Meet Martin Salter, member of Parliament for the labor party in England. He’s the angling (fishing) spokesman who made headlines this week by saying that the very idea of reintroducing beavers to England is “ludicrous!” Like his spiritual brothers in Scotland he is holding onto the mistaken idea that beavers dams block fish passage.His point: If Natural England is going to force the Hydro-eletric companies to remove their dams to let the fish pass, it is unthinkable that they should reintroduce beavers.
“The current situation is ludicrous,” Salter told a Commons debate on fisheries. “On the one hand, we are seeking to ensure that migratory fish can run the rivers and reach the spawning grounds. On the other, Natural England talks of reintroducing the beaver, which by creating dams will ensure that all our legislative efforts on fish passes become absolutely worthless.” He added: “If we really have to introduce endangered species, why do we not take the DNA of tyrannosaurus rex or the wolf and bring them back to Britain? There must come a point at which reality impinges on what Natural England seeks to do.”
Ahh sagely put. Fortunately I have heard the group “Citizen Advocacy for New Tyranosaurus” (CAN’T) has had internal staffing problems and lost their grant for 2010. I don’t think we should talk about the wolf while you are obviously in this fragile state.
Maybe we could talk fish instead for a moment. You like fish, right? Your website has a photo of you holding a very large and gloriously dead one, so you must be an outdoorsman. Wikipedia tells me that while you are opposed to hunting with dogs, you have been a very strong advocate for keeping fishing regulation under environmental juristiction. I actually agree with that. Tracking what people take out of the water is a great way to monitor what is going in the water. I assume you want healthy streams, healthy populations of juvenile salmonids, and a high BMI content to the water so that all those fish will have lots to feed on.
Guess what’s really good at that? It’s kind of ironic really. Are you sitting down? Beavers! Beaver dams trap silt and organic material, which gets eaten by microbugs we can’t see, which get eaten in turns by bigger bugs…here, let her do it instead….
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Alright. Are you with me so far? Beaver dams trap mud that bring insects that get eaten by little fish that get eaten by bigger fish. The kind you like to angle for. Wait, don’t beaver dams block passage? Well lets think about that. We used to have millions and millions more beavers. Gosh. There must have been terrible salmon shortages in early England because of all that blocking. What’s that? Salmon and trout were once enormously plentiful? Fisherman used to make their living on that dirty old Thames? Hmmm.
Maybe science can help solve this mystery. Meet Michael Pollock, researcher for North West Fisheries which is part of NOAA. He has been researching the effect of beaver dams on salmon and other fish. It turns out that they are actually essental in providing ponds for young salmon to live before their ready to go to the sea. In fact, if there are no or nearly no beaver dams, you get almost no Salmon, and no salmon season, like California and Oregon had this year.
Don’t believe me? Michael will be presenting his research at the 44th Annual Salmon Restoration Conference in Redding, CA in February. You could come if you liked. I would be happy to introduce you to some smart water advocates.
Look, Martin. I know you are afraid of these flat-tailed furry dinosaurs, but the truth is, the more you learn about beavers, the more you find out they take care of the water which in turn takes care of the things you like to catch in the water. This is why Natural England wants to re-introduce them. Not just because you used to have them and now you don’t, but because having them takes care of your watershed and the myriad of creatures who depend on it. Come away from the Dark Side. We can help.
And anyway, I’m pretty sure the Tyrannosaurus Rex was never considered a Keystone species. You can write Mr. Salter here.
