Saskatchewan hasn’ t been granted emergency registration of two-percent liquid strychnine to kill gophers.
Cameron Wilk, Saskatchewan’ s pesticide management specialist, said the province is applying for emergency registration, but isn’ t sure it will get it.
Health Canada’ s Pest Management Regulatory Agency won’ t grant emergency registration unless all parties agree on the need.
In Saskatchewan, officials with the Environment and Resource Management Branch are “not on side,” Wilk said.
The agency that looks after the province’ s wildlife is worried strychnine will be eaten by non-target animals like the swift fox, eagle and burrowing owl.
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Poisoning of non-target animals was one of the reasons the poison was removed from the market in 1993.
Richard Aucoin, PMRA’ s acting chief registrar, said Saskatchewan must show everyone agrees strychnine is needed and have a detailed plan how it will be controlled and distributed.
Wilk hopes all the parties can work something out soon and have emergency registration within a month.
Using Alberta’ s application as a template, he hopes emergency registration can be obtained for producers in 12 of the province’ s 298 rural municipalities.
The hardest hit areas are near Lloydminster in the northwest and near Assiniboia in the southwest.
Brian Peirce, technical director with Nu-Gro Corp. in Brantford, Ont., which makes the product, said some strychnine originally destined for Alberta still hasn’ t been spoken for. If Saskatchewan was granted emergency registration, some product could be rerouted to that province.
“We don’ t have a purchase order applied against the full amount,” he said.
Joe McMurphy, administrator with the Rural Municipality of Turtle River, said the RM has declared an agricultural state of emergency because it is overrun with gophers.
“The gophers are un-bloody-believable this year,” he said.
Turtle River is just one of the RMs that has declared an agricultural state of emergency to gain the attention of politicians.
“We’ re trying to put it in the hands of the provincial government,” said McMurphy, who wants the province to help gain the emergency registration.
Dry conditions over the past two years have created a perfect environment for gophers.
“They are everywhere,” he said.
“We can’ t do anything about the drought, but we should be able to do something about the pests.”
