B.C.’s grand chief and First Nation leaders on the Sunshine Coast are supporting a call for Ottawa to “systematically and properly” study the full impact of Fukushima radiation on the West Coast fishery.
Radiation from the March 2011 nuclear accident arrived off the B.C. coast last year, Robin Brown, ocean sciences division manager with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), said Tuesday.
“According to our observations, the radiation from Fukushima was detected in B.C. coastal waters in June 2013. Barely detectable, but detectable,” Brown said.
Although the federal government tested food samples, including some domestic fish species, in 2011 and early 2012, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) said Wednesday that “further testing of imported or domestic food products for the presence of radioactive material is not required.”
Last month, Tahlton Central Council president Annita McPhee wrote national Chief Shawn A-in-chut Atleo, urging him to press Ottawa for action amid growing concerns by members of the Tahltan Nation in northwestern B.C.
“We cannot sit by and watch and wait to see what the full impacts of the Fukushima disaster will be on our salmon and our way of life,” McPhee wrote. “To date, we have not seen or heard of Canada taking this issue seriously and working in a real way to address it.”
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