The northern bitumen pipeline wars could be about to begin all over again Documents obtained by CBC News in the story Alberta considering 3 oil pipeline routes through northern B.C., the documents show show Alberta’s proposed pipeline routes through northern British Columbia. The pipelines would reach ports on the coast, including Prince Rupert and farther […]
US President Donald Trump has opened large areas of Alaska, including the Gulf of Alaska just north of the BC border to oil leases. The additional leases also allow more drilling the Arctic. If drilling and production does go ahead, which isn't certain, that might also mean there could be even more oil tanker traffic […]
The second mate of the tug Nathan E. Stewart fell asleep on watch when the tug grounded off Bella Bella, on October 13, 2016, according to an investigation report released by the United States National Transportation Safety Board. The NTSB also said “Contributing to the grounding was the ineffective implementation of the company’s safety management […]
Two related scientific papers published in the past two weeks, one on the First Peoples initial settlement of coastal North America and the second giving a probable new timeline of the retreat of the glaciers during the last Ice Age, taken together are likely confirmation of the Haisla story of how that nation first settled […]
The September issue of National Geographic includes a large map of British Columbia it calls "Claiming British Columbia." The map has three themes: First Nations' traditional territory, the routes of proposed pipeline projects, both LNG and diluted bitumen, and it features a sub map that looks at what the map calls the "Troubled Salmon" fishery. […]
The Ice Age First Nations in the interior of Alaska relied more heavily on salmon and freshwater fish in their diets than previously thought, according to a new study from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. First Nations of the Pacific Coast have always recognized the value of the salmon. Archaeologists have used new techniques to […]
With climate change, the oceans are becoming more acid and that is a threat to the dungeness crab, according to a study by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The study says ocean acidification expected to accompany climate change may slow development and reduce survival of the larval stages of Dungeness crab. The dungeness […]
The Environmental Protection Division of BC's Ministry of Environment is launching a major study of the water quality in the Kitimat valley, first on the Kitimat River and some of its tributaries and later on the Kitimat Arm of Douglas Channel. There has been no regular sampling by the province in Kitimat since 1995 (while […]
Fewer salmon; many more sardines. That's one of the predictions from a new study from the University of British Columbia, looking at the future of the fishery on the coast. The study concentrates on the First Nations fishery and warns that aboriginal people could face a catastrophic decline in the harvest of traditional species, especially […]
“Very low levels” of crude oil from the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Prince William Sound, Alaska, are a threat to the survival of herring and pink salmon that spawn in the region, according to a study released today by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The study shows that embryonic salmon and herring […]