National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
As the year’s climate-related gains and catastrophes wrap, Canada’s National Observer is reviewing the top five stories to make waves in B.C.’s coastal and island communities in 2022.
First Nations, forests and fish-related news surfaced as some top issues from CNO’s Island Insider beat, and are likely to dominate headlines in the new year as well.
Continue reading From fish to forests, how 2022 played out on Canada’s West Coast
By Natasha Bulowski, Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
After a sluggish first week, activists took to the streets of New York City to push delegates negotiating a United Nations high seas treaty to act with urgency.
The “high seas” — waters that aren’t managed by a nation — account for roughly two-thirds of the world’s oceans. The vast majority are unprotected. A UN high seas treaty would be the first legally binding conservation framework for these waters, and would enable protection from overfishing, industry, resource extraction — like deep sea mining — and other activities. The treaty is key if the world is to protect 30 per cent of oceans by 2030, something more than 100 countries, including Canada, have called for.
Continue reading Activists call on UN delegates to move fast on high seas treatyNational 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 fightsOriginally published on Greenpeace International
This year has been the 50th Anniversary of Greenpeace; 2022 will be the 50th anniversary of the Limits to Growth study. During this era, a half-century ago, citizens around the world began seeing signs of a pending ecological crisis, and began to talk about it.
The image above could be considered the first Greenpeace public media statement, one of twelve billboards erected in Vancouver, in 1969, by Greenpeace co-founders Dorothy and Ben Metcalfe.
Continue reading Ecology? Look it up! You’re still involvedIn recent weeks, Hyacinthe Creek – one of a handful of salmon bearing streams on Quadra Island – has experienced a few salmon swimming up its waters. Their arrival has not been an easy journey!
Life for all adult salmon, for millennia, has been a series of survival challenges. Depending upon the species, life cycles range from 2 years (Pinks) to 7 years (Chinook). For new born salmon referred to as fry, making it from their Coastal and or Interior BC birth streams to salt water can require many weeks to months of learning what to eat, while being swept over waterfalls to then crash through rapids for many more kilometers downstream.
Continue reading Fish and Watersheds
