Tag Archives: Rockfish

Parks, Politics

Conservative candidate targets Great Bear Sea marine protection plan

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Northern Vancouver Island Federal Conservative Party candidate Aaron Gunn wants to sink plans for a network of Indigenous-led marine protected areas on the West Coast.

A month before announcing his bid in September 2023 to become the North Island-Powell River candidate, the right-wing social media personality from Victoria released a YouTube video taking aim at the B.C. Northern Shelf Marine Protected Area (MPA) Network, better known as the Great Bear Sea MPA Network. 

Continue reading Conservative candidate targets Great Bear Sea marine protection plan →
Rivers & Oceans

Scientists eavesdropping on fish to fathom their underwater secrets

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

New technology is allowing researchers to covertly monitor, record and identify the sounds fish make underwater to try to unravel their deepest secrets. 

Researcher Xavier Mouy, a recent PhD graduate at the University of Victoria, and his colleagues have devised a relatively low-cost portable audio-visual system that surreptitiously records the surprising range of acoustics fish produce, but more importantly, pinpoints what creature makes which sound. 

Continue reading Scientists eavesdropping on fish to fathom their underwater secrets →
Indigenous Nations, Rivers & Oceans

Kelp forests, foundational to coastal ecosystems and Nuu-chah-nulth culture, are at risk

By Alexandra Mehl, Ha-Shilth-Sa, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Thriving in cool water temperatures, kelp forests cover over a quarter of the world’s coastlines, with Canada having the longest, says Marissa Ng, Seaforestation Project Coordinator for Ocean Wise. 

Of Canada’s 243,042-kilometre long coastline, British Columbia makes up 25,725.

“In the Pacific Northwest, kelp forests are a foundation species. Similar to salmon, they’re important for the health of the coastal ecosystem,” said Ng. “They’re also foundation species because they’re so abundant up and down the coast and much like forests on land, marine forests – kelp forest – they provide food and shelter for thousands of marine species.”

Continue reading Kelp forests, foundational to coastal ecosystems and Nuu-chah-nulth culture, are at risk →