Representatives of 102 First Nations, from across British Columbia, voiced their support for the transition of open-net pen fish farms out of BC waters.
The First Nations Wild Salmon Alliance hosted a press conference in Vancouver on Tuesday April 5, 2022.
Continue reading 102 BC First Nations call for fish farms to be transitioned onto landNational Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
West Coast environmental organizations are cautiously optimistic after a large forestry company announced deferrals of old-growth logging in some prized conservation areas in its private land holdings on Vancouver Island and Haida Gwaii.
Mosaic Forest Management, the largest private land-holder in B.C., is pausing logging on 400 square kilometres of forest for a minimum of 25 years, opting instead to rely on carbon credits to generate revenue.
Continue reading Logging company’s deferrals of old-growth jewels bittersweet, environmentalists say
[researched and written by Mike Moore, edited and produced for radio by De Clarke]
Cortes Islanders are very aware that we live on an island. The landbase has a very defined perimeter with the ocean; but the way the land wraps around and encloses the island’s many harbours and bays means that the land has a very intimate and close connection with the ocean. We know that the land, lakes, creeks and ocean are all interrelated.
Standing on a Cortes beach allows one to see what is happening on the lands around us in a bigger perspective. From Smelt Bay, we could witness the clearcuts sprawling across the mountainsides on Vancouver Island. From either side of Sutil Point, we could see the pulp mills in Campbell River and Powell River belching steam and smoke into the sky.
Continue reading A Brief History of Forest Activism on Cortes IslandEditor’s note: The licenses for 79 fish farms will come up for renewal by the end of June, 2022. If the Department of Fisheries fails to reissue them, there will only be seven farms left in the province. These are all in the Broughton Archipelago and their licenses come up for renewal in 2023.
On March 21, a group of what was supposedly 17 First Nations supporting the fish farming industry put out a press release. Cortes Currents is not on the First Nations for Finfish Stewardship email list, and at that point had not heard of the group. We subsequently asked Dallas Smith, spokesperson for this coalition, for an interview. When he did not reply, Cortes Currents published a write-up largely based on that original press release. Within hours of posting a link through social media, someone directed Cortes Currents to independent biologist Alexandra Morton’s Facebook page where there was evidence that this group of 17 was at best 12 and more likely 11 First Nations. Since then, the list has grown smaller.
Continue reading The First Nations calling for a renewal of fish farm licensesOn Monday a new study confirmed what environmentalists have been saying for years, sea lice have developed a resistance to SLICE the treatment fish farms most often use against them.
Continue reading Countdown for 79 salmon farms: new report says sea lice have developed resistance to SLICE
