‘This is how we live now’
“This is at least the third year where I've had to wear a respirator,” says Sayward, B.C., resident Shannon Briggs, whose children are growing up in the age of apocalyptic wildfires.
Saving the Cowichan Estuary from drowning in a climate-fed ‘coastal squeeze’
A massive restoration project is getting underway this summer in a bid to save vital wildlife habitat in the Cowichan Estuary from drowning and disappearing as climate change spurs sea level rise.
DFO raids seafood company, possibly over federal agency's own paperwork error
Fisheries enforcement officers are taking an unnecessary and heavy-handed approach over what appears to be a bureaucratic error caused the Department of Fisheries’ own licensing branch, said Sonia Strobel, CEO of Skipper Otto community-supported fishery.
Dirty water: Fisheries on West Coast may be vulnerable to money laundering
The lack of transparency about who owns or controls commercial fishing licences, quota and vessels in Canada makes B.C. fisheries attractive targets for criminals looking to launder money, former RCMP deputy commissioner Peter German cautioned a federal fisheries committee.
Fish fight over West Coast licences and quota resurfaces at federal committee
A parliamentary committee investigating whether corporations and foreign owners have a stranglehold on Canadian fisheries is experiencing a serious case of deja vu.
‘Birders, not blockaders’ ask B.C. to protect old-growth in Fairy Creek to save marbled murrelets
Birders and biologists are banding together to urge the B.C. government to protect ancient forests on southwestern Vancouver Island in a bid to save threatened marbled murrelet nesting sites.
Paramedic shortages still plague rural areas, but some remedies may be in the works
"Oh, my God. How long am I going to have to wait?” wondered Carol Woolsey, 77, after she dialled 911 for a medical emergency and heard no local paramedics were available in her island community.
Scientists eavesdrop on fish to learn their secrets
New technology is allowing researchers to covertly monitor, record and identify the sounds fish make underwater to try to unravel their deepest secrets.
Tide-powered clean energy could help West Coast communities ditch diesel
A new tidal energy pilot project to reduce dependence on diesel in B.C.’s remote coastal communities is set to launch after getting $2 million in provincial funding.
Chevron surrenders offshore oil and gas permits in B.C. ocean conservation hot spots
Chevron voluntarily gave up 19 exploration permits in B.C.'s Scott Islands marine National Wildlife Area and two fragile glass sponge reefs after conservation groups launched a court challenge.
Kelp Forests: the hidden treasure in our oceans
Underwater forests represent an average of $500 billion annually in benefits to commercial fisheries, ocean pollution removal and carbon absorption, a new international study shows.
Escaped steelhead salmon threaten lake ecosystem after fish farm breach
“These things are eating machines, and we don’t even know how big they're gonna get. The question is, ‘What’s the damage to the ecosystem?’” says fishing guide Pat Demeester about the escape of massive farmed rainbow trout into B.C.'s Lois Lake.
Salvaging the sacred from climate disaster
A new project hopes to train a Vancouver Island First Nations “strike team” to save and salvage cultural and sacred artifacts from the growing threat of fires and floods as the climate crisis advances.
Yukon River’s salmon runs likely to stay small while Indigenous Peoples’ sacrifice grows
The collapse of wild salmon is causing a current of pain that spans the length of the Yukon River, from its mouth at Alaska’s Bering Sea to the headwater’s in Canada’s Yukon territory 3,000 kilometres away.