Expansion Increases: Salmon and Project Description

expansion increases: Due to the potential for impacts to federally managed species, this project has undergone an extensive Environmental Assessment conducted by the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, which commenced when the initial project description was submitted in 2013.A review of the Environmental Impact Statement by Raincoast Conservation Foundation salmon biologist Dave Scott revealed the proposed expansion poses several potential problems for juvenile Chinook and other salmon that would prefer to use the productive eelgrass beds at Roberts Bank, according to National Observer. Primarily, the expansion increases the barrier to the natural movement of juvenile salmon created by the construction of the original four-kilometre-long causeway and terminal in 1969. The Port of Vancouver is proposing to expand the existing terminal at Deltaport, in Tsawwassen, doubling its capacity to offload containers through the creation of a 108-hectare berth in the heart of the Fraser River delta at Roberts Bank. Added to this were three additional terminal pods in the early 1980s. To do so requires swimming through deeper and saltier water to reach the eelgrass beds to the south. This large structure now extends five kilometres from the shore, forming a physical barrier juvenile salmon must navigate around. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.