Category Archives: Rivers & Oceans

Arts, Rivers & Oceans

Bringing Campbell River’s Tyee Legacy to Vancouver’s DOXA film festival


A documentary about Campbell River’s historic Tyee fishing culture will be screened at Vancouver’s DOXA Film Festival on Thursday, May 7. In this morning’s interview filmmakers Jevan Crittenden and Nate Slaco talk a little about ‘In Tyee Country,’ and how it came into being. 

Jevan: “When we started this project we expected certain things and a lot of those assumptions were accurate, but there were some surprising things that came up. To me the community aspect is the surprising thing. Peter Wipper talks about having a greater sense of community and home in Campbell River than he does in his own hometown, and he credits that to the community that’s come up around the Tyee Club. It really is a tight-knit group.”

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Rivers & Oceans

Some BC First Nations want to replace the salmon farming ban with their own system — and preserve jobs

Editor’s Note: Four of the 17 First Nations supposedly belonging to the Coalition of First Nations for Finfish Stewardship asked that their names be removed when this organization was first announced. They were the Mamalilikulla, Namgis and Kwikwasutinuxw Haxwa’mis First Nations (collectively referred to as the “Broughton First Nations”) and the Klahoose First Nation. This was apparently not done.

By Sonal Gupta, Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Some BC First Nations want Ottawa to cancel its ban on open-net salmon farms and hand them the reins of a reformed system that could better protect both wild salmon and jobs in their communities.

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Industry, Rivers & Oceans

Fishy Business: Cortes Streamkeepers opposed to quarry expansion plan

[Article by Christine and Cec Robinson, reprinted from Tideline; the audio version of this story includes not only the text of this article, but an interview with the authors about the history of Cortes Streamkeepers and the importance of watershed protection. The feature image is a cropped area from an original painting of James Creek by Desiree Bond, see end notes.]

Controversy continues to simmer over Island United’s application for an ambitious expansion of the Cortes Pit (a gravel and rock quarry in Whaletown). Cortes Currents has been covering the issue; this article is the third in a series.

Note: There has been some confusion over the deadlines for commenting on the permit application. There are two different deadlines for two different application processes.

  • One is strictly a mining application and is terse and minimalist. Its deadline is May 8th. BC government confirms that this means comments must be received before midnight on May 8th.
  • The other is an application for expansion and mining use of a Crown Land lease. It is more elaborate and includes the much-quoted “Aggregate and Quarry Management Plan” which contains many errors and misstatements. Its deadline is May 14th.
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Rivers & Oceans

Lack of regulations leaves humpback at risk despite BC Ferries slowdown, experts say

By Sonal Gupta, Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Researchers welcome a slowdown by BC Ferries through one of the region’s key humpback whale corridors, but warn it’s not enough without binding federal rules for foreign cruise lines and surging LNG tankers.

The company will reduce speeds starting June 1, after one of its ships struck and killed a humpback whale named Midnight in Wright Sound last year.

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Rivers & Oceans

Ottawa’s renewed salmon funding spawns both hope and skepticism

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 skepticism →