The Port of Vancouver is proposing to double the size of its shipping terminal beside the Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal, putting further stress on an estuary that has already lost more than 70% of its natural habitat…
This backgrounder on endangered Fraser Chinook has been produced by Raincoast Conservation Foundation, David Suzuki Foundation, and Watershed Watch…
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…
Given the ecological challenges that Fraser River salmon, including juvenile salmon, face at this point in history, now is not the time to increase pressure on their rearing grounds in the Fraser estuary by increasing the footprint of the Terminal 2 project on Roberts Bank….
Hatcheries have failed to protect or restore the old ages, big sizes, range of migration times and diversity of wild Chinook salmon. For Southern Residents to recover, the age structure and run timing of wild Chinook runs, along with abundance, need to be restored. This is not the objective of hatcheries…
On May 10, the Canadian federal government announced its first wide-ranging measures to reduce the primary threats compromising survival of the salmon-eating Southern Resident killer whales reliant on the transboundary waters of the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia. Although federally listed as endangered in 2003 in Canada and 2005 in the US, little has happened…
Today we are returning to court with partners Ecojustice and Living Oceans Society to challenge the federal government’s re-approval of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. Our lawyers at Ecojustice submitted a motion to the Federal Court of Appeal this morning, asking for leave to launch a judicial review of Cabinet’s decision. We contend that Cabinet…
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…
Right now, as we anticipate the return of these endangered whales to the Salish Sea, the federal government is considering exactly what measures they will take to aid recovery in 2019. They are asking you for your input, and it is critical that you encourage them to make the right choice. Many voices are advocating for less ambitious recovery actions…
The National Energy Board is now preparing its recommendations to cabinet on the Trans Mountain Expansion. When we won our legal case in the federal court of appeal in August 2018, the courts quashed the Trans Mountain permits and required the National Energy Board to reconsider their recommendations…
In order to recover and sustainably manage depleted wild salmon populations, place-based management and the restoration of salmon watersheds is the best way forward given the changing environmental conditions that confront these fish and the value that British Columbians place on them.
Since the killing of seals and sea lions ended in the 1970s, pinnipeds in the Salish Sea have been recovering. The recovery of seals slowed by 2000 and for the last fifteen years or so the number of seals in the Salish Sea has been relatively stable. This population of fish eaters has recovered to what was likely historic levels…