Backgrounders

Materials to provide context, establish facts, and aid understanding.

J50 and J42, Southern Resident Killer Whales swim in the Salish Sea.

Trans Mountain Expansion & Southern Resident killer whales: Project background

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Raincoast Conservation Foundation represented by Ecojustice have worked through the courts to protect Southern Resident killer whales from the threats posed by the Trans Mountain Expansion project.  Timeline 2013 – Raincoast and Living Oceans, legally represented by Ecojustice, file as formal intervenors in the National Energy Board’s review of Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain Expansion (TMX)….
A salmon in a stream, with four partner logos, Watershed Watch, David Suzuki Foundation, SkeenaWild Conservation Trust, and Raincoast.

Backgrounder on Canada’s Pacific salmon fishery losing its Marine Stewardship Council certification

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What is the Marine Stewardship Council? The Marine Stewardship Council, or “MSC”, is an international, independent non-profit organization which sets a standard for sustainable fishing. Fisheries that wish to demonstrate they are well-managed and sustainable compared to the science-based MSC standards are assessed by a team of experts who are independent of both the fishery…
J16 spy hops: Southern Resident killer whale.

Canada’s recovery measures for endangered killer whales a positive step

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A coalition of six conservation groups commend the federal government’s new measures to support Southern Resident killer whale recovery. The measures are the boldest yet; greater whale-watching restrictions, expanded voluntary slow downs for international shipping and the creation of no-vessel zones in feeding areas.  However, important feeding areas protected from fishing are smaller than last year’s areas, allowing less protection for whales and more areas for fishing…
J16 and J26 on a smokey day in the Salish Sea.

Emergency order for Southern Residents under the Species at Risk Act

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Research by an international team of scientists, including Raincoast staff, showed that a modelled 30 per cent increase in the coast-wide Chinook abundance above the 1979-2008 average could increase southern resident growth rate by as much as 1.9 per cent…