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Chinook salmon could be a health hazard
February 16th, 2012
By Carlito Pablo, February 16, 2012
straight.com
Orcas are being poisoned by their own prized prey, the chinook salmon, scientists say.
Natives eat a lot of this fish too. Are they getting contaminated as well? Ernie Crey, a senior policy adviser to the Sto:lo Tribal Council, wants to know.
In January 2009, when a study came out about how toxin-laced chinook are affecting the iconic but at-risk orcas of the West Coast, Crey wrote and asked the Fraser Health Authority about the safety of this traditional First Nations food. But he didn’t get any response.
It was only earlier this month that he was informed that his three-year-old letter will be looked into.
“There’s no testing going on, although…time and money have been taken to test the orcas to see why their populations are in decline,” Crey told the Georgia Straight in a phone interview. “To my knowledge, no federal department or agency has said, ‘Wait a minute. I wonder if the aboriginal people’s reliance on this same fish poses any threat and is having any impacts?’ ”
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