Don’t disturb fish habitat

Dear Editor:

The subject of Skaha Lake Public Park is still an important issue. The city councillors seem to be following the same track as Trio. The city manager is estimating $1.7 million for an upgrade of the marina which can only mean more boat slips, some or one new building, possibly restaurant and other unknown commercial ventures.

The city councillors don’t seem to understand what a public park is — free of commercialization, open spaces and unencumbered.

We’ve got through the problem of our city basically giving away 27 per cent of Skaha Lake Public Park. At the end of October 2018, Trio will disappear totally from this property which will give us a great opportunity to re-evaluate its importance and use.

Four years ago, the Bonneville Power Authority invested $15 million to bring the salmon back into this area. The Syilx Nation had built the Shingle Creek Hatchery which produces 5.2 million salmon fry each year. This hatchery is a very sophisticated facility. The success rate from the roe to fry is more than 90 per cent. Those numbers are very important to this project. The fry will travel from Shingle Creek to Skaha Lake.

Skaha Lake is now, and will be in the future, a nursery for these fry as they will be in the lake for at least one year before they start their travels as mature salmon over nine dams into the Pacific Ocean to Alaska then the reverse procedure happens. For us, this will be a boast to our tourist industry if we are patient.

The Bonneville Power Authority is a non-profit agency. They’re based out of Portland, Oregon, established in 1937, having 3,000 employees and revenue of $3.5-billion annually. It is stated in their public responsibilities, “fulfill environmental and social responsibilities, including mitigate impacts, protect and enhance fish and wildlife populations affected by their federal hydropower system.”

The Syilx Nation, being true to their declaration, “We will survive and continue to govern our Mother and her resources for the good of all for all time,” has taken the responsibility of a successful hatchery to enhance and strengthen the Bonneville Power Authority’s environmental program.

Percentages of success from each area are very important. So the percentage of the 5.2 million fry which came into Skaha Lake must leave at the highest percentage possible which we can assist in.

In the process of assessing Urban Systems’ recommendations, we are using words such as enjoyment, protection, conservation, preservation, unencumbered, values and visions. These words are intended to protect our parks and must also be used to protect our lakes. Adding more power boats is not the answer.

More boat slips and stationery boats are breeding nests for invasive species. Commercialization is not acceptable.

The Federal Fisheries Act is written to protect the above. The habitat of the fish, not to be disturbed, is emphasized.

Peter Osborne

Penticton