LBN are grasping for straws & looking for any excuse I've heard/read that LBN are concerned about copper toxicity in the sockeye.
I think this is silly, as sockeye are very small when they head down river for the sea and so there would likely be little if any any copper build up. If they were genuinely concerned about the copper, then they probably would have mentioned this before and been hesitant to eat the sockeye for the past 50 or so years since the Granisle mine went into production.
From what I can tell this is classic last minute grasping at straws and hoping for any info to delay or stop the mine.
I've read that the concern is that elevated copper would prevent the sockeye from navigating back to their original spawning grounds. What total nonsense. Why total nonsense? Because the Lake Babine sockeye run has increased to 1.2 million from approx. 500,000. If they are thaving trouble finding their way back, then why are the numbers so high after the Bell and Granisle mines were operating?
Keep in mind that Morrison creek, Morrison Lake, Tahlo creek and Tahlo lake soccer in total account for less than 2% of the Lake Babine sockeye.
More importantly, you can see from the link below on page 33, that copper levels in the sockeye were comparable to lakes without a copper mine on them.
https://projects.eao.gov.bc.ca/api/public/document/60ff2973d686e20022c84904/download/PBM_EAO%202021-background-July%202021.pdf
see page 33 or section 4
Summary of Fisheries Data Results Fish metal tissue analysis results showed elevated copper and zinc levels compared to uncontaminated lakes in BC.
LBN know that the real threat to the sockeye is global warming. They even mention it on their website. It is all over the news how northwest US salmon numbers are very low and the cause is believed to be elevated stream temperature.
IMO the talk of copper toxicity is the LBN throwing mud at the wall and hoping some sticks.
I may seem anti LBN from reading some of my posts, but I am anything but. I would never have invested if I didn't think the mine would serve the First Nations well. In many ways I support the First Nations, however I really dislike mistruths and lies.