- by Scott Parent
Rotenone is the piscicide most often used to kill fish, by inhibiting cellular respiration in mitochondria, which leads to reduced cellular uptake of oxygen. It affects most aquatic gill-breathing animals such as fish, amphibians and insects.
The federal government has given the green light to eradicating small mouth bass, labeled invasive by the DFO, in the Miramichi River, NB, by spraying the fish-killing pesticide starting this August.
It is also known that the dopaminergic cell loss induced by rotenone leads to the development of Parkinson’s disease in humans.
The product will kill the vast majority of fish and other biota in the waters being treated. According to an authorization document from the DFO, the death and decomposition of fish "will modify the food web, the fish habitat ecological structure and the nutrient input" of the waters.
All this to ‘protect’ Atlantic salmon, that will have to be caught and contained while the lake is poisoned, then returned after a second treatment of Potassium Permanganate is applied to ‘re-purify’ the water.
Potassium permanganate is a common chemical compound that combines manganese oxide ore with potassium hydroxide. It’s been documented that it can irritate the lungs causing coughing and/or shortness of breath. Higher exposures can cause a build-up of fluid in the lungs (pulmonary edema), a medical emergency, with severe shortness of breath. Potassium Permanganate may also affect the liver and kidneys. These affects are known through dry exposures but what happens down the road and through the food chain when we dump this in the water?
We are altering the basis of life itself within these ecosystems.
The disconnect in this practice speaks for itself.
The government of the day is willing to poison the well of life to satisfy the grievances of sport fishermen.
But what is known about the long term effects of dumping poisons in the water, that alter the oxygenation of cells and attack the respiratory systems of living organisms?
What if the way we relate to the well of life determines our own wellness?
