Wednesday November 9, 2022
Nelson Star —
A group of B.C. university researchers is hoping to find out if road salt in streams could be harming Pacific salmon.
Because Pacific salmon are in decline and all the factors involved aren’t known, the team will investigate the seasonal impact of road salt in more than 20 streams around the Lower Mainland and will also grow baby salmon from eggs in high salt water in the lab.
Even though adult salmon live in salt water, they grow up in fresh water, UBC researcher Chris Wood noted in a release. There’s also evidence that moderate salt levels t a young age have caused mortality and stunted growth, he said.
While there are federal and provincial regulations that set maximum salt levels in streams, but these levels are not routinely monitored.
No one has looked yet at patterns of salt exposure, and with use of road salt in Canada increasing by about 2.5 per cent each year – with many municipalities using thousands of tonnes of salt for winter maintenance each year – the team of researchers and community partners is hopeful they’ll be able to find whether road salt is a factor in the decline of the Pacific salmon population.