Chemical found in tires suspected in West Vancouver death of salmon
Global News
The West Vancouver Streamkeepers says student volunteers monitoring Brothers Creek recently discovered at least 30 dead coho salmon, shortly after heavy rainfalls.
A B.C. conservation group believes a common chemical found in car tires is responsible for the death of dozens of salmon in a North Shore creek.
The West Vancouver Streamkeepers says student volunteers monitoring Brothers Creek recently discovered at least 30 dead coho salmon, shortly after heavy rainfalls.
Streamkeepers former president John Barker said the group contacted Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), and believes the chemical 6PDD quinone, used to prevent tires from cracking, is likely responsible for the deaths.
“The indicators are that that’s where it’s come from,” he said.
Automobile tires that break down, it sits up on the roadways in the summer, and then with the influence of sunshine the toxicity is really elevated, and then believe it or not it can run off into the stream and just annihilate coho.”
Other salmon species in the stream appeared to be unaffected, he said, which is also consistent with the chemical being much less toxic to other salmonids.
Within a short period of time, other coho returning to the stream appeared to be unaffected, he added, suggesting the chemical was washed into the waterway by recent rains.
“It was like a plume or a flush came through and took these fish out,” he said. “The following week, absolutely amazing … the last team to survey on week three had 27 fish, and 15 were coho, all alive and all healthy.”
