Press releases

Sidney, British Columbia: Managing salmon for wildlife typically focuses on providing enough biomass, a measurement of the total kilograms of spawning salmon, to promote salmon consumption that in turn benefits population health and productivity. A new study by scientists at Spirit Bear Research Foundation, Raincoast Conservation Foundation, and the University of Victoria, shows that salmon species diversity – the number…

Today the Raincoast Conservation Foundation and Coastal First Nations reached another conservation milestone in raising $500,000 to acquire the commercial trophy hunting rights in a further 2,350 square kilometres of the Great Bear Rainforest. The Nadeea hunting tenure covers some of the most spectacular watersheds in the Great Bear Rainforest, the home of Spirit bears, grizzly bears, black bears, wolves…

Ministers recommend issuing an emergency order to protect Southern Resident killer whales, but recommendation is rejected by cabinet.

An emergency order is the most effective way for government to cut through red tape and take swift action to address imminent threats to the Southern Resident killer whales…

VANCOUVER – Ecojustice,  Raincoast Conservation Foundation and Living Oceans Society– conservation groups who fought the approval of the Trans Mountain pipeline project in a historic hearing last October – are calling today’s Federal Court of Appeal ruling “a critical win” for endangered killer whales, communities, the climate and the coast. In a decision announced this morning, the court unanimously ruled…

VANCOUVER – Critically endangered southern resident killer whales now require immediate closure of Chinook fisheries on B.C.’s coast and closure of all whale watching, according to the David Suzuki Foundation and the Raincoast Conservation Foundation. “If an orca mother’s prolonged display of grief and signs of starvation among J-pod don’t inspire action, what will? We’re in a crisis situation that…

A report released today by the Raincoast Conservation Foundation highlights the risks posed to wild salmon in the Lower Fraser River from a Trans Mountain pipeline or tanker spill. The report details the year-round presence of different salmon species in the Lower Fraser, the river’s unique features, the nature of diluted bitumen, and the failures of Trans Mountain’s environmental assessment…

VANCOUVER – Conservation groups are applauding today’s announcement from Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Dominic LeBlanc and Minister of Environment and Climate Change Catherine McKenna that endangered Southern Resident killer whales face “imminent threats” to their survival and recovery. Prompted by this assessment, the Ministers also announced immediate fisheries closures in key Southern Resident foraging areas. Faced with declining populations of…

Corvallis, Oregon, USA & Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Writing in the scientific journal, Conservation Letters, an international team of conservation scientists is challenging the conservation community to fully consider the ethics of trophy hunting and think critically about endorsing the practice as a key funding mechanism for wildlife protection. The authors argue that trophy hunting – hunting that involves the…

Conservation groups are putting Minister of Environment and Climate Change Catherine McKenna and Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Dominic LeBlanc on notice as the groups move to secure protection for endangered Southern Resident killer whales.

Duvall, WA/Sidney, BC: Researchers from Wild Fish Conservancy, Raincoast Conservation Foundation, and the University of Montana are proposing an alternative framework for certifying wild salmon. The alternative is explained in a paper newly published in the open access journal FACETS titled “Criteria for a good catch: A conceptual framework to guide sourcing of sustainable salmon fisheries”. The new framework is…

A new study challenges a widespread assumption that wildlife management in North America is science-based. Scientists from Raincoast Conservation Foundation, Simon Fraser University, University of Victoria, and the University of Wisconsin – Madison examined management documents relating to most hunted species across Canada and the USA. They found the key hallmarks of science often missing. The study, “Hallmarks of science…