Island Insider

The International Union for Conservation of Nature listed the sunflower sea star as critically endangered last week based on a population study led by Oregon State University and the Nature Conservancy in partnership with a coalition of more than 60 researchers and institutions.

The washout has devastated hundreds of acres of forest, severely damaging salmon spawning grounds and sweeping trees, rocks and mud into Bute Inlet.

The next two weeks are critical in protecting the gains the Klahoose Nation on Cortes Island made in getting a COVID-19 cluster under control, says Chief Kevin Peacey.

Cermaq Canada has stocked close to half a million Atlantic salmon smolts into a new semi-closed containment system (SCCS) in Millar Channel on the west coast of Vancouver Island.

The Klahoose First Nation immediately went into strict lockdown Nov. 26 after getting news an elder had tested positive for COVID-19. Three more cases were confirmed soon after.

Federal Fisheries Minister Bernadette Jordan is expected to make a decision this month about whether to renew fish farm licences set to expire on Dec. 18 in the Discovery Islands region.

Community spread from social interactions and travel is driving COVID-19 case numbers to a worrying level on Vancouver Island and in other health regions beyond B.C.'s Lower Mainland, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says.

Recent research suggests youth struggling with illicit drug use may use cannabis to mitigate the risk of overdose and that establishing housing, work and income supports is their priority before treatment. 

One immediate way to protect youth from fatal drug overdoses is to provide harm reduction and overdose prevention services dedicated strictly to their demographic, says youth outreach worker and harm reduction advocate Kali Sedgemore.

The new Breton Island-Whitridge Reserve is a 12.6-acre island located in the Discovery Islands archipelago that is wedged between the B.C. mainland and Vancouver Island.

“I think that British Columbia could go down in medical history as being a reservoir for having fungi in the old-growth forests that could prevent pandemics — now and in the future,” says mycologist Paul Stamets.

Vancouver Island marmots may just be the antidote required for the dystopian times we are living in.

When it comes to shellfish, concerns around the consumption of microplastics are a good news, bad news story.

Damaging winds toppled power lines and trees, leaving thousands of residents in B.C. in the dark after an intense fall storm tracked through Tuesday.

Archeologist Christine Roberts, a member of the Wei Wai Kum First Nation on Vancouver Island, says her work gives her a profound sense of belonging and a tie to the land she works on.