Salmon has stolen the show at National Energy Board hearings into the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline, but Tuesday was the turn of white sturgeon to grab some of the limelight.
The giant fish that calls the Nechako River home has seen its stocks declining for years and environmental coalition lawyer Tim Leadem wanted to know what the company behind the $6.5 billion pipeline plan would do to protect the sensitive species. Specifically Leadem asked if the company would commit to funding independent research on the fish and its future.
Northern Gateway environment director Paul Anderson acknowledged the declining stocks, but said the construction of the pipeline will have little impact on the fish's habitat due to the trenchless crossing the company plans to use when crossing the Nechako River. Rather than pay for research, he said the company's focus would be on mitigation techniques.
Earlier in the day, Anderson did say the company would fund independent third-party research to study the impact the pipeline could have on other species impacted by the pipeline construction and operation, such as caribou.
Leadem wouldn't speak directly to the evidence presented during the Northern Gateway hearings, but said one reason environmental groups have launched litigation against the federal government to release recovery strategies for the species is due to the possible impact the pipeline could have on sturgeon.
"The white sturgeon in this province, particularly in the Nechako basin, has been in decline and it has been showing very low recruitment rates," he said. "Unless there's more young white sturgeon to take the place of the older white sturgeon, I think the fear of our clients is that the white sturgeon will no longer be able to swim in the Nechako and Stuart rivers."
