Defective culverts are harming or killing fish. NS environmentalists want this to change
A Nova Scotia man who fishes in the Minas Basin says he regularly sees the harm fish are caused by faulty culverts.
In some cases the results are fatal, says Darren Porter.
Porter, A commercial Fishermen and environmentalists point to a pair of culverts on the Halfway River near Hantsport, NS, where strong currents during high tide catch fish with such force that it can maim or even kill them.
“Just imagine the fish being pulled through it or pushed through it,” he said. “This is inhumane.”
Porter has documented the fish’s injuries in photographs, showing deep wounds, bleeding and even internal organs protruding from the trauma.
bad Culverts are far from a rare problem. Thomas Sweeney, a habitat biologist with the Nova Scotia Salmon Association, says between 50 and 60 percent of Nova Scotia’s 31,000 water crossings — where roads cross streams or rivers — pose problems for fish passage.
A 2023 Fisheries and Oceans Canada Report Similar results were found: 45 to 57 percent of culverts in four major Nova Scotia watersheds – Annapolis, Shubenacadie, St. Marys and LaHave – were classified as barriers to fish.
“In many ways, it’s a death by a thousand cuts. When (fish) hit barriers, their populations become endangered in many parts of their range,” Sweeney said. Migratory species like salmon are most affected, he said.
Problems may include culverts that are damaged, clogged with debris or poorly designed, either not allowing enough water to pass through or too much water flowing at a high velocity.
Porter wants DFO to hold culvert owners accountable, particularly by more actively enforcing the Fisheries Act Section 35 Which prohibits harming or destroying fish habitat. Violation of that section can result in heavy fine and even jail.
“As soon as you start enforcing the law, people come into compliance,” he said. “Once people come into compliance, we solve the problem. It’s that simple. Until that happens, we’re going to be dead.”
Culvert owners may be government agencies, municipalities, industries, or private landowners.
The Nova Scotia Department of Public Works, which owns many of the culverts in the province, has confirmed that it does not track how many fish passageways are negatively impacted.
“When the Public Works Department receives an order from the DFO, we make the necessary changes. We do not track the number or type of orders received,” a spokesperson for the department said in an email, declining further comment.
A DFO spokesperson said that when the department is made aware of an obstructed route, it can order the culvert owner to take corrective measures within a specific time frame.
“While voluntary compliance is both the preferred and expected approach, enforcement actions and charges may be brought when circumstances require – particularly if a proponent fails to meet the necessary requirements to achieve compliance,” the spokesperson said in an email.
Asked by CBC News how many documented violations of the Fisheries Act over the past 10 years have involved culverts, DFO said, “The current data system does not have the ability to disaggregate or identify which specific incidents involved dams or culverts.”
CBC News asked the DFO for an interview, but the department was not able to secure one.
Called for better tracking
Sweeney said better tracking could at least make the problem more manageable and give agencies the ability to prioritize which bridges to fix with limited budgets.
He said people can play a role in Adopt-a-Stream Program who can train them on how to assess and record culverts database,
“If we take this huge, insurmountable problem and start breaking it down watershed by watershed, even tributary by tributary, that’s how we move forward.”
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