A coho spawning in a small stream (Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife) I come today in praise of the Vancouver Sun and trust that events don’t prove that I should’ve approached the mainstream media with my usual skepticism. First, let me tell you a story from my early life
Continue readingTag: fisheries
Environmental Law Alert Blog: West Coast Comments on Proposed Federal Aquaculture Activities Regulations
Tuesday, September 2, 2014 The Department of Fisheries and Oceans has proposed aquaculture regulations that risk making an already untenable situation surrounding net-cage aquaculture worse. Click here to go directly to West Coast Environmental Law's submission to DFO on the proposed Regulations. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans has proposed
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Salmon Inquiry: First Nations angry at Harper’s lack of action
Chief Bob Chamberlin is one of many First Nations leaders frustrated with the lack of action of saving wild salmon Read this May 28 Globe and Mail story by Mark Hume on the increasing exasperation of many First Nations fisheries groups at the Harper Government’s lack of action on the $26 million Cohen Inquiry into
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Canadian government dumps on wild salmon population with new fish farming regulations
(Photo: Canadian Coalition for Farm Animals) Read this Apr. 16th article in the Vancouver Sun about the Conservatives unethical effort to expand BC fish farming by temporarily exempting the Fisheries Act prohibition and jeopardizing the threatened wild salmon population in the process: The Harper government is laying the regulatory groundwork
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Missing fish farms offer clue to anticipated 70 million sockeye return
Expect big salmon numbers this summer. The Fraser sockeye run may be as high as 70 million. Yes, 70. And the most important sport angling species, chinook and coho, seem to be on the same meteoric route in 2014. Fraser sockeye numbers peaked in the early 1970s and then declined,
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: DFO predicts monster Fraser River sockeye return this summer
2010 was a record year for Fraser River sockeye. DFO is predicting an even bigger return this summer. Read this Globe and Mail story from Mark Hume on the record run of Fraser River sockeye being forecasted by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans for this summer. And see The Common Sense Canadian’s
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Cullen calls out Harper govt over climate change, dead scallops
NDP House Leader Nathan Cullen challenges the Harper government in question period over its failure to act on climate change and 10 million scallops that died in BC recently from ocean acidification. The post Cullen calls out Harper govt over climate change, dead scallops appeared first on The Common Sense
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Fisheries Critic questions habitat protection handover for pipelines
An oil pipeline crossing the Tanana River in Alaska The federal NDP’s BC-based deputy fisheries critic is questioning a quiet deal signed just before Christmas that saw the Department of Fisheries and Oceans hand over the protection of fish habitat and species at risk along energy pipelines to the National
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: First Nation blockades water intake construction over salmon impacts
Cayoose Creek, where construction of a municipal water intake may be harming salmon habitat (Jim Upton) LILLOOET, B.C. – Members of a First Nation in Lillooet, B.C., have set up a blockade near that Fraser River district to protest work they believe is destroying fish habitat on disputed land. Sekw’el’was Chief Michelle
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Toronto sushi shop is first Ocean Wise 100% sustainable restaurant
Some of Just Sushi’s Ocean Wise creations (photo: Just Sushi) Read this Jan. 10 Toronto Star story by Michele Henry on the world’s first restaurant to be 100% certified by leading sustainable seafood label Ocean Wise. Just Sushi looks like any other Japanese take out counter — spare, zen décor,
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Harper guts more fish protections: NEB takes over habitat along pipelines
It’s the latest in a long line of efforts by the Harper Government to dismantle Canada’s environmental laws in order to facilitate energy development. In a memorandum of understanding between the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the National Energy Board – quietly released just before Christmas – DFO relinquished much of its
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: New plan expected for blocking Asian Carp invasion of Great Lakes
Asian carp have overtaken the Mississippi basin. Plans are afoot to keep them out of the Great Lakes. by John Flesher, The Associated Press TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is scheduled to release a long-anticipated study Monday listing options for shielding the Great Lakes from
Continue readingThe Common Sense Canadian: Motorized boats stir up problems for BC’s salmon rivers
by Will Dubitsky and Jean Clark Two distinct pieces of federal legislation govern activities in and on our rivers, lakes and coastal waters: 1) The Canada Shipping Act, concerning the waterway surface and the protection navigation rights; 2) The Fisheries Act, pertaining to protection of the marine habitat, below the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Michael Harris offers a theory for the Cons’ handling of the Clusterduff – from their willingness to pay him off to their subsequent decision to cut him loose: Why were the CPC and the PM’s chief of staff willing to risk what
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Michael Harris nicely describes what the Cons are actually doing with power while pretending to be innocuous fiscal managers: The PM and his government are not good managers. The nauseating repetition of the claim that the Tories know what they’re doing with
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Karl Flecker discusses how the Cons’ push to encourage employers to use temporary foreign workers will affect wages for everybody: In fact, what Kenney said was untrue. He has conveniently forgotten that his government significantly changed the wage rules for employers hiring
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your Monday reading. – Paul Krugman discusses two theories behind the ever-growing divergence between soaring profits and stagnant wages. But it’s particularly important to note that neither of them calls for “free money for rich people” as a rational response: Why is this happening? As best as
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week.- Christopher Curtis and Stephen Maher break the news that the Cons have falsified donation records, claiming donations to their Laurier-Sainte-Marie riding association from individuals who deny ever making contributio…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that to occupy your Canada Day. – Tim Harford discusses why randomized trials as part of a genuine evidence-gathering process are a must in developing public policy. – Mike de Souza reports that the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans was already short on resources to do its
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Michael Harris slams the Cons for their attacks on science: How far has the government been prepared to go to smother the facts surrounding the ELA? For starters, DFO declined all requests from the media to speak with scientists. Being an equal
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