Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Noctiluca scintillans, also known as red tide algae blooms, were spotted midway along the Patricia Bay beach walking path in North Saanich. (Photo of Courtesy of Frank Towler)

Poisonous algae bloom sparks ban on shellfish harvesting near Victoria

If the contaminated shellfish are eaten by humans there could be fatal side effects

 

Dawson McKay (left) and Rob Worrall get a fish ready for the weigh-in durng a Vancouver Island salmon derby. Photo by Mike Chouinard/Campbell River Mirror
Dawson McKay (left) and Rob Worrall get a fish ready for the weigh-in at Ostler Park during Saturday’s salmon derby. Photo by Mike Chouinard/Campbell River Mirror

Research finds some Pacific salmon migration out of sync with food supply

SFU research finds changing climate is causing some salmon to migrate out of step with plankton

 

A lone killer whale breaks the water in a Comox, B.C., harbour on Tuesday July 31, 2018.Transport Canada has announced several new measures, ranging from sanctuary zones to fishing closures, as it works to protect critically endangered southern resident killer whales off the British Columbia coast. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jen Osborne

Protected areas, fishing bans to help B.C.’s threatened southern resident orcas

Federal government announces series of measures off B.C. south coast

 

Black Press file photo of the annual herring spawn in the Salish Sea.

Herring advocate skeptical about precautionary principle in Strait of Georgia

Critic questions DFO methodology in calculating harvest limits

Black Press file photo of the annual herring spawn in the Salish Sea.
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

Black Press file 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 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

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**
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

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
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
Laura Myers, Taylor Trapp and their pup Sitka take in one of the final days of the 2022 salmon run in Goldstream Provincial Park. (Justin Samanski-Langille/News Staff)

Unusual weather leads to mixed results for Vancouver Island’s salmon runs

Southern Island largely performed better, systems north of Nanaimo more likely to struggle

Laura Myers, Taylor Trapp and their pup Sitka take in one of the final days of the 2022 salmon run in Goldstream Provincial Park. (Justin Samanski-Langille/News Staff)
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)
FILE – An Atlantic salmon is seen during a Department of Fisheries and Oceans fish health audit near Campbell River, B.C. Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS /Jonathan Hayward

Vancouver Island salmon farmers call shutdown timeline ‘rushed’ as consultations continue

Federal Minister Joyce Murray met with various fishing companies and other members last week

FILE – An Atlantic salmon is seen during a Department of Fisheries and Oceans fish health audit near Campbell River, B.C. Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS /Jonathan Hayward
The idea that ‘Wild Salmon’ be free forever was indeed at the heart of demonstrations Wednesday, in lieu of the federal government’s consultation regarding open net fish farms. Photo by Edward Hitchins/Campbell River Mirror

Protests greet federal fish farm consultations in Campbell River

Minister remains ‘committed’ to the removal of open net fish farms in Discovery Islands

The idea that ‘Wild Salmon’ be free forever was indeed at the heart of demonstrations Wednesday, in lieu of the federal government’s consultation regarding open net fish farms. Photo by Edward Hitchins/Campbell River Mirror
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 Fishers and Oceans Canada and people in Nanoose Bay rescued a beached porpoise Aug. 14. (Submitted photo)

Beached porpoise calf rescued from tidal pool in Nanoose Bay

Baby porpoise found thrashing in sand and rocks near Pacific Shores Resort and Spa

Department of Fishers and Oceans Canada and people in Nanoose Bay rescued a beached porpoise Aug. 14. (Submitted photo)
A pair of Port Alberni Salmon Derby participants drop their lines in Alberni Harbour during the annual Labour Day fishing derby. (SONJA DRINKWATER/ Special to the AV News)

Alberni’s Somass River sockeye return doubles its original forecast

With the sockeye run mostly past, anglers and advocates paying close attention to chinook run

A pair of Port Alberni Salmon Derby participants drop their lines in Alberni Harbour during the annual Labour Day fishing derby. (SONJA DRINKWATER/ Special to the AV News)
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