Tag Archives: Canadian Coast Guard

Rivers & Oceans

Canadian Coast Guard celebrates 60 years

By Norman Galimski,  Prince Rupert Northern View, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Editor’s note: Coast Guard 509 Cortes Island, in Cortes Bay, has been in operation close to 50 years and is one of four B.C. stations opened  for summer duty. The other three are Coast Guard 508 Sointula; Coast Guard 501 Victoria; and Coast Guard 507 Nootka.

Today, Jan. 26, the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) has sailed from coast to coast to coast for 60 years.

“To me, working for the coast guard is about helping people save lives, protecting the environment [and] making a difference for Canadians,” Ashley Wilson, officer in charge at the Prince Rupert Coast Guard base, said.

Continue reading Canadian Coast Guard celebrates 60 years →
Waste

Majority of shipping containers aboard MV Zim Kingston still missing

By Melissa Renwick, Ha-Shilth-Sa, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

It’s been three months since 109 shipping containers were knocked from a cargo ship traveling through rough seas off the west coast of Vancouver Island, yet the location of all but four remain unknown.

Ashley Tapp, co-founder of Epic Exeo, said her initial optimism that the ship’s owner would be held accountable for the missing containers has begun to fade. 

“I’m starting to get pretty discouraged,” she said. 

Continue reading Majority of shipping containers aboard MV Zim Kingston still missing →
Justice, Rivers & Oceans

West Coast poacher gets lifetime ban for fisheries violations 


National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A notorious West Coast poacher is banned from stepping aboard a fishing vessel for life after he was convicted of harvesting crabs under the cover of darkness and leading enforcement officers on a dangerous high-speed pursuit.

Scott Stanley Matthew Steer, a repeat offender under Canada’s Fisheries Act, was recently sentenced to a lifetime fishing ban and prohibited from being on board any fishing boat by a B.C. Supreme Court Judge after being convicted of five offences.

Continue reading West Coast poacher gets lifetime ban for fisheries violations  →
Waste

Coastal communities ‘raise the alarm’ around marine debris

By Melissa Renwick, Ha-Shilth-Sa, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Tofino, BC – Around two weeks ago, Nicole Gervais said chunks of Styrofoam started washing ashore on the northern end of Long Beach, near the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation community of Esowista on Vancouver Island.

Continue reading Coastal communities ‘raise the alarm’ around marine debris →
Transportation

Floatplane collisions in Tofino harbour ignite safety concerns

By Melissa Renwick, Ha-Shilth-Sa, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Tofino, BC – When a Tofino Air floatplane struck an Ahousaht First Nation water taxi in the Tofino Harbour on Oct. 18, vessel operators started raising questions over the lack of regulation in the open water.

Continue reading Floatplane collisions in Tofino harbour ignite safety concerns →