By Sonal Gupta, Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Ottawa’s $412-million salmon recovery program offers a lifeline to BC’s struggling fisheries — but comes at the same time budget cuts are dismantling monitoring systems conservationists, experts and First Nations say are essential to protect them.
Continue reading Ottawa’s renewed salmon funding spawns both hope and skepticismEditor’s note: The similarities this story has to our situation on Cortes Island, with Basil Creek having come close to drying up in 2022 and 2023 and the way that fish eggs are being harvested to try boost the population, made this story a must read.
By Bhagyashree Chatterjee, The Squamish Chief, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
What happens when a creek runs dry, and the fish that call it home can no longer make their way upstream?
For the team at Tenderfoot Creek Hatchery in Squamish, it’s a challenge they’re tackling head-on as the impacts of climate change ripple through the watershed.
While many hatcheries focus on large-scale harvests, Tenderfoot Creek is all about conservation.
Continue reading Salmon vs. climate change: How salmon are surviving climate shifts in Squamish
National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Ottawa has launched its awaited fisheries licence buyback program to protect plummeting Pacific salmon stocks on the West Coast.
Looking to fix the problem of too many boats chasing too few fish, on Wednesday, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) unveiled details on its voluntary commercial licence retirement (LRP) program that will pay salmon harvesters to exit the industry.
Continue reading Feds launch licence buyback plan to scale down B.C.’s salmon fishing fleet
The drought conditions settling throughout the West Coast are another example of what Fisheries and Oceans Canada has identified as the #1 threat to BC’s endangered salmon population.
“While there are many stressors that affect Pacific salmon survival, climate change is rapidly superseding these threats,” DFO media spokesperson Lara Sloan emailed Cortes Currents.
Continue reading Salmon Runs in the midst of a West Coast Drought
qathet Living, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Editor’s note: This was one of the last stories that Abby Francis filed in qathet Living before heading off to take the broadcast journalism course at BCIT.
Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) Joyce Murray said that the Powell River Salmon Society and other community hatcheries will be receiving more money through the $647.1 million Pacific Salmon Strategy Initiative; she did not specify when or how much money would be given however.
Continue reading It’s been a long lobby; it just might be worth it
