There will be fewer trout in Fish Lake if an open pit copper and gold mine is built according to the company behind the New Prosperity plan, but those that remain will be bigger.
During community hearings earlier this week in Tsi Del Del First Nation, representatives from Taseko Mines said the if their project is built a reduction in spawning areas in the lake would likely see the trout population cut in half from its current estimated level of 85,000.
"Taking a projection that the company has done based on the productivity of the lake and the reduction of the spawning area, is if spawning habitat is one of the things causing the over-population and reduced spawning habitat to about half, you would have about half the individuals of fish in the lake," Taskeo senior vice-president of operations John McManus said in response to a question from Tsi Del Del chief Percy Guichon. "You'd have half as many adults, but larger size is the projection."
The fate of the fish is a key issue facing the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency panel reviewing the mine application. When Taseko first proposed the project 125 km south of Williams Lake in 2010 it was rejected by the federal government in part because of concerns about the mine negatively impacting fish habitat.
Taseko modified its plan and re-submitted it for another environmental assessment, but concerns about fish health linger.
During his testimony, Guichon told the panel about the importance fish play in his people's culture.
"I think when we say this mine will potentially have an impact of cultural genocide, you know, we're saying we're fish people," he said. "And we're saying that if that Taseko River is ever contaminated and killed the fish run, that's going to really impede our opportunity to practice our fishing activities."
Taseko told the panel it can build and operate the mine without causing significant damage to the fishery. Taseko chief engineer Greg Yelland said the company has closely monitored the health of fish at its Gibralter mine.
"We have trout in the Gibraltar tailings pond that have less metals in their tissue than fish caught in the natural lakes found throughout British Columbia," he said. "Nearly everything is lower except for copper, which we expect to be a little bit higher because there is a copper mine."
Hearings will continue this week at First Nations communities in the Cariboo. Final arguments are set for Aug. 23 in Williams Lake.
