Category Archives: Rivers & Oceans

Rivers & Oceans

BC spot prawn fishers celebrate federal minister’s regulatory decision

National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Independent prawn harvesters are celebrating after Fisheries and Oceans Canada modified its proposed new guidelines for the commercial fishing sector. 

Harvesters can now continue to use whatever size containers they have been to freeze prawn tails at sea for the 2022 spring season before having to transition to a maximum 24-ounce transparent plastic tub next year, Fisheries Minister Joyce Murray announced Monday. 

Continue reading BC spot prawn fishers celebrate federal minister’s regulatory decision →
Rivers & Oceans

Alaskan commercial fishery ‘plundering’ threatened B.C. salmon

National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Commercial fish harvesters in southeast Alaska are netting significant amounts of threatened B.C. salmon even though the bulk of Canada’s Pacific fleet is stranded on shore to conserve plummeting stocks, a new study suggests.

Some of B.C.’s largest salmon runs navigate the waters of the Alaskan Panhandle just north of B.C. as they return to Canadian rivers to spawn, said Greg Taylor, fisheries expert and one of the authors of a new technical report for the Watershed Watch Salmon Society and SkeenaWild Conservation Trust.

Continue reading Alaskan commercial fishery ‘plundering’ threatened B.C. salmon →
Animals, Rivers & Oceans

The accelerating pace of Species becoming ‘at Risk’

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently released a survey that showed the total number of marine species at risk within the Salish Sea doubled between 2002 and 2015. While the Discovery Islands are within the study area, the EPA study did not list specific locations. So Cortes Currents asked Max Thaysen, President of the Friends of Cortes Island, about the species of risk in our area.

Continue reading The accelerating pace of Species becoming ‘at Risk’ →
Indigenous Nations, Rivers & Oceans

2014’s weather was even weirder than 2021’s, in this coastal BC town

qathet Living, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

It was a stormy October night in 2014, when a massive flash flood raged over the Tla’amin salmon hatchery. 

Logs, leaves and mud clogged the hatchery river fencing. The river overflowed into the protected area. “It was actually very similar to the downpour we received just a few weeks ago,” says Scott Galligos, a Tla’amin hatchery technician. “The flood itself lasted just about 48 hours. There was a lot of salmon escapement.” 

Continue reading 2014’s weather was even weirder than 2021’s, in this coastal BC town →
Justice, Rivers & Oceans

West Coast poacher gets lifetime ban for fisheries violations 


National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A notorious West Coast poacher is banned from stepping aboard a fishing vessel for life after he was convicted of harvesting crabs under the cover of darkness and leading enforcement officers on a dangerous high-speed pursuit.

Scott Stanley Matthew Steer, a repeat offender under Canada’s Fisheries Act, was recently sentenced to a lifetime fishing ban and prohibited from being on board any fishing boat by a B.C. Supreme Court Judge after being convicted of five offences.

Continue reading West Coast poacher gets lifetime ban for fisheries violations  →