Category Archives: Rivers & Oceans

Rivers & Oceans

Feds leaving West Coast fishing sector to flounder after salmon closures, harvesters say

National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The West Coast fishing sector is being hung out to dry and deserves a just transition like other climate-affected industries after the federal government put in widespread closures to the salmon fishery last year, the fish harvesters union says. 

Boat captains, crews, and shore workers are suffering dire economic hardship with zero emergency or transitional supports after the ministry of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) closed 79 salmon fisheries last June, said James Lawson, president of the United Fishermen and Allied Workers’ Union (UFAWU). 

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Rivers & Oceans

Herring cut not enough, says west coast First Nation

qathet Living, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

For decades, the Salish Sea’s herring nearly disappeared, starving local salmon, whales and other species. The run miraculously came back in 2014. 

Since then, Ottawa has allowed commercial boats to harvest 20 per cent of the herring run – in spite of lobbying by First Nations and environmental groups. 

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Rivers & Oceans

Cortes Island’s latest Citizen Scientist Project: Monitoring Dungeness Crabs 

Cortes Island’s newest citizen science project, monitoring Dungeness crab larvae, was announced last Friday. Local diver Mike Moore,  Helen Hall from the Friends of Cortes Island (FOCI) and Kelly Fretwell from the Hakai Institute joined Manda Aufochs Gillespie on CKTZ’s Folk U Friday.  

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Rivers & Oceans

Will you help save local salmon?

qathet Living, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

As the Fraser river flooded valleys in the Lower Mainland, salmon flooded the streets.

In the midst of the atmospheric storms last fall, salmon streams along the Fraser river submerged roads in Vancouver, leaving creeks destroyed with trash, mud, and branches. Both wild and hatchery salmon were seen all over the news, swimming on roads alongside cars, stranded on fields, and trapped in puddles of muddy water.

Almost every salmon stock in the Fraser River has been in an endangered state for years, the impact of the floods and landslides have further damaged the salmon’s habitats.

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Rivers & Oceans

Ocean Acidification poses a top climate change danger on B.C. coast

National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Lurking in B.C.’s ocean is a lesser-known climate risk experts say has the potential to cause significant harm to the marine ecosystem and the economies of coastal communities.

Now scientists and stakeholders are developing an action plan to deal with the dual dangers of ocean acidification and hypoxia — or dangerously low oxygen levels — in the marine environment. 

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