All posts by Rochelle Baker

Rochelle Baker is a staff reporter with Canada’s National Observer, thanks thanks to a grant from the Local Journalism Initiative of the Government of Canada. She previously worked as a newspaper reporter and photographer in BC’s Lower Mainland for over 7 years.
Rivers & Oceans

Climate change could spark international fish fights

National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Tensions between countries are likely to rise with the global temperature as valuable fish stocks fleeing warmer waters cross into different national boundaries, a new study suggests.

The climate crisis will push 45 per cent of the world’s shared fish stocks away from historic habitat ranges and migration routes by 2100, posing a challenge for international co-operation, said senior author William Cheung.

Continue reading Climate change could spark international fish fights →
Forests

Hibernation hits Fairy Creek blockade camps, but hunt continues for missing defenders

National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The Fairy Creek old-growth blockade is heading into winter hibernation mode but the search remains ongoing for two activists missing in the remote region on southeast Vancouver Island.

The Rainforest Flying Squad — the grassroots coalition behind the old-growth blockades — recently broke down the last of its publicly accessible camps due to extreme winter conditions.

Continue reading Hibernation hits Fairy Creek blockade camps, but hunt continues for missing defenders →
Rivers & Oceans

BC spot prawn fishers celebrate federal minister’s regulatory decision

National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Independent prawn harvesters are celebrating after Fisheries and Oceans Canada modified its proposed new guidelines for the commercial fishing sector. 

Harvesters can now continue to use whatever size containers they have been to freeze prawn tails at sea for the 2022 spring season before having to transition to a maximum 24-ounce transparent plastic tub next year, Fisheries Minister Joyce Murray announced Monday. 

Continue reading BC spot prawn fishers celebrate federal minister’s regulatory decision →
Animals, Indigenous Nations History, Tourism

Environmentalists protect local history and seabirds on Galiano Island

National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A new conservation area on B.C.’s Galiano Island with deep cultural significance for local First Nations will protect a pristine shore for a multitude of seabirds and help an increasingly rare ecosystem withstand global warming.

A kilometre of beach in Cable Bay and the adjoining 66 acres of land inside the threatened Coastal Douglas-Fir biogeoclimatic zone (CDF) have been acquired by the Galiano Conservancy Association (GCA) and the Nature Trust of British Columbia.

Continue reading Environmentalists protect local history and seabirds on Galiano Island →
Environment

Coastal carbon capture project aims to sink emissions in ocean floor and turn them to stone

National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A team of scientists believes it has a “rock-solid” way to combat the climate crisis by sucking carbon out of the atmosphere and storing it deep below the ocean floor. 

The proposed Solid Carbon project aims to scrub vast amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air and inject it nearly three kilometres beneath the ocean’s surface into basalt aquifers where it will eventually transform into rock. 

Continue reading Coastal carbon capture project aims to sink emissions in ocean floor and turn them to stone →