Fisheries

Over the past three years, undisclosed BC Hydro employees quietly awarded more than $430 million in contracts — without any competition — to three dozen companies and consultants for work on the troubled Site C hydro dam, according to a list obtained by The Narwhal.

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Category:

Agriculture

The feds just approved a massive Port of Vancouver expansion — and it’s a blow to biodiversity

23/04/23

Author:

Arno Kopecky

Link:

The Narwhal

Scientists have warned the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 port expansion will impact more than 100 species of concern in the heart of the Fraser River estuary.

Apr. 20, 2023

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Category:

The Promises and Perils of the Seaweed Farming Boom

31/03/23

Author:

Nicola Jones

Link:

The Tyee

Seaweed farmers harvest sugar kelp from a farm site in coastal BC. Seaweed farming is experiencing a boom around the world, particularly in northern climates where kelp is the crop of choice. Photo courtesy of Cascadia Seaweed.

Mar. 24, 2023

‘We made a big mistake with monoculture on land. Let’s not make the same mistakes’ in the ocean.

Offshore from Vancouver Island, a team hauls up a line laden with metre-long fronds of sugar kelp (Saccharina latissimi), a floppy, brown seaweed with crinkled edges.

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Category:

These Rare and Beautiful BC Reefs Fight Climate Change

08/03/23

Author:

Michelle Gamage

Link:

The Tyee

Glass sponge reefs, only found in the cool waters of the Pacific northwest, help mitigate global warming and ocean acidification by absorbing 227 tonnes of CO2 every day. Image still from Moonless Oasis, a CBC documentary by Perpetuum Films about glass sponge reefs in Howe Sound.

Mar. 8, 2023

So why hasn’t the government cancelled oil and gas exploration permits that could damage them?

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Category:

Fisheries Department confirms closure of 15 Discovery Islands salmon farms

18/02/23

Author:

The Canadian Press

Link:

Campbell River Mirror

Aquatic science biologist Shawn Stenhouse releases a Atlantic salmon back into its tank during a Department of Fisheries and Oceans fish health audit at the Okisollo fish farm near Campbell River, B.C. Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2018. A Liberal promise to transition salmon farms in British Columbia from ocean net pens to closed containment systems in just over five years is being slammed as careless by the aquaculture industry but applauded by a wild salmon advocate who says the sooner the better. THE CANADIAN PRE

Feb. 17, 2023

Canada will not renew licences for open-net Atlantic salmon farms, citing risks to wild salmon

Fisheries Minister Joyce Murray has announced the federal government will not renew licences for 15 open-net Atlantic salmon farms around British Columbia’s Discovery Islands.

Murray says in a news release the Discovery Islands area is a key migration route for wild salmon where narrow passages bring migrating juvenile salmon into close contact with the farms.

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Category:

DFO quietly backed off monitoring Coastal GasLink while the company killed fish

11/02/23

Author:

Matt Simmons

Link:

The Narwhal

Feb. 8, 2023

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Category:

Sediment and complaints fly over Coastal GasLink construction at B.C. river

16/01/23

Author:

Natasha Bulowski

Link:

National Observer

Jan. 13, 2023

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans is investigating a complaint that Coastal GasLink failed to prevent sediment stirred up by pipeline construction activities from flowing downstream at a construction site on the Lho Kwa (Clore River) in B.C.

Sediment pollution poses a serious risk to salmon and steelhead eggs, effectively smothering them. Clore River is a large tributary of the Skeena River, which is an important habitat for both salmon and steelhead trout.

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Category:

Blasting Tsel Kiy Kwa - ACTION NEEDED

24/12/22

Author:

Gidimt'en Access

Link:

Yintah Access

Dec. 23, 2022

TAKE ACTION NOW

Tsel Kiy Kwa

On December 8th we got reports that there was blasting happening less than 1km from Gidimt’en Checkpoint, one of our homesites on the yintah at 44km.

Category:

Will Sea Lions Slow the Construction of Woodfibre LNG? (Or Will Project Conditions Be Relaxed?)

13/12/22

Author:

Natasha Bulowski

Link:

The Tyee

Steller sea lions, such as the one pictured here eating a salmon, often frequent the Howe Sound and would interrupt construction of the Woodfibre LNG project unless changes are made to the project conditions, the company says. Photo via Shutterstock.

Dec. 13, 2022

The company says the animals’ ‘ubiquitous presence’ will cause ‘regular and prolonged full project shutdowns.’

Construction on the Woodfibre LNG project in Squamish is set to take off in 2023, but the “curious and gregarious” nature of sea lions could make the construction “neither technically nor economically feasible.”

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Category:

Fisheries

Beleaguered engineering firm SNC-Lavalin was among the big winners of no-bid contracts for the over-budget hydro project on B.C.’s Peace River, according to documents obtained by The Narwhal

‘We made a big mistake with monoculture on land. Let’s not make the same mistakes’ in the ocean.

So why hasn’t the government cancelled oil and gas exploration permits that could damage them?

Canada will not renew licences for open-net Atlantic salmon farms, citing risks to wild salmon

TAKE ACTION NOW

Tsel Kiy Kwa

The company says the animals’ ‘ubiquitous presence’ will cause ‘regular and prolonged full project shutdowns.’

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