Category Archives: Rivers & Oceans

Rivers & Oceans

Commercial fisherman alarmed by lack of amenities in Prince Rupert harbour

By Kaitlyn Bailey,  Prince Rupert Northern View, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Commercial fisherman Joel Collier was shocked when he docked in Prince Rupert this past summer, seeking a shower and shops to restock on supplies, only to find that many of the services and businesses he expected had disappeared.

“Prince Rupert being a huge fishing hub in the past, it was a pretty alarming change,” Melissa Collier, Joel’s wife, a fellow fisherman and co-owner of their harvest business, said.

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Education, Rivers & Oceans

Campbell River’s ‘catch and release’ Aquarium

There are only seven ‘catch and release’ aquariums in British Columbia, and one of them is in Campbell River. The Discovery Passage Aquarium is also in the first building dedicated to this purpose in British Columbia. 

“This job is very interesting and engaging, but it’s all a means to an end.  We want to work hard to change our relationship with nature, because in its current state it is unsustainable,” explained Ricky Belanger, Manager of the Discovery Passage Aquarium.

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Rivers & Oceans

It’s been a long lobby; it just might be worth it

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.

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Rivers & Oceans

Where to find qathet’s Ghost Salmon

qathet Living, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Dam building over the last century destroyed all of qathet’s major salmon runs, and several small ones, too. Just a whisper remains of this region’s once-majestic returns.

Local experts are re-imagining these rivers for the future. For salmon. For ecosystems. And for reconciliation.

Standing on the rocky banks of the Powell River, you can see zero salmon. But 100 years ago, before the mill, you would have seen thousands.

These are the ghost salmon.

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Animals, Rivers & Oceans

Discovery Islands surfacing as a humpback hot spot

National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

It’s marvellously symbolic that Nick the humpback whale returns year after year with her offspring to the waters surrounding the Discovery Islands, wedged between B.C.’s remote central coast and Vancouver Island. 

She frequents the waters off Cortes Island near Whaletown — once a whaling station and rendering plant set up in 1868 as part of a colonial industry that eradicated humpbacks in the waters off eastern Vancouver Island by the early 20th century. 

Continue reading Discovery Islands surfacing as a humpback hot spot →