Salmon

Dorothy Chambers above the Colquitz Creek footbridge formerly used to catch and count coho salmon. The practice ended for the year on Oct. 10 after otters threatened their numbers. (Kiernan Green/News Staff)

Otters end Colquitz Creek salmon count after 10 days

Pups taught to exploit salmon traps used for the count

Dorothy Chambers above the Colquitz Creek footbridge formerly used to catch and count coho salmon. The practice ended for the year on Oct. 10 after otters threatened their numbers. (Kiernan Green/News Staff)
The semi-closed aquaculture containment system trialed by Cermaq Canada. Cermaq Canada Photo.

Tech flaw halts Vancouver Island semi-closed fish farm trial

Water quality concerns, dying fish leads Cermaq to shut down Clayoquot Sound testing

The semi-closed aquaculture containment system trialed by Cermaq Canada. Cermaq Canada Photo.
A salmon is reeled in by a fisherman along the shores of the Fraser River near Chilliwack, B.C., Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2010. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

Fishers, experts await details on Ottawa’s latest plan to save Pacific salmon

Fisheries and Oceans said stocks are declining to ‘historic lows’ due to climate change, habitat loss

A salmon is reeled in by a fisherman along the shores of the Fraser River near Chilliwack, B.C., Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2010. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
Members of Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society collect fish at Sooke River’s Pemberton Pool.

Sooke group gearing up for another season of salmon enhancement

Broodstock collection set for Sooke River and DeMamiel Creek

Members of Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society collect fish at Sooke River’s Pemberton Pool.
Bev Gniazdowski (clockwise from front left), Adele Hartum, Storm Kirkland and Brandon Williamson sample invertebrates at Bowker Creek. (Photo by Jessica Hartum/Friends of Bowker Creek Society)

Friends of Bowker Creek to plant 30,000 salmon eggs in Oak Bay section

Society collaborating with Peninsula Streams Society, DFO on fishery project

Bev Gniazdowski (clockwise from front left), Adele Hartum, Storm Kirkland and Brandon Williamson sample invertebrates at Bowker Creek. (Photo by Jessica Hartum/Friends of Bowker Creek Society)
Stuart LePage, of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, sprints to place a salmon in a vessel to be lifted by a helicopter and transported up the Fraser River past a massive rock slide near Big Bar, west of Clinton, B.C., Wednesday July 24, 2019. Officials say thousands of migrating salmon are making their way past an area of British Columbia’s Fraser River that was the scene of waterway restructuring efforts following a massive rock slide more than two years ago. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Salmon getting through Fraser River slide zone as officials ponder permanent fix

Protected fishway at the slide site is allowing salmon to make it upstream

Stuart LePage, of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, sprints to place a salmon in a vessel to be lifted by a helicopter and transported up the Fraser River past a massive rock slide near Big Bar, west of Clinton, B.C., Wednesday July 24, 2019. Officials say thousands of migrating salmon are making their way past an area of British Columbia’s Fraser River that was the scene of waterway restructuring efforts following a massive rock slide more than two years ago. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
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

Ottawa to close about 60 per cent of commercial salmon fisheries to conserve stocks

79 of 138 commercial and First Nations communal fisheries will be affected

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
Catches and returns of chinook salmon, pictured, are declining through parts of their range. Black Press Media file photo

Pacific salmon recovery report gives 32 recommendations to reverse salmon declines

Report caps an investigation into B.C.’s declining salmon populations

Catches and returns of chinook salmon, pictured, are declining through parts of their range. Black Press Media file photo
A statement from the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure says the McKenzie Interchange Project (here shown in a drone photo from the summer of 2018) will lead to “significantly lower greenhouse gas emissions.” (Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure photo)

Province to pay $1.2 million for ecological losses due to McKenzie interchange

You can’t put a price on what was lost, says local advocate

A statement from the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure says the McKenzie Interchange Project (here shown in a drone photo from the summer of 2018) will lead to “significantly lower greenhouse gas emissions.” (Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure photo)
An Atlantic salmon is seen during a Department of Fisheries and Oceans fish health audit at the Okisollo fish farm near Campbell River, B.C., Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS /Jonathan Hayward

Farmed salmon virus source, amplifies disease transmission in wild salmon: B.C. study

Mordecai said evidence is mounting that B.C. aquaculture operations pass the virus to wild salmon

An Atlantic salmon is seen during a Department of Fisheries and Oceans fish health audit at the Okisollo fish farm near Campbell River, B.C., Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS /Jonathan Hayward
Howard English Hatchery volunteer Joscilyn Jupp poured one of many buckets of salmon fry into Douglas Creek on May 11, 2021. (Devon Bidal/News Staff)

35,000 salmon fry released in Saanich park during closed event

Chum from Goldstream Hatchery trucked in to restore Douglas Creek salmon spawning

Howard English Hatchery volunteer Joscilyn Jupp poured one of many buckets of salmon fry into Douglas Creek on May 11, 2021. (Devon Bidal/News Staff)
Current habitat pressures to Vancouver Island salmon are shown on the Pacific Salmon Foundation’s explorer tool. Red areas are high risk, yellow are moderate and green are low risk. Photo courtesy Pacific Salmon Foundation, Pacific Salmon Explorer.

Data-driven salmon tool helps conservation planning on the B.C. coast

Habitat pressures, population status and overview all part of interactive mapping tool

Current habitat pressures to Vancouver Island salmon are shown on the Pacific Salmon Foundation’s explorer tool. Red areas are high risk, yellow are moderate and green are low risk. Photo courtesy Pacific Salmon Foundation, Pacific Salmon Explorer.
(DFO photo)

Island MP urges federal government to declare wild salmon emergency

Courtenay-Alberni MP Gord Johns calls situation desperate

(DFO photo)
For every male sockeye salmon that doesn’t make it back to its spawning grounds, at least two, sometimes three females die, says findings from a recent UBC study. (Courtesy Photo/MC Martin)

Study uncovers B.C. female salmon dying 2x the rate of males

Dr. Scott Hinch predicts the disparity will become more prominent in coming years, calls upon the DFO to help ease their migration journey

For every male sockeye salmon that doesn’t make it back to its spawning grounds, at least two, sometimes three females die, says findings from a recent UBC study. (Courtesy Photo/MC Martin)
Contents from a tailings pond is pictured going down the Hazeltine Creek into Quesnel Lake near the town of Likely, B.C. on Aug. 5, 2014. (Photo by Jonathan Hayward)

New map details potential environmental threats from B.C. mines

Map editors pressure province to move faster on regulation reforms

Contents from a tailings pond is pictured going down the Hazeltine Creek into Quesnel Lake near the town of Likely, B.C. on Aug. 5, 2014. (Photo by Jonathan Hayward)
A Pacific great blue heron preys on a juvenile salmon in Cowichan Bay. A new study out of UBC suggests the birds removed between three and six per cent of the young fish every year from the Salish Sea region. (Photo supplied by Robert Stenseth)

Blue herons identified as a significant predator of B.C.’s juvenile salmon

Surprising UBC findings may actually be beneficial to stability of salmon populations

A Pacific great blue heron preys on a juvenile salmon in Cowichan Bay. A new study out of UBC suggests the birds removed between three and six per cent of the young fish every year from the Salish Sea region. (Photo supplied by Robert Stenseth)
Sockeye salmon school in a small Bristol Bay creek in the summer of 2018. The Union of B.C. Municipalities voted in favour of a resolution asking government for for nature-based solutions in flood management that doesn’t compromise salmon habitat. (Courtesy Photo | Mary Catharine Martin)

B.C. municipalities pass resolution for salmon-safe flood control

The UBCM resolution seeks federal, provincial support to replace antiquated infrastructure

Sockeye salmon school in a small Bristol Bay creek in the summer of 2018. The Union of B.C. Municipalities voted in favour of a resolution asking government for for nature-based solutions in flood management that doesn’t compromise salmon habitat. (Courtesy Photo | Mary Catharine Martin)
A protest organized by the Public Fishery Alliance outside the downtown Vancouver offices of Fisheries and Oceans Canada July 6 demand the marking of all hatchery chinook to allow for a sustainable public fishery while wild stocks recover. This and other requests were made in a citizen petition responded to in the House of Commons by Fisheries Minister Bernadette Jordan Jan. 25. (Public Fishery Alliance Facebook photo)

B.C. anglers pan federal response to salmon petition

DFO exploring possibility of marking more hatchery fish for selective catch

A protest organized by the Public Fishery Alliance outside the downtown Vancouver offices of Fisheries and Oceans Canada July 6 demand the marking of all hatchery chinook to allow for a sustainable public fishery while wild stocks recover. This and other requests were made in a citizen petition responded to in the House of Commons by Fisheries Minister Bernadette Jordan Jan. 25. (Public Fishery Alliance Facebook photo)
Under the latest round of funding under the British Columbia Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund four B.C. salmon conservation projects will share $4 million in financing over the next four years. (Photo supplied by Kenny Regan)

B.C. salmon restoration projects get $4-million boost

Provincial, federal funding allocated under British Columbia Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund

Under the latest round of funding under the British Columbia Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund four B.C. salmon conservation projects will share $4 million in financing over the next four years. (Photo supplied by Kenny Regan)
An Atlantic salmon is seen during a Department of Fisheries and Oceans fish health audit at a fish farm near Campbell River, B.C. in 2018. Mowi Canada has applied to the Federal Court of Canada for a judicial review of the decision by Fisheries Minister Bernadette Jordan to phase out salmon farming in the Discovery Islands by June, 2022. (Canadian Press/Jonathan Hayward photo)

UPDATE: B.C.’s major salmon farms seek court intervention in Discovery Islands ban

All three producers now confirm they’ve filed separately with the Federal Court

An Atlantic salmon is seen during a Department of Fisheries and Oceans fish health audit at a fish farm near Campbell River, B.C. in 2018. Mowi Canada has applied to the Federal Court of Canada for a judicial review of the decision by Fisheries Minister Bernadette Jordan to phase out salmon farming in the Discovery Islands by June, 2022. (Canadian Press/Jonathan Hayward photo)