Thanking CHEO workers with a Big Breakfast
CFRA's Bill Carroll broadcasted his morning radio show from CHEO Friday and served up a big breakfast to say thank you. CTV's Josh Marano reports.
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CBC
44 minutes ago
- CBC
Millions of seahorses worth $29M smuggled illegally, study finds
Nearly five million smuggled seahorses were seized globally by authorities over a 10-year period, Canadian researchers found, warning it's only the "tip of the iceberg" in an illegal trade that is likely far larger in scale. To track how widespread the issue is, researchers at the University of British Columbia pored over public seizure reports and news stories shared between 2010 and 2021, finding nearly 300 seizures of seahorses involving 62 different countries. In total, the five million seahorses seized were worth an estimated $29 million ($21 million US), they said in a study recently published Conservation Biology. Dried seahorses are often sought for use in traditional medicine. The most common destinations for them are China and Hong Kong, the study found, but they can be purchased in Canada online and in traditional medicine shops. Because the study's conservative estimates are only drawn from public records, the "real scale of illegal seahorse trade will be much bigger," said Sarah Foster, lead author and a researcher at UBC's Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, who is also program lead at Project Seahorse, a marine conservation organization. While none of the study's publicly reported seizures were in Canada, 19 "enforcement files" related to seahorses have been opened since 2020, according to a statement from Environment and Climate Change Canada. That includes 15 in the Pacific region, "primarily involving dried seahorses or seahorse-based products (e.g., traditional medicines or supplements)." A tangled network The study also offers details on smuggling methods and the complexity of smuggling routes, said Foster. Most seahorse seizures involved passenger luggage in airports, but the largest volumes were moved by ship, she said. In the sea cargos, they were often traded alongside other wildlife, like pangolins, elephant ivory, penguin scales, sea cucumbers and shark fins. "So in devising strategies to find and flag illegal seahorse trade, authorities will also be helping to address that issue for other marine and other wildlife species," said Foster. In one unusual seizure recorded in Vietnam, the seahorses seemingly came from Peru; but when authorities looked into the species, they found that they were originally from West Africa. "These seahorses had gone [from] West Africa, [to] Peru, [and] Vietnam on their way, purportedly, to eventually end up in mainland China," she said. To counter this global trade, governments need to work together to share information and strategies on how to catch smugglers, said Foster. And more importantly, she added, guard against the threat to the species and biodiversity. Ripple effect of the trade Seahorses can be legally traded under rules outlined by the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), an agreement signed by 183 countries, including Canada. Exporters are required to have a permit, proving their trade is monitored, legally sourced and doesn't harm populations. "Those permits are very, very hard to get," said Max Valentine, campaign director of illegal fishing and transparency for Oceana, an international advocacy organization for ocean conservation. "Most of this illegal trade is [from] people who are not catching them with the permits, or with the regulations in place." Currently, two seahorse species are considered critically endangered, and another 13 are considered vulnerable to extinction, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Endangered seahorses find a home in underwater hotels 2 years ago Duration 1:01 Frames of biodegradable metal are being installed underwater off Australia's east coast to provide a home for the endangered White's Seahorses. The structures will eventually corrode, leaving a semi-natural reef that will help the wider ecosystem and give seahorses a chance to recover their species' population. Illegal harvesting has serious repercussions not just on seahorse populations, but also on the underwater environment as a whole, said Valentine. Seahorses are usually caught by bottom trawling — using large, weighed-down nets dragged across the ocean floor — which Valentine says is "widely considered one of the most destructive fishing practices on the planet." "[The nets] rip up all of the habitat that they come in contact with," she said. "By the time they've pulled these nets out of the water, everything is already dead. So we've lost all of that biomass, all of those organisms from the environment." Taking seahorses out of the environment also disrupts the food chain, she said, affecting the populations seahorses feed off of, and those that eat them, too. Saving the sea one seahorse at a time Valentine said when she first heard of this "bombshell" seahorse smuggling study, she was "shocked and appalled." "To learn that there's been such a devastating harvest, illegal harvest of these species … is really disappointing." By shedding light on the issues seahorses face, the study's authors say they hope they can bring attention to the broader threats encountered by marine life.
CBC
7 hours ago
- CBC
Sacred ribstones return to Siksika Nation after more than a century in an Ottawa museum
Social Sharing After being held in a museum in Ottawa for more than a century, two sacred cultural artifacts recently returned to Siksika Nation. Blackfoot Crossing Historical Park (BCHP), a museum on the Siksika First Nation, celebrated the repatriation of a pair of sacred ribstones, which hold deep significance to the Blackfoot people. The stones were used for meditation and prayer by previous generations, explained the historical park's CEO Shannon Bear Chief. The ribstones' return marked a homecoming of great spiritual and cultural importance, Bear Chief said. Sacred ribstones return to Siksika Nation from national museum after more than a century 5 hours ago Duration 2:22 "Just like everything else — language, culture — that was stripped from the Blackfoot people, [removing the ribstones] was also just another act to remove the meditation and the prayer," said Bear Chief. "Bringing home our objects is also a significant historical event because our spirits are coming home. And then we'll become whole as a Siksika Nation." The ribstones, which are centuries old, were originally removed from Blackfoot territory in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Earlier this year, a Blackfoot delegation travelled to the Canadian Museum of History in Ottawa to identify the items and confirm that they belonged to the Siksika people, and to ensure their return. The repatriation was marked on Friday with traditional ceremony, storytelling, performances from local artists and community gathering at the BCHP's outdoor amphitheatre. BCHP board of directors chair Strater Crowfoot said in previous generations, people would go to the ribstones, make offerings and wait for buffalo to arrive. He said their return is significant as a way to establish a connection between current and future Blackfoot generations, and their ancestors. "We can tell our future generations what they were used for, and how they were helpful [to] maintain our life and exist on the prairies by being able to hunt the buffalo and live off the buffalo and live off the land," said Crowfoot. "For us to bring these home and recount the significance of them to our people and to our future, it's important that we have them here to be able to tell that story." Martin Heavy Head, a Kainai Nation elder who was part of the group that travelled to Ottawa to identify where the stones came from, notes the ribstones are just two of many items that were taken from the Blackfoot people or destroyed. He underlined the significance of continuing efforts to return artifacts like the ribstone to their origin. "Repatriation is a lot of things. It's not just repatriating objects, it's also repatriating knowledge, territory. It's repatriating our lives that have been taken away," Heavy Head said. The stones were returned as part of an ongoing program focused on preserving, reclaiming and sharing sacred Blackfoot artifacts. The Blackfoot First Nations Sacred Ceremonial Objects Repatriation Regulation was introduced in 2023, which set out a process to repatriate sacred ceremonial objects to the Siksika Nation, Blood Tribe and Piikani Nation. Several other important artifacts have been repatriated through this process in recent years. A different sacred rock was returned to Siksika Nation in 2023 to be displayed at BCHP, after it sat in a farmer's field in central Alberta since the early 1900s. And a year earlier, the regalia of a former Blackfoot chief was returned from the Royal Albert Museum in Exeter, England. Crowfoot said they're looking at repatriating more items from museums around North America and Europe.
CTV News
8 hours ago
- CTV News
Local brewery commemorates D-Day with Canadian Navy sailors
A local brewery in Regina is honouring the anniversary of D-Day through a monthly longstanding tradition of theirs – First Firkin Friday. 'We have never had a military promotion at First Firkin Friday before. This was a first,' said Grant Frew, bar and marketing manager at Bushwakker Brewpub. The event introduces a new craft beer every month in an effort to bring the community together and celebrate a milestone. On June 6, a Royal Canadian Navy in Regina - HMCS Queen – participated in the occasion to help commemorate D-Day – which is considered the largest combined land, sea and air invasion in history and marked the beginning of the end of the Second World War in Europe. 'Today is a special commemorative edition of First Firkin Friday where are acknowledging the D-Day efforts of the Allied Forces 81 years ago today,' explained Frew. 'We are very excited to have members of HMCS Queen here to help commemorate that event. We produced a very special beer involving our Regina Pale Ale, Toasted Oak, and sailors really liked their rum so Pusser's Navy Rum was also part of this special beer we created today.' As the Regina Rifles played an instrumental role as part of Operation Overlord on June 6, 1944, one current sailor of HMCS Queen said it is critical to honour the history of those who served, collaboratively. 'The Navy is the community. That's where our people come from, that's where we recruit from,' said Tyrel Beler. 'It's very important that we have close ties with the community to better foster our relations between us so we can continue to exist and help our people out.' HMCS Queen Commanding Officer Aaron Kaytor also shared the importance of paying tribute to the Canadian Navy on the commemorative day. 'It may not be as acknowledged as those brave soldiers who stormed the beaches, but over 100 Canadian ships participated that day or somewhere in the neighborhood of 10,000 Canadian sailors,' shared Kaytor. 'They participated in mine clearance landings, shore bombardment, as well as escort duty, and without them, those soldiers may have not have made it all the way to the beach so they could do their duty.' Although this is the first time a military unit participated in Bushwakker's firkin Friday event, it will not be the last time sailors visit the brewery, as a model of the HMCS Regina ship will be unveiled later this year. 'There was a small number of modelers who are currently serving members of the current HMCS Regina who have created a model of a previous HMCS Regina and are donating it to the Bushwakker,' explained Kaytor. 'What we've arranged is for that ship model to be presented here sometime in August. I don't have the exact date yet. It's going to be coinciding with a namesake city visit where we have eight to 12 members of the crew of HMCS Regina who will fly to Regina, Saskatchewan and present the model at that event.' The HMCS Queen and the Royal Canadian Navy has been present in Regina for the last 100 years, having first been established in 1923. - With files from Gareth Dillistone
