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Environmental Alerts

Sunday, October 11, 2020

NEW UPDATE: THE MARINE DEBRIS REMOVAL INITIATIVE: GIVING BACK TO THE COAST DURING COVID-19

Tug and Barge from Heiltsuk Horizon loaded with marine debris

Photo credit Eddy Savage Photography

Our relationship with the Heiltsuk Nation of Bella Bella is not only mutually beneficial, but crucial to the experience our guests have in their territory, to the success of Ocean Adventures and has been key to the success of the Marine Debris Removal Initiative. We are grateful for and humbled by their guidance and involvement from the inception of this epic project and for the great communication, professionalism and hard work by everyone in the Heiltsuk Integrated Resource Management Department, the Heiltsuk Nation, and Heiltsuk Horizon.


MORE ABOUT HEILTSUK HORIZON...

Heiltstuk Horizon provided the tug, the barge and crew, some of whom are from the Heiltsuk Nation from Bella Bella, for the Marine Debris Removal Initiative.

"Heiltsuk Horizon Maritime Services Limited is a partnership that brings together the millennia-old stewardship and seafaring heritage of the Heiltsuk Nation with the offshore and marine industry expertise of Horizon Maritime." Through our shared values and commitment to protecting the marine environment, we are demonstrating how industry and First Nation communities can work effectively together." (https://heiltsukhorizon.ca)

After the poorly orchestrated and supplied response by the Canadian and BC governments when the Nathan E. Stewart ran aground in Heiltsuk Territory in 2016, spilling more than 110,000 litres of diesel and other contaminants, the Heiltsuk knew that they needed their own Indigenous Marine Response, from which the partnership that formed Heiltsuk Horizon, was created.

This partnership between the Heiltsuk and Marine Horizon is ground breaking, helping supply not only the equipment needed for prevention, response and clean up, but the necessary training for Heiltsuk mariners to become Transport Canada certified.

All of us at Ocean Adventures including Captain Eric Boyum and crew members on board our MV Great Bear II for this Marine Debris Removal Initiative, were very honoured to be working with Heiltsuk Horizon during this complicated project.

Thank you to:
  • Lorne Bentley- Tug Captain
  • Robert Johnson - Deckhand
  • George (Rudy) Elluk - Deckhand

    and on shore to
  • Russell (Rusty) Snow
  • Travis Olinger

    and in the office
  • Pierre Theriault

  • We are grateful for the support, shared knowledge, and communication from the Heiltsuk Integrated Resource Management Department and the Heiltsuk Nation for their approval of this project and for their guidance and involvement from the very beginning.

    "The respectful protocol agreement that Heiltsuk have with Ocean Adventures and members of the SSTOABC, is foundational to our successes", says William Housty, Heiltsuk Integrated Resource Management Department Chair.

    Ǧiáxsix̌a to the HIRMD, the Heiltsuk Nation and Heiltsuk Horizon.

    Robert Johnson & Lorne Bentley, Heiltsuk Horizon

    Photo credit Rusty Snow, Heiltsuk Horizon

    MORE TO COME

    Stay tuned in the weeks ahead to learn more about other businesses that worked together on this important project and the communities and Nations that were instrumental to the success of this Marine Debris Removal Project.


    Sunday, October 4, 2020

    THE MARINE DEBRIS REMOVAL INITIATIVE: GIVING BACK TO THE COAST DURING COVID-19 Marine Debris Removal Initiative

    FROM OWNER & CAPTAIN ERIC BOYUM


    Captain Eric Boyum One of my greatest satisfactions from our work in the Marine Debris Removal Initiative is when we can take abandoned and lost fishing nets out of the marine environment. We have found sections of gill nets, dragger nets, and even the monofilament high seas drift nets, fouling these shorelines along the central coast of British Columbia. These nets are often buried under sand and rock, or wound around large piles of logs that are washed up on the beach, or hanging precariously on rocky outcroppings.

    Far too many times throughout my years working on the BC coast I have come across marine mammals and birds tangled in netting. It is always emotionally difficult to witness the needless loss of life of an innocent animal. Occasionally, we have been able to free trapped mammals from the netting, thus avoiding a certain slow, and painful death. Sometimes it has not been possible, and we can only report the trapped animal to the Marine Mammal Incident Reporting Hotline and they may or may not be able to help. Every year we have whales becoming entangled in fishing gear and fish farm anchoring lines. The saving of a trapped whale or dolphin is definitely left up to those who have been trained in this skill.

    We as humans, who share this beautiful marine environment with all those who call it home, must end the carnage caused by our use of the marine environment, for resources and for pleasure.


    Krista Gooderham FROM KRISTA GOODERHAM

    I have been thinking a lot about the tenacity and resiliency of life. All throughout the COVID crisis, life has become hard for many people that may have never had to deal with such hardship, and even harder for those that already lead incredibly challenging lives. But Robert Frost once said, "the one thing I've learned about life: it goes on". It is not to be callous about any of the struggle. It is instead to understand that even in the harshest of climates and the hardest of times, life can prevail. Over the past weeks I have clambered over slimy wet logs, teetering on the edge of rot. I have crawled through the maze of salal and dug in to the mossy layers of soil.

    On every venture into the woods I have found garbage; foam, plastic, rope. However, I have also found life growing in the most unlikely of habitats. Here are 3 examples of the tenacity of life to survive on any substrate. Salal growing in a mound of plastic wrap that I dug out between the dirt in a log jam, grass growing into a 3m piece of foam, and finally a Sitka spruce tree growing out of a foam float.

    Every animal leaves a trace of their being. The people that lived here long before settlers arrived left clam and mussel shells creating large layers called Midden's, still found in the soil layers near habitation sites. These shells will breakdown and return much needed calcium and other nutrients back in to the environment to be utilized by plants and trees. In places where shell middens have been found, old growth cedars have been found larger and healthier (www.hakaimagazine.com/news/how-british-columbias-coastal-people-fertilized-forest/). Midden is a Scandinavian word meaning rubbish heap and is now used by archaeologists to describe features containing domestic waste. These are key features that remind us how people use to live and utilize the land in these areas. What has been the most difficult part of this project for me to process is that when I reach in to the soil layer, I pull out layers upon layers of foam plastics, sometimes as far as my arm can reach. These will be the reminders and remainders that show the future archaeologists how we lived and used/abused the land.

    Our trash will out live us, plastic does not biodegrade (look up how long plastics last at sea or lifespan of plastics). But what lightens my heart, is that even long after we are gone, life like I find in the salal and the spruce, will still survive and grow because that is just simply what it does.

    Krista Gooderham
    FROM ADAM PURKIS

    The biggest thing I've taken away from the past weeks of being a part of this project has been the immense sense of pride and accomplishment in knowing that we are taking part in something that is much bigger than ourselves. Assisting in the helicopter operations and seeing the massive lifts we put so much effort into building being taken away, was a truly visceral experience. The work we've been doing has been gratifying in itself but the sense of satisfaction in seeing all that debris fly away is difficult to put into words! I'm truly grateful to be a part of this project and am excited to see what more we can accomplish.

    Also, I was super excited to find a glass ball on one of our last days of cleanup on the first expedition! I found it in the most unlikely of places, nestled two feet deep in a precarious pile of logs high up in a nasty log jam. I was incredulous that something so fragile could have survived in such a place!


    MORE TO COME

    We will be sharing reports from the field, findings and information about the many people and companies that it took to make this project happen, on our Facebook page and will continue to post updates on this page, so please join us again, right here or on Facebook, to learn more about the Marine Debris Removal Initiative.

    Glass Float


    Tuesday, September 22, 2020

    THE MARINE DEBRIS REMOVAL INITIATIVE: GIVING BACK TO THE COAST DURING COVID-19

    Along with industry colleagues, Ocean Adventures is giving back to the coast that we all love so much.

    Marine Debris Removal Initiative Ocean Adventures Charter Co., along with our fellow members of the Small Ships Tour Operators Association of BC, are proud to announce the Marine Debris Removal Initiative, currently taking place along 1000 kilometers of rugged shorelines on the central coast of British Columbia, (the outer islands at the edge of the Great Bear Rainforest.)

    With the support and involvement from local coastal First Nations plus funding from B.C.'s Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change Strategy plus the support of the Wilderness Tourism Association of B.C., this marine debris removal project is helping put our boats and crew back to work while giving back to the places and the people along the central coast who are such a huge part of our lives.

    As of September 7th, 61,000 kilograms (approximately 60 tons) of marine debris has been removed. While some of the debris will have to go to a landfill, some is also being re-purposed and some will be re-cycled.

    We are currently awaiting updates on the weight of debris picked up since September 7th.

    Stay tune for more on the re-purposing of materials, including future uses.

    Styrofoam Marine Debris

    Marine Debris and its dangers:

    Each year an estimated 8.8 million tons of marine debris enters the world's oceans.

    In British Columbia, despite the central coast of BC being sparsely populated and relatively inaccessible, the accumulation of marine debris coming from domestic and international sources is an increasing cause for great concern.

    It has been reported by locals that there are places on outer islands that are thigh deep in debris and micro plastics! As marine plastics lie on beaches, the sun breaks down them down. High tides and winter storms then wash the plastics back into the ocean where they break down further and enter the food chain, threatening marine life and human health.

    The idea to initiate this project

    In the spring of 2020, with international travel banned to Canada and Coastal First Nations closing their territories to visitors, the member companies of the Small Ships Tour Operators Association of BC, (the SSTOABC), had weekly virtual meetings to brainstorm ideas to get ships and crew working while giving back to the areas that we all love and that are such a huge part of our lives, resulting in this Marine Debris Removal Initiative.

    First Nations support and involvement

    The first thing to be done when the idea of the Marine Debris Removal Initiative (the MDRI) was brought up, was to share the idea with the Coastal First Nations People in who's territories we offer trips and in who's territories this project would take place.

    From the very beginning, these coastal First Nations have not only supported the project, but have been involved in the planning and now, the marine debris removal as well.

    As part of our agreement with First Nations, none of the SSTOABC ships are allowed anywhere near the communities nor near any sensitive cultural sites, which is where the communities are involved in the marine debris removal.

    First Nations community owned businesses are also playing a huge part in this massive project. The tugboat and barge used to transport the debris are from Heiltsuk Horizon.

    Staff from Spirit Bear Lodge in Klemtu, along with community members, are working hard is their key cultural sites to remove debris there.

    More information about these two local businesses will be posted in the weeks ahead.

    Marine Rope and Netting

    Challenging terrain and weather

    The terrain has been very challenging as you can see from photos shared on this page and the weather on occasion has added to the sometimes pretty extreme conditions.

    With the full moon and bigger tides, comes even more challenging weather, making retrieval of the lift bags of debris, even more challenging. Stay tuned in the weeks ahead to hear about the final days of the project.

    More to come

    We will be sharing reports from the field on our Facebook page and will continue to post updates on this page, so that you can follow their progress and learn all about their challenges and their victories.

    Pile of Marine Debris


    January 2020

    Poster - Wolf Kill programs hurt Wolves and Ecosystems The government of "Super Natural British Columbia" are busy, as you read this, gunning down entire wolf families, from helicopters as a guise to "saving the Mountain Caribou".. meanwhile they allow the devastation of Mountain Caribou habitat to continue.

    Aerial Hunting Advertisement Coastal Wolf in the Great Bear Rainforest

    To learn more about the horrendous issue and what you can do to help stop it, please click on the following link that will take you to Wolf Awareness, who are working hard to stop the slaughter of wolf families: WOLF-KILL.

    PLEASE help Wolf Awareness by sending a comment from their TAKE ACTION NOW! page, and by donating to facilitate all the important work that Wolf Awareness is doing.


    December 2018

    Grizzly Cubs Playing

    Grizzly Bear siblings playing in a river in the Great Bear Rainforest. Photo by Ocean Adventures Charter Co.  

    As we were celebrating the 1 year anniversary of the end of Grizzly Bear hunting in BC, the Guide Outfitters (that bring hunters to BC to kill for cash, kicks and trophies), were planning action against the government of British Columbia for lost revenue in the year since the hunt was ended.

    In reporting this, multiple media outlets spoke of the guide outfitters, Love Brothers and Lee. When I went on line to learn more about them, I found 3 horrific videos, with one of those videos showing in graphic detail a magnificent Grizzly being shot at and wounded, multiple times. As the bear was hit by a bullet, it would struggle to get up and run, only to fall again with each bullet. The stuff nightmares are made of!

    Which do we want to be the face of "Super Natural British Columbia".... enjoying watching the 2 Grizzly Bear siblings as they play in a river in front of us (in the photo above).. or.. seeing a beautiful Grizzly bear wounded and terrified in the video that a BC guide outfitter proudly posts on You Tube for all to see?

    Our question to these guide outfitters is this... if it is just the lost revenue you are so worried about, then why not take people with cameras to see these iconic bears rather than people with guns, as apparently, you could provide more local employment and earn more revenue with photographers and the bears would still be alive to photograph again? This kind of killing is rarely, if ever, about the money it costs or the money made.

    As well known large carnivore biologist Dr. Paul Paquet said in "The Ethical Considerations of Humans Killing for Pleasure":

    "The primary motivation of this recreational trophy hunting is gratuitous killing for pleasure.

    On moral grounds, killing for pleasure or willing infliction of pain is highly questionable behavior, considered aberrant and deviant by most people. Certainly, society has long recognized that taking pleasure in killing an animal or knowingly inflicting pain are all "red flags" that signal the need for professional intervention. This is especially true when the person has the cognitive maturity to understand that what s/he is doing is wrong - and repeatedly does it anyway.

    There are no words that can even adequately demonstrate our gratitude to the NDP and Greens for ending the hunting of Grizzly Bears in BC.

    We find the recent action brought against the government and thus all British Columbians, by the Guide Outfitters as abhorrent as their gratuitous killing of wildlife in "Super Natural British Columbia", wildlife that these killers seem to regard as their own, to do with as they wish.

    PLEASE EMAIL THE FOLLOWING to thank the BC Minister responsible for ending the hunting of Grizzly Bears, to let them know that you stand with them for ending the Grizzly Bear hunt, and to share your thoughts on the BC Guide Outfitters legal action against the government of British Columbia:

    A huge thank you to everyone who continues to help end the gratuitous killing of wildlife here in BC, across Canada and around the world!


    November 2018

    More than Just Numbers - Legislative Petition Seeks Immediate End to Tax-funded Inhumane Wolf Kill Program in British Columbia

    November 26, 2018 (GOLDEN, BC)- On November 23rd, CBC reported the BC forest ministry saying that caribou herds are stabilizing where wolves are being killed. But conservation group Wolf Awareness urges people to ask more questions about the program, asserting that the ends don't justify the means...

    Read more here: Wolf Awareness Press Release

    Wolf Awareness Logo Policy Position: Experimental wolf reduction programs underway in Western Canada

    CONTEXT:

    As caribou declines accelerate in Canada, wolves are once again being scapegoated in attempts to protect oil and gas, mining, forestry, and recreational activities. We urge provincial and federal political parties, politicians, and all special interests who support wolf kill programs under the guise of caribou conservation to review studies on predator control and environmental ethics and reconsider their position on killing predators as an unethical means to achieve the conservation of endangered caribou.

    The public, decision-makers, many wildlife managers, and apologists fail to distinguish between existence of caribou and long-term persistence of the ecological systems on which the caribou depend. Intact ecological systems are characterised by the species that inhabit them and by the ecological functions and processes that link species with their environment (e.g. food, security, thermal regulation, migration, predator-prey relationships). Although species can continue to exist after natural ecological relationships have been altered or destroyed, most ecologists understand that such systems are not sustainable and not representative of healthy environments or successful conservation.

    POSITION:

    Wildlife management and conservation practices should be ecologically and ethically sound. Wolf killing programs are neither and as such should be abandoned.

  • Scientific evidence confirming the efficacy of wolf kill programs that are intended to benefit ungulates is equivocal. The notion that a period of intensive wolf control will stabilize declining populations of caribou that are limited by habitat and result in long-term increases in the density of these populations is uncertain. During the time needed to recover lost and degraded caribou habitat, thousands of wolves would need to be killed in a questionable attempt to prevent caribou extirpation. Further, long-term and wide-scale killing of wolves can cause ecosystem wide adverse ecological effects, impairing many plants and animals.

  • In making moral judgments, science can inform, but it does not give permission to cause harm and suffering. People tend to regard harm and suffering as more serious if it is deliberate (e.g. recreational and institutional killing of wolves), but sometimes justifiable if done for a seemingly worthy purpose. However, principled justifications invoking science, which are used to sanctify harmful and inhumane practices, are not ethical rationales for killing wolves.

  • BC and Alberta are the only two Canadian provinces that have not adopted the Canadian Council on Animal Care (CCAC) standards that ensure humane killing methods for wild and domestic animals. That these 2 provinces refuse to act in accordance with this national standard and continue to carry out inhumane killing of wolves is deeply concerning.

    Read more here: www.wolfawareness.org/wolf-kill.




  • December 2017

    Grizzly Cub There really are no words strong enough to describe how it feels to know that Grizzly Bears will no longer be hunted in British Columbia!!

    We are grateful for and humbled by all the people who worked so hard and for so long to make this happen!

    A special thank you to the steadfast leadership by Coastal First Nations, who for us were such an inspiration and guiding light, especially when the going was tough.

    For us, this was never about the "science", the "numbers", and the "economics". This was about educating people about the true nature of Grizzly Bears, one of the most sentient beings we know, and, about holding a mirror up in front of those that attempt to spread fear and mistruths about this iconic species.

    We congratulate the government of British Columbia for asking British Columbians what they wanted for the future of Grizzly Bears and then acting on the public's recommendations. We congratulate the government of British Columbian for standing up to the bullies, for the sake of the bears and for the sake of humanity. Grizzly Bear Mum & spring cub


    May 2016

    "Every time I look into the eyes of Grizzly Bears, like this young female, through the lens of my camera, I'm filled with joy, wonder and a soul-filling gratitude.

    After spending time with these bears, I hope our guests will understand what I have come to understand about Grizzly Bears... that they are intelligent, good-natured, perceptive, gentle, sometimes funny, and among the most endearing beings I've come to know."

    ...from Trish


    April 1st: April Fools Day is the beginning of the spring season for the killing of Grizzly Bears in "Super Natural British Columbia" (There is also a fall season for killing them as well!)

    HOW YOU CAN HELP END THIS
    We invite you to join us in letting Premier Christy Clark know that we want this horrific killing ended.

    If all of us TWEETED or EMAILED Premier Christy Clark each day for a couple of weeks, she would surely pay attention:

    https://twitter.com/christyclarkbc
    or
    premier@gov.bc.ca


    IF YOU LIVE IN BRITISH COLUMBIA:

    Please make an appointment with your local MLA and let them know how you fell about the killing of our wildlife for trophies and for the fun of it.

    Please email or write a follow up with your MLA, as the more your MLA hears from their constituents like you, the more supportive they will be of stopping the killing of our wildlife for trophies and just for the fun of it.

    THIS IS ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT WITH OUR PROVINCIAL ELECTION JUST A YEAR AWAY!



    March 2014

    Grizzly Bear Mum & spring cub


    Despite
    the fact that more than 80% of British Columbians want the trophy hunting of our bears stopped...AND

    Despite
    the fact that bear viewing brings 11 times more revenue to the B.C. government coffers...AND

    Despite
    the fact that new, published science shows that the B.C. government is allowing an overkill of bears

    THE GOVERNMENT OF SUPER NATURAL BRITISH COLUMBIA STILL ALLOWS THE TROPHY / SPORT HUNTING OF OUR BEARS, even in many BC Provincial Parks.


    HOW YOU CAN HELP END TROPHY/SPORT HUNTING OF B.C. BEARS

    We invite you to join us in letting Premier Christy Clark know that we want this horrific hunt ended.

    If all of us TWEETED or EMAILED Premier Christy Clark twice per week


    https://twitter.com/christyclarkbc
    or
    premier@gov.bc.ca

    ...she would have to pay attention to what we want for the bears.

    Your message does not have to be long... just remind her that you want trophy hunting of BC's bears ended, and if you want to, why you want it ended. It would be a good idea to copy the email to a media person like Larry Pynn of the Vancouver Sun ( lpynn@vancouversun.com). If you are from BC we recommend that you also copy it to your MLA.

    If all 88% of us that oppose the trophy hunt of our bears contacted the Premier twice per week, she would have to pay attention.

    IF YOU LIVE IN BRITISH COLUMBIA:

    Please email or write you MLA and let them know how you feel about the trophy hunting of BC bears. If you can make the time, please make an appointment to meet with your MLA. The more your MLA hears from their constituents like you, the more supportive they will be of stopping the trophy hunt.



    HUMPBACK WHALES THREATENED
    BY SUPER TANKERS IN THE GREAT BEAR RAINFOREST

    (published Oct 3, 2012 by Living Oceans)

    See this important video to understand more about the threat that the proposed super tankers would pose to the Humpback Whales along the proposed super tanker route.

    "Douglas Channel on the North Coast of B.C. is prime feeding territory for humpback whales. It's also the proposed tanker route for the Northern Gateway pipeline. See the risks to the humpbacks associated with supertankers moving through this narrow stretch of water on their way through the waterways of the Great Bear Rainforest."




    February 2013

    Raincoast Conservation Foundation

    BC literally torturing wolves to "protect" cattle on crown land



    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: FEBRUARY 25, 2013

    Contact: Dr Paul Paquet (Raincoast) 306-376-2015/ppaquet@baudoux.ca, Brad Hill (Natural Art Images) 250-341-5786/photography@naturalart.ca, Chris Genovali (Raincoast) 250-655-1229, ext. 225

    Sidney, BC - Although an increasing number of British Columbians are learning about the provincial government's unscientific and unethical wolf cull, most are likely unaware their tax dollars are supporting not only the killing, but the sanctioned torturing of these animals. To compound matters, the BC government's persecution and inhumane treatment of wolves is ostensibly being carried out to "protect" privately owned cattle grazing on provincial crown land.

    Brad Hill, a wildlife photographer and biologist from the Columbia Valley, has discovered that the province has been placing wolf neck snares on crown land near his home. Hill has located 18 snares centered near a bait pile of road-killed elk and mule deer, designed to draw wolves into the area. Hill has also learned that the neck snares targeting wolves have been placed by provincial conservation officers at the behest of a privately held ranching operation that runs cattle on this particular crown land. The justification for the snaring is highly dubious with evidence of wolf predation being highly questionable at best.

    "Even if these snares successfully target the suspected wolves, the result is morally repugnant and ecologically illogical. But it could easily end up being much worse than that - in recent days I've seen coyote and cougar tracks in the area, and the snares don't care what animal they strangle to death," said Brad Hill, who is hosting an online petition (www.naturalart.ca/voice/takeaction.html) opposing the neck snaring of wolves. After only a few days of posting, signatures supporting the petition number in the thousands.

    Snares are the most inhumane legal traps in use today. They are primitive, unnecessarily brutal, and, unfortunately, inexpensive. The snare trap is merely a coil of wire fashioned into a noose at one end, with an anchor at the other end. Snares can catch animals by the neck, midsection, or a limb. As the animal tries to become free from the trap, the wire grows tighter around the animal's body. This can result in broken legs, crushed organs, and suffocation. Animals caught in these traps die slow, painful deaths. There is also no way to ensure the targeted species is the only one trapped as neck snares, and other lethal traps, kill indiscriminately.

    "The province!s primary conservation philosophy regards wolves as a dispensable" resource! or as "problem animals!, which should be exploited and killed with little regard for the pain and suffering they might endure. Rather than being dedicated to the promotion of a responsible wildlife ethic and contemporary principles of wildlife conservation, government agencies are the primary enablers in the legalized destruction of wolves," said Dr. Paul Paquet, senior scientist and large carnivore expert for Raincoast Conservation Foundation.

    "The threat of wolves to livestock is routinely exaggerated by ranching and trophy hunting interests, despite hard evidence to the contrary. To put it in perspective, approximately 200,000 head of cattle are run on crown land in BC; records indicate that over the last twelve months 162 depredations can be attributed to all predators, including but not limited to wolves," said Chris Genovali, Raincoast executive director.

    Notes: Photographic images of snares on crown land are available from Natural Art Images. Contact Brad Hill at 250-341- 5786/photography@naturalart.ca


    January 2013

    Spirit Bear cubs eating mussels at low tide.


    Valhalla Wilderness Society
    P.O. Box 329, New Denver, British Columbia, V0G 1S0
    Phone: 250-358-2333; Fax: 358-2748; vws@vws.org; www.vws.org


    MEDIA ADVISORY
    January 24, 2013

    VWS scientist Wayne McCrory to present spirit bear report to
    Enbridge Joint Review Panel Hearings - January 28, Kelowna, BC

    ONE MAJOR SPILL COULD WIPE OUT A CORE SPIRIT BEAR POPULATION

    Tiny Gribbell Island on British Columbia's central coast is considered the birthplace of the province's world-famous Spirit bears, also called the Kermode bear. This rugged island, which has suffered from past clearcutting and depleted salmon runs, is currently proposed for protection as a conservancy by the Valhalla Wilderness Society. About 40% of the island's small, semi-isolated population of 100-150 Kermode bear are white-phase, the highest of any area on the central coast. Evolutionary scientists consider Gribbell "the mother island of the white bears" and most likely where the gene for white bear coats evolved. Because of the high number of white bears, safely viewing white bears on Gribbell Island has become the cornerstone of multi-million dollar low-impact ecotourism on the BC coast and the centerpiece of a viable tourism program by the Gitga'at First Nations.

    But the Island lies in the most treacherous passage of coastal channels where hundreds of huge tankers would carry Enbridge's deadly tar sands bitumen to China and other markets.

    In their environmental-social assessment submission to the Federal Joint Review Panel, Enbridge claims that, although a tanker spill would mean some threat to birds, mammals, and other biota, the impacts would only be short term and, for bears, would only affect a limited number. In a 2012 report, VWS bear biologist Wayne McCrory compared a review of the Enbridge submission to his own scientific analysis of how a tanker spill would impact the spirit bears of Gribbell Island. His report is called "Spirit Bears Under Siege: A Review Of The Threats An Oil Tanker Spill From The Proposed Northern Gateway Enbridge Project on Gribbell Island - Mother Island of the White Bear". He found Enbridge's claims of the low risks of a marine tanker spill and effects on the marine environment and wildlife totally underestimate the devastating and irreversible effects that will really happen.

    McCrory combined years of scientific research on the Spirit Bears (the "Kermode" genetic variation of black bears) with statistics from Alaska's disastrous Exxon-Valdez oil spill, to reveal a deadly future that lies in store for Spirit Bears and much coastal wildlife if the Northern Gateway pipeline is approved and an oil spill occurs. A major oil spill close enough to reach Gribbell Island could wipe out the Spirit Bears and poison the bears on nearby islands and the mainland coast as well. Oil contamination of bears would occur since many bears feed along the seashore where their fur would become coated with stranded bitumen. Also many bears would end up ingesting oil-contaminated salmon, barnacles and mussels as well as dead animals washed ashore after a spill. Many bears would likely die a slow and painful death from things like hypothermia and kidney failure.

    The VWS spirit bear report was submitted to the Enbridge Joint Review Process in August, 2012. As a follow up with more information, McCrory is scheduled to give an oral presentation to the review panel in Kelowna on January 28.

    Copies of the Valhalla Society's spirit bear report on Enbridge are available at www.vws.org.

    For more information contact Wayne McCrory: 250-358-7796. waynem@vws.org.

    Or leave a message for Wayne McCrory at the Sandman Hotel on January 28: 250-860-6409.




    December 2012

    CLICK EACH PHOTO BELOW TO LEARN MORE ABOUT...

    Wolf Track NORTHEASTERN B.C. WOLF-KILL CONTEST,
    and what you can do to help STOP THE HUNT.

       Spirit Bear cubs eating mussels at low tide The PROPOSED SUPER TANKERS,
    and the DANGER to B.C.'s SPIRIT BEARS.


    Curious Coastal Wolf

    THE B.C. WOLF "MANAGEMENT" PLAN

    This genetically unique Coastal Wolf lives on an island, far from any homes, villages, or towns. The wolves in this pack fish for salmon, hunt deer, and eat the carcasses of marine life that is washed up on the shores of the islands where they live. The cycles of their natural environment, keeps their numbers in check or permit them to flourish. There is no need to "manage" these wolves.

    However, the Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resources in the Province of British Columbia, have come up with a draft of a new Wolf "Management" Plan. This plan will allow wolves to be hunted without licenses and in some places, without bag limits, using guns or snares or traps or allowing them to be shot from helicopters. In some areas, even the pregnant female wolves and even the pups, may be killed.

    In northeastern B.C. in Fort St. John, they like to have WOLF KILLING CONTESTS! Minister Steve Thomson condones this wolf-killing contest!


    HOW TO HELP STOP THE HUNT:


    If you would like to comment on this new WOLF "MANAGEMENT" PLAN and the WOLF KILLING CONTEST in northeastern B.C., please email Minister Steve Thomson, and let him know how you feel:

    CLICK HERE to automatically send an email to Minister Steve Thomson


    AND LET HIM KNOW HOW YOU FEEL REGARDING THE WOLF "MANAGEMENT" PLAN.
    (to: flnr.minister@gov.bc.ca, jane.thornthwaite.mla@gov.bc.ca,
    lpynn@vancouversun.com, info@oceanadventures.bc.ca)

    CLICK HERE to join the online petition against the slaughter of our wolves.

    CLICK HERE to participate in B.C.'s "Wolf Management Plan" consultation.

    CLICK HERE to read "Contest offers cash prizes for wolf kills in northeastern B.C."




    WOLVES ARE NOT THE ONLY WILDLIFE BEING HUNTED FOR TROPHIES and FOR SPORT IN THE PROVINCE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA.

    Grizzly Bears, the slowest reproducing land mammals in North America are hunted for trophies and for sport... even in many Parks in the Province of British Columbia.

    female Grizzly standing

    When her cubs are young, this Grizzly mother often hides them out of sight while she goes to feast on the protein rich sedge grass. While it is illegal to hunt Grizzly mothers with cubs, hunters often kill females with cubs as they don't see the cubs. This is the main cause of orphan cubs in B.C.!

    Black Bears are also allowed to be hunted for trophies and for sport... even the Black Bears in some areas that carry the recessive gene for the white colour phase now commonly known as the Spirit Bear

    Black Mother Bear with White Cubs

    Regardless of the outdated science that hunters and the government of British Columbia use to justify the killing of our wildlife, killing any living being for sport or for a trophy should be banned. More than 78% of British Columbians oppose the trophy/sport hunting of our wildlife, yet the hunting lobby, still has persuaded the government to listen to the majority.

    You can help stop the trophy hunting of our wildlife by letting the government of Beautiful British Columbia know why you want it stopped. Use the links above to STOP THE HUNT.


    October 2012

    BLEAK REPORT FOR BC ENDANGERED SPECIES (published Oct 2, 2012 by GlobalNews BC):
    OTTAWA - A new analysis suggests provincial governments are in no shape to protect endangered species if the federal government decides to take a step back. (link)


    HUMPBACK WHALES THREATENED BY SUPER TANKERS IN THE GREAT BEAR RAINFOREST
    (published Oct 3, 2012 by Living Oceans)

    See this important video to understand more about the threat that the proposed super tankers would pose to the Humpback Whales along the proposed super tanker route.

    "Douglas Channel on the North Coast of B.C. is prime feeding territory for humpback whales. It's also the proposed tanker route for the Northern Gateway pipeline. See the risks to the humpbacks associated with supertankers moving through this narrow stretch of water on their way through the waterways of the Great Bear Rainforest."




    December 2011

    OIL SUPER TANKERS, EACH CARRYING TWO MILLION BARRELS OF OIL, will travel from Kitimat to Asia, RIGHT PAST ISLANDS THAT ARE HOME TO BRITISH COLUMBIA'S "PROTECTED" SPIRIT BEAR!

    This photo of the two Spirit Bear cubs was taken less than a mile from the oil super tanker route!

    Spirit Bear cubs eating mussels at low tide.


    YOU CAN HELP!:

    Our MLA has asked for letters from clients and other concerned citizens, expressing your opinions on this project.. the more emails the better. If you have traveled with us before and/or are booked to travel with us again, please include the amount you have spent or will spend, from the moment you leave home to the moment you return home. If you have traveled with us before, it would be wonderful to include WHY you think this soul stirring area should be saved from pipelines and oil super tankers!

    Send email to:
    Jane Thornthwaite : jane.thornthwaite.mla@leg.bc.ca
    Prime Minister Harper: pm@pm.gc.ca
    our MP, Andrew Saxton: saxton.a@parl.gc.ca

    Please cc to:
    Ellen Torng: ellentorng@gitgaat.net
    Dave Obee, Times Colonist: dobee@timescolonist.com
    Ocean Adventures: info@oceanadventures.bc.ca

    MORE YOU CAN DO:

    TRAVEL WITH US ALONG THE ROUTE OF THE PROPOSED OIL SUPER TANKERS (June 23 - 29, 2012) and WE WILL DONATE 10% TO AN ENVIRONMENTAL GROUP THAT IS WORKING TO STOP THIS PROJECT!

    LEARN MORE:

    View Pacific Wild's documentary film "SPOIL", that just won an award this year at the prestigious Banff Mountain Film Festival. Like most of the people who saw "SPOIL" at a recent BMFF screening at Centennial Theatre, North Vancouver, you will undoubtedly be moved to take action!

    Heavily invested in Alberta's tar sands and shunned by the U.S. over the Keystone pipeline project, our provincial and federal governments and the oil companies are more determined than ever to have Enbridge build a pipeline from Alberta's tar sands to our coastal port of Kitimat!!

    Bubblenet Feeding Even if not a single drop of oil spilled... anyone living and working along the proposed pipeline and the oil super tanker route, would live in fear every single day that the food they eat, their way of life and their livelihoods could be destroyed.

    Even if not a single drop of oil spilled... traveling in smaller boats along the oil super tanker route would be dangerous, at best.

    Even if not a single drop of oil spilled... whales and other marine life would be imperilled from the first oil super tanker entering these waters. Whether their sonar location is destroyed by the loud sounds of the ships or marine life is simply run over by them, destruction of whales and other marine life, is unthinkable!

    Even if not a single drop of oil spilled... the thriving eco tourism companies... including local aboriginal eco tourism... would end!! Millions of dollars are spent by people from around the world, on eco tours in the very area where the oil super tankers will travel.

    Spirit Bear fishing Even if not a single drop of oil spilled... sport fishing along the pipeline and in the ocean along the oil super tanker route, would likely end. The oil super tankers would make it too dangerous for the little fishing boats to be in the same waters. Like eco tourists, "sporties" do NOT come to this part of the world to watch oil super tankers... they come for the unspoiled wilderness.

    Even if not a single drop of oil spilled... we take our protocol agreement very seriously with the aboriginal peoples whose traditional lands we offer trips in. We will definitely stand behind them as they fight to stop the pipeline and oil super tankers.

    Did you know that... the oil super tankers (Very Large Crude Carriers) are MORE THAN 3X THE SIZE OF THE LARGEST B.C. FERRY??

    Did you know that... the oil super tankers have to travel at least 15 knots... 2X the speed of our ship, Great Bear II??

    Did you know that... the oil super tankers WILL CARRY 2 MILLION BARRELS OF OIL, EACH??

    When I spoke with many many people at intermission and at the end of the screening of the winning films at the Banff Mountain Film Festival, they were OUTRAGED that this project is even being contemplated!! Most of those people wanted to know what they could do. Again, we suggest the following:

    • Watch the documentary "SPOIL" and "OIL IN EDEN" .
    • Visit the Great Bear Rainforest, meet the people who live and work there, and see why this precious and soul stirring rainforest cannot be threatened.
    • Email or write or phone your elected government representatives... your MLA in the Province of B.C. and your M.P. in Ottawa. If you're up for the challenge write or call them as often as you have time for... get your friends and family involved too! IT IS GOING TO TAKE A LOT OF VERY PASSIONATE PEOPLE TO STOP THIS PROJECT!!
    • Visit the websites of Pacific Wild, the Sierra Club of B.C. and the Dogwood Initiative to learn more and get more ideas about how you can get involved.


    WHICH WOULD YOU RATHER SEE IN THE GREAT BEAR RAINFOREST???

      Spirit Bear cubs eating mussels at low tide.  OR  Supertanker, photo credit: Wikipedia.  
    Spirit Bears eating mussels at low tide

     Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs)




    April 2011

    This music video was written and sung by Ta'Kaiya, a 10-year old Sliammon aboriginal girl who now lives in Vancouver. I hope it touches you like it has touched us.

    The proposed Enbridge pipeline from the oil sands to Kitimat and the oil super tankers that would carry the crude oil through some of B.C.'s most important ecosystems cannot be allowed.

    Each and every British Columbian and each and every person who has traveled with us will be affected if this is allowed to happen!

    We have 2 elections coming.. one federal and one provincial... and I beg each and every person to find out who are the best parties to lead us out of this gargantuan mess.

    I know that we all have our individual concerns about the state of our economy, but without looking after our coast and our rivers and streams, we will have nothing.

    Please listen to the message of Ta'Kaiya.

    ~ Trish & Eric


    Please read our March 2011 Environmental Alerts for more information regarding the potential affects these projects would have on our coast and in our province.


    March 2011

    Allowing OIL SUPERTANKERS each with carrying capacities of 2 million barrels of oil into the Dixon Entrance, Hecate Strait, Wright Sound, and Douglas Channel would jeopardize the $1.7 billion Pacific coast fishery, the 13,000 commercial fisheries jobs, the approximate 10,000 jobs in the cruise ship and recreational tourism industry, and entire coastal cultures from the threat of oil spills.

    Sunset on a beach on the Hecate Strait

    More than 12 years for Trish and a lifetime for Eric of traveling on B.C.'s central and north coasts could not have prepared us for how little time the iLCP took to capture the essence of these lands and waters of immeasurable beauty.

    The International League of Conservation Photographers spent 2 weeks in the Great Bear Rainforest documenting what is at stake should the proposed oil super tankers be allowed to transit the Hecate Strait, Wright Sound and Douglas Channel... waters that proved fatal for B.C. Ferries, "Queen of the North" when she foundered and sank on Gil Island.

    Spirit Bear Cub eating barnacles at ocean's edge on proposed oil super tanker route.

    Tonight as I write this piece for our "Enviro Alerts", the central and north coasts of British Columbia marine forecasts read "Hurricane Force Winds with Freezing Spray". "Storm Force" winds and "Freezing Spray" were forecast for the very narrow Douglas Channel and Wright Sound... narrow channels that have.. and will continue to... test even local mariners.

    Reports by friends who work through the winter on the central and north coasts, speak of the spray from sea water, building up as ice on their boat... of sea spray swept onto islands at the edge of the Hecate, freezing and turning trees into ice and killing them.. and of people who live here having their travel suddenly curtailed in the wake of these powerful and unforgiving storms.

    The locals that have lived and worked on this coast their whole lives understand the severity of these storms and respect these waters for all that they produce... and for all that they can just as quickly take away...

    Recently, our newly elected Premier Christy Clark said that the economy of the Province of British Columbia would benefit from the proposed Enbridge pipeline from the oil sands in Alberta to the Port of Kitimat on B.C.'s north coast... and... from the oil SUPER tankers that would travel to Kitimat to pick up the oil to transport it to new markets in Asia.

    Ms. Clark has also stated that she wants to listen to the people of British Columbia! Time will tell if she is listening to:

    • The Aboriginal People whose traditional lands the proposed pipeline will transit and the Aboriginal People who's traditional lands and waters the oil SUPER tankers will travel. It should be noted that the "Coastal First Nations Great Bear Initiative" has stated, on more than one occasion, that they will do whatever it takes to stop these projects. (see www.coastalfirstnations.ca)

    • The Sport Fishing sector who will not only be affected by the oil SUPER tankers and any possible spill, but those that offer fly fishing trips on rivers and lakes along the proposed Enbridge pipeline route.

      Humpback Whale in Douglas Channel

      *The Commercial Fishermen of B.C. who have already spoken out about their concerns regarding these projects. With the proposed Enbridge pipeline traveling through the watersheds of some of B.C.'s most important rivers such as the Fraser, the Skeena, and the Kitimat, PLUS the damage that an oil spill could do to marine environments, it is no wonder any one that feeds their families from the sea, would be worried.

    • Tourism Operators take people from all over the world to enjoy the pristine wildernesses on B.C.'s central and north coasts. The powerful landscapes, the unparalleled wildlife viewing and whale watching and the unique and awe inspiring coastal aboriginal cultures introduce visitors to what is at stake if the proposed Enbridge pipeline and proposed oil SUPER tankers come.

    • Local businesses and individuals that work with or in any of these sectors, see the benefits of stopping these projects.
    • The people of British Columbia who feed their families from the sea, from the lakes and rivers, and from the pristine wilderness areas, do not want over a thousand kilometers of pipelines in their back yards or oil SUPER tankers on our coast.

    • The people of British Columbia who have enjoyed the coast as their playground, as their refuge from city life, and as a classroom for their children and grand children.


    Tiny Grizzly Cubs in tidal estuary CONSIDER THE FACTS:

    Allowing oil supertankers, (each with carrying capacities of 2 million barrels of oil) into the Dixon Entrance, Hecate Strait, Wright Sound, and Douglas Channel would jeopardize the $1.7 billion Pacific coast fishery, the 13,000 commercial fisheries jobs, the approximate 10,000 jobs in the cruise ship and recreational tourism industry, and entire coastal cultures from the threat of oil spills.

    Enbridge has proposed the construction of two pipelines and a marine terminal in Kitimat to send tar sands oil to export. The 1,170 kilometers of pipeline will carry an average of 525,000 barrels of oil per day west from Bruderheim, Alberta, and 193,000 barrels per day of condensate east to thin oil for pipeline transport. From the marine terminal, tar sands oil would be loaded onto approximately 225 oil tankers per year, which would then navigate the Douglas Channel and around the coastal archipelago to the sea.

    The proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline crosses rough, mountainous terrain through the sensitive watersheds of the upper Fraser, Skeena, and Kitimat. There are serious concerns about the risks of oil spills. On July 26, 2010, an Enbridge pipeline spill in Michigan released four million litres of oil into the Kalamazoo River.

    On March 24, 1989, the Exxon Valdez, an oil tanker bound for California, hit the Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound and spilled 260,000 to 750,000 barrels of crude oil. The oil eventually covered 2,100 km of coastline and 28,000 km2 of ocean.

    Harlequin Ducks, a 'species at risk' ARE CANADIAN ENERGY NEEDS and CANADIAN JOBS BEING TRULY CONSIDERED? READ THIS:

    Is the government aware that Canada is virtually alone among oil-producing countries in not having the means to supply our own needs? Ontario and Quebec in particular are completely landlocked from oil supplies. The government likes to talk about how Canada is open for business and how we need to attract foreign investment in Canada, when in fact, the effect of all these pipelines is to guarantee long-term investment in foreign countries, not in Canada. The processing facilities are in the U.S.A. and Asia, not in Canada. The processing jobs are in the U.S.A. and Asia, not in Canada. I would love answers on how this foreign investment is good for Canadians. Should we not be securing these jobs for Canadians? After all, is this not Canadian oil?

    Sea lions at haul out within a few miles of the proposed oil super tanker route DO WE HAVE LOTS OF TIME?

    ARE PROPER ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS BEING CONSIDERED?

    THE FOLLOWING MAY GIVE YOU THOSE ANSWERS:

    The Conservative government's recent reinterpretation of the moratorium has meant that Methanex and Encana have been allowed to import condensate in tankers to the port of Kitimat.

    Since 2006, over 30 tankers carrying condensate have been allowed to travel through the inside passage to Kitimat, B.C. For those who do not know, condensate is a highly flammable hydrocarbon used to thin the tar-like oil extracted from the tar sands. It is classified as a dangerous good by the federal government and is so toxic that it kills marine life contact!

    WHAT IS ENBRIDGE UP TO NOW??

    Enbridge is trying to counter this risk with advertised assurances of employment, safety and prosperity. But the "economic growth" promised for Northern BC is temporary, most jobs will disappear once the pipeline is built. Female Spirit Bear eating barnacles at ocean's edge on proposed oil super tanker route And the improved navigation systems for all marine traffic, touted as one of the benefits of developing Kitimat as a busy international oil port, will be necessary because the low risk from present traffic will become high risk with the mass arrival of supertankers. With capacities of 2 million barrels of oil, some will be nearly double the size of the ill- fated Exxon Valdez. As a sobering perspective on the frequency and extent of tanker caused marine disasters, this devastating 1989 spill in Alaska was only the 54th largest.

    Enbridge is spending millions of dollars sponsoring TV and Radio ads, sponsoring athletics and a host of other "community friendly" events, including the "Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer"!

    As Enbridge offers even more money to pay off the Aboriginal Peoples along the proposed pipelines and oil SUPER tanker route, they continue to insult not only the First Nations people, but all British Columbians!

    **ENVIRONMENTAL ALERT**

    Almost all of our trips take place in areas along the route of the proposed oil SUPER tankers (each with carrying capacities of up to 2 million barrels of oil)! If the proposed Enbridge pipelines from the oil sands in Alberta to the Port of Kitimat are built, the oil SUPER tankers will be the single largest threat EVER to our coast.

    Ocean Adventures has DONATED A 5 day/ 4 night TRIP TO THE HEART OF THE GREAT BEAR RAINFOREST to raise money for one of the most important campaigns in the history of our province... to STOP these oil SUPER tankers.

    Want to win a trip to the Great Bear Rainforest with Ocean Adventures?

    Go to:

    Great Bear Raffle 2011 (raffle is over).

    to see where you can buy tickets. (Sadly, raffle tickets can only be purchased by B.C. Residents, that are of age. Visit Sierra Club for further details, or contact us.

    Visit www.pacificwild.org and see "spOIL", an extremely compelling documentary that shows what is at stake on our central and north coasts should the oil SUPER tankers be allowed to come here.

    If you've traveled with us before you will recognize some faces and places in this important film!


    November 2010

    Mom with Spirit Bear Cubs

    There is an island where the rainforest meets the sea, where at low tide mother- nature sets a banquet like no other. Bathed in the nutrient rich waters of British Columbia's north coast, the shellfish that cling to these shores provides food for the locals, including some very wise and resourceful mothers.

    Along our coast we have observed a few such places... where mother bears bring their cubs to keep them safe from other bears... places that provide them with the opportunity to feed and teach their cubs in peace.

    Mom with Spirit Bear Cubs Out of the rainforest and along a deliberately chosen path to the beach, a mother black bear comes with her two tiny white cubs. The two tiny Spirit Bear cubs follow single file, like little soldiers on a mission. As they arrive at the banquet of shellfish that has been set out for them, the mother bear demonstrates just what to do.

    Their tiny paws reach out to the shellfish tentatively at first, but with assurances from their mother, they soon appear to be savoring every mouthful. Interrupted only by the occasional need to nurse, the tiny white cubs and their mother continue to feed in peace... where the rainforest meets the sea.

    How much longer will the mother bears bring their tiny cubs here? How much longer will the shellfish here be safe for them to eat? How much longer will it be safe for a tiny cub to eat this important protein source, in peace, without being swept out to sea?

    There is one answer to all these questions! As long as we STOP the OIL SUPER TANKERS from transiting these waters... oil SUPER tankers on their way to Kitimat to pick up their mammoth loads of crude oil sent there on an Enbridge pipeline from Alberta's oil sands!

    EACH & EVERY VOICE COUNTS! Please write an email about WHY you don't want these oil SUPER tankers on our coast. Send copies of your email to the following:

    And one or all of the following environmental organizations that are working to stop the oil SUPER tankers: Visit the website of Cetacea Lab www.cetacealab.org to learn about how the oil SUPER tankers will affect the whales that live and migrate through these waters.

    If you have time to submit your concerns to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency through their website: www.ceaa-acee.gc.ca

    Thank you for your voice and your support ! The pipeline across our province and the possibility of oil SUPER tankers on our coast MUST BE STOPPED!


    Sign the petition to STOP TROPHY HUNTING BEARS IN B.C.

    Stop Bear Trophy Hunting

    Imagine making a difference. The "Faltering Light" visual petition is a high quality book containing: an open letter to the BC government requesting that trophy hunting of bears is stopped, essays from leading environmentalists, sepia toned bear photographs and YOUR SIGNATURES supporting the termination of the trophy hunt. The book will be delivered to Premier Gordon Campbell & Environment Minister Barry Penner before the trophy hunt resumes in April. The book will also be given to the Vancouver city archive as a record of every individual's historic contribution. So let's make history, record your name and join conservation photographer Andy Wright with founding supporters Simon Jackson (ghostbear.org/d-simon-jackson) and Ian McAllister (www.pacificwild.org) to make this visual petition a significant creation that changes history and saves the magnificent bears of British Columbia.

    Go to Stop Trophy Hunting Bears in B.C. on GoPetition.com, to sign the petition personally or anonymously, and help us make a difference today.



    February 2010

    Stop Bear Trophy Hunting

    Subject: Press Release - Olympic Mascot Under Threat
    One "Sport" That Doesn't Deserve A Trophy

    Government trophy hunt puts iconic spirit bear and Olympic Games symbol at risk

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - VANCOUVER, BC, February 23, 2010 -- In a few weeks, the B.C. government plans on reopening the trophy hunt of bears in the internationally celebrated Great Bear Rainforest. And the spirit bear, which was featured in the Olympic Games' opening ceremonies, could be one of its targets.

    The future of the white Kermode or spirit bear is being put at risk because black bears that carry the spirit bear's white fur gene are fair game for trophy hunters.

    The genetically distinct Haida black bear and the grizzly bear, which is listed as a Species of Special Concern by the Canadian Federal government, can also be killed senselessly for sport.

    Coinciding with the release of a Vancouver Sun full page ad, supported by over 20 million people from 40 countries, conservationists have released a map showing that less than two percent of the white Kermode or spirit bear range actually protects the bears from trophy hunting in B.C.

    "How can British Columbia be celebrating the spirit bear in the opening Olympic ceremony and as an official mascot to the Olympics when trophy hunting is allowed in over 98 percent of the animal's genetic range?" asks Ian McAllister of B.C.-based Pacific Wild.

    "It just doesn't make sense to protect only the white coloured bears when the black bear also carries the gene that produces white cubs." said Kitasoo/Xai'xais bear viewing guide Doug Neasloss.

    "The spirit bear is a beautiful representative of evolution and we should not be tinkering with nature by allowing black Kermodes to be shot only to be hung on people's walls. This is an archaic and shallow blood sport," said Wayne McCrory, a Valhalla Wilderness Society biologist who has studied Kermode bears for 20 years.

    Liz Barratt-Brown, an attorney with the U.S.-based Natural Resources Defense Council, is urging the B.C. government to end the trophy hunt. "The spirit bear is important enough to us that it is represented in our logo and our 1.2 million members and activists want to know that bears are protected in the Great Bear Rainforest."

    "The eyes of the world are on B.C. and the global campaign to end the trophy hunting of bears in Canada's Great Bear Rainforest will continue to escalate until they are protected," said Rebecca Aldworth of Humane Society International/Canada.

    Contact:
    Ian McAllister, Pacific Wild: 250-957-2480 or cell 250-882-7246
    Liz-Barratt Brown, Natural Resources Defense Council: 202-289-2404
    Wayne McCrory, Valhalla Wilderness Society: 250-358-7796
    Rebecca Aldworth, Humane Society International/Canada: 514-575-6797
    *Douglas Neasloss, Kitasoo/Xai'xais Spirit Bear Adventures:778-839-1241

    *Doug Neasloss is in Vancouver at the Pan Pacific Aboriginal Pavilion during the Olympics and is available for television interviews. B-roll footage available.

    To download recent ads and map of the current black Kermode hunting area visit: www.pacificwild.org

    Facts:
    * In 2001, Premier Gordon Campbell overturned a moratorium on the trophy hunting of grizzly bears. Since then, over 2,000 grizzly bears have been killed for sport in B.C.
    *The globally rare white Kermode bear is protected from hunting, but the black Kermode, that produces white offspring is subject to open season trophy hunting in over 98 percent of its natural range.
    * A 2009 an Ipsos-Reid poll showed that nearly 80 percent of British Columbians are opposed to the trophy hunt of bears.
    * The trophy hunt also threatens tourism-based bear viewing operations, which generate considerably more revenue in B.C. than bear hunting.
    *Coastal First Nations are opposed to the trophy hunt of bears in their traditional territories.

    List of organizations supporting an end to the trophy hunt:
    Pacific Wild
    Humane Society International/Canada
    Humane Society of the United States
    Humane Society
    Wildlife Land Trust
    Coastal First Nations
    Greenpeace
    Sierra Club BC
    Western Canada Wilderness Committee
    David Suzuki Foundation
    The Spirit Bear Youth Coalition
    Valhalla Wilderness Society
    Bears Matter
    Forest Ethics
    Animal Rights Sweden
    Freedom for Animals - Croatia
    Brigitte Bardot Foundation - France
    Franz Weber Foundation - Switzerland
    Global Action in the Interest of Animals (GAIA) - Belgium
    Fundacion para la Adopcion, Apadrinamiento y Defensa de los Animales (FAADA) - Spain
    Four Paws (International)
    Respect for Animals - UK
    Commercial Bear Viewing Association of British Columbia
    Robin Wood
    Canopy
    Friends of the Earth
    BCSPCA
    Vancouver Humane Society
    Natural Resources Defense Council
    -30 -


    January 2010


    Media Advisory from FISHERMENLIST@LISTS.ONENW.ORG

    From: Alexandra Morton
    Date: January 26, 2010 2:13:17 PM PST (CA)
    To: "fishermenlist@lists.onenw.org"
    Subject: [fishermenlist] We Won again

    Hello

    Today BC Supreme Court ruled in our favor once again. Justice Hinkson granted the federal government a suspension order until December 18, 2010 so that Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) can further prepare to assume control of regulating salmon farms. However, Justice Hinkson forbade any expansion of aquaculture during that period. Specifically, the province cannot issue any new fish farm licences and cannot expand the size of any tenure. He recognized the First Nation interest in this matter by granting the Musgamagw-Tsawataineuk Tribal Council intervenor status, which is essential as this case is based in their territory.

    On the matter pursued by Marine Harvest at the Court of Appeal and sent back to Justice Hinkson to reconsider (that is whether the fish in the farms are privately owned by the companies and whether the Farm Practices Protection Act (FPPA) is still in force), Hinkson confirmed that the FPPA, will no longer apply to finfish aquaculture and thus no longer protect farms from nuisance claims.

    On the question, does Marine Harvest own the fish in their pens? Justice Hinkson found that this was not the place for this decision. Marine Harvest will have to bring this before the courts themselves. For now, we know that the aquaculture fish are now part of the fisheries of Canada.

    Today's decision is met by the unrelated announcement by US box store chain "Target" that they have eliminated all farmed salmon from its fresh, frozen, and smoked seafood offerings in its stores across the United States, because of farm salmon environmental impact on native salmon.

    There is an enormous amount of work ahead to translate any of this into better survival of our wild salmon, but the courts seem consistently interested in bringing reason, the constitution and the law to bear on the Norwegian fish farm industry in British Columbia.

    While I am truly sorry that jobs will be lost in ocean fish farming, bear in mind the industry is in deep trouble with mother nature herself in the fish farming strongholds of Chile and Norway. Trying to hold this nomadic fish in pens is never going to work, because it causes epidemics, unnatural sea lice infestations and drug resistance. Salmon farming is not sustainable and ultimately we are better served by our wild fish.

    Alexandra Morton


    Winter 2009


    Media Advisory from FISHERMENLIST@LISTS.ONENW.ORG

    From: Alexandra Morton
    Date: October 26, 2009 4:35:37 PM PDT (CA)
    To: "fishermenlist@lists.onenw.org"
    Subject: [fishermenlist] Member of Parliament Judicial Inquiry!

    Hello All

    Good News Finally! Peter Julian, Member of Parliament - New Westminster has just launched a petition for a Judicial Inquiry into the Fraser sockeye crash.

    CONSIDER THIS: If there had been a Judicial Inquiry into the declining North Atlantic cod, we would have rebuilt that fish stock by now because we would have discovered that the critical research by Dr. Ransom Myers of DFO was being suppressed by DFO (Department of Fisheries and Oceans).

    Here we are again. DFO is completely silent, they have not even acknowledged that the Fraser sockeye crash pattern is extremely specific and provided the media with misinformation.

    A judicial inquiry will place people under oath so they can be heard over the politics.

    Please go to Peter Julian's website: https://peterjulian.ca

    This has to be a paper copy, there can be 1 signature on a page, or a full page of signatures, the address is on the document and postage to the federal government is free.

    You cannot say you care about wild salmon if you don't make this effort. This will make a very big difference in the future of BC and the eastern pacific.

    Alexandra Morton
    www.adopt-a-fry.org


    Fall 2009

    September 21st, 2009
    Letter from OCEAN ADVENTURES CHARTER CO. LTD.

    ----- Original message -----
    From: "Eric Boyum"
    To: mhume@globeandmail.com
    Cc: premier@gov.bc.ca, eoconnor@theprovince.com, globalnews.bc@globaltv.com
    Date: Mon, 21 Sep 2009 21:52:10 -0700
    Subject: Oil SUPER tankers MUST BE STOPPED

    Hello Mark

    We are emailing you from the First Nations village of Hartley Bay on the North Coast of B.C.. Today we learned from the Elders of Hartley Bay of their greatest concern for their village: oil supertankers traveling the waterways of their traditional lands.

    This is a land of great abundance... and especially, an abundance of spirit. The Gitga'at People of Hartley Bay rushed to the Queen of the North as she sank to the bottom of Wright Sound, saving most of the lives of the passengers and crew that cold winter night. This is absolutely NOT a surprise to us. We've known these people for over 10 years now.. these are a people that are the very definitions of all that is good and right. Many visitors come to this area of B.C.'s North Coast in search of the Spirit Bear... but aside from this unique and amazing little white bear, there is the awe inspiring spirit of a people that is more unique than even the spirit bears who share their traditional homelands.

    Considering the rare and unique people and the white Spirit Bears who share their homelands, how can Enbridge consider a project that will bring oil SUPER tankers to these waters and how can the governments of British Columbia and Canada allow this to happen??

    Long ago, we entered into a protocol agreement with the Gitga'at People of Hartley Bay... and we intend to honour that which we have promised... we will stand by their sides as they attempt to protect their lands, their waters, their wildlife, their children, their Elders and their way of life.


    Most Sincerely,
    Trish & Eric Boyum
    Ocean Adventures Charter Co. Ltd.
    tel. 604-812-9453


    Spring 2009

    May 27th, 2009
    Media Advisory from FISHERMENLIST@LISTS.ONENW.ORG

    Date: Fri, 26 May 2009 23:58:12 -0700
    From: Alexandra Morton
    Subject: [fishermenlist] Trip to Norway

    *Message from Alexandra Morton in Norway, disease and sea lice are not under control in Norwegian salmon farms and BC stands to lose all.*

    I have been in Norway for 10 days because 92% of fish farming in British Columbia is Norwegian owned. I have met with many Norwegian scientists, members of the Mainstream and Marine Harvest boards, been to their AGMs, toured the area with fishermen, examined a closed-containment facility, met the Norwegians fighting for their fish and joined a scientific cruise.

    I thought Norway had this industry handled and I expected to learn how marine salmon farming could work, but this has not been the case. My eyes have really been opened. This industry still has *major* issues that are growing and has no business expanding throughout the temperate coastlines of the world. The way they have been treating sea lice in Norway has caused high drug resistance. The only solution in sight is increasingly toxic chemicals. In the past two years (2007, 8) sea lice levels have actually increased on both the farm and wild fish. The scientists I met with are holding their breath to see if drug-resistant sea lice populations will explode and attack the last wild salmon and sea trout. The same treatment methods have been used in BC and we can expect this to occur as well.

    I am not hearing how the industry can possibly safeguard British Columbia from contamination with their ISA virus. Infectious Salmon Anemia is a salmon virus that is spreading worldwide, wherever there are salmon farms. In Chile, the Norwegian strain of ISA has destroyed 60% of the industry, 17,000 jobs and unmeasured environmental damage. The industry is pushing into new territory. If this gets to BC no one can predict what it will do to the Pacific salmon and steelhead, it will be unleashed into new habitat and we know this is a very serious threat to life.

    Professor Are Nylund head of the Fish Diseases Group at the University of Bergen, Norway, reports that, "based on 20 years of experience, I can guarantee that if British Columbia continues to import salmon eggs from the eastern Atlantic infectious salmon diseases, such as ISA, will arrive in Western Canada. Here in Hardangerfjord we have sacrificed our wild salmon stocks in exchange for farm salmon. With all your 5 species of wild salmon, BC is the last place you should have salmon farms."

    New diseases and parasites are being identified. The most serious is a sea lice parasite that attacks the salmon immune system. There is concern that this new parasite is responsible for accelerating wild salmon declines. The Norwegian scientists agree with many of us in BC. If you want wild salmon you must reduce the number of farm salmon. There are three options.

    The future for salmon farming will have to include:

    • permanently reduction of not just the number of sea lice, but also the number of farm salmon per fjord,
    • removing farm salmon for periods of time to delouse the fjords and not restocking until after the out-migration of the wild salmon and sea trout.
    • But where wild salmon are considered essential they say the only certain measure is to remove the farms completely.

    There are many people here like me. I met a man who has devoted his life to the science of restoring the Voss River, where the largest Atlantic salmon in the world, a national treasure, have vanished due to sea lice from salmon farms. Interestingly he is using the method I was not allowed to use last spring... Towing the fish past the farms out to sea. Another man is working with scientists and communities to keep the sea trout of the Hardangerfjord alive. There are so many tragic stories familiar to British Columbia.

    The corporate fish farmers are unrelenting in their push to expand. With Chile so highly contaminated with the Norwegian strain of ISA all fish farmed coasts including Norway are threatened with expansion. I made the best case I could to Mainstream and Marine Harvest for removing the salmon feedlots from our wild salmon migration routes, but they will not accept that they are harming wild salmon. They say they want to improve, but they don't say how. Norway has different social policies which include encouraging people to populate the remote areas and so fish farming seemed a good opportunity to these people. BC has the opposite policy, but the line that fish farms are good for small coastal communities has been used in BC anyway. I have not seen any evidence that it has even replaced the jobs it has impacted in wild fisheries and tourism.

    It is becoming increasingly clear to protect wild Pacific salmon from the virus ISA the BC border absolutely has to be closed to importation of salmon eggs immediately and salmon farms MUST be removed from the Fraser River migration routes and any other narrow waterways where wild salmon are considered valuable.

    Our letter asking government that the Fisheries Act, which is the law in Canada be applied to protect our salmon from fish farms has been signed by 14,000 people to date at www.adopt-a-fry.org has still not been answered.

    Please forward this letter and encourage more people to sign our letter to government as *it is building a community of concerned people word wide* and we will prevail as there is really no rock for this industry to hide under and longer.

    Alexandra Morton


    NDP_Lib_Ridings Map May 16th, 2009
    Media Advisory from FISHERMENLIST@LISTS.ONENW.ORG

    Date: Fri, 15 May 2009 10:44:26 -0700
    From: Alexandra Morton {wildorca@island.net}
    Subject: [fishermenlist] What next?

    Hello,

    Gordon Campbell locked the doors when I tried to deliver our letter and left us on the street. Campbell has been re-elected and at first I thought this meant BC does not actually want wild salmon, nor their rivers. I began to make plans to give up and get my own life back in order, but then someone forwarded me this map. The ridings with wild salmon and wild salmon rivers, did not actually elect Campbell.

    Thousands of people have told me they want wild salmon and have wished me success in this, but at every BC election a handicap is laid on us who are trying to do this. I am writing to say people cannot wave from the sidelines any longer, because we are not succeeding. Wild salmon are going extinct on our watch. Yes, yes climate change will be a factor, but wild salmon are built to survive cataclysmic change in their environment and if we allow their genetic warehouse to rebuild right now, we stand a far better chance of receiving the food and energy this fish brings to us in the years to come.

    Grieg Seafood is trying to build two of the biggest fish farms on the coast, on the juvenile salmon migration route for Fraser River and East Vancouver Island stocks, at York Island. Marine Harvest is trying to increase the size of their "farms" coastwide. They are taking me back to court this summer to resolve whether they own their fish in the Canadian Ocean. Atlantic salmon eggs are still being imported into BC, despite the Infectious Salmon Anemia virus popping up everywhere the Norwegian salmon farmers operate. Emamectin benzoate (Slice) is being used in our waters... with no warnings posted during usage...even though the U.S. Food and Drug Agency apparently has a ban on any food products "exposed" to this neurotoxin (Pacific Fishing current issue). This means all of us who are fishing, and harvesting seafood near fish farms have no way to make sure we are not "exposed" to the drug. And the fish feedlots are in violation of many sections of the Fisheries Act.

    Not only is there no progress, we are moving backwards.

    I am headed to Norway next week, but doubt anyone is listening there either.

    I can only see two ways forward... The courts... And for us all to step up and say "no more."

    The solution is so simple: Apply the laws of Canada, The Fisheries Act. If the Norwegians can't comply they should leave. Give the Canadian fish farmers who want to revamp their industry in closed tanks a break in getting set up. Market wild and farm fish to raise the value of both. And restore wild salmon in a way that has never been tried... adhering to their biology, the natural laws that have caused them to thrive in the first place.

    And we need everyone who wants wild salmon to sign this letter. Currently we are at 14,000... and we are still on the street, this was not enough to even get in the door.

    It is up to you guys.

    Alexandra Morton

    Click here to view the NDP/Liberal ridings map.

    Go to (https://lists.onenw.org/lists/subscribe/fishermenlist) to subscribe to One North West's Fishermen's Listserve.


    Cetacealab News Release 090407 April 8th, 2009
    Media Advisory from the Harley Bay Band Council

    "A project proposed by Enbridge would bring oil tankers bigger than the Exxon Valdez right over the heads of the whales and other sea life..."

    Click here to read the full document.

    Click here to learn the truth about trophy hunting in the Great Bear Rainforest.
      
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