Scientists comprehensively link, for the first time, mining policy to the current understanding of watershed ecology and salmonid biology.
Researchers at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and other institutions in the US and Canada are calling for more complete and transparent science to inform mining policy, particularly when it comes to the impact of metal and coal mines on salmon and trout in northwestern North America., the scientists comprehensively link, for the first time, mining policy to the current understanding of watershed ecology and salmonid biology.
The research shows that, despite impact assessments intended to evaluate risk and inform mitigation, mines continue to harm salmonid-bearing watersheds through contaminants, stream channel burial and streamflow alteration. Silt suffocates eggs, and embryos may not survive contaminated groundwater. Heavy metals compromise a salmon’s sense of smell, which affects their ability to react to predators and find their way back from the ocean to spawn.
“The extent of mining pressures on these watersheds underscores the importance of accurately assessing risk to water, fish and communities,” Sergeant said. The paper also describes how some mining policies do not account for the breadth and length of mining impacts on the environment or the increasing effects of climate change.
According to McPhee, some impact assessments don’t fully evaluate the infrastructure required to operate a mine, such as roads, electricity generation and water removal.
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