How the science behind salmon farms and sea lice became so contentious

Thu, February 23, 2023 

Members of the DFO routinely visit farms surrounding British Columbia to make sure that the health of the salmon populations in fish farms is up to standard. 

(The Canadian Press /Jonathan Hayward - image credit)

A federal decision to shut down 15 open-net Atlantic salmon farms around B.C.'s Discovery Islands is being lauded as a win for protecting wild salmon, and a significant blow to the fish-farm industry — all while reigniting a decades-old debate between industry and scientists.

The decision from Ottawa came just weeks after a Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) report found no "statistically significant association" between sea lice infestations among wild juvenile chum and pink salmon and the fish farms they migrate past along the B.C. coast.

The report, which was based on data provided by fish-farm operators, noted there has been an upward trend of sea lice infestation in the studied areas, which include Clayoquot Sound and the Discovery Islands, since 2013.

The science establishing the link between salmon farms and increased sea lice infestations has been an issue of fierce debate for years, with industry representatives, academics, DFO scientists, and environmental activists citing conflicting data sets.

Even after announcing the decision to permanently close the 15 farms, the DFO didn't comment directly on the correlation between the two, saying by shutting down the farms it is taking an "enhanced precautionary approach."

"Recent science indicates that there is uncertainty with respect to the risks posed by aquaculture farms in the Discovery Islands area to wild Pacific salmon, and to the cumulative effect of any farm-related impacts on this iconic species," read a statement from the office of Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Joyce Murray.

"This was a difficult, but necessary decision."

A flashpoint on the coast

At the centre of the debate is the question of whether wild salmon become infected by sea lice as they migrate past fish farms along the B.C. coast.

The Discovery Islands area is a key migration route for wild salmon, where narrow passages bring migrating juvenile salmon into close contact with the farms.

Parasitic sea lice occur naturally in the Pacific Ocean, but tend to thrive in fish farms because of the high density of fish. While sea lice don't generally harm adult fish, they can weaken or even kill young fish once they attach to their skin.

Salmon farms are required to perform monthly counts of the sea lice on their fish and make those numbers publicly available. The counts are self-reported, but fisheries officials perform occasional, pre-arranged audits to make sure the numbers are accurate.

Submitted by Mack Bartlett

A 2020 study found mandatory sea lice counts performed by the operators of the fish farms drop by between 15 and 50 per cent when they're not being done during an audit.

Brian Kingzett, executive director of the B.C. Salmon Farmers Association, said the industry and First Nations stakeholders were blindsided by the federal announcement after years of collaboration and consultation. Kingzett said the salmon farm industry has become a target for environmental activists and "a convenient scapegoat for the decline of wild salmon."

"Years and years of data have been provided by farm monitoring, by our licensed veterinarians and independent wild fish monitoring, that was commissioned by the industry," said Kingzett, speaking from Nanaimo.

"They could not find a causative correlation there. That goes along with what we've known for a long time from our internal data and the minister chose to ignore all that science."

In the initial news release about the decision, the DFO said wild salmon are facing a series of threats, including climate change, habitat degradation and both regulated and illegal fishing — threats Kingzett said aren't being addressed as aggressively as the farms.

"She's not going to shut down commercial fishing. She's not shutting down recreational fishing. She's not making sure that we have less pollutants going into the Strait of Georgia," he said.

Jonathan Hayward/The Canadian Press

Alexandra Morton, a marine biologist and independent researcher with 30 years experience in campaigning to save wild salmon populations, said she's relieved to see the decision from Murray.

"It's a brave decision by the minister because I know this was not easy," she said.

Morton said the conclusions reached in the DFO study from January reflected unreliable sampling data provided by farmers and consulting firms hired by them — a claim the farms deny. The DFO study does reference past reports that have found that infestations on both farmed and wild salmon were correlated within 30 kilometres of farms.

After the report was published, a group of 16 scientists slammed the report, citing inconsistencies and a lack of formal peer review.

"All these scientists see the same thing as I do. When you have salmon farms, you get sea lice on juvenile wild salmon. There's also infection with the viruses and the bacteria that are flourishing in these farms," said Morton.

Morton, who says her findings are backed up by researchers at the University of British Columbia, the University of Toronto, and other labs, has called on the industry to make its data available via OpenAccess, so that academics can conduct their own analysis and replicate the results independently.

"If they want to clear this up, just release their data," she said. "Let's have a look and have a rational discussion about this."

Morton said among the most reliable research methods, which has established a correlation between infections and farms, is genomic profiling, which can detect when fish immune systems are responding and becoming weakened.

Toxic debate

Researchers agree the question has turned not just divisive but toxic, resulting in online mudslinging and accusations of cherry-picking data.

When asked about the province's understanding of where the science stands, the Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship said in an email that the DFO "has the authority and the scientific expertise relating to licensing of aquaculture farms and B.C. looks to them to do this in a way that protects wild salmon health."

Kingzett said that while the industry doesn't always like the results of DFO findings, they stand by them.

"We have a situation where we have campaigning groups that have their scientists, we have our scientists, but we're always seen as industry," he said.

"We see this on social media all the time, that it's fraudulent, that there's a conspiracy."

Morton said the issue has in part become so polarized because scientists within the DFO are divided into two separate camps, putting the minister in charge in an impossible position.

"The DFO needs to reconcile in their own house. How can the regulating body have completely opposing scientists inside?" she said.

"It is a manufactured debate and it is extremely dangerous because at this point in the world we need to really look at what our impact is on the wild natural world."

Losses

Murray said the federal government is committed to developing a "responsible plan to transition from open-net pen salmon farming in coastal B.C. waters.''

The province said that it is disappointed the federal announcement "does not outline a federal support plan for First Nations, communities and workers that rely on salmon aquaculture for their livelihoods."

Kingzett said shutting down the farms will deal a devastating blow, with a 24 per cent reduction in production, up to 1,500 jobs at risk, and up to 10.7 million eggs and young fish euthanized. To make up for the decrease in locally-farmed salmon, fish are now being brought in from Chile and Norway.

"It's a big problem related to food security, to climate change, to wild fisheries. Instead of us coming up with comprehensive solutions, what we're doing is we're having an argument that just basically says burn it all down. We're farmers trying to do a good job," he said.

Strength of “aunty love” imbues debut horror novel centred on dreams

Wed, February 22, 2023 

In writing her debut novel Bad Cree, author Jessica Johns did exactly what her characters did: They threw off the constraints of colonial thinking and embraced their Cree traditions.

The short story of the same name which spawned the novel are both centred on the dreams of main character Mackenzie. While the short story is more mystical in nature, the novel turns that mysticism up a notch and launches into a taut fantasy horror.

It takes Mackenzie a while to embrace her dreams and understand their importance. But not so for Johns. She had been challenged by her instructor during a creative writing course as she was finishing her master’s degree in fine arts at the University of British Columbia. The instructor told her that dreams would “bore the reader.”

“It was really disillusioning to hear that something that I knew to be very valid, like listening and paying attention to dreams, was, in a colonial framework and in a colonial kind of mindset, frowned upon and advised against,” said Johns, a member of the Sucker Creek First Nation in Alberta.

It didn’t “sit right” with her and she continued to think about it “and I just decided instead of listening to that advice I was going to rebel against it in my own way.”

Her poetry chapbook, “How Not to Spill,” which preceded the two versions of Bad Cree, is filled with dreams and dream imagery as well.

“I just knew that how valid dreams were to me, that they were also to other people and…I knew that people would identify with dreams and dreaming and the validity of them so I really wanted to write that truth into the book,” said Johns.

And she wasn’t wrong. Johns embraced her culture to write a novel that resulted in a bidding war between three publishing companies.

Dreams have a deep meaning in Bad Cree. On the surface they act as the catalyst for Mackenzie to leave Vancouver. Her nightmares are disrupting her life and she returns home to High Prairie in northeastern Alberta to reconnect with her family. In this way, the dreams explore at various levels what Indigenous people in Canada have lost.

Johns points to Mackenzie’s reticence to even discuss her dreams with the women members of her family as a tangible impact of colonial violence. It is a reticence shared by her family members.

“Colonialism and the violences of policies against practising language, practising ceremony, has, for a lot of Indigenous people, imbued a lot of shame in themselves and in the things they inherently know and can do because they’ve been told for generations and generations that we’re not allowed to practise these things. They’ve been really suppressed,” said Johns.

In Vancouver, Mackenzie has a connection with Joli, who is Squamish, but Mackenzie is still lonely because she doesn’t have a connection to her own Cree cultural knowledge as she is isolated from her family.

“Mackenzie is disconnected from community in both ways. When she’s living in Vancouver, she’s not a really great community member. She’s not really engaged in the community around her...When she goes home, she’s not really living in a great way there either. She isn’t very forthcoming with her family…so I think it was important to show (that) even though she was physically in Vancouver and physically in High Prairie in Treaty 8 territory, she was still disconnected because she wasn’t giving her energy to the community members she should be in good relationship with,” said Johns.

Turning the short story into a novel gave Johns the ability to develop the characters fully and to draw out their motivations.

Mackenzie is “a very avoidant person. She doesn’t accept help or doesn’t accept love very easily. It made sense for the novel to be able to really take my time with that and really lean into that,” said Johns.

As much as Johns employed dreams to tell her story, she also employed a legend that is shared by numerous First Nations’ cultures. As soon as Johns knew the short story would become a novel she made the immediate decision to go with a “greater force that was descending upon this family.”

The greater force is also representative of and created by the greed in today’s world, which sees landscape changed through “the violence of land extraction and continued settlements and displacement of Indigenous people from their land,” said Johns. Mackenzie returns home to find the booming oilfield industry gone. Now, the town is quieter, stores are closed, and the land has been bled.

“Those really go hand-in-hand with the greater force that they deal with and the rest of the changes she sees in her family members and how she comes to terms with all of it,” said Johns.

Johns pulled on a number of versions of the legend and took “creative liberties” similar to other Indigenous authors to embellish the “greater force” (which we won’t name here), including its ability to infiltrate dreams as “that just worked into the story so that’s what I used.”

Aside from some heart-stopping moments that will thrill readers, Johns said she hopes something more will resonate.

“I think it’s a success if people feel like they are in some way deemed seen or represented in a good way. I think the biggest thing that I hope people see, I really imbued a lot of aunty love in this and how powerful and beautiful and big the love (is) between aunties and family, whether that is blood relation or not,” said Johns. “I hope that they see a powerful love and connection with family and aunties in the book.”

As for the title of the novel, Johns said many Indigenous people feel that being separated from their culture, ways and traditions makes them “bad.”

“I think (Mackenzie) initially thinks that…and it’s not (true). Because it is not her fault that she doesn’t know her cultural knowledge that she has every inherent right to know. It is a shame that belongs to the Canadian state. It’s a shame that belongs to assimilation tactics and violences that again have been happening to her family for generations… (and) she really has to shed that idea (because)…she’s Cree no matter what,” said Johns.

Bad Cree, published by HarperCollins Canada, is available now in bookstores and online.

Windspeaker.com

By Shari Narine, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Windspeaker.com, Windspeaker.com

NDP slams Liberals for failing to close funding gap for northern Indigenous communities


Wed, February 22, 2023

Ottawa is grossly underfunding Indigenous housing, the NDP says, adding it will take more than five decades to fix housing in First Nations communities at the current rate the federal government is investing.

Indigenous services critics Lori Idlout, MP for Nunavut, and Niki Ashton, MP for Churchill—Keewatinook, called out the Liberals at a press conference on Thursday, saying there is no way the government will be able to fulfil its promise to close the housing gap and provide adequate housing in Indigenous communities by 2030.

Ottawa’s current funding — $2.7 billion over the past seven years and an additional $4 billion over the next seven — is nowhere near enough, Ashton and Idlout said. Research by the Assembly of First Nations states First Nations will require $40 billion to address the current housing crisis by 2030, with another $16 billion to address future needs.

Indigenous communities were facing a housing crisis long before the rest of Canada, Ashton said in an interview, with the estimated number of homes needed on reserve between 35,000 and 85,000.

Ashton also described the state of housing in her own constituency as “akin to Third World living conditions.”

“We’re talking overcrowded homes, mould-infested homes, homes that are falling apart, people relying on tarps to close off parts of their home,” she added.

The waiting lists for on-reserve housing continue to grow, Ashton said. The numbers, which stretch into the hundreds for First Nations in her northern Manitoba riding, are a “clear reflection of the gap,” she said.

Under the current system, funding for on-reserve housing is disbursed to First Nations to build and renovate houses, as well as provide maintenance, insurance, planning and management of the community’s housing needs.

The NDP submitted two order paper questions regarding funding for First Nations: the first asked about how many loans were requested, disbursed and defaulted upon since 2015; the second asked how much housing funding was requested and delivered, and how many homes were ultimately built with that funding.

Half of the $2.7 billion spent on housing in Indigenous communities was awarded to specific housing projects as a one-time investment, out of which 2,049 of 3,000 projects were completed, according to the response to the order paper questions.

Another billion was committed through loan guarantees to cover for First Nations unable to repay housing loans.

Patty Hajdu, minister of Indigenous Services, told Canada’s National Observer the government needs to have realistic time frames when it comes to getting money into communities. Since 2016, there has been $4 billion on the books for Indigenous housing but only $1.3 billion has been spent, she said.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Canada’s National housing agency, also told Canada’s National Observer through a written answer that the release of funding lags their commitments because monies are only released as projects progress, which often stretches multiple fiscal years.

For example, money is committed by Ottawa and designated for specific projects, but delays often halt the process depending on challenges regarding water and energy infrastructure and, at times, jurisdictional overlap between First Nations and the provinces, Hajdu explained.

Take a subdivision in Attawapiskat, Ont., which would require building on traditional territory that’s currently Crown land owned by Ontario, Hajdu added.

“I agree with the NDP that we have to be thoughtful and that we have to be strategic if we’re going to hit the 2030 goal, but it isn’t just money alone that will close that gap,” Hajdu said.

The NDP’s criticism comes on the heels of the release of the Federal Program Spending on Housing in 2022 report by the parliamentary budget officer. The report notes Ottawa committed more than $89 billion over 10 years starting in the 2018-19 fiscal year as part of its National Housing Strategy.

The report, including Ottawa’s National Housing Strategy, exludes Indigenous-specific programs administered by Indigenous Services Canada and Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada.

“Reconciliation should mean action, and one of the areas that require immediate action is housing,” Ashton said.

In a previous interview, Idlout reiterated the need for a $6-billion investment over two years to address immediate housing needs put forward by the federal government’s National Housing Strategy.

Idlout understands the urgency. Her home territory of Nunavut faces the same housing problems as First Nations across other provinces and territories. Idlout encouraged more people, and specifically Hajdu, to visit homes in Nunavut.

“Go and visit the homes that I see, go and see people living in overcrowded housing situations, visit Arviat who has families who have created shifts for who is going to sleep in which bedrooms,” Idlout said at the press conference.

“I hope [Minister Hajdu] comes to Nunavut and sees the realities I’m seeing.”

Idlout also noted Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami’s pre-budget submission estimates an initial capital investment of $55.3 billion over 10 years.

While it’s unclear if Ottawa’s 2023 budget will increase housing for Indigenous funding, Hajdu said she is “always ambitious” in the space of Indigenous equity.

“It’s simplistic to think there’s an easy answer… but it’s my job to help communities to unlock the tools they need, including financial tools, to move their community forward.”

Matteo Cimellaro / Canada’s National Observer / Local Journalism Initiative

Matteo Cimellaro, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Canada's National Observer

Judge to amend order restricting strike action in Yellowknife


Wed, February 22, 2023 



YELLOWKNIFE — A Northwest Territories Supreme Court judge says he will amend an order restricting strike action in Yellowknife after mediation between lawyers representing the city and Public Service Alliance of Canada.

Justice Andrew Mahar had been set to lift the injunction altogether Wednesday morning after the parties agreed to a picketing protocol Tuesday. However, during a court appearance, the lawyers disagreed over whether it should be replaced with an additional court order outlining the terms of their agreement.

Chris Buchanan, representing the city, said having a court order was important to his client, which he argued was reasonable and a common practice in Alberta.

"This reflects the serious nature of what my client was seeking in the first place," he said.

"If they are following the picketing protocol, then what's the concern?"

Michael Fisher, the union's lawyer, said that's not what was agreed. He said his client is concerned the employer had gone to court too quickly and improperly used the court as leverage in their labour dispute, rather than addressing picketing concerns directly with the union.

"As far as I'm concerned, we have an agreement," he said.

The City of Yellowknife had applied for and was granted the temporary injunction on Feb. 14, claiming that wait times for vehicles delayed by picketing workers at municipal sites was increasing and, if not addressed, could cause irreparable harm. The order was granted on an ex parte basis, meaning it was made without input from the union, due to "the serious mischief or injustice that may result from a delay."

The injunction prevented union members from obstructing access to sites where the city operates for 10 days and said no more than six people could picket at those locations. It also said any delay to those sites should only be to convey information, with total delay time not exceeding 10 minutes.

The union had applied to lift the injunction. On Friday, Mahar amended the terms of the order, lifting the restriction on the number of people on the picket line.

On Wednesday, Mahar said with the parties failing to come to an agreement regarding lifting the injunction altogether, he would instead further amend the order to reflect the agreed terms of the picketing protocol, before a hearing could be held.

"I'm sorry things went sideways," he said. "I thought we'd accomplished a fair bit yesterday and maybe we did."

Buchanan, who was tasked with drafting the amendments, said that would include changing the delay time restrictions from 10 to 15 minutes and removing a section in the order stating union members could not threaten, coerce, harass or intimidate agents of the city.

A hearing on the injunction has been scheduled for March 2, but Mahar said the city and union could still come to an agreement before then.

"Good luck and I'll see you then," he said.

Unionized workers with the City of Yellowknife have been locked out and on strike since Feb. 8 after the parties failed to reach a deal on a new collective agreement with wages being a sticking point.

The city has said its offer to the union includes base wage increases of two per cent per year for 2022 and 2023.

The union had been seeking a five per cent raise in 2022 and three per cent raise in 2023 among other benefits. It said it's latest proposal, which it presented to the city on Feb. 13, included wage increases of 3.75 per cent in 2022 and 2023, signing bonuses, and an additional day of paid personal leave per year.

"We feel our last proposal was fair and reasonable and we are hoping that city council will provide the employer with a new mandate that will allow our bargaining teams to close the gap, and get us back to work," the union said in a statement on Wednesday.

The city and the Union of Northern Workers, a component of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, began bargaining in May. Talks broke down late last year and workers voted to strike last month.

The parties then agreed to re-enter mediated negotiations, but a lockout and strike ensued after the union rejected the city’s offer. Further talks on Feb. 13 also failed to result in an agreement.

The previous collective agreement between the city and union expired at the end of 2021.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 22, 2023.

This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta and Canadian Press News Fellowship.

Emily Blake, The Canadian Press

Baidu to implement ChatGPT-like Ernie Bot chatbot from March

Wed, February 22, 2023 



HONG KONG (AP) — Baidu Inc., one of China’s biggest search and artificial intelligence firms, said Wednesday it plans to implement its artificial intelligence chatbot Ernie into its search services from March.

Baidu, which is known for its search engine and autonomous driving technology, leads China's efforts to create an equivalent of OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot. It said earlier this month that it will complete internal testing of Ernie Bot in March before making the service public.

In an internal memo, Baidu CEO Robin Li said that Ernie Bot will be integrated across all of Baidu’s operations, including its search and cloud services. Baidu also plans to integrate Ernie into its smart car operating system and smart speaker.

The company's stock price in New York jumped nearly 7% in pre-market trading Wednesday to more than $150 a share.

“AI technology has reached a tipping point and all industries will inevitably go through transformation,” Li said in the memo.

“Baidu stands as the best example of the long-term growth of China’s AI market and is advancing at the forefront of this new wave,” he said.

The company also announced a $5 billion share buyback on Wednesday.

Baidu reported revenues of 33.1 billion yuan ($4.8 billion) for the quarter that ended in December, about level with the same period of 2021.

Most of Baidu’s revenue comes from its online marketing services, which generated 18.1 billion yuan ($2.62 billion) in sales in the last quarter.

Its Apollo Go autonomous ride-hailing services provided 561,000 rides in the fourth quarter, up 162% from a year earlier.

After years of regulatory scrutiny following a crackdown on the technology sector and a sluggish economy battered by COVID-19, companies like Baidu look likely to invest more as China looks to the industry to revive the economy.

Zen Soo, The Associated Press

SIDE DEAL OF BIDEN VISIT

Poland to develop 1st nuclear power plant with Westinghouse

Wed, February 22, 2023 at 3:59 a.m. MST·1 min read

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland and the Westinghouse Electric Company signed a deal Wednesday for pre-design cooperation on the central European nation’s first nuclear power plant using the American company's technology.

Poland’s minister for climate and environment, Anna Moskwa, and U.S. Ambassador to Poland Mark Brzezinski signed the deal in Warsaw during a visit by U.S. President Joe Biden. Brzezinski stressed that energy is crucial for economic development.

Moskwa said construction of the plant is expected to begin in 2026. The facility is expected to start supplying Poland's power grid in 2032, she said.

Poland is taking strides in embracing renewable energy, but gets almost 70% of its energy from black and brown coal.

The cooperation agreement signed Wednesday involves Poland’s nuclear energy development company, PEJ, Westinghouse Electric Company and Westinghouse Electric Poland.

Additional contracts are expected to be signed later this year, Moskwa said.

The Associated Press

Toxic wastewater from Ohio train derailment headed to Texas


This photo taken with a drone shows portions of a Norfolk Southern freight train that derailed Friday night in East Palestine, Ohio are still on fire at mid-day Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023. Toxic wastewater used to extinguish a fire following a train derailment in Ohio is headed to a Houston suburb for disposal. Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo says “firefighting water” from the East Palestine, Ohio train derailment is to be disposed of in the county and she is seeking more information.

(AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)More

Thu, February 23, 2023 at 7:46 AM MST·2 min read

DEER PARK, Texas (AP) — Toxic wastewater used to extinguish a fire following a train derailment in Ohio is headed to a Houston suburb for disposal.

“I and my office heard today that ‘firefighting water’ from the East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment is slated to be disposed of in our county," Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said in a Wednesday statement.

“Our Harris County Pollution Control Department and Harris County Attorney’s have reached out to the company and the Environmental Protection Agency to receive more information," Hidalgo wrote.

The wastewater is being sent to Texas Molecular, which injects hazardous waste into the ground for disposal.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality told KTRK-TV that Texas Molecular “is authorized to accept and manage a variety of waste streams, including vinyl chloride, as part of their ... hazardous waste permit and underground injection control permit.”

The company told KHOU-TV it is experienced in managing this type of disposal.

“Our technology safely removes hazardous constituents from the biosphere. We are part of the solution to reduce risk and protect the environment, whether in our local area or other places that need the capabilities we offer to protect the environment,” the company said.

The fiery Feb. 3 derailment in Ohio prompted evacuations when toxic chemicals were burned after being released from five derailed tanker rail cars carrying vinyl choride that were in danger of exploding.

“It’s ... very, very toxic,” Dr. George Guillen, the executive director of the Environmental Institute of Houston, said, but the risk to the public is minimal.

“This injection, in some cases, is usually 4,000 or 5,000 feet down below any kind of drinking water aquifer,” said Guillen, who is also a professor of biology and environmental science at the University of Houston-Clear Lake.

Both Guillen and Deer Park resident Tammy Baxter said their greatest concerns are transporting the chemicals more than 1,300 miles (2,090 kilometers) from East Palestine, Ohio; to Deer Park, Texas.

“There has to be a closer deep well injection,” Baxter told KTRK. “It’s foolish to put it on the roadway. We have accidents on a regular basis ... It is silly to move it that far.”

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who visited the derailment site Thursday, has warned the railroad responsible for the derailment, Norfolk Southern, to fulfill its promises to clean up the mess just outside East Palestine, Ohio, and help the town recover.

Buttigieg has also announced a package of reforms intended to improve rail safety while regulators try to strengthen safety rules.

VERY COLD WAR 2.0

China is using spy buoys in the Arctic, says Canada

Sophia Yan
Thu, 23 February 2023 

A ball is seen on a beach in Hamamatsu, Japan earlier this month - REUTERS

The Canadian military has discovered Chinese spy buoys in the Arctic which are monitoring US submarines and melting ice sheets.

Such "activity is not new”, Canadian defence minister Anita Anand said in televised remarks, implying that China has been engaging in surveillance efforts in the region for some time.

Officials described the objects as “dual-purpose technologies” but they have been reported in Canadian media as buoys used for spying.

It is unclear whether the Chinese buoys floated into Canadian waters or were purposefully anchored into the waters.

Monitoring buoys can follow environmental and weather conditions, the salinity of water, and track fish.

Earlier this week, a giant mystery ball washed ashore in Japan, later found to be a buoy, though no owner has laid claim.

Daniel Le Bouthillier, from the Department of National Defence said the Canadian military found and retrieved the monitoring devices but gave no further information about the operation.

China has long been interested in building a presence in the Arctic which will allow it to secure a shorter trade route to Europe as glaciers melt.

But as China's presence expands globally, so have concerns over undue influence, surveillance and espionage.

Canada’s foreign minister Melanie Joly said that China is an increasingly disruptive power, in an interview with CNN.

“When it comes to China, we will challenge China when we ought to, and we will cooperate with China when we need to,” she said.

“When it comes to issues over the Arctic within our maritime borders, or any form of foreign interference, we will be clear, and that’s how we will address this issue.”

Earlier this month a suspected Chinese spy balloon flew over Canadian airspace into the US, before the American military shot it down into the Atlantic Ocean.

Beijing has denied that the balloon served any surveillance purposes, saying instead that it was a weather research “airship.”

The Canadian parliament is also currently investigating allegations of Chinese election interference.

SEE 

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2023/02/godzilla-egg-japan-baffled-by-large.html

AMERIKAN SOCIALISMUS
U.S. manufacturers see big boost from government subsidies and tax breaks


 Opening of automaker General Motors (GM) Brightdrop unit's CAMI EV Assembly, in Ingersoll

Thu, February 23, 2023 
By Timothy Aeppel

NEW PHILADELPHIA, Ohio (Reuters) - A 77-year-old factory in a hard-luck Ohio town sputtered into high gear to produce a new line of electric garbage trucks. A short drive away, construction began on a $20 billion plant that will take pizza-sized silicon wafers and make them into computer chips used in everything from data centers to cars.

The two Ohio factories – niche truck maker Battle Motors and global giant Intel Corp – show a new readiness by U.S. President Joe Biden's administration to offer subsidies and other incentives to strategic industries such as electric vehicles and semiconductors in a coordinated effort to help American businesses compete in a global economy.

Tesla Inc said Wednesday it would shift some vehicle battery production from Germany to the United States.

While the Biden administration push, described by economists as an industrial policy, has opened opportunities for some companies, significant hurdles remain.

Reuters toured both Ohio sites and spoke to over a dozen outside experts and political leaders about those challenges, which include potential worker shortages and a growing backlash from foreign governments rushing to boost competing companies.

Once criticized by conservatives as "picking winners and losers" and by progressives as corporate welfare, a U.S. industrial policy is enjoying a rare bipartisan consensus, even in staunchly Republican states like Ohio.

Projects like Intel are a chance to "hit the reset button" on the U.S. approach to fostering key industries, said Jon Husted, Ohio's Republican lieutenant governor, speaking as earth movers rumbled behind him at Intel's 1,000-acre site.

Eight out of 12 Republican representatives in Ohio’s congressional delegation voted in favor of federal subsidies for semiconductor production, including the funds that will go to Intel.

“Once you explain it and educate people about these issues, it becomes something that’s easier for you to get the buy-in across political lines,” Husted said.

The 2022 CHIPS and Science Act provides $52.7 billion in federal subsidies for semiconductor production and research.

How much of that goes to Intel remains unclear. Bruce Andrews, Intel’s Chief Government Affairs Officer, said in an interview that the company hoped the money is not spread too thinly over many projects, since that would diminish its impact.

For Battle, the Biden administration's industrial push means up to $40,000 in federal subsidies on the purchase of large electric trucks under the Inflation Reduction Act passed last year in addition to a $2.5 million tax credit from Ohio.

While both projects face immediate challenges in labor shortages and supply chain, Mark Muro, who studies industrial policy at the Brookings Institution, said a bigger issue is whether the United States will sustain this latest push.

"These programs now becoming visible have to be seen as part of a decade-long campaign to improve America’s standing in the global supply chain — as well as improving the distribution of production inside the United States," he said.

The United States started edging towards an industrial policy beginning with the trade wars launched under the Trump administration — which focused attention on the jobs lost to foreign producers by decades of globalization.

Growing concern over the rise of China and the pandemic underscored the risk of relying on imports for essential goods. Over the past two years, U.S. manufacturers struggled to produce everything from cars to washing machines due to semiconductor and other shortages, while many types of safety and health equipment needed to fight COVID were scarce.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine added to the anxiety, prompting the shutdown of European gas pipelines and the reduction of global grain exports from Ukraine.

PLANT TRIPLED IN SIZE

Sheer scale separates the two ventures: Intel, a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, employer of 121,000 people worldwide, annual sales: $79 billion. And Battle Motors, the new face of a decades-old niche maker of heavy vehicles, employer of 300, daily output: six vehicles.

One is aimed at helping the U.S. gain pre-eminence in domestic production of a product at the core of everyday life, the other a stab in the dark in applying an evolving technology to something as analog as a refuse truck.

For Battle, the federal and state incentives were a major draw in siting the factory in Ohio.

“The initial idea was that we could do this in Arizona or California,” said Michael Patterson, the company’s CEO, as he strolled through the plant.

Then he saw a key advantage in buying a factory that already made garbage trucks and adapting them to run on batteries. Other EV companies have struggled to produce vehicles from scratch.

The plant, which tripled in size after it was acquired in 2021 by Patterson’s California-based company, continues to focus on internal combustion and natural gas-powered trucks but has created a separate assembly line for electrics.

“When Battle Motors came into being, there was a little bit of skepticism (among local residents), because it was a company that produced electric vehicles and that’s something that’s brand new in this part of Ohio,” said Joel Day, mayor of the small town of New Philadelphia where Battle is located.

Many residents have since embraced green technology because it's part of a larger wave of advanced manufacturing that is giving hope for a broader industrial revival, Day said.

But the launch of the new EV garbage trucks has been hampered by a shortage of parts and glitches in developing charging infrastructure for the trucks' massive batteries.

Ron Cole, the fleet manager for Los Angeles’ sanitation department, which is about to begin testing five electric trucks from Battle and two other companies, said cities may in some cases need to build new power lines simply to bring in enough electricity.

The Intel factory is going up in a glistening industrial park minutes from the beltway that rings Columbus and close to other big tech companies, including Facebook, Amazon, and Google.

Creating a hub for semiconductor manufacturing far from U.S. chip hubs such as Arizona and Oregon will require developing a network of nearby suppliers and educational programs aimed at churning out workers with specialized skills.

When Asian countries were building up their semiconductor manufacturing industries decades ago, they benefited from coordinated government strategies that focused on building up production facilities as well as supply chain, Intel's Andrews said.

"They decided 30 years ago to build up their chip industry,” Andrews said, noting that governments introduced policies to attract production plants as well as the whole supply chain.

Industrial policy still has critics. Scott Lincicome, director of general economics at the libertarian Cato Institute, said industrial policy tends to crumble into failed projects and cost overruns.

"There's all sorts of more market-oriented reforms that could achieve the type of objectives our political class wants, without the unintended consequences of industrial policy," he said. “None of that comes with a ribbon cutting ceremony.”

Elizabeth Reynolds, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said the current effort aims to boost sectors, not individual companies. Until October, Reynolds served as Biden's special assistant for manufacturing and economic development.

In the case of zero emission vehicles, "any technology can access the tax credits for them — so we’re letting the market decide,” she said.

Andrews acknowledged that relying on government support carries risks. A future administration might pull back on projects that take years to build.

The rush to build new plants, in Ohio and elsewhere, could create a glut when these factories finally start producing.

"That’s something that all of us will have to manage," he said.

(Reporting by Timothy Aeppel; Editing by Daniel Burns and Suzanne Goldenberg)

England’s Forgotten Fertilizer Mine Is Finally Back Under Way


Thomas Biesheuvel
Thu, February 23, 2023 



(Bloomberg) -- A decade ago, a UK startup’s plan to build a $4 billion mine more than a mile under the North Sea caught the nation’s imagination. It became a retail shareholder sensation and promised riches for many landowners. But when the company failed to raise the last piece of financing, it all came crashing down.

For the last three years, the giant fertilizer project — which would be the UK’s biggest mine in more than four decades — has largely sat on ice, drifting from the public consciousness as its new owner Anglo American Plc figured out what to do with it.

Today it provided the answer. After taking a $1.7 billion writedown on the mine, Anglo unveiled its plans to spend almost $5 billion to bring the project into production by 2027, a decision that will likely secure thousands of jobs in one of the country’s poorest regions and become a major engine of growth for the company.

One of the world’s top mining companies, Anglo was attracted by the huge size of the deposit combined with the longer-term prospects for fertilizer demand. About 1.8 billion tons of a fertilizer called polyhalite are sitting more than 1.5 kilometers below the surface, and stretching out under the sea, which could be mined for more than 40 years. Demand for crop nutrients is expected to keep growing as a rising global population boosts food consumption.

“This resource is so unique, it’s one of a kind in terms of its size and shape,” Anglo Chief Executive Officer Duncan Wanblad said in a Bloomberg TV interview on Thursday. “We will be able to bring some very, very profitable fertilizer on to the market.”

Retail Interest

Sirius Minerals Plc, the mine’s previous owner, became a retail investor darling when it started fundraising for the project. Across the UK, regular people poured money into the company while the planned mine gained an almost cult-like following in North Yorkshire — in addition to buying shares, many locals saw the prospect of life-changing royalties on the mineral rights that fell on their land. Others simply hoped for jobs.

The overwhelming support helped Sirius win a license to build the project despite being in a National Park and overlooking the seaside town of Whitby, the setting for part of Bram Stoker’s “Dracula.”

But then Sirius ran out of money, and Anglo eventually stepped in with an offer.

While investors lost out — the takeover price was well below the heights at which many had bought their shares — Anglo’s decision to press ahead will be a major boon for the region and the wider UK. The project will likely employ more than 1,000 people once in full production and become a major exporter.

A $4 Billion Mine Was Meant to Lift Northern England. Instead Locals Lost Big

The investment in the Woodsmith project also forms part of a wider shift at the world’s biggest miners, as they retreat from fossil fuels and seek growth in commodities like fertilizers and metals that are needed for the green-energy transition.

Writedown

Anglo has written down the value of the project to reflect a change in the way it will be developed, compared with Sirius’s plans.

When Anglo bought Sirius in a half a billion dollar deal it was always likely the project would be delayed and changed. The smaller firm had been rushing to get into production as fast as possible, and Anglo has spent the last three years looking at ways to develop the project more strategically.

The result is that Anglo will now look to start production in 2027 after spending about $1 billion a year on top of the $2.6 billion it has already spent. That will allow it to target annual production of 5 million tons of fertilizer a year, with the capacity already built into crucial infrastructure such as the shafts, and to ultimately expand it to 13 million tons a year.

Polyhalite, or Poly4, is a type of potash found under the North Sea. It’s a relatively unknown type of fertilizer, so Anglo faces the additional challenge of proving how big the market will ultimately be.

Anglo’s plans also come at a time of massive volatility in global fertilizer markets. Prices spiked last year after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine threw the world’s crop-nutrient sector into disarray. While prices have since eased, the long-term outlook remains strong as the global population and its demand for food grows.