February 24, 2011

VANCOUVER – An array of community and environmental groups, and business and fishing interests are expressing shock and disappointment with outgoing Premier Gordon Campbell’s decision to go against the wishes of the majority of British Columbians and side with the premiers of Alberta and Saskatchewan in asking the Prime Minister to defeat a bill that would permanently ban oil tankers through B.C.’s Pacific North Coast.

OTTAWA - Today in the House of Commons, New Democratic Party Fisheries and Oceans Critic Fin Donnelly tabled a motion asking for transparency and more study before genetically modified (GM) Atlantic salmon are approved for human consumption.

US company AquaBounty has genetically modified a faster growing Atlantic salmon by inserting a growth hormone gene from Chinook salmon and genetic material from ocean pout.

SOINTULA, B.C. –-Almost 28 percent of the economy of the Regional District of Mount Waddington is dependent upon a healthy ocean, according to new research commissioned jointly by Living Oceans Society and the Regional District of Mount Waddington. The study undertaken by GS Gislason and Associates Ltd. uses data from 2009 and interviews with local residents to measure both the direct contribution of marine industries to local communities and where in the regional waters these activities occur.

VANCOUVER – Today Living Oceans Society and the Coastal Alliance for Aquaculture Reform (CAAR) released a new report – Better than the Rest? A Resource Guide to Farmed Salmon Certifications. Largely written for retailers, this guide assesses the five eco-certifications on the market, two certifications in draft and the organic labels in use and in development for farmed salmon. Unfortunately all five eco-certifications fail to fully meet the requirements of credible standards.

SOINTULA, B.C.— A report by Living Oceans Society has identified numerous safety concerns associated with double-hull tankers, including corrosion and stress levels, that make the vessels an unsuitable panacea for oil spill prevention.

Vancouver, B.C. – Enbridge is attempting to dampen mounting opposition to their Northern Gateway proposal by reassuring Canadians that they will use “state of the art” technology in an oil spill cleanup – even though there has been no improvement to those same ineffective methods which were used by BP in the Gulf of Mexico catastrophe one year ago today.

Vancouver, B.C. -- On World Oceans Day, groups working to protect B.C.’s coast from oil spills are congratulating the federal NDP for choosing to make their first substantive policy proposal as Canada’s Official Opposition a private member’s bill to ban oil supertankers from Canada’s Pacific North Coast.

VANCOUVER ─ A new open net-cage salmon farm proposed by Mainstream Canada near Plover Point in the Clayoquot Sound Biosphere Reserve seeks to more than triple the size of the farm it will replace. The company has been characterizing the farm as a “replacement” site for their Cormorant tenure. But after protracted delays, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) has made existing B.C.

VANCOUVER--Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) has posted the counts of marine mammals shot or drowned at active salmon farms in B.C. during the first quarter (Jan.-Mar.) of 2011. The numbers are shocking.

VANCOUVER, B.C. – A new report released today shines a light on the dangers associated with transporting tar sands oil by Enbridge’s proposed Northern Gateway project, both along the pipeline pathway and on B.C.’s sensitive coast, which massive oil tankers would be navigating  for the first time. The report by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the Pembina Institute and Living Oceans Society, has also been endorsed by nine British Columbia organizations,