The Glass Sponge reefs we are focusing on are in the waters of Saanich Inlet near Senanus Island. Senanus island is part of the Tsartlip reserve, and encompasses sacred burial sites as well as being central to the ancestral history of the Tsartlip Nation.Continue reading
Saanich Inlet Protection Society (SIPS), in co-operation with Surfrider Foundation’s Blue Water Task Force, has started a water quality testing program in Brentwood Bay. The program detects potential sewage contamination by testing for bacteria.Continue reading
Saanich Inlet Protection Society (SIPS), in co-operation with Surfrider Foundation’s Blue Water Task Force, has started a water quality testing program in Brentwood Bay. The program detects potential sewage contamination by testing for bacteria.Continue reading
The plan to improve the safety and reliability of the Malahat corridor is now on hold with serious environmental concerns being recognized. The need for greater review puts the project on hold.Continue reading
HCRS and David Suzuki are going to be gathering outside the Department of Fisheries in Vancouver on Monday, November 17th to hand deliver our response to the draft herring fishery management plan.Continue reading
Please read the SIPS response to the latest from the Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) regarding the herring situation below. We recently heard the phrase "the herring are being managed to extinction" and find it ironically appropriate.Continue reading
You are invited to the Esquimalt Gorge Pavilion, Thursday, October 30th, 5:30 to 9 PM and hear all about herring. What Can We Do Now About the Herring Troubles? Buy your tickets now. Continue reading
To improve the safety and reliability of the Malahat corridor the province proposes widening 1.7 kilometres of the highway near the provincial park, plus the installation of over 1.5 kilometres of a median barrier. The highway however would remain one lane in each direction. A 2024 environmental assessment report says the ‘improvements’ will not be without environmental circumstance. Continue reading
Puget Sound Institute continues the Science of Puget Sound Water Quality workshop series, which explores emerging science and insights to help protect water quality in Puget Sound. Register for the event!Continue reading
Sir David Attenborough at 99 says: "After almost 100 years on the planet, I now understand the most important place on Earth is not on land, but at sea." This resounding statement is part of the message in the new cinema-length film "Ocean" which he believes could play a decisive role in saving biodiversity and protecting the planet from climate change.Continue reading
A federal decision to increase herring quotas in B.C. is facing pushback from critics who say increased fishing could threaten the return of a species that forms the base of the marine food chain.Continue reading
Vice President of SIPS Michael Simmons has drafted a letter to Misty MacDuffee & John Driscoll in regard to the continuing lack of action from the province on the Herring situation. You can read that letter here.Continue reading
From eggs to adults Pacific herring provide food for salmon and other flsh, birds,mammals, and people.Continue reading
Sydney Dixon from Pacific Wild has some great articles (as always) regarding the state of herring fishery in British Columbia. Well worth your time to read.Continue reading
Hereditary chiefs of four Saanich Peninsula First Nations united to call for a complete moratorium on this year’s herring fishery.Continue reading
Hereditary chiefs of four Saanich Peninsula First Nations united to call for a complete moratorium on this year’s herring fishery.Continue reading
Read the joint submission on herring which we have signed along with many other NGOs. It was sent by Pacific Wild who created the original letter and pulled it together.Continue reading
Please read the SIPS response to the Draft Commercial Fishing Plan for Herring for the coming year.Continue reading
WSÁNEĆ Elder Carl Olsen has been protesting the expansion of the Malahat highway at Goldstream Provincial Park for almost two years. Come rain or shine, he’s at the park every Tuesday from 10 a.m. to noon with some supporters and a handful of signs saying “save the stream” and “save the salmon”. Continue reading
Vice President of SIPS Michael Simmons has drafted a letter to Misty MacDuffee & John Driscoll in regard to the continuing lack of action from the province on the Herring situation. You can read that letter here.Continue reading
What do we have to do to get you herring to spawn in our clean, healthy and lovely Gorge Waterway?Continue reading
Vice President of SIPS Michael Simmons has drafted a letter to Minister Nathan Cullen in regard to the continuing lack of action from the province on the Herring situation. You can read that letter here.Continue reading
Jim Shortreed and Briony Penn from the Herring Conservation and Restoration Society review the state of herring in the Salish Sea, and what can be done to preserve and enhance this precious resource.Continue reading
The basking shark, a fish the size of a bus, used to appear off the BC coast every spring. During the 40s the fish was declared a nuisance to commercial nets and fishing trollers. By 1970, the basking shark was virtually eradicated in BC.Continue reading
The draft plan offers options to reopen areas for fisheries that are presently closed. For the Strait of Georgia, the only area presently open for commercial fisheries, options are offered to increase commercial fisheries.Continue reading
The basking shark, a fish the size of a bus, used to appear off the BC coast every spring. During the 40s the fish was declared a nuisance to commercial nets and fishing trollers. By 1970, the basking shark was virtually eradicated in BC.Continue reading
The Official notice from DFO notifying the public of the proposed herring plans for the Food and Bait Fishery and for the Special Use Fishery for 2023-2024 for the Strait of Georgia. The Strait of Georgia Herring fishery is the ONLY herring fishery on the BC Coast that is still open. All others are closed because of over-fishing.Continue reading
Our concern is with Area 191, Saanich Inlet, where at present no herring fishery is permitted and no herring spawn currently occurs. SIPS seeks to recreate ecological balance in Saanich Inlet by restoring the fundamental role of herring to the Inlet’s ecosystem.Continue reading