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The Fraser Estuary

Depending on its ultimate design,
airport expansion at Sea Island would
involve dredging, filling, and construc-
tion on Sturgeon Bank.

Sturgeon Bank is part of a complex
ecological system — the Fraser River
Estuary. Any development on the
bank will have ramifications on the
whole system — particularly if other
developments, like the ferry terminal
being considered for Iona Island, also
take place in the estuary.

Rich organic
system

An estuary is a_ semi-enclosed
coastal body of water made up of both
sea and fresh water. The Fraser Estu-
ary, therefore, can be roughly defined
as the confluence of the Fraser River
and the Strait of Georgia.

It includes Sturgeon Bank, Roberts
Bank, Boundary Bay, the river as far
up as New Westminster, ard the Strait
of Georgia to the east coast of Van-
couver Island.

Estuaries are the richest organic
areas in the world. They are a remark-
able system for the containment and
efficient utilization of organic matter,
water, minerals, and sunlight.

   

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Tides bring in ocean nutrients, and
the river carries other nutrients and
minerals down from the interior.

Interacting river and ocean waters
distribute these rich foods over the
mudflats and through the sloughs,
inlets, and lagoons of the delta. Sun-
light easily penetrates and warms these
shallow bodies of water thereby en-
hancing organic growth.

The banks and foreshore areas of
the estuary, alternately covered and
exposed by tides and floods, also
produce a great quantity and variety
of plants and small animal life.

This environment provides the basis
for the food chains essential to fish
and wildlife.

Abundant fish
and wildlife

A century of increasing urbaniza-
tion and industrial development in the
delta has greatly altered the natural
state of the Fraser Estuary. Urban
sprawl has also encroached on sur-
rounding agricultural land.

Nevertheless, much habitat vital to
fish and wildlife still exists, as do areas
devoted to fishing, hunting, and recre-
ation.

Waterfowl: Over four million water-
fowl travel along the B.C. Coast in
their annual migration from South
America to Northeastern Siberia and
back via the Pacific Flyway. Mere than
a million of them stop at Fraser River
marshlands, which provide ideal stag-
ing areas for birds to rest.

Because of the relatively mild
weather, over 10% stay the entire
winter.

Producing food in the form of seeds
and roots, the marshlands of Sturgeon
and Roberts Banks are critically im-
portant feeding areas for the birds.
Nearby farmlands provide additional
food.

Birds frequenting the area include
ducks, geese, gulls, grebes, herons,
owls, bald eagles, pheasants, and many
kinds of songbirds. Of these, the mi-
grating species are protected by inter-
national treaty.

Fish: The Fraser River system sup-
ports one of the largest populations of
anadromous fish in the world, includ-

he

ing the five species of Pacific Salmon;
Steelhead, Cutthroat, and Rainbow
Trout; eulochons and smelts.

Annually, more than one billion
young salmon hatched upstream pass
through the estuary on their migration
to the sea. Recent investigations have
shown that, because these salmon
spend considerable time in the estuary
when they are growing, their survival
depends on estuarine food chains.

Alterations to the estuary — such as
loss of habitat or changes in its physi-
cal condition and water quality —
could have dramatic effects on food
chains essential to young fish.

This in turn would affect the entire
fisheries resource of the Fraser River,
which in 1973 provided a catch worth
over $20 million for salmon alone.

Recreation: In addition to commer-
cial fishing, the estuary and foreshore
areas are used for sport fishing, hunt-
ing, nature study, sight-seeing, boating,
walking, and other beach activities.

Popular beaches include Boundary
Bay, Crescent Beach, White Rock,
Wreck Beach, and, to a lesser extent,
Jona Island.

Wildlife preservation areas in the
delta, such as the Reifel Island water-
fowl refuge, are also important re-
sources for nature study and recre-
ation.

Studies linked
to estuary

The purpose of the D.O.E. studies
is to lock at the estuarine areas at or
near proposed airport development; to
assess how important these areas are to
the preservation of the fish, wildlife,
and recreational values described
above; and to determine how airport
expansion would affect these resources.

The D.O.E. is also examining ways
to minimize adverse environmental
effects should the development go
ahead.

Similarly, the department is evalu-
ating the acceptability of certain
trade-offs, for example, loss of wildlife
habitat on Sea Island and Sturgeon
Bank in return for guaranteed pre-
servation of other areas on Sturgeon
Bank, Roberts Bank, and Boundary
Bay.