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California's healthiest Salmon fisheries, found
on the Smith River, could be destroyed if changes are not made soon.
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photo by Susan Calla
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Salmon Encounter Toxic Shock...
A chemical stew assaults your senses. Here on the 10,000-acre Smith River
Plain, 90 percent of the lily bulbs in the U.S. are grown. A lucrative
industry, lily farmers use large concentrations of 50
toxic chemicals annually.
If you're a fish and you aren't killed outright, you may lose your sense
of direction, fail to seek the cold waters of your home watershed later
in life, or lose the desire to fight off predators. Fish may also grow
cancerous lesions, their gills may collapse, or they may become sterile.
Scientists have determined that pesticides represent one of the greatest
threats to anadromous fish (species such as salmon and steelhead trout
that are born in fresh water, migrate to salt water to grow fatter for
a few years, then return thousands of miles to the watershed where they
were born). Much of the Smith River is pristine, and supports the healthiest
anadromous fish population in California and possibly Oregon and Washington.
But the twin assaults of chemical spraying
and habitat destruction at the river's mouth
could destroy even this fish and wildlife paradise if changes aren't made
soon.
We All Suffer Like the Salmon
Salmon aren’t the only species affected by chemical inundation.
Rare, Threatened and Endangered species that use the estuary include:
Tidewater goby
Bald eagle
Brown pelican
Marbled murrelet
Oregon silverspot butterfly
Snowy plover
Over 80 species of plants
There are also impacts to the Smith River Plain’s 2,500 human residents,
many of whom eke out a precarious financial existence and are in
no position to speak out against a dominant lily bulb industry and
supporting ranchers. The Smith River Project is collecting medical
evidence that may show Smith River residents and bulb farm employees
are at greater risk than the general population of contracting skin
and respiratory diseases, and more serious maladies such as cancer.
With your help we may be able to stop
the pollution before it's too late.
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