Tag Archives: DFO

Rivers & Oceans

Fish farm giant Mowi suing fisheries ministers, taxpayers for Discovery Islands closures

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

An international aquaculture giant is suing two former Canadian fisheries ministers for alleged damages from a federal decision to close fish farms in B.C.’s Discovery Islands region.

Mowi Canada West, a subsidiary of the Norwegian seafood company, filed a civil suit in the Supreme Court of British Columbia in March against the Canadian government that personally names former fisheries ministers Bernadette Jordan and Joyce Murray. 

Continue reading Fish farm giant Mowi suing fisheries ministers, taxpayers for Discovery Islands closures →
Energy

‘Hard to believe it’s real’: B.C.’s energy regulator repeatedly gave Coastal GasLink a pass on alleged environmental infractions

Editor’s note: Another account of how government regulators are not equipped to do their job and the resulting lack of oversight may be putting the public at risk.

By Matt Simmons, The Narwhal, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

When officials from the BC Energy Regulator travelled to Wet’suwet’en territory in September 2022, they were planning a routine inspection of a fish-bearing stream.

Two years had passed since Coastal GasLink completed installation of a section of pipeline through the stream, a tributary of Tchesinkut Creek, near the community of Burns Lake in northwest B.C.

They discovered Coastal GasLink had never finished restoring the waterway and, for two years, pipeline construction had been impacting fish habitat. It was a mess. 

Continue reading ‘Hard to believe it’s real’: B.C.’s energy regulator repeatedly gave Coastal GasLink a pass on alleged environmental infractions →
Animals, Rivers & Oceans

It’s a new season of whale song on the West Coast

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Autumn is the season of whale song on the Pacific Northwest Coast, says longtime researcher Janie Wray. 

Male humpbacks off the B.C. coast are beginning to get vocal — practising and modifying a supernatural and intricate song that is transmitted and almost simultaneously adopted among themselves before and during their winter migration to warmer climes.

Continue reading It’s a new season of whale song on the West Coast →
Animals, Rivers & Oceans

Will the heavy rains come in time for this year’s Chum run in Basil Creek?

Part 1 in a series of articles about the Fall 2023 Salmon runs; Click here for Part 2.

Very little water is trickling through Basil Creek, where Cortes Island’s principal Chum run occurs in late October. There have been few days of rain on Cortes since May, and some of the area’s shallow wells stopped producing in July. Only about 10 Chum were seen in Basil Creek during the 2022 drought. Unless water levels rise, this may be the second year in a row when there is not a significant creek for the Chum return. 

According to the Pacific Salmon Foundation, BC is going through ‘one of the most extreme periods of drought in recorded history.’ 

Continue reading Will the heavy rains come in time for this year’s Chum run in Basil Creek? →
Animals, Rivers & Oceans

Research groups sound alarm after three whales reportedly struck by ships off West Coast

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Three whales were reportedly struck by vessels in northern B.C. waters over a 10-day period last month, raising West Coast humpback researchers’ concerns over the risk shipping poses to the marine mammals.

Continue reading Research groups sound alarm after three whales reportedly struck by ships off West Coast →