Ocean Protection

Saanich-based researcher Teale Phelps Bondaroff holds dried sea cucumbers at a market in Singapore. (Photo courtesy of OceansAsia)

Cool as a sea cucumber: B.C. researcher exposing organized crime’s underwater tentacles

Documentary on south Asian marine poaching spurred by work of Teale Phelps Bondaroff and team

 

Burnaby vet technician Jocelyn Marsh shows off part of her pill bottle return program. (Jane Skrypnek/Black Press Media)

B.C. veterinarian has plan to eliminate millions of pieces of plastic from Canadian clinics

Very simple changes can have a large impact if adopted broadly, Jocelyn Marsh says

 

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during a news conference on Bowen Island, B.C., on Tuesday, July 19, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Trudeau launches expanded oceans protection plan, with aim to reach more regions

Government pledged to add $2 billion over 9 years to $1.5 billion already set aside for program

 

The Canadian Coast Guard ship called John P. Tully has been used to bring scientists to the Explorer Seamount — Canada’s largest underwater mountain. (Devon Bidal/News Staff)

West Coast expedition off B.C. explores never-before-seen deep-sea habitat

‘We are going to habitats that nobody’s mapped before, that nobody’s seen before’

The Canadian Coast Guard ship called John P. Tully has been used to bring scientists to the Explorer Seamount — Canada’s largest underwater mountain. (Devon Bidal/News Staff)
Surfrider Pacific Rim core crew hold the ‘Dart Board’, a surfboard made with cigarette butts by Ucluelet shaper Jesse Jones. (Submitted photo)

WORLD OCEANS DAY: Canada’s first cigarette surfboard brings awareness to tobacco pollution

Surfrider Pacific Rim would like to see a federal ban on cellulose acetate cigarette filters

Surfrider Pacific Rim core crew hold the ‘Dart Board’, a surfboard made with cigarette butts by Ucluelet shaper Jesse Jones. (Submitted photo)
Bioform’s Rami Younes (right) and Jordan MacKenzie (left) showing a sheet of the bioplastic. (Credit: Kai Jacobson/UBC Applied Science)

UBC scientists aim to put plastic in the past with 2 new inventions

Biodegradable product could replace plastic, unique coating could extend its life

Bioform’s Rami Younes (right) and Jordan MacKenzie (left) showing a sheet of the bioplastic. (Credit: Kai Jacobson/UBC Applied Science)
Department of Fisheries and Oceans Marine Mammal Response Team members remove baleen from a dead fin whale as they perform a necropsy at Pender Harbour, B.C., in a March 20, 2022, handout photo. The head veterinarian at the Ocean Wise Marine Mammal Centre and the Vancouver Aquarium says it is concerning when such rare animals die because it affects the population. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-DFO, Paul Cottrell,

Rare fin whale found dead on remote beach in British Columbia

Exams suggest two-year-old whale was killed by blunt force trauma from a possible vessel strike

Department of Fisheries and Oceans Marine Mammal Response Team members remove baleen from a dead fin whale as they perform a necropsy at Pender Harbour, B.C., in a March 20, 2022, handout photo. The head veterinarian at the Ocean Wise Marine Mammal Centre and the Vancouver Aquarium says it is concerning when such rare animals die because it affects the population. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-DFO, Paul Cottrell,
Quillback rock fish on a marine protected area glass sponge reef. (Photo credit of CPAWS-BC, Diane Reid)

Watchdog says B.C.’s marine protected areas fall short in protecting biodiversity

Activities such as bottom trawling active in some MPAs, future threats looming

Quillback rock fish on a marine protected area glass sponge reef. (Photo credit of CPAWS-BC, Diane Reid)
Oceans Cleanup CEO and founder Bayon Slat speaks to the crowd in front of their vessel’s crew members on Wednesday, Oct. 20. (Kiernan Green/News Staff)

Ocean Cleanup returns to B.C. with its first dent out of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Victoria in the running as company looks for a base of operations to meet its 2040 goal

Oceans Cleanup CEO and founder Bayon Slat speaks to the crowd in front of their vessel’s crew members on Wednesday, Oct. 20. (Kiernan Green/News Staff)
(The Canadian Press photo)

An ocean menace: Study finds ghost gear capturing species at risk and lobster

‘We can actually make more money if we clean up our act’

(The Canadian Press photo)
Crews with the $3.5-million provincially funded Marine Debris Removal Initiative remove discarded and lost gear from B.C.’s central coast in the summer of 2020. (Photo supplied by Simon Agar)

Coastal Cleanup stages sequel of bid to rid B.C. coast of garbage

West Coast cleanup nets over 200 tonnes of marine debris

Crews with the $3.5-million provincially funded Marine Debris Removal Initiative remove discarded and lost gear from B.C.’s central coast in the summer of 2020. (Photo supplied by Simon Agar)
A derelict vessel in Ladysmith. (Black Press file photo)

Feds to pay for 80 abandoned boat assessments and removals in B.C.

Transport Canada will work with partners on Vancouver Island and central coast

A derelict vessel in Ladysmith. (Black Press file photo)
Crews with the $3.5-million provincially funded Marine Debris Removal Initiative remove discarded and lost gear from B.C.’s central coast in the summer of 2020. (Photo supplied by the Small Ship Tour Operators Association of B.C.)

Barrels of fuel to children’s toys: B.C. shoreline cleanup nets 127 tonnes of marine debris

Government-funded project employed out-of-work marine-tour operators

Crews with the $3.5-million provincially funded Marine Debris Removal Initiative remove discarded and lost gear from B.C.’s central coast in the summer of 2020. (Photo supplied by the Small Ship Tour Operators Association of B.C.)
A joint effort between local fishery officers, the Canadian Coast Guard and others resulted in the seizure of more than 300 illegal crab traps in Boundary Bay near White Rock this month. (Fisheries and Oceans Canada photo)

More than 300 illegal crab traps seized from B.C. waters near White Rock

Boundary Bay seizure a five-day operation that involved fisheries officers, Coast Guard hovercraft

A joint effort between local fishery officers, the Canadian Coast Guard and others resulted in the seizure of more than 300 illegal crab traps in Boundary Bay near White Rock this month. (Fisheries and Oceans Canada photo)
Washed up plastics on log fields. (Simon Ager / Maple Leaf Adventures photo)

Inside the ongoing mission to scrub clean B.C.’s wild beaches

Six-week coastal expedition going to run out of time before it runs out of garbage

Washed up plastics on log fields. (Simon Ager / Maple Leaf Adventures photo)
A diver inspects one of B.C.’s glass sponge reefs. The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society-BC is calling on the federal government to extend refuge protections for six newly discovered reefs. Dale Sanders photo

B.C. group renews call for protection of newly discovered glass sponge reefs

DFO says public consultation will play heavy role in future protection measures

A diver inspects one of B.C.’s glass sponge reefs. The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society-BC is calling on the federal government to extend refuge protections for six newly discovered reefs. Dale Sanders photo