billion.

Groundfish in our region, governed by the PFMC, are undergoing a management review leading up to individual fishing quotas. Groundfish include rockfish; flatfish, such as sole and flounder; roundfish, such as cod and Pacific whiting (hake); sharks and skates, including dogfish; and a group called “other.” For information, see the PFMC Web site.

One of the most controversial parts of the management review, known as “trawl rationalization,” includes allocating a percentage of the harvest to the various fishing sectors with some individual quotas reserved for shore-based systems. For more information, see the backgrounder on “Trawl Rationalization, Individual Fishing Quotas and Co-ops.”

Phil Anderson tells me that technology will play a major part in getting the new management system moving toward full-blown individual quotas. For the past eight years, catch shares have been generally allocated under a three-tier system for harvests of sablefish in the longline fishery. Such quotas, however, cannot be sold or transferred to others.

“If you are going to assign quota shares, you have to have a way to track those in real time,” Anderson said, noting that proposed electronic transfers during the fishing season would make the system more complex but more efficient.

One of the benefits of catch shares is to set limits for depleted stocks caught incidentally while fishing for more abundant stocks. Instead of throwing the “bycatch” back into the water, trawlers keep the fish and take note of what they caught. When they reach the bycatch limit, they may choose to stop fishing or else purchase additional shares from others.

With proper monitoring and enforcement, the system could make a significant difference in protecting depleted stocks.

Expanding catch shares requires a level of support from the industry, Anderson said. Even though the system has many business benefits, there is a degree of uncertainty, since owners must revamp their familiar business plans.

One example is the ocean crab fishery. It might make sense to establish quotas so that commercial crabbers can stay home in severe weather and take their shares when ocean conditions are more suitable. At the moment, however, the industry is focused on a government buy-back program and individual quotas could create turmoil.

As demonstrated by the new national policy, NOAA is pushing hard for regional fishery groups to adopt catch shares, but so far it is not an outright requirement.

Jim Balsiger, acting administrator of NOAA’s Fisheries Service:

“Catch shares allow fishermen to plan their businesses better and be more selective about when and how they catch their allotment, because they know their share of the fishery is secure. They can plan their fishing schedules in response to weather, market, and individual business conditions.

“Catch share programs help eliminate the race to fish, reduce overcapacity and bycatch, enhance the safety of fishermen and their vessels, and improve economic efficiency. They also help ensure fishermen adhere to annual catch limits because the value of their share is directly linked to the overall health of the fish stock and its habitat.”

A story in the New York Times by reporters Allison Winter and Dina Fine Maron calls catch-shares programs “cap-and-trade management schemes for federal fisheries.”

Len Reed of The Oregonian touches on the subject from a regional viewpoint.

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The time-lapse project is by Kevin Bell of New Hampshire. The shots were taken at the Nashua River in his state and at the Willard Brook State Forest in Massachusetts. The still shots were from the White Mountain National Forest in New Hampshire. The music is by Explosions In The Sky, from Texas.

When I visited the Chesapeake Bay region a few years ago to seek out similarities and differences to Puget Sound, I learned about the importance of oysters to the bay’s ecosystem. This time-lapse video by Chesapeake Bay Foundation shows how quickly algae can be taken up by native oysters in a controlled experiment.

This summer, Kitsap’s own Dale Ireland shot a cool video of Hood Canal, showing tidal changes, cloud movement and smoke coming out of the Dosewallips Valley during a forest fire. It also happened to be the hottest day on record for the area.

Finally, here’s the BBC video. A warning for the squeamish: The video includes the decomposition of a dead seal.

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Dolphins will be used to guard the Navy's submarine base at Bangor, similar to operations at King's Bay, Ga., and other places.
U.S. Navy photo by Veronica Birmingham

Roger Natsuhara, acting assistant secretary of the Navy for installation and environment, signed the record of decision (PDF 1.7 mb) on Wednesday. Check the document for official details about the program.

Reporter Ed Friedrick wrote a story about the decision for Thursday’s Kitsap Sun. His article includes the following description of how the Navy plans to use the marine mammals.

The dolphins, accompanied by handlers in small power boats, will work at night. If they find an intruder, they’ll swim back to the boat and alert the handler, who will place a strobe light on a dolphin’s nose. It will race back and bump the intruder’s back, knocking the light off. The light will float to the surface, marking the spot. The dolphin will swim back to the boat, join the handler, and they’ll clear out as security guards speed to the strobe to subdue the intruder.

Sea lions can carry in their mouths special cuffs attached to long ropes. If they find a suspicious swimmer, they clamp the cuff around the person’s leg. The intruder can then be reeled in.

The dolphins’ sonar is better than any that man has made and they’re best for moving quickly in open water. Sea lions can see and hear better underwater and are better for shallower work around piers

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Twila Dawn Captain Steve Sigo (right) and First Mate Aaron Leschi (left) help diver Jake Johnston suit up for his dive at Apple Tree Cove near Kingston on Thursday, when the crew brought up an abandoned fishing net.
Kitsap Sun photo by Meegan M. Reid

Kitsap Sun reporter Tara Garcia Mathewson was on a boat Thursday, watching divers bring up a net in Apple Tree Cove near Kingston. See the story she wrote for today’s Kitsap Sun as well as a video.

Ray Frederick of Kitsap Poggie Club first informed me about “ghost nets” more than a decade ago. At the time, officials were just becoming aware about how much damage the nets can do. But, when it came to money, it wasn’t a high priority. State officials were reluctant to allow volunteers to do much, in part because they worried about people’s safety, or so they said. There also seemed to be a concern about using robotic equipment to yank up the nets, because it could harm sea life and undersea habitat where the nets were wrapped around rocks.

Now, with federal stimulus dollars, professional divers are on the job with a goal of removing 3,000 nets before the end of next year. If I’ve done the math correctly, we’re talking about a little more than $1,500 for each net.

For perspective on the history, see stories I wrote for the Kitsap Sun in May of 2000 and in June of 2002.

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Canisters found on ocean beaches may contain dangerous aluminum phosphide.
Department of Ecology photo

The canisters are the type that often contain aluminum phosphide, a chemical that turns into poisonous phospine gas when exposed to moisture. This gas is commonly used to kill insects and other pests on cargo ships.

The problem comes about if someone finds one of these canisters with the lid still on. If the person then opens the canister, he or she may breathe the residual phosphine gas.

I’m not sure anyone can predict potential exposures, because it would depend on the amount of aluminum phosphide or phosphine in the canister. But I found the following info in medical management guidelines issued by the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry:

“Phosphine is a respiratory tract irritant that attacks primarily the cardiovascular and respiratory systems causing peripheral vascular collapse, cardiac arrest and failure, and pulmonary edema.”

In other words, this stuff is nothing to mess around with. Lots of folks walk the ocean beaches in winter. If you find a canister like this, keep the lid on and alert authorities.

“We asked the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to develop a model that would give us a better idea where these canisters might be coming from,” said Dale Jensen, Ecology’s spills program manager in a news release. “The results strongly indicate the likely source is the cargo ships exporting bulk grain to Pacific Rim nations. These ships are loading grain at terminals on the Columbia River as well as Grays Harbor, Puget Sound and British Columbia.”

Cliff Weed, manager of pesticide compliance for the Washington State Department of Agriculture, added, “Our goal is to raise awareness that these canisters must be properly handled and disposed of – whether the vessel is outbound from a Washington port or a foreign ship inbound with cargo. This will help ensure the canisters stay out of our waters, off our beaches and protect the public.

For information, check Ecology’s Web page on the aluminum phosphide.

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