Riprap can bury the spawning habitats of fish, increase river temperatures and exacerbate erosion elsewhere. There are alternative ways to stabilize riverbanks.

But while opponents say they’re happy the work has been stopped, they’re concerned about how long it took the government to act.

A new paper on sea lice from fish farms and wild salmon in B.C. shows a significant relationship between the two and critics say that contradicts a report from the federal government, which regulates the fish farms.

Biologists call for stop to mining believed impacting salmon streams.

Opponents of the ‘semi-closed’ fish farm technology say it is being hailed as a solution while failing to maintain a barrier between farmed and wild salmon.

Internal documents reveal B.C. salmon farms requesting the use of rubber bullets amid spike in sea lion incursions.

Federal party platforms promise little for flood protection on Sumas Prairie, even as local candidates say they would push for support if elected.

Open-net farming is threatening Canada’s salmon populations. There’s another way.

A provincial spokesperson says 'competing priorities' mean there is no money for critical flood-planning work.

Sto:lo Tribal Council President Tyrone McNeil says he and his colleagues have seen “little to no” action on B.C.’s new flood strategy.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration poses three distinct and immediate threats to our water security.

The stakes are high for Canada as our negotiators meet their American counterparts this week in Vancouver to kickstart the Pacific Salmon Treaty renewal process.

More than 80% of public comments received by the Department of Natural Resources before Tuesday’s hearing supported the ban, according to the agency.

Salmon habitat was restored in the Fraser Valley, old-growth forests were protected on Vancouver Island and caribou habitat was conserved in the northeast

Washington State recently garnered international attention for its successful removal of all polluting and hazardous commercial net pens from Puget Sound. Now, the state is on the verge of adopting a statute that would prohibit this commercial industry from ever returning to Puget Sound.

Cheam and Sqwá First Nations in the Fraser Valley are concerned about some kind of waste discharging into the sensitive waterway — for the second time in three months.

Aquaculture is the world’s fastest growing food sector – one that proponents have long argued can help conserve wild fisheries. The argument goes that farming seafood instead of catching it will provide respite to over-fished species at sea. Farmed fish themselves also need to eat, however.

An environmental organization has served a notice of intent to sue one of the world’s largest aquaculture companies for violations of the Clean Water Act in Maine.

Evidence in the complaint prompted Canadian-based OceanWise to pull its ‘sustainable’ recommendation for southeast Alaska salmon over the summer.

The next government should commit to a three-fold plan that restores healthy floodplains in the Lower Mainland, writes Jason Lum, Chair of the Fraser Valley Regional District, and Lina Azeez of Watershed Watch Salmon Society

Opponents say open-net pen salmon farming has negatively impacted B.C.’s wild salmon stocks, but shifting fish farms to dry land won’t be easy.

B.C.’s communities are grappling with the growing frequency and severity of droughts, wildfires and floods.

A dozen sockeye salmon have returned to just below the Coquitlam Dam this summer, matching the total from the past eight years combined.

Salmon need a steady stream of cool, fresh water to survive and reach their spawning grounds, but Murray Manson, the section head of the Fisheries Department’s Habitat Restoration Centre of Expertise, told a briefing Friday that he is expecting fish to start appearing in some low-water areas.

Two B.C. First Nations are taking the federal government and fish farm companies to court trying to overturn a decision that allows the farms to continue to operate off B.C.’s coast for another five years.

A coalition of environmental groups is urging Fisheries Minister Diane Lebouthillier to strengthen those conditions under the new licensing agreements that will last until the end of this decade.

Is there support for open-net salmon farms in Vancouver?

Canada’s largest seafood eco-certification body now lists southeast Alaskan fisheries as unsustainable.

The Canadian federal government says it will ban open net salmon farms in British Columbia starting in 2029 in a plan that will renew more than 60 licences across the province for another five years.

Sources say the government will renew the licences for open-net fish farms until 2029, after which the industry must dismantle its open-net pens and move to land-based operations

The Federal Court has rejected a bid by two First Nations and salmon farm operators to review Ottawa’s decision to not renew licences for 15 open-net Atlantic salmon farms in the waters off British Columbia.

B.C. communities ravaged by flooding in November 2021 say they’ve been left high and dry after being denied federal disaster funding.

New infrastructure restores fish passage to Joe’s Lake after over 70 years

Water for new housing pitted against water to grow food — water for salmon versus water for livestock. But conflict is not inevitable in B.C.

Alaskan fisheries are selling fish as ‘sustainable’ while intercepting vulnerable populations of B.C.-bound salmon — actions that amount ‘eco-fraud,’ claims conservation group.

Multiple barriers along Washington’s waterways can block salmon as they swim upstream to spawn. This graphic shows one salmon’s perilous journey.

The company behind a massive spill of Atlantic salmon in 2017 has thrown in the towel on its efforts to keep farming fish at two sites in Puget Sound.

In B.C., a forest-harvest plan is raising hard questions and charged debate about the effects of logging on forest hydrology and flooding.

Despite a recent increase in snowpack levels, new data suggests the amount of snow in B.C. is still 34 per cent below normal with an anticipated warm spring and early snowmelt expected in the months ahead.

A landslide in early December caused a spill that First Nations leaders say endangers prime sturgeon habitat in the Fraser River. They’re left wondering why it’s taken so long to address

Testing shows blue mackerel caught near salmon pens with antibiotic residues of 960µg/kg, making fish ‘not fit for human consumption’

Arno Kopecky set out to write about B.C.’s winter heat and drought. Then the polar vortex arrived.

In Alaska and British Columbia, climate change may open new rivers to wild salmon – and also to mining.

Work was recently completed on a “fishway” for Guichon Creek at BCIT’s Burnaby Campus, that will allow salmon to reach an upper section of the waterway.

Abbotsford amusement attraction says it incurred more than $10 million in damages after 2021 storms.

Bill Cranmer’s contributions to ‘Namgis Nation and Indigenous culture were ‘immeasurable’

A campground could be possible for Gill Bar after Pilalt Tribes restore fish habitat harmed by motorized recreation along the Fraser River.

An estimated 817,265 herring were killed by B.C. salmon farms in 2022, many found with their ‘eyes blown out’ after getting sucked into a machine that removes sea lice.

Residents and municipal officials in Merritt say they are concerned about the possibility of a future disaster damaging homes and infrastructure again, as funding sources for flood prevention efforts remain unclear.

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Indigenous leaders from British Columbia have called on the federal government to stand by plans to transition away from open-net salmon farms, but an industry spokesperson has suggested the leaders were wading into political waters.

A provincewide drought this summer dried up B.C. rivers and jeopardized the survival of already stressed salmon stocks.

Firms agree on $5.2-million settlement for Canadian consumers. The deal still faces federal court approval at the end of November.

Experts weigh in on proposed changes to province’s decades-old emergency legislation.

Zach Sherker, a UBC salmon ecology and conservation PhD student, is studying floodgate restoration and activity of a floodplain habitat in the Lower Fraser River.

The lawsuit appears to be the first tied to the Discovery Islands closures intent on making the federal government and taxpayers pay for decisions by ministers with the authority to protect Canadian fisheries and oceans, says a B.C. salmon conservation group.

Rehabilitating salmon habitat could achieve province-wide reconciliation while providing economic and environmental benefits for all.

The federal government needs to follow through on its promise to fully phase out open-net pen salmon farms in B.C., says a coalition of 123 First Nations, environmental groups and tourism associations.

Last season we heard a lot about fish farms on the east side of Vancouver Island, the farms in the Discovery Islands and the Broughton Archipelago. The west side of the island has 20 fish farms, 14 of them operated by Cermaq, one of the big three Norwegian-based companies.

Most of B.C.’s watersheds are now in Level 5 drought conditions, meaning that impacts to water users and ecosystems are almost certain, writes Watershed Watch advisor Tanis Gower.

Aerial images show how the Fraser Valley's landscape has changed in the last 20 years.

In Chilliwack, the Cheam First Nation has taken on the task of rescuing at-risk salmon by relocating them to cooler water. But, as our Camille Vernet reports, warm temperatures aren’t the only thing affecting salmon habitats.

More than 80 per cent of the province has reached Level 4 or 5 drought conditions, the highest possible rankings, after months of little or no rain.

From grasshopper infestations to water restrictions, B.C.’s drought is affecting all corners of the province in ways surprising and predictable. Is the government doing enough to lead?

A new study found B.C. clear-cut logging was linked to up to an 84% spike in flood size. The bigger the flood, the more likely it will come back with more frequency, raising concerns over the ability of dikes to hold back floodwaters.

The First Nations Wild Salmon Alliance now claims 120 B.C. members, which has grown 18 per cent since the federal Liberals announced consultations on the eventual phase-out of open net salmon farms on the B.C. coast.

The resolution asks for funding, support to move away from outdated systems.

Evidence in the complaint prompted Canadian-based OceanWise to pull its ‘sustainable’ recommendation for southeast Alaska salmon over the summer.