Did you know, 4 out of 5 Pacific herring fisheries in British Columbia have collapsed due to population concerns? The Strait of Georgia holds the last remaining commercial fishing grounds. Here are our top 10 arguments against the Strait of Georgia herring fishery.
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
Last Wednesday, Gitxsan land defenders and supporters marched through Victoria on Lekwungen territory, delivering a hand-built tiny home to Maas Gwitkunuxws/Teresa Brown—resisting the newly approved Prince Rupert Gas Transmission (PRGT) pipeline on her Lax’yip (territory).
Brown is a Gitxsan grandmother and dog lover who runs Wilp Aasosxw, “Dogs of the Village”—a no-kill sanctuary built directly on the pipeline right-of-way.
The tiny home, built by volunteers, stopped at B.C.’s Environmental Assessment Office before heading to Gitxsan territory with a clear message:
No Pipelines on Gitxsan Lax’yip!
🧡 You can help support Teresa and her dogs by donating blankets, food, toys, beds, and other essentials —or by sending an e-transfer to Landbackcc@gmail.com.
@teresabrown8970
📸Photo of Teresa Brown by @mikegraeme
Follow @friendsofgitxsangitanyow and @laxyipyouth for more on this topic.
#PRGT #PRGTpipeline #IndigenousRights #Gitxsan #Gitksan #PuppiesNotPipeline #DogSanctuary #RescueDogs s #LNG #FossilFuels #MethaneGas #ClimateCrisis
The race is over, but the game has just begun!
Just in case you are wondering how the race to save the Great Bear Sea is going… we are excited to announce the fundraiser “team” has beat the @thepassagepaddle team to the Alaska border!
A generous donor sponsored 277 km, pushing the fundraising team across the finish line ahead of the intrepid paddlers, who had just landed at Lowe Inlet, having paddled 530 kms.
Thank you to everyone who paddled and participated!
Even though the goal has been met, you can still donate here, and Biodiversity Bingo continues!
https://gtly.ink/Sk-EA21Rdq
Do you like winning prizes and learning about British Columbia’s coastline and all of the crazy-interesting species that live here? Then sign up, follow along the passage paddlers’ journey through the Great Bear Sea and check off bingo squares as the paddlers find things in the field.
The Pacific Wild office team has already got our first row of bingo squares with “Oyster Catcher.”
Did you know that Oyster Catchers can re-grow their beaks to suit different food types? Their beaks grow 3 times faster than human fingernails!
Follow the link to join biodiversity bingo and win great prizes.
#GreatBearSea #GreatBearRainforest #OysterCatcher #Birding #SeaKayaking
🎥 Over the past week, Pacific Wild’s trawling report Dragged to Death has made headlines across TV, radio, and print.
Using AIS tracking, bycatch records, and enforcement reports, Dragged to Death reveals how industrial trawlers are scouring vast areas of B.C. `s coast, yet their operations remain hidden from the public. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans hasn’t published trawler footprint data since 2016, and the exact locations of trawl vessels are protected under privacy laws. These barriers to transparency forced us to spend more than a thousand dollars purchasing AIS data just to map nine vessels.
“A dead fish is a dead fish, no matter which boat caught it.”
– Dr. Ray Hilborn
❓But even Hilborn admits he has no specific knowledge about the ecological richness of the areas these factory trawlers are targeting.
“I don’t know why [Hilborn] missed it, but the rest of the water is over the abyssal zone, and these trawlers are hitting the most productive narrow strip that is along the B.C. coast. That is where the most life is.”
– Kevin Lester, GIS expert
🐟 These massive trawlers impact everything from herring to Chinook salmon to endangered Southern Resident killer whales. We need transparency to hold industry and government accountable for protecting our coastal ecosystems.
🔗 Follow the link in our bio to read the full report.
#DraggedToDeath #InDeepTrouble #TrawlTransparency #FisheriesFailure #MarineProtection #PacificSalmon #KillerWhale
Did you know trawling’s history on Canadian coasts dates back to colonization?
⚓️European powers introduced industrial fishing methods like trawling to exploit the Grand Banks in the 1500s. On the west coast, bottom trawling began in the early 1900s, with small vessels supplying local markets before steam-powered trawlers expanded into the Hecate Strait during WWI.
🇨🇦 By 1944, Canada finally began formally recording trawler activities in B.C. – after nearly 30 years of these vessels operating with little oversight. Monitoring was led by the Pacific Biological Station in Nanaimo, which became a hub for fisheries research.
More recently, factory trawlers have arrived on B.C.’s coast. These ships weren’t built here. They were sold off after fishing heavily in European and northern seas like the North Sea and Bering Sea, leaving stock collapses and strict regulations in their wake. Now, their industrial footprints threaten to leave similar scars on Canada’s Pacific coast.
🛑 Industrial trawling continues to put our ocean’s most fragile ecosystems at risk. Learn more about its impacts and how you can help protect marine life.
#Trawling #BottomTrawling #Fishing #Overfishing #BanBottomTrawling #ProtectOurCoast #Cod #InDeepTrouble #DraggedToDeath #MarineProtection #OceanConservation #StopTrawling #Maritimes #Ocean
🚨 Investigation reveals shocking footage from "semi-closed containment" salmon farm
What lies beneath experimental salmon farms? Thanks to the investigative work of @clayoquot.action and @watershedwatchbc, we now have disturbing answers.
📹 These are the Sh*t Tapes* — raw, gut-churning ROV footage obtained through government access to information requests. They expose massive piles of fish feces and uneaten feed smothering the seafloor under an “experimental” Cermaq salmon farm near Tofino, B.C.
🐟 Though marketed as “semi-closed” or “closed” containment, the videos show these systems are leaking waste directly into the ocean. One trench of feces filmed by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) stretched minutes long with no end in sight. Inspectors noted entire areas of the sea floor were covered 100% in waste.
👀 This is pollution you were never meant to see.
💊This experimental farm also used antibiotics at least seven times in just one year. If uneaten medicated feed is settling on the seafloor, what does that mean for wild fish, crab, or prawn in the area, or for the people who harvest them?
This is a wake-up call.
👍 But there’s some good news: Pacific Wild, along with other ENGOs like @clayoquot.action and @watershedwatchbc, are part of the stakeholder group actively submitting feedback and recommendations on the Salmon Aquaculture Transition Plan — working hard to ensure these experimental farms are not allowed to operate in the ocean beyond 2029.
🔗 Watch the videos. Read the inspection report. Raise your voice.
👉 Head to @clayoquot.action and @watershedwatchbc’s pages to learn more.
📢 TAKE ACTION: Follow the link in our bio to tell the Minister of Fisheries that enough is enough, we need to get ALL in-water salmon farms out of B.C.’s coastal waters.
#FishFarmsOut #FOFF #SaveBCSalmon #WildSalmon #PacificSalmon
🐚 There is hope for trawling! Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) can stop the destruction caused by bottom trawling – and benefit everyone, including fishers over time.
Bottom trawling devastates seafloor habitats and marine life. But when areas are closed to trawling through highly protected MPAs, ecosystems can recover and thrive, creating a “spillover effect.” As populations rebound inside protected areas, target species migrate beyond their boundaries, supporting sustainable fisheries.
A powerful example comes from the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea. After five small areas were closed to bottom trawling, king scallop populations became five times more abundant, with reproductive potential increasing by over 1,200%. This not only restored the ecosystem but boosted surrounding fisheries. This story is featured in David Attenborough`s latest film “Ocean”, highlighting how banning trawling benefits ocean health and coastal communities alike.
Yet bottom trawling is still allowed in some Canadian MPAs, despite violating minimum protection standards established in 2019. Fully protecting these areas is critical to achieving similar success.
🤝 Pacific Wild is working to protect 30% of Canada’s oceans by 2030 through a strong network of MPAs in the Great Bear Sea and beyond. Protecting these areas from destructive fishing practices will rebuild fish stocks, enhance biodiversity, and create a healthier ocean for all.
Help us make this a reality. Send a pre-written letter to government officials today.
#MarineProtection #InDeepTrouble #DraggedToDeath #GreatBearSea #Ocean
