Shuswap Environmental Action Society
Salmon Arm KAIROS Committee
Adams River Salmon Society
Media Release
April 27, 2012

Famous wild salmon activist tours the Shuswap

Famed wild salmon activist and marine biologist Dr. Alexandria Morton will be on a speaking tour of the Shuswap from May 9 to May 12, with engagements in Lumby, Enderby, Salmon Arm and in the North Shuswap. On Thursday, May 10th, Morton at 7:30 pm will speak at the Senior’s Activity Centre, 170 5th Ave. SE, Salmon Arm for a public event sponsored by Shuswap Environmental Action Society (SEAS), Salmon Arm KAIROS, and the Adams River Salmon Society.

Morton began her marine biology career studying captive killer whales at Marineland of the Pacific in Los Angeles and soon realized that in order to learn more about their complex language and behaviour she needed to study these whales in their natural habitat.  After moving to the Broughton Archipelago in 1979 to study the orcas, she wrote numerous research papers on the topic. When fish farms began to expand into the area in the late 1980s, the local fishing community turned to her for help.

Her research then focused on the impact of these farms on wild salmon and soon her papers, published in leading journals such as Science, were warning how sea lice were spreading from the farmed Atlantic salmon to wild pink salmon. In 2001, she predicted the stock collapse that occurred the following year.  After she went to the B.C. Supreme Court in 2009, the decision required the federal government to uphold their constitutional obligation for regulating the ocean fishery, which forced them to take over management of the fish farm industry from the province.

Last year Morton provided key testimony to the Cohen Commission, the federal inquiry into the decline of the Fraser River sockeye, and her efforts resulted in the province releasing detailed fish farm disease records. Her research has found that salmon anemia, a disease associated with farmed salmon, is present on the West Coast, despite denials by the government. Most recently, Morton has had tests done on farmed salmon purchased at lower mainland supermarkets that show evidence of a virus associated with heart and skeletal muscle inflammation, another disease that afflicts fish farms in Norway. Consequently, she has put forward a request to have the Cohen Commission inquiry reopened to examine the evidence about the virus, which could be one of the key factors responsible for recent salmon run declines.

“Our government has prioritized the fish feedlot industry and foreign trade over the welfare of wild pacific salmon,” said Dr. Morton. “This could well be the biggest, most ecologically and financially devastating cover-up in the history of our province, she added.

“Shuswap residents are fortunate to have this opportunity to hear Dr. Morton speak about the impacts that the fish feedlot industry is having on the wild salmon that are this region’s most iconic species,” explained Jim Cooperman, president of SEAS.

“We are pleased to help make the tour possible by providing the financial support needed to cover the travel expenses,” said Darlene McBain, president of the Adams River Salmon Society.

“Not only are fish farms likely impacting the health of B.C.’s salmon, they also are impacting those communities that depend on a viable wild salmon fishery, including First Nations,” said Anne Morris, of Salmon Arm KAIROS Committee.  “We look forward to learning more about the issues one of Canada’s foremost experts and finding out how we can help,” added Morris.

In addition to the May 10th talk in Salmon Arm, Morton will be in Lumby on May 9th at the White Valley Community Centre at 7pm for an event sponsored by the North Okanagan/Shuswap NDP. On May 11th, she will be at the Enderby Seniors Hall at 7pm. And on May 12th, outdoor enthusiasts will meet at the Interpretive Cabin and then hike with Morton in Roderick Haig-Brown Provincial Park from 10am until noon and then enjoy their picnic lunches until 1 pm.

For more information, contact:

Lumby, Priscilla Judd, 547-9475
Enderby, Jean Clark, 838-7299
Salmon Arm, Anne Morris, 833-5773
North Shuswap, Celia Nord, 371-2630

Please help us promote this event! If you are on Facebook, invite your friends using our event page, www.facebook.com/events/224239234330965/

Learn more about Joel’s music from his webpage: joelplaskett.com

Canadian Indie Folk-Rock Superstar to play April 15th in Salmon Arm

On April 15th, Canadian Indie Folk-Rock Superstar Joel Plaskett and his band Emergency will play in Salmon Arm at the Salmar Classic Theatre at 7:30 pm. Joel will be on tour across the country to promote his new album, Scrappy Happiness; ten songs that he has written in ten weeks, each one featured on CBC Radio 3. It is an ambitious project that combines the best of both worlds – using a decades old approach to getting music to the public quickly and taking advantage of new technology to communicate and interact with audiences.  Plaskett will document the process through social media with vlogs, twitter and online chats, which will be available at www.cbc.ca/joelplaskett.

Joel hails from Nova Scotia, where he has been a pop icon for over a decade, winning many awards including a Juno, two Canadian Folk Music Awards and numerous East Coast Music Awards, plus two Polaris prize nominations.  In 2009, he opened for Paul McCartney in Halifax and in May 2011, he became the first artist ever to reach one million plays on CBC Radio 3. He writes catchy, infectious, lyrical rock and roll tunes that fill one with instant joy.

The Joel Plaskett Emergency Concert will be benefit for the Shuswap Environmental Action Society and will help with the project to raise funds to help purchase the property adjacent to the mouth of the Adams River, home to the world famous sockeye salmon run.  This concert would not be possible without the generous support from these local sponsors: Askews, Salmon Arm Observer, Travelodge Salmon Arm, Barley Station Brew Pub, Mediability, Acorn Music, Salmar Community Association, and Earthtone Studios. Tickets are at Acorn Music in Salmon Arm (832-8669) and are available online at www.ticketbreak.com. For more information, contact 679-3693.

Here is the latest update from Joel Plaskett about his new album:

Scrappy Happiness

These days it seems the only challenge left for the man who never stops moving is to move even faster.

It’s been a manic few months for Joel Plaskett, and anybody who’s been following along already knows the reason why. Out of the doldrums of another long Canadian winter, Joel and The Emergency (Dave Marsh and Chris Pennell) have been working round the clock, sending weekly volleys to fight off the seasonal blues: a brand new song – recorded, mixed, mastered, and released – every single week for the past ten weeks, accompanied by snippets of video documenting the process in-studio. It has been an epic undertaking, which now comes together in the physical release of Scrappy Happiness on cd and vinyl.

Not that Plaskett is any stranger to monumental endeavors: his last trip into the studio yielded the triple triumph, Three, for which he received a Juno Award and a Polaris Prize nomination. But the musical distance between these two records shows that Joel is still a long way from resting on his laurels. Whereas Three was luxuriously meditative, and holistic in its conception, Scrappy Happiness laid its rails one quick mile at a time, and the entire record reverberates with the restless energy that fuelled its production. Scrappy? At times, yes, but more than that it is spontaneous – a rich tribute to the days when a new song on the radio was, well, new.

There are a handful of gorgeous tunes that call to mind the folk inflections of Three, while hewing to the lean, stripped-down production that mark this distinctive record as a whole (the breezy lilt of “Harbour Boys” and the standout “I’m Yours”). But Plaskett’s winking references to his beloved Cactus and Husker Du albums suggest that his riffing chops are as strong as ever. The Emergency provide the muscle for gritty guitar numbers like “Lightning Bolt” and “Time Flies” and they evidently haven’t lost an ounce of love for the kind of melodic rock that inspires tunes like “Somewhere Else” and “Tough Love,” tracks that echo back to their earlier records, Down at the Khyber and Truthfully, Truthfully.

Scrappy Happiness is an eclectic display of Plaskett’s continued songwriting prowess and playful lyricism. While many of the songs tap bittersweet emotions hidden in the fuzzy details of the past, it is the present where this record resides. Time’s flying, so let’s fly with it.  Music – the sheer jubilant redemptive promise of music: on the radio, in the car, in the kitchen or from the stage – occupies a prominent place in these songs and one can hear the joy the group took in their creation.

All of this is to say that Scrappy Happiness is a risk taken for its own sake. It is a fascinating experiment, which pays homage to an older mode of record production while forging ahead to new ways of engaging listeners.

But none of this would matter if it weren’t also, in the end, another compelling record from one of Canada’s leading musical voices.

Joel Plaskett   lead vocal & guitar

Dave Marsh   drums & backing vocals

Chris Pennell bass guitar & backing vocals