Latest news with #FisheriesAndOceans
CBC
22-07-2025
- CBC
Rare leatherback sea turtle spotted off B.C. coast
Social Sharing A B.C. nurse has documented a giant sea turtle swimming off the coast of Haida Gwaii, a collection of islands off B.C.'s northwest coast — a sighting that's being celebrated by conservation specialists, as leatherback sea turtles are critically endangered in Canada. Victoria Bradshaw, who works as a nurse in a remote fishing lodge on Haida Gwaii, was out on the water fishing near Langara Island with her coworker Aidan Horne on July 14 when she saw something pop up out of the water. "I instantly thought sea lion just because we see them quite often, and Aiden, who I was with, kind of announced, 'That's not a sea lion. That's the sea turtle,'" said Bradshaw. "We kind of dropped everything, and I grabbed my phone and this very large creature just decided to hang out with us for a little while." Bradshaw said she was surprised at how gigantic the animal was, estimating it ranging between six and eight feet (1.8-2½ metres in size). At first, Bradshaw says she had no idea how rare it was to spot a leatherback sea turtle, especially on B.C.'s coast. "I didn't know it was an option for my bucket list, but apparently it was." Leatherbacks are the largest turtles in the world but are critically endangered. According to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, there have only been 149 unique sightings of sea turtles on B.C.'s coast since 1931. "Leatherback sea turtles belong off the coast of British Columbia, but they are the rarest of the rare," said Jackie Hildering, a communications and education director for the Marine Education and Research Society. Hildering says they are the only sea turtles that are able to adapt to cold waters and travel thousands of kilometres from as far away as Indonesia to feed on B.C. jellyfish. "Amongst the astonishing adaptations of these living dinosaurs is that they can deal with a really broad range of temperatures," she said. Leatherback sea turtles are recognized as being endangered in Canada and protected under the Species at Risk Act. Hildering says only about five per cent of the Pacific population is left, and threats to their survival include entanglement in fishing gear, collision with boats, and plastic pollution. "You may not have known that these amazingly adapted living dinosaurs are your marine neighbours, but your day-to-day actions do impact them," she said. Bradshaw said she's seen a lot of wildlife while living on Haida Gwaii, but spotting the leatherback sea turtle has shifted her perspective. "This animal was very healthy and safe and was just enjoying his life. It was just so magical," said Brashaw. "I think a little bit more about how important our waters are to so many different marine mammals and every creature that we don't even know about. It's just so important that we protect them and recognize that when we do get those really special moments." Hildering asks those who spot a sea turtle to report it at 1-866-472-9663 or visit the Canadian Sea Turtle Network online.
CBC
26-06-2025
- Science
- CBC
Curious great white shark circles lobster boat off Cape Breton, chomps briefly on hull
A Cape Breton lobster fisherman and his crew had the encounter of a lifetime this week when a 4.5-metre great white shark circled his boat just off Sight Point, N.S., coming close enough to briefly bite the hull. Jimmy MacArthur, who has fished these waters since 1984, was working about three kilometres from Inverness in approximately 18 metres of water when the encounter occurred Monday morning. MacArthur said he heard a splash but it wasn't until he saw the dorsal fin that he knew it was a shark. "I'm kind of a shark fan and I'm on the ocean my whole life and I never seen anything like I seen that day," MacArthur said. "It was pretty good." WATCH | Cape Breton fisherman describes seeing great white shark Cape Breton fisherman has close encounter with great white shark 7 minutes ago Duration 1:12 A lobster fisherman in Cape Breton recently had a close encounter with a great white shark. Jimmy MacArthur was off Sight Point, N.S., when he saw something he's never seen in his 40 years of fishing. The massive predator spent about four minutes investigating the vessel. MacArthur said the shark came within an arm's length and at one point tried to take a bite out of the back of the boat. Warren Joyce, a shark expert with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, confirmed the species after reviewing video of the encounter. "It is a white shark, yes," Joyce said, noting the animal's behaviour of approaching and testing the boat with its mouth is characteristic of shark curiosity. The shark appeared to have a noticeable protrusion under its dorsal fin that caught the researcher's attention. "It might be a wound that's just kind of healing over," Joyce speculated. "I've never quite seen something that large," he added. The sighting occurred in the same general area where Canada's first recorded great white shark attack happened in 2021, Joyce said. He noted that while such encounters remain rare, sightings have increased in recent years. "We are seeing more and more of them every year," he said. MacArthur, who called the experience "really exciting," said he never felt in danger despite the shark's close approach. He said he wasn't afraid because he knew his boat was big enough to keep him and his crew safe. Great white sharks are a protected species in Canada and it is against the law to touch or harm them. Joyce says anyone sighting them should "enjoy the view and just use common sense and caution." He said he didn't see any signs of tracking tags on the shark and believes it is an untagged animal. Joyce said he has written his colleagues at the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy in Cape Cod and sent them the video. He said researchers there will check a database of over 700 identified white sharks to determine if the shark has been previously documented. For MacArthur, the encounter marked a career highlight. His only regret? "My wife was supposed to come out with me that day," he said with a laugh. "She missed the good thing."
CTV News
27-05-2025
- General
- CTV News
Invasive pond loach found in N.S.
Invasive pond loach found in N.S. Fisheries and Oceans Canada says an invasive type of fish called a pond loach has been found in Nova Scotia.
Globe and Mail
21-05-2025
- Science
- Globe and Mail
Fraser River to see record-breaking run of pink salmon
British Columbia's Fraser River is on track to see a massive run of pink salmon this year, possibly the greatest since recordkeeping began. Around August and September, some 27 million pinks will be swimming upstream, almost doubling the last run's numbers, according to Fisheries and Oceans scientist Kaitlyn Dionne. Flying over the Barrière River, a tributary of the Fraser, Ms. Dionne said last year's run looked 'like a carpet of pink salmon from one end of the river to the other.' While this surge of fish will be largely welcomed by a coast that has long seen crashing salmon stocks, it is not a straightforward gain. By competing with other, more commercially important species of salmon, the rising pink tide could have profound consequences for the ocean and the people who rely on it, according to Fisheries and Oceans scientist Brendan Connors. Despite continuing declines in other salmon stocks across B.C., pink salmon populations have been growing rapidly, a trend seen across the North Pacific. In fact, there are more salmon in the Pacific Ocean now than at any time in the past century. One driver of the increase is climate change, which is creating better conditions for salmon farther north while harming the B.C. populations in the south, Mr. Connors explained. But 'having more [pink] salmon in the North Pacific is not a net positive for British Columbia,' he said. 'It means that those salmon from B.C. that do migrate far north have to compete with more mouths that are all looking for the same amount of food.' Known for their rosy hue and pronounced humpback, pink salmon hatch in the streams of B.C. and Yukon before migrating out to sea, like all Pacific salmon. In the open ocean, salmon from all along the coast spend their adult lives mingling in the North Pacific, where they take advantage of the abundant food the Arctic waters provide. When they get to the ocean, pinks grow fast, eating anything and everything. This speedy growth helps them dominate the ecosystem. By one estimate, pinks currently comprise almost 70 per cent of all the salmon in the Pacific. This leaves little food for the rest of the salmon, compromising their growth, survival and populations. For sockeye in the Fraser, this competition for food has been even more impactful than climate change and is thought to be a factor in that species' crashing stocks, Mr. Connors said. And the competition doesn't just affect other salmon species; it hits every level of the food chain, from plankton to humpback whales. It hasn't always been this way. Around the 1970s, pink salmon populations started to tick upward. This coincided with Russian and Alaskan efforts to ramp up pink salmon hatcheries, which today produce an estimated 16 per cent of the species. (A negligible amount comes from Canadian hatcheries.) Taking advantage of a warming Arctic and aided by those Russian hatcheries, pinks have expanded across Northern Russia and into Scandinavia, establishing themselves in waters far beyond their native range and threatening to replace the native Atlantic salmon. Already, there have been reports of pinks reaching the Canadian Arctic. 'Climate change is generally creating more favourable marine conditions at northern latitudes,' Mr. Connors said. 'And that's allowed pink salmon to really explode. But that doesn't explain what's happening in the Fraser.' The Fraser runs past Vancouver and into lower B.C., near the southern extent of pink salmon's range. Here, there is no climate-change-induced habitat expansion and little hatchery support, yet this summer's run is expected to beat any on record, according to Ms. Dionne. This comes after a string of lucky breaks for Fraser River salmon that have led to improving returns of other species too, according to a report by the Pacific Salmon Foundation. Coho and chinook salmon runs are also on the rise, yet their expected returns of 109,000 and 425,000, respectively, pale next to the pinks' forecast run. The past few years have seen less fishing pressure on the stock, not that it is high anyway. Pinks are not especially sought-after. Most of the commercial catch goes to canned salmon, a market dominated by Russia's and Alaska's hatchery-raised pinks, which often flood the market early in the season. Two years ago, this brought Canadian pinks' value 'so low that it wasn't worth the gas to catch them for the commercial fisheries,' Ms. Dionne said. Other factors, including good weather and improved spawning habitat, have also helped Fraser River stocks. 'Fraser River pink salmon are an example of how resilient salmon are,' Mr. Connors said. When given a chance, 'you can have a lot of salmon coming back.' Even with their major comeback, the Fraser pinks may still be below historic levels. Before 1915, when a landslide cut off much of the upper Fraser, pinks were thought to come back in the order of 48 million per year, according to one paper – almost twice this year's expected run. Pinks have long been a part of life for the First Nations up the coast. According to Nathan Lustig, a fisheries biologist with the Scw'exmx Tribal Council, these large runs are 'incredibly important to the bears and the eagles and everything that makes use of the salmon as they come home to spawn,' including people. ' It gives us an opportunity for people to go fishing,' he added, an integral part of the community's traditions. For those who depend on the river for a living, enormous runs of pinks can be a boon. Dean Werk, an Indigenous sport fishing guide in Chilliwack, says that while pinks have long been undervalued for fishing, their rise and simultaneous fall of other species mean they are becoming increasingly important. He hopes that if pinks continue to come back like this, it will draw in anglers from abroad, the way sockeye runs used to do. 'If we take care of this, we're gonna have a great run for generations to come,' Mr. Werk said. 'It could be our salmon of the future.'
