The Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, PC, MPPrime Minister of CanadaOffice of the Prime Minister and Privy Council Parliament BuildingsOttawa, Ontario K1A 1A6 July 10, 2020 Dear Prime Minister Trudeau: As organizations with a strong commitment to defending nature in Canada, we want to acknowledge the efforts that the Government of Canada has made to protect…
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…
As this decade closes, it’s timely to celebrate what we have collectively achieved for BC’s coast. Raincoast’s past in the Kitlope takes us back three decades to 1990, when Brian Falconer first visited at the invitation of the Haisla and Xenaksiala. The Nations were working to save the Kitlope from clearcut logging, which they ultimately…
As I crouch on the riverbank taking measurements of the salmon carcass, the ever-telling sensation of being watched creeps up my neck. I look up to see a mother black bear and her two cubs across the river, staring right at me. Our eyes meet, and time slows. In this moment of connected eyes and…
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….
There is currently renewed interest in locating historical streams that have long been paved over and lost in Vancouver and the Lower Mainland. Mapping these historical landscape features offers a connection to the land that has been lost through urbanization and highlights opportunities for restoration…
The first phase in Raincoast’s five-year restoration project in the Fraser estuary was making breaches in the Steveston jetty to allow young salmon access to Sturgeon Bank, a safe, marshy habitat that gives them an easier transition from river to ocean…
Since the removal of sections of the Steveston jetty in February, we have been sampling our new jetty ‘breaches’ and have consistently caught juvenile salmon moving through them! This is a huge success and was realized just weeks after…
When we began our research in the Fraser estuary in 2016, the presence of multiple barriers, including the Steveston Jetty, became a significant concern. With the announcement of the Coastal Restoration Fund in 2017, an opportunity to begin addressing these barriers appeared…
After a long five months we have now wrapped up our 2018 field season in the Fraser estuary, our best year yet! This year our team spent 76 days in the field and we captured more than 35,000 fish, including over 6,400 juvenile salmon. While it has been a long and hot season with a…
As the endangered Southern Resident killer whale population continues to struggle from the combined forces of noise, pollution and food (i.e. Chinook) availability, Raincoast Conservation Foundation has released a report that highlights the risks posed to wild salmon in the Lower Fraser River from an expanded Trans Mountain pipeline…
This report that 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, the river’s unique features, the nature of diluted bitumen, and the failures of Trans Mountain’s environmental assessment, as well as the inadequacy of the National Energy Board review. ..