BC Headline Hunter

New Vessels for Aquaculture Regulation in British Columbia

2012-01-16T06:04:00.000-08:00

The Honourable Keith Ashfield, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, welcomed six British Columbia-made vessels into the departmental fleet today.

"Our government is proud to ensure that Fisheries and Oceans Canada has the tools it needs to regulate the aquaculture industry in British Columbia and ensure that it operates in a sustainable and environmentally responsible manner," Minister Ashfield said. "We are committed to an economically and ecologically viable fishing and aquaculture industry across Canada."

The six vessels, of various sizes and construction, are dedicated to the B.C. Aquaculture Regulatory Program and carry out aquaculture regulatory and monitoring activities. Three of the vessels are used by aquaculture management staff for auditing and monitoring aquaculture sites, and three are used by aquaculture fishery officers for enforcement and compliance inspections.

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Fish company caught up in probe of first nations fishery

2012-01-13T06:00:00.000-08:00

A seafood company that prides itself on buying nothing but sustainable and legal fish says it has become a bycatch in an investigation into an alleged illegal first nation salmon fishery.

Provincial court documents say the federal government is investigating the illegal catch of about 64,000 kilograms of prime sockeye salmon in the Johnstone Strait last August.

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Bears had bad year in B.C. in 2011

2012-01-11T05:50:00.000-08:00

Thousands of complaints about bears were registered across B.C. and hundreds of bears were destroyed in 2011.
And while some of the conflicts this year were due to a scarcity of natural food for the animals due to an unusually late spring, conservationists say most of the problems were man-made.

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Supreme Court of Canada dismisses B.C. first nation's right for commercial fishing

2012-01-10T05:49:00.000-08:00

On November 10, 2011, the Supreme Court of Canada (the “Court”) unanimously dismissed an appeal made by Lax Kw’alaams and other First Nations (“Lax Kw’alaams”) from the B.C. Court of Appeal.

The Lax Kw’alaams, whose ancestral lands are located between the estuaries of the Nass and lower Skeena Rivers in British Columbia, claimed a right to commercial harvesting and sale of “all species of fish” within their traditional waters. The Lax Kw’alaams also claimed that the Honour of the Crown was engaged and a Crown fiduciary duty arose in this respect, flowing from promises they asserted were made by the Crown during the reserve allocation process in the 1870s and 1880s.

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Williams Lake: Resident hunters and outfitters face off over hunt allocation

2011-12-30T04:41:00.000-08:00

The BC Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations announced last week that they are refining their wildlife harvest allocation policy—an action that BC Wildlife Federation Regional President for the Cariboo Chilcotin Jacques Drisdall describes as ‘the government buckling under pressure.’

Jacques said that the topic of ‘allocation’ has been a controversial one for several years, with a lot of ‘back and forth’ between resident hunters, guide outfitters and the BC government.

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BC Tribal Association claims government is not meeting its commitments

2011-12-28T06:01:00.000-08:00

In a statement released on Thursday, Tribal Chief Liz Logan states that the government is not living up to its end of the Collaborative Management Agreements, a suite of eight agreements that cover everything from the government-to-government relationship; stewardship of wildlife, parks, and Crown land; development of forestry and oil and gas resources; and the protection of cultural and heritage assets.

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Conservation Officers hunt big horned sheep poachers

2011-12-22T20:25:00.000-08:00

Conservation officers are hunting one or more marksmen who've been blasting big horned sheep in British Columbia's rugged Interior during the off season. Five of the wild animals were gunned down last week in two separate shootings, their whole carcasses left behind to be scavenged by vulturine birds.

Officers have not yet linked the kill sites, only two hours driving distance apart, but say the rare executions have all the hallmarks of someone playing a twisted game. "They made no effort to recover anything," said Sgt. Steve Wasylik. "So if you just stand back and look at it for what it is, the only thing you can come up with is they were used for target practice — thrill killing."

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Victoria: Woman drove home with dead deer stuck under her car

2011-12-22T05:43:00.000-08:00

Victoria police responded recently to a bizarre call from a woman who drove home with a dead deer stuck under her compact car. The driver was heading down a highway in Saanich, B.C., Saturday night in a Honda Fit when she struck a 90-kilogram buck lying dead in the roadway, said Saanich police spokesman Sgt. Dean Jantzen. It's unclear why the woman didn't see the buck or stop when she felt a bump, Jantzen said.

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Scientists urge BC Hydro not to close Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program offices

2011-12-20T05:32:00.000-08:00

Fifty scientists from the Kootenays are urging BC Hydro not to close conservation offices in eastern and northern B.C. The company is closing its regional Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program offices in Nelson, Castlegar and Prince George.
BC Hydro's water licence allows it to dam rivers to produce power, but requires the company to spend $7 million a year to restore fish habitats it destroys through its power activities.

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North Vancouver: bear gets a ride to Squamish in grabage truck

2011-12-19T05:44:00.000-08:00

A North Vancouver black bear that hitched a ride on a garbage truck to the Queen Elizabeth Theatre was bundled off to Squamish Tuesday to be released back into the wild.
The 40-kilogram bruin caused a stir downtown Monday afternoon when it was spotted on top of the open-top waste transport in the bustling 600-block of Cambie Street. The animal had apparently clambered on board as the vehicle was making a stop in North Vancouver.
Police descended on the area, cordoning off the street and ushering curious onlookers to a safe distance while wildlife control rushed to the scene.

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B.C. government welcomes U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plan for caribou survival

2011-12-18T16:14:00.000-08:00

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has unveiled a plan to help ensure the survival of one of North America’s most endangered populations of caribou — an isolated, one-of-a-kind herd of about 40 of the antlered animals that ranges across the Canada-U.S. border in the Selkirk Mountains of southern B.C. and northern Idaho and Washington states.

The proposal to protect as “critical habitat” some 152,000 hectares of old-growth wilderness on the American side of the border is being hailed by both U.S. and Canadian wildlife advocates as a potential salvation for the continent’s only transboundary population of so-called “mountain caribou”

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Vancouver: Fraser River gravel mining threatens North Americas largest salmon spawning chanel

2011-12-17T15:31:00.000-08:00

The Fraser River between Mission and Hope is the largest natural salmon spawning channel in all of North America and a world-class natural heritage area of incredible value. The heart of the Fraser is out of sight of the Trans-Canada Highway, and consequently out of mind for most of the residents of the Lower Mainland. It is also an important gravel-removal site for the construction industry of the eastern Fraser Valley.

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Vancouver: Cohen Commission extended after scientist detects deadly virus in BC salmon

2011-12-17T15:20:00.000-08:00

A government email describing a potentially lethal fish virus as a public relations problem has caused a stir at a federal inquiry in Vancouver. The federally appointed Cohen Commission was called two years ago to examine what caused the 2009 collapse of the Fraser River sockeye. The suggestion that an influenza-like virus had penetrated B.C. waters came just as the 21-month inquiry was wrapping up, prompting the commissioner to hold three more days of hearings.

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Chase: Police investigates hunting incident.

2011-12-17T14:32:00.000-08:00

The RCMP are investigating a hunting incident, as a result of an 79 year old man , discharging a shotgun and striking one of his three sons, while the group was goose hunting near Pritchard, BC. The man suffered non-life threatening wounds to his leg and is recovering. On Monday police were called to a report of a man having suffered a hunting-related gunshot wound.

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Province changes hunting allocations

2011-12-17T13:53:00.000-08:00

The Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations Steve Thomson announced that the province has established a wildlife harvest allocation policy that creates greater consistency and transparency for B.C.’s guide outfitters and resident hunters.
Harvest allocations are the number of animals of a species that are allowed to be taken by resident hunters and outfitter/guide clients in a given area each year. The policy has been developed in consultation with all stakeholders and will be fully applied to the 2012-16 harvest allocation period.

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International Wildlife Management Symposium

2011-12-17T13:43:00.000-08:00

This year the Guide Outfitters Association of British Columbia (GOABC) will be hosting their first International Wildlife Management Symposium: Managing Wildlife in the Next Century. The symposium attendees will hear international conservation experts speak on the social, political, economic and environmental pressures on wildlife management in their regions. These experts will review successful management techniques and provide strategic direction of wildlife management for British Columbia.

It is important that science, not politics or social pressure, is used to guide wildlife management decisions. The GOABC wants to establish a commitment to the North American Wildlife Conservation Model in BC. The model provides an overarching perspective that is cognizant of history and emphasizes the importance of science in resource management. A commitment to using science in wildlife management is key to preserving the diversity and richness of wildlife and their habitat.

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Kelowna: BC Outfitters donate meat to Salvation Army

2011-12-17T13:37:00.000-08:00

The Guide Outfitters Association (COBAC) of BC donated 900 pounds of wild meat to the Salvation Army Food Bank in Kelowna. This donation will help supplement the Salvation Army's Christmas Food Hamper Program for families in need.

The Guide Outfitters Association of BC is very active in the preservation of hunting, wildlife conservation and humanitarian aid. Learn more about this organization here.

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Cranbrook: Deer cull almost completed

2011-12-17T13:07:00.000-08:00

The city of Cranbrook is the first community in British Columbia that had been granted permission from the provincial government to hire professionals to cull deer within the city limits. Cranbrook communications officer Chris Zettel, who also helped set up the deer cull, said the city wants to finish quickly and then determine if the cull had an effect on the herd.

"The intent of this is really just a trial to thin the herds to see if it is having an effect in the spring, of aggressive does, and in the fall of overzealous bucks," said Zettel. The meat from the culled deer will be donated to the Salvation Army.

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(My personal opinion: Rather than engaging in a very costly deer cull program the city should permit bowhunting to control urban deer populations. Urban bowhunting programs are the norm in America and have proven very effective at NO cost to the taxpayers.)

Grizzly bear poacher has been identified

2011-12-17T12:46:00.000-08:00

A grizzly bear poacher suspect has been identified last month said Insp.Chris Doyle of the BC conservation service. We're working on a report for the crown Council that will be passed on in the very near future." he said.

Clarke Gatehouse, president of the Pemberton Wildlife Association, said authorities' rapid progress in the case is welcome. The association had offered a $1,000 reward to anyone that can provide information that would lead to the arrest of the poacher/s.

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