Fisheries minister plans ‘concrete’ action to fight declining sockeye run

A spawning sockeye salmon is seen making its way up the Adams River in Roderick Haig-Brown Provincial Park near Chase, B.C. Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2011. (Jonathan Hayward/Canadian Press)

‘I wouldn’t describe it as a conflict of interest,’ says Dominic LeBlanc of DFO promoting aquaculture

By Lisa Johnson and Yvette Brend, CBC News, August 9, 2016

Canada’s minister of fisheries says the government is taking action in a “rigorous and robust” way to restore the Fraser River’s sockeye salmon run after nearly four years of silence following a federal inquiry into the decline of the iconic species.

Dominic LeBlanc said Ottawa is committed to the 75 recommendations that came out of the Cohen Commission of Inquiry in October 2012, agreeing delayed action has been “unacceptable.”

Petronas considering Pacific NorthWest LNG delay: Wall Street Journal

Warriors disrupt survey work by Petronas subcontractors near Lelu Island.

by Matt Preprost, Alaska Highway News, August 2, 2016

A report from the Wall Street Journal Tuesday morning suggests Petronas could delay a final investment decision on Pacific NorthWest LNG.

Citing two unnamed sources “familiar with the matter,” the Journal says a glut of gas on the world market, coupled with low oil and gas prices has “rendered the project unattractive at the moment.”

‘New salmon run:’ Planes now fly in fish as Yukon chinook decline

Chinook salmon.

‘It is funny, but it’s also sad,’ says Duane Aucoin of the Teslin Tlingit Council

The Canadian Press, August 2, 2016

Salmon no longer collect in the nets along the Teslin River where the Tlingit people have harvested them for
thousands of years. Now, they come from the sky.

“It’s the new salmon run,” Duane Aucoin, member of the Teslin Tlingit Council, said recently.

Video: A LAST STAND FOR LELU – PART 1: They Will Come

First Nations say they have the power to stop Trans Mountain expansion

First Nations say the courts, not the NEB or cabinet, will decide on the controversial pipeline

By Tracy Johnson, CBC News, May 20, 2016

The Stó:lō collective of First Nations in British Columbia is very familiar with the transport of oil. The existing Trans Mountain pipeline has crossed through their land for more than 50 years. CN Rail also carries oil by rail directly across Stó:lō territory to the B.C. coast.

So, the collective of eleven First Nations in B.C.’s Fraser Valley came to consultations with Kinder Morgan for the expansion of Trans Mountain with an open mind.

“We have taken time to speak to Kinder Morgan,” said Ernie Crey, the chief of the Cheam First Nation, a member of the collective.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Hoopa Tribe Sues Federal Government over Inadequate Protections for Juvenile Salmon

Hoopa Tribe Sues Federal Government over Inadequate Protections for Juvenile Salmon

Hoopa Valley Tribe, 17 May 2016

The Hoopa Valley Tribe has filed a 60-day notice of intent to sue the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) and NOAA Fisheries for violating the Endangered Species Act (ESA).  Failure by these federal agencies to reinitiate consultation on the flawed 2013 Klamath Project Biological Opinion (BiOp) will simply add to the millions of sick and dead juvenile salmon already lost due to the Klamath Irrigation Project.  High infection prevalence of the deadly salmon parasite Ceratomyxa nova has been directly linked to the Project and its effect upon natural flows in the river.

B.C. First Nations appeal to United Nations to help stop LNG plant

Banner on Lelu Island, Tsimshian territory.

The Canadian Press, May 12, 2016

First Nations leaders from northwestern British Columbia have taken their battle against a liquefied natural gas project to the United Nations.

The group was scheduled to travel to New York Thursday to seek UN support for a demand that the Canadian government reject the LNG project proposed just south of Prince Rupert.

Opponents say the $36-billion Pacific Northwest plant, slated for Lelu Island at the mouth of the Skeena River, threatens wild salmon habitat on the second largest salmon bearing river in B.C.

Media Release: Launch of Wild Salmon Caravan Website

A celebration of the spirit of wild salmon!

The Wild Salmon Caravan is a collaborative, grassroots project led by the BC Food Systems Network, Working Group on Indigenous Food Sovereignty Director, Dawn Morrison (Secwepemc), and Eddie Gardner (Sto’lo).

The intention of the Wild Salmon Caravan is to nurture the creative energy that wild salmon have inspired through the ages, and affirm inter-tribal relationships that are the foundation of Indigenous trade and fisheries knowledge systems adapted over thousands of years.

Courthouse rally in Chilliwack against ceremonial fishery charge

Sto:lo elder Eddie Gardner speaks during the salmon ceremony during Aboriginal Wellness Day at Tzeachten Sports Field on Saturday in celebration of National Aboriginal Day. The day also featured dancing, a barbeque, family games, Nordic walk, archery, cultural activities, cedar weaving and more. JENNA HAUCK/ PROGRESS

by  Jennifer Feinberg, Chilliwack Progress, May 4, 2016

A rally on the steps of the Chilliwack courthouse set for May 10 will underscore the importance of the First Salmon Ceremony to Sto:lo communities of the Pilalt tribe.

The local Sto:lo chief was charged last March with one count of contravening the Fisheries Act by fishing illegally for one salmon, during a closed time.

A Pacific salmon hub is under threat

Wet’suwet’en leaders showing their solidarity with the Tsimshian at Lelu Island. Photo: Skeena Media.

by Carl Safina, National Georgraphic Ocean views, April 26, 2016

The Skeena River snakes out of fir-lined fjords on the misty northern coast of British Columbia, and washes over a thousand-acre sandbar. Flora Bank is a biological bottleneck over which millions of finger-length young salmon enter the sea each spring. Scientist Allen Gottesfeld calls Flora Bank the “Grand Central Station” for the watershed. All streams in the Skeena system lead here.