Email: info@pacificwild.org
Phone: 250-380-0547
Main Office
1529 Amelia Street, Victoria, BC
Lək̓ʷəŋən Territory
V8W 2K1
Field Office
P.O. Box 26
Denny Island, BC
Haíɫzaqv Territory
V0T 1B0
⚠️ Thank you to @globalbc and journalist @pauljohnsonfilms for reporting on our concerns regarding the winter herring Food and Bait fishery.
📺 Visit the Global News website to see the full story from February 6th.
Herring are the foundation of the coastal food web, but their populations are in peril on the west coast of Canada, spelling danger for the whole ecosystem. This year fishing quotas were increased despite widespread opposition by Hereditary Chiefs, independent scientists and conservation organizations including Pacific Wild.
"We are taking this wild incredibly important fish from the mouths of wild salmon, from the mouths of killer whales... It`s unacceptable." - Ian McAllister, Pacific Wild Co-founder and Conservation Advisor
📝Stay tuned for our upcoming blog on the winter Food and Bait fishery to learn more.
#herring #pacificnorthwest #indigenousrightsandtitle #ForageFish #foundationalspecies #fish #WildSalmon #southernresidentkillerwhales #orcas #conservation #CanadianNews
❄ The first snowfall in southern British Columbia is an eerie warning that hundreds of wolves are about to be slaughtered at taxpayer expense.
🐺 Every year for the past decade, the provincial wolf cull happens in the winter months: a time when the snow creates a lethal advantage for the government contractors. These aerial snipers use helicopters to chase wolves through the snow-covered landscape which makes it easier to follow their tracks and spot their movements.
These highly social and intelligent land mammals are forced to flee the helicopters by running through deep snow. Snowy conditions like this mean that wolves are likely to tire more quickly than they would running over hard-packed ground. Unfortunately, their exhaustion does nothing to stop the relentless chase from above.
🚁 Hazing wildlife like this is a glaring contradiction to the Wildlife Act, legislation that outlines it is illegal for individuals to chase wildlife with vehicles or helicopters, Section 27(3). Conveniently the province has granted themselves an exception to this legislation in order to allow the widespread killing of wolves.
🌡As temperatures rise and snow begins to melt, marksmen often lose track of the wolves, leaving the few survivors in a much more silent landscape.
After a cull like this, some packs are completely eradicated, others are left fragmented, while solitary lone wolves wear the heavy burden of fresh radio collars which mark them, and any new wolves they may join up with, as next winter`s targets.
🛑 It’s time to end the wolf cull. Ten years is too long.
📲 Call your MLA, the premier and the Minister of Land, Water and Resource Stewardship. Send our pre-written letter (linked in our bio) and let`s raise our voices to protect these incredible ecosystem engineers!
📸 This photo by @mitchell.leong is of a wolf living in the Rocky Mountains, mountains which border British Columbia and Alberta. Both Canadian provinces cull wolves as part of their caribou recovery programs, despite widespread understanding that habitat loss is at the root of caribou decline.
#EndTheWolfCull #SaveBCWolves #DavidDoBetter #WildlifeConservation #Wolves #Winter #AnimalsInSnow
📣 We are pleased to announce that the official world premiere of Return of the Great Bear will be at the Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival on February 28th at the Cinematheque in Vancouver, Canada. 🎥 📅
🎟️ Get tickets at the link in bio (online screening tickets are also available), and we will see you there!
🐻 This film tells the story of the decades-long fight to ban grizzly bear trophy hunting in British Columbia. While a ban took effect in 2017, the future of grizzlies is still uncertain. Bans have been overturned in the past as the power in government shifted and in a time of shrinking salmon runs, climate change, industrial logging and pushback from hunting lobbyists now more than ever it is critical for people to come together again and fight for what is wild.
Uplifting the voices of First Nations leaders, biologists, bear guides, and conservationists, this film sheds light on the monumental, collective effort that goes into changing government policy. Viewers get an intimate look at the true nature of bears with breathtaking wildlife cinematography and honest stories from the people who have been changed by the privilege of getting to know bears first-hand.
Directed by: Natasha Wehn
Wildlife Cinematography by: @iantmcallister
Additional shooting by: @gamut_productions @carlo_alcos , Leslie Birch, Trevor Wong and Yuki Itoh from @thepodiumbrand
Editing by: @darrylwhetung and @danielryanjeffery
Assistant Editing: @larskisaac
Motion Graphics: @robohtman and Ryan MacKeen
Colour: Andrea Dixon @dixona888
Sound Design: @questcoast.studios and @davidpelvis
Special thanks to: @douglas_neasloss and Wayne McCrory and of course to @thevimff
#ConservationFilm #CanadianFilm #WildlifeFilm #PositiveNews #GrizzlyBears #Grizzlies #ConservationStories #Documentary
📣 Update on DFO`s harvest plan for Pacific herring
1️⃣ Strait of Georgia: Open for Roe (and Food and Bait, Special Use, FSC) fisheries, at a 14% harvest rate to a maximum of 12,787 tons
2️⃣ West Coast Vancouver Island: Closed to commercial gillnet and seine harvest, commercial Spawn on Kelp opportunities to First Nations
3️⃣ Central Coast: Open to Spawn on Kelp only at a 4.7% harvest rate to a maximum of 900 tons
4️⃣ Prince Rupert District: Open for Roe, Spawn on Kelp, and FSC at a 5% harvest rate to a maximum of 2,624 tons
5️⃣ Haida Gwaii: Closed to all commercial harvest
Quotas have been increased in all regions that remain open to harvest. In the face of climate change, biodiversity loss, and growing uncertainty in our oceans, it’s disheartening to see DFO continuing with a "business-as-usual" approach to herring management. Instead, fisheries managers should be embracing a precautionary approach to harvesting herring, a species that is the cornerstone of B.C.’s entire marine food web.
🌊 We commend nations on the West Coast of Vancouver Island for taking a stand for herring this year. By recommending to not allow gillnet and seine harvest in their territories, despite recent population increases, they are leading by example and showing what true stewardship looks like. Their decision reflects the need to protect herring populations for generations to come, ensuring the health of the ecosystems, cultures, and economies that rely on them.
Let’s hope DFO will take note and begin adopting management strategies that prioritize the long-term resilience of herring and the ecosystems they support.
👉 It’s time for all of us to advocate for precautionary management and challenge decisions that fail to reflect the realities of today’s environmental crises. Follow the link in our bio to read our blog about the IFMP release.
Support the call to protect Pacific herring, send a letter at the link in our bio.
#ProtectPacificHerring #BIGlittlefish #MarineConservation #MarineProtection
❗️The Green Party of Canada is condemning Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) for increasing the Pacific herring harvest rate from 10% to 14%, despite warnings from First Nations and scientists. Green Party Leader Elizabeth May called the decision “a complete failure of environmental stewardship,” emphasizing that “DFO is ignoring both the precautionary principle and the inherent rights of Indigenous communities.”
🐟 Herring are crucial to the marine food web, supporting species like Chinook salmon and the endangered Southern Resident Orcas. Green Party Fisheries Critic Dr. Gadfly Stratton warned, “The science is clear: continued overfishing of herring will have devastating ripple effects throughout the ecosystem.” The decision has drawn opposition from First Nations, environmental groups, and marine-dependent industries.
🗣️ “We are watching an ecological crisis unfold in real time, yet DFO, under the current Liberal government, refuses to act responsibly,” said Stratton. “Instead of protecting this keystone species, they are approving increased catch limits. This is beyond short-sighted, it is irresponsible governance.”
The Green Party is calling on Fisheries Minister Diane Lebouthillier to reverse the decision and take immediate action to protect herring populations by implementing a managed pause in the fishery as advocated for by many scientists and hereditary chiefs in the Salish Sea.
Support the call to protect Pacific herring, send a letter at the link in our bio.
#ProtectPacificHerring #BIGlittlefish #Herring #SustainableFisheries
🚨 Wildlife killing contests are alive and well in Canada 🚨
Under the misleading guise of "wildlife management", killing contests are still happening across Canada— largely unregulated, unscientific, and unjustifiable. In Alberta, canids are caught in the crosshairs. A coyote killing contest just wrapped up this month. Organized by Storm Mountain Outfitters the event encouraged competing teams to kill as many coyotes as possible throughout a two day derby. The team that brought in the most pelts was awarded $2,500. There were also "special category" winners for the heaviest coyote and the one with the nicest and mangiest fur.
🐺 Happening right now, an ongoing wolf killing contest is running until the end of March. The Alberta Trappers Association and Alberta Professional Outfitters Society are offering a top prize of $5,000, $3,500 for second prize and $2,000 for third prize and a $250 bounty per wolf for the first 400 wolves killed.
The "justification"? Protecting ungulates like deer and elk (primarily for increased hunter access). But let’s be clear: there is no scientific basis for these contests. Science-based wildlife management involves habitat conservation, predator-prey dynamics, and ethical decision-making—not reckless slaughter.
These contests do not consider the intrinsic value and dignity of these animals, they do not control populations effectively, do not address the cause of livestock conflicts, and do not make ecosystems healthier. What they do is promote cruelty, disrupt ecosystems, and fuel anti-predator rhetoric.
📣 It’s time for Canada to ban wildlife killing contests once and for all. We need policy driven by science and ethics—not blood sport pandering to a very small minority. Speak up, raise awareness, and demand change. Follow the link in our bio to send a pre-written letter to government demanding for change.
#BanKillingContests #ScienceNotSlaughter #PredatorsMatter #WildlifeConservation #SaveBCWolves