North Island Gazette, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The results of a new wild salmon study are skin crawling: 94 per cent of wild salmon fry in the Discovery Islands — to the east of Campbell River — had sea lice attached. The infected fry hosted an average of seven of the parasitic lice.
Continue reading Sea Lice Outbreak Prompts First Nations Call For salmon Farm ClosuresOne in every three bites of food we eat depends on bees. Without bees, our local and global food systems would collapse. Recently, Colony Collapse Disorder has become a buzzword. It refers to the sudden death of honeybee colonies from a myriad of causes, from toxic pesticides to viruses, to disease, and is becoming more and more common in industrial beekeeping operations. But, could the Colony Collapse plague Cortes Island’s own bees?
Continue reading Lessons From Cortes Island’s BeesThe Cortes community is in various levels of emergency mode: the climate emergency has moved many people to increase their local self-reliance. Community non-profits like the Cortes Community Economic Development Association, the Friends of Cortes Island Society and Climate Hope are organizing to relocalize essential needs like food production.
And then the covid-19 pandemic came along with its own challenges to the established modern food systems – bacon is under threat.
Continue reading The Humble Cortes Island Shellfish FarmerBy George Sirk
Yep, they’re back from Venezuela, and secretly at dawn and dusk, are singing in a melancholic, flute-like, upward spiralling cascade. Their call note, a simple “whit”, is easily imitated and can often draw the bird out. They are arrive fairly late, usually late April early May, and leave by end of September. Enjoy their songs now as their territorial imperative diminishes as summer progresses.
Continue reading Serenade Of The Swainson’s ThrushHelen Hall has been the Friends of Cortes Island’s (FOCI) Executive Director for close to five years. Autumn Barrett-Morgan came to FOCI as a summer student and continues on as the volunteer Conservation Assistant. In this morning’s program they talk about species at risk on Cortes Island.
Continue reading Species at Risk on Cortes Island
