Category Archives: Rivers & Oceans

First Nations Call Canadian Government Fishing Practises Discriminatory

Campbell River Mirror, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Five western Vancouver Island First Nations have called on the federal government to take “meaningful action” and “redirect” surplus allocation of chinook salmon to their communities. 

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Coming Soon: the European Green Crab

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Cynthia Bendickson believes an ecological battle along the inside passage of Vancouver Island is looming. It’s not a question of if, but when the invasive European green crab will land on the shorelines of the Salish Sea, says the biologist and executive director of the Greenways Land Trust.

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COVID-19 Relief Aid For Fish Harvesters

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The federal government released details of long-anticipated COVID-19 relief aid for fish harvesters Wednesday.

But critics argue that while the government was slow to deliver the programs, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) expects commercial fish harvesters to apply quickly, and right in the middle of fishing season. The relief programs may also shut out some new fishers carrying heavy debt, they say.

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A closer look at Sea Lice on 15 Salmon Farms

There has been a lot of talk about sea lice infestation of fish farms lately. According to a recent article from the North Island Gazette, there were more than the ‘acceptable’ number of parasites on fourteen sites this Spring. The President of Cermaq Canada just sent an industry perspective of this issue to the Strathcona Regional District Board. I decided to take a closer look at the sea lice on 15 salmon farms.

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Sea Lice Exceeds Threshold On 14 Salmon Farms

North Island Gazette, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Data from fish farms around Vancouver Island show sea lice numbers exceeding Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s requirements of three per salmon at the start of this year’s juvenile salmon migration.

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