Category Archives: Rivers & Oceans

Indigenous Nations, Rivers & Oceans

Closing down the Discovery Islands Salmon Farms

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The licenses for 19 salmon farms in the Discovery lslands expired today.  Bernadette Jordan, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) is reissuing licenses for 18 months, during which time “no new fish of any size may be introduced into Discovery Islands.” “Fish at the sites can complete their growth-cycle and be harvested,” but “all farms be free of fish by June 30th, 2022.”

The Minister added, “The federal government will continue working collaboratively with partners on the responsible transition from open-net pen salmon farming in coastal British Columbia waters by 2025.” 

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Rivers & Oceans

phasing out Discovery Islands fish farms

National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Federal Fisheries Minister Bernadette Jordan announced Thursday that controversial fish farms in the Discovery Islands on the West Coast will be phased out over the next 18 months.

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Rivers & Oceans

90% of sunflower sea star population wiped out

National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The magnificent sunflower sea star, once ubiquitous along the Pacific coast, is now critically endangered after more than 90 per cent of the species was wiped out by a marine epidemic ravaging its population.

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Rivers & Oceans

Cermaq Canada’s semi-closed containment system

National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

An international aquaculture company has launched a trial of a new salmon farm containment system expected to drastically reduce the exchange of sea lice between wild and farmed fish. Cermaq Canada has stocked close to half a million Atlantic salmon smolts in a new semi-closed containment system (SCCS) in Millar Channel on the west coast of Vancouver Island. It is the first time the technology has been tested in Canadian waters.

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