Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Black Press file photo

Fisheries and Oceans Canada faces deluge of calls to improve ‘suspect’ science

Report yields 49 recommendations to address concerns about how DFO science presented

 

Kris Dudoward is shown aboard the commercial fishing vessel Irenda earlier this week with catch of sockeye salmon on B.C.���s Skeena River near Prince Rupert. The union representing commercial fisheries, the United Fisherman Allied Workers filed a petition on Feb. 22 requesting the end of foreign ownership of fishing licences and quotas on the BC coast. File - THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Mitch Dudoward **MANDATORY CREDIT**

Union files petition in Ottawa to stop foreign ownership of fishing licences and quotas

UFAW-Unifor seeks a formal ending to all foreign investment, owner operator policy framework

 

Waves pound the shore in Eastern Passage, N.S. on Saturday, Sept. 24, 2022. An “ill-timed” tweet warning it is illegal to take lobsters that have washed up on a beach was approved by no fewer than seven people even after one of them warned it may not be well received in the middle of a hurricane. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan

Fisheries Department scrambled to claw back ‘ill-timed’ lobster tweet: documents

Controversial post issued five hours after cyclone Fiona slammed into Atlantic Canada

 

Fishing boats lined up at the Island 22 boat launch near Chilliwack during a bar fishing demonstration in which some anglers were subsequently charged for ‘fishing for salmon during a closed time’ on Sept. 9, 2020. Five anglers were ticketed and charged, but the charges were dropped in December 2022. (Jennifer Feinberg/ Chilliwack Progress file)

Charges against B.C. anglers who took part in Fraser River demonstration fishery dropped

‘It’s important to know the people who were out there were not law-breakers,’ says angler

Fishing boats lined up at the Island 22 boat launch near Chilliwack during a bar fishing demonstration in which some anglers were subsequently charged for ‘fishing for salmon during a closed time’ on Sept. 9, 2020. Five anglers were ticketed and charged, but the charges were dropped in December 2022. (Jennifer Feinberg/ Chilliwack Progress file)
Spawning sockeye salmon, a species of pacific salmon, are seen making their way up the Adams River in Roderick Haig-Brown Provincial Park near Chase, B.C., Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2014. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

First Nations, B.C. groups launch coalition to save Pacific salmon from extinction

New coalition says Pacific salmon populations have declined by more than 90 per cent since the 1970s

Spawning sockeye salmon, a species of pacific salmon, are seen making their way up the Adams River in Roderick Haig-Brown Provincial Park near Chase, B.C., Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2014. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
Fisheries and Oceans Canada officers worked with the Canadian Coast Guard last week to crack down on illegal crab traps in Boundary Bay. Officers seized 270 traps, averaging 60 a day during the five-day operation. (DFO photo)

Hundreds of suspected illegal, ghost crab traps seized in Boundary Bay by fisheries officers

Ghost fishing a ‘very, very despicable act’ detrimental to ocean creatures: Demsky

Fisheries and Oceans Canada officers worked with the Canadian Coast Guard last week to crack down on illegal crab traps in Boundary Bay. Officers seized 270 traps, averaging 60 a day during the five-day operation. (DFO photo)
FILE - Recirculating Aquaculture Systems, which involve moving the fish farm to land as opposed to an open net fish farm, is one possible future for the aquaculture industry in British Columbia. This photo, of a boat and crane situated next to a collapsed “net pen” by Cooke Seafood off the coast of Cypress Island in Washington State in 2017, came when a net failure allowed tens of thousands of nonnative fish to escape. The incident resulted in a nearly $600,000 settlement to the Lummi Indian tribe over the net collapse and damage done to the native salmon population, and prompted the state government to end the practice of fish farming nonnative fish. regarding File Photo David Bergvall Washington State Dept. of Natural Resources via AP

B.C. aquaculture fishing for new answers as it faces its murky future in 2023

All eyes are focused on the DFO’s next move as industry looks at new systems

FILE - Recirculating Aquaculture Systems, which involve moving the fish farm to land as opposed to an open net fish farm, is one possible future for the aquaculture industry in British Columbia. This photo, of a boat and crane situated next to a collapsed “net pen” by Cooke Seafood off the coast of Cypress Island in Washington State in 2017, came when a net failure allowed tens of thousands of nonnative fish to escape. The incident resulted in a nearly $600,000 settlement to the Lummi Indian tribe over the net collapse and damage done to the native salmon population, and prompted the state government to end the practice of fish farming nonnative fish. regarding File Photo David Bergvall Washington State Dept. of Natural Resources via AP
Salmon during the Invisible Migration in a tributary in B.C.’s northwest. (Photo: Tavish Campbell)

DFO inadequately rebuilding B.C. salmon stocks: Audit

Less than a 6th of B.C. salmon stocks have been assigned a health status per legislation

Salmon during the Invisible Migration in a tributary in B.C.’s northwest. (Photo: Tavish Campbell)
A young female Humpback whale named ‘Spike’ was found dead off Malcolm Island. (Jared Towers photo)

Young female humpback whale ‘Spike’ found dead off Vancouver Island

Officials still investigating cause of whale’s death

A young female Humpback whale named ‘Spike’ was found dead off Malcolm Island. (Jared Towers photo)
The Heiltsuk Nation have witnessed that salmon are dying by the 1,000s in the Neekas River on the mainland 20 kilometres north of Bella Bella. (Sarah Mund photo)

‘Flabbergasting’ lack of rain has returning salmon dying in droves on B.C. central coast

Heiltsuk conservation manager says tens of thousands of salmon have died

The Heiltsuk Nation have witnessed that salmon are dying by the 1,000s in the Neekas River on the mainland 20 kilometres north of Bella Bella. (Sarah Mund photo)
Cod fill a box on a trawler off the coast of Hampton Beach, N.H., in an April 23, 2016 file photo. A new audit of Canada’s efforts to protect aquatic species at risk of going extinct says the federal government is biased against listing commercially valuable fish as needing protection. THE CANADIAN PRESS /AP/Robert F. Bukaty

VIDEO: Environment commissioner warns Canada failing to protect commercially valuable fish

Fisheries and Oceans Canada extremely slow to act on recommendations, commissioner says

Cod fill a box on a trawler off the coast of Hampton Beach, N.H., in an April 23, 2016 file photo. A new audit of Canada’s efforts to protect aquatic species at risk of going extinct says the federal government is biased against listing commercially valuable fish as needing protection. THE CANADIAN PRESS /AP/Robert F. Bukaty
Bonny Glambeck and Dan Lewis of Clayoquot Action collect fish farm samples. (Photo credit: Jérémy Mathieu / Clayoquot Action)

Ottawa is scaling back its promise to phase out open net-pen salmon farms, critics say

3 expansions approved since phase-out promise made

  • Sep 19, 2022
Bonny Glambeck and Dan Lewis of Clayoquot Action collect fish farm samples. (Photo credit: Jérémy Mathieu / Clayoquot Action)
Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada and members of the public in Nanoose Bay rescued a beached porpoise Aug. 14. (Submitted photo)

Beached baby porpoise rescued from tidal pool on Vancouver Island

Porpoise calf found thrashing in sand and rocks in Nanoose Bay

Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada and members of the public in Nanoose Bay rescued a beached porpoise Aug. 14. (Submitted photo)
Kris Dudoward is shown aboard the commercial fishing vessel Irenda earlier this week with catch of sockeye salmon on B.C.’s Skeena River near Prince Rupert. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Mitch Dudoward

Commercial fishers and wild salmon advocates cheer large returns to B.C. waters

Sockeye populations returning to a number of areas in British Columbia better than forecast

Kris Dudoward is shown aboard the commercial fishing vessel Irenda earlier this week with catch of sockeye salmon on B.C.’s Skeena River near Prince Rupert. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Mitch Dudoward
A giant Pacific octopus shelters on a reef near Campbell River, awaiting the return of the tide. Alistair Taylor photo

Drastic fluctuations turning B.C. West Coast intertidal zone into ‘murder scene’

Rare tides, climate change occuring at a faster rate than intertidal animals can evolve or adapt to

A giant Pacific octopus shelters on a reef near Campbell River, awaiting the return of the tide. Alistair Taylor photo
Photo depicting ocean warming and temperature change patterns. (Government of Canada)

Federal report shows the impact of warming oceans on B.C. coast

2021 Pacific Ocean report details climate change impacts and conservation goals

Photo depicting ocean warming and temperature change patterns. (Government of Canada)
A bucket brigade on the Spokane River is releasing tagged salmon into the Columbia River system. (Lake Roosevelt Forum/Facebook

Spring salmon spotted for 1st time since 1930 in B.C.’s Columbia River

U.S. efforts to return salmon to Upper Columbia River gaining traction, some caught in BC waters

A bucket brigade on the Spokane River is releasing tagged salmon into the Columbia River system. (Lake Roosevelt Forum/Facebook
Three vehicles removed from the Chilliwack River on May 1, 2022. (DFO photo)

Helicopter used to remove vehicles from Chilliwack River bed

DFO project in co-operation with Soowahlie First Nation, ICBC and others

Three vehicles removed from the Chilliwack River on May 1, 2022. (DFO photo)
Rainbow trout infected with whirling disease which damages the backbone of the fish causing them to swim in a “whirling” pattern. (Photo: Sascha Hallett, fishpathogens.net)

Concerns raised about possibility of invasive fish disease in B.C. waters

Whirling disease has decreased fish populations by 90 per cent in certain regions

Rainbow trout infected with whirling disease which damages the backbone of the fish causing them to swim in a “whirling” pattern. (Photo: Sascha Hallett, fishpathogens.net)
Nineteen salmon farms in the Discovery Islands were given 18 months to vacate, causing shock and uncertainty in the industry. (Photo courtesy Grieg Seafood BC)

DFO reconfirms Canada’s commitment to transitioning from open-net pen salmon farming

Government responds after B.C. First Nations announce intent to assert control over fisheries

Nineteen salmon farms in the Discovery Islands were given 18 months to vacate, causing shock and uncertainty in the industry. (Photo courtesy Grieg Seafood BC)