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[troutbreath]

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Lone protester shuts down drainage of Burnaby's Central Lake pond (with video)
 The city wants to drain the pond in bid to catch snakehead fish
 By Alfie Lau and Jennifer Moreau, Burnaby NowJune 7, 2012 11:50 AM
 
 Hugh Francis is protesting the drainage of Central Park's lower pond. He turned off city pumps twice on Wednesday afternoon and is vowing to do so again when city staff return on Thursday.
Photograph by: Alfie Lau, BURNABY NOWMETRO VANCOUVER -- All Hugh Francis wants is to be able to take his 11-year-old daughter, Livia, to see the koi fish and turtles in the lower pond at Central Park.

But after he read about the plan to drain the pond so that all invasive fish — including the snakehead fish believed to be on the loose — would be killed, Francis decided to do something about it.

On Wednesday afternoon, as more than a half-dozen city workers set up pumps to start draining the pond — the plan is to have half the pond drained by Friday, when Environment Ministry officials arrive — Francis twice turned them off.

With the city workers not wanting a confrontation, the pumps remained silent for several hours until just after 2:30 p.m., when word came for the workers to pack up for the day.

“When I read about the plan to drain the pond, I was so mad that I came down to see what I could do,” said Francis. “I come here three times a week with my daughter and I’m not going to let this happen. This park belongs to the public, all of us.”

Francis said he has the utmost respect for the city workers who were just doing their jobs, but he believes so strongly the drainage should not take place that he decided to engage in civil disobedience.

“I told them that they have to do what they have to do and I’ll do what I have to do,” said Francis. “I don’t want to get arrested, but if the police come and that’s what happens, I’ll take it from there.”

By 3 p.m., the police had not come and the city workers were busy putting their equipment into their truck.

“That’s great,” Francis said of the work being halted for the day. “What I don’t understand is they’re saying the snakehead will kill all the koi. Now if you drain the lake, you kill the koi too so what have you gained?”

The plan to drain the pond was first revealed Wednesday.

Dave Ellenwood, the City of Burnaby’s director of parks, recreation and cultural services, said the water level would be lowered to concentrate fish in smaller areas and assist in the effort to capture the snakehead and other alien species.“Provincial conservation officers will be on hand to identify invasive [species], and these will be removed for disposal,” he said.

On May 13, a Burnaby resident filmed a fish that appeared to be a snakehead and posted the video online, sparking a media frenzy and a hunt for the animal.


Click here to read more stories from The Burnaby Now.

© Copyright (c) Burnaby Now

[StillAqua]

Selfish bugger....it's all about him and his kid.....doesn't care about the ecological risks.

[zabber]

Francis said “What I don’t understand is they’re saying the snakehead will kill all the koi. Now if you drain the lake, you kill the koi too so what have you gained?”
...
City of Burnaby’s director of parks ... said the water level would be lowered to concentrate fish in smaller areas and assist in the effort to capture the snakehead and other alien species.

Francis says: "oh, my bad."

Burnaby parks department grumbles about having to get back to work 

[Ezio]

that snakehead probably isn't even in the pond anymore, some one would have seen it or it would have been captured by now...

  besides, easiest way to catch a snake head is to bury some chicken breast in the ground in a zip lock bag, let it rot for a week, then cut it up and put it on multiple wighted wire lines connected to a marker of some sort, (like a crabbing setup crossed with a long line setup instead of a cage)    Drop the lines in the lake in water 5-10ft deep in heavily structured area's then let it sit for 24 hours then pull the lines in.

[pwn50m3 f15h3r]

that snakehead probably isn't even in the pond anymore, some one would have seen it or it would have been captured by now...

  besides, easiest way to catch a snake head is to bury some chicken breast in the ground in a zip lock bag, let it rot for a week, then cut it up and put it on multiple wighted wire lines connected to a marker of some sort, (like a crabbing setup crossed with a long line setup instead of a cage)    Drop the lines in the lake in water 5-10ft deep in heavily structured area's then let it sit for 24 hours then pull the lines in.

Ezio, why don't you just use your blades to assassinate the snakehead? That's much quicker, cheaper, and safer for the enviroment.

[skaha]

--Why not just explain to the protester and others what the plan and purpose was.. ie not fully draining lake... and the reason for capture of the snakehead.
--I think a few $100 for a sign with information posted at the site prior would have been cheaper than a crew sitting around doing nothing for a day.
--We have a permit to do it is not an explanation.
 
--I did not read the news report so cannot comment on how accurate the plan and purpose was projected.

[shuswapsteve]

--Why not just explain to the protester and others what the plan and purpose was.. ie not fully draining lake... and the reason for capture of the snakehead.
--I think a few $100 for a sign with information posted at the site prior would have been cheaper than a crew sitting around doing nothing for a day.
--We have a permit to do it is not an explanation.
 
--I did not read the news report so cannot comment on how accurate the plan and purpose was projected.

You cannot comment on how accurate the plan and purpose was projected; however, you seem to know how Ministry and City employees conducted themselves at the pond?  Be cautious on how you interpret what actually happened through the media.

[skaha]

You cannot comment on how accurate the plan and purpose was projected; however, you seem to know how Ministry and City employees conducted themselves at the pond?  Be cautious on how you interpret what actually happened through the media.

--I'm open to learning so enlighten me... what actually happened.

[troutbreath]

We have some guy show up with no meds.

“When I read about the plan to drain the pond, I was so mad that I came down to see what I could do,” said Francis. “I come here three times a week with my daughter and I’m not going to let this happen. This park belongs to the public, all of us.”

Again the motivation to confront rather than get any facts

Francis said he has the utmost respect for the city workers who were just doing their jobs, but he believes so strongly the drainage should not take place that he decided to engage in civil disobedience.

“I told them that they have to do what they have to do and I’ll do what I have to do,” said Francis. “I don’t want to get arrested, but if the police come and that’s what happens, I’ll take it from there.”By 3 p.m., the police had not come and the city workers were busy putting their equipment into their truck.

His final statement of victory after threatening the workers. Who no doubt thought the guy would get arrested and cost the taxpayers more that just waiting for the bozo to go away. He doesn't even get the point about the snakehead eating his beloved and illegally introduced Koi.


“That’s great,” Francis said of the work being halted for the day. “What I don’t understand is they’re saying the snakehead will kill all the koi. Now if you drain the lake, you kill the koi too so what have you gained?”

[shuswapsteve]

--I'm open to learning so enlighten me... what actually happened.

Well, that is sort of the point – we don’t really know what happened other than what we get from media sources.  In my experience, it is not so much what the media says in this regard, but what is missing.  You are making the assumption that the City and Ministry officials were not properly informing Mr. Francis and the general public about the draining of the pond and that they basically used their “permit” as an excuse for doing the work.  Instead of assuming how City and Ministry officials reacted towards Mr. Francis we should try keeping an open mind or perhaps give them the benefit of the doubt.  In my opinion, we (general public) automatically assumes that government biologists and technicians did something wrong in these circumstances without ever thinking that perhaps they doing their job properly.  In my experience, people that do this work are very aware of the sensitivity with this type of work in a high profile area.  For instance, the province had their aquatic invasive species coordinator, Matthias Herborg, at the pond to help deal with the media and questions from the public as well as long-time fisheries biologist, Ron Ptolemy, to assist with the fieldwork so there was some though put into this to make sure people were not in the dark.

I have the utmost respect for biologists and technicians that conduct fieldwork in high profile or more populated areas where there is no shortage of media, protestors, hecklers, dogs, and cameras.  However, amongst them all are some decent folks that are just interested in learning about what is going on.  It is a thankless job in some respects because you are bound to get the heckling from ignorant people who figure they are doing a public service by finding lazy public servants.  I done fieldwork in remote areas (i.e. Takla Lake) as well as high profile areas like the Adams River and I can tell you that it is not easy as it looks to do your job while at the same time dealing with the general public and media in places they can easily observe your activities 24 hours/7 days a week.

Dealing with aquatic invasive species these days is not easy.  Government biologists and technicians do not have a steady, endless flow of money to inventory and eradicate places where invasive species may be.  There is no dedicated “Ghostbuster” crew that goes out and does this work exclusively.  In these situations they are basically stealing from Peter to give to Paul.  I suggest that Mr. Francis needs to direct his frustrations more at the individual(s) who put this snakehead in the pond in the first place instead of the officials who have the thankless job in trying to fix the problem left behind.

[skaha]

-- I thought you may have been more closely involved thus would have some first hand knowledge of this particular situation.
-- What I didn't get out of the story was if .... in the end the protester...having seen the pond was not completely drained and that the snakehead was caught...did he then agree with the action taken. .. I didn't see any follow up with the protester... I don't live in LML so may have been on local news or radio. ..

--I have seen many worth while projects delayed or even stopped only to find it was a lack of communication prior to the project that was the culprit.

--I love to bash fisheries Biologist but on occasion am  willing to buy them a beer... before, after or during the discussion.  Most often I find my complaint is not with the front line worker. 

[shuswapsteve]

-- I thought you may have been more closely involved thus would have some first hand knowledge of this particular situation.
-- What I didn't get out of the story was if .... in the end the protester...having seen the pond was not completely drained and that the snakehead was caught...did he then agree with the action taken. .. I didn't see any follow up with the protester... I don't live in LML so may have been on local news or radio. ..

--I have seen many worth while projects delayed or even stopped only to find it was a lack of communication prior to the project that was the culprit.

--I love to bash fisheries Biologist but on occasion am  willing to buy them a beer... before, after or during the discussion.  Most often I find my complaint is not with the front line worker. 

I have been involved with aquatic invasive species inventory in BC between 2007 and 2010.  Although I do not have first hand knowledge of what was said between Ministry and City officials and Mr. Francis, I would find it hard to believe that there has been a lack of communication about aquatic invasive species.  It has been well publicized in newspapers, television news, and the internet.  As I already stated, the ministry’s top aquatic invasive species guy was at the pond to field questions and provided frequent updates to the media.  Short of flying a Cessna above the pond dragging a banner I am not sure what more notice could have been done.  In addition, when in comes to chemical rehabilitation, public consultation and environment assessments are done before the actual work is even started.

No doubt poor communication can impact the success of a project but communication is also a two-way street.  I agree with Troutbreath……It seemed Mr. Francis was more motivated to confront City and Ministry employees than to get the facts.