On August 2, Nova Scotia’s Environment and Climate Change minister Tim Halman approved the proposal by Toronto’s Signal Gold for an open pit gold mine in Goldboro, on the province’s Eastern Shore. Signal Gold, which until recently was called Anaconda Mining (an anaconda is a giant snake that strangles its prey), plans to operate the […]
Endangered wild salmon at risk from sea lice outbreak at two fish farms in Annapolis Basin
Outbreak at Kelly Cove Salmon's two farms first after a "long, long time" of the company saying the parasites aren't an issue here, EAC says.
Elevated sea lice levels at two fish farms in the Annapolis Basin could impact the endangered wild Atlantic salmon population in Nova Scotia, ecologists say. In a recent hearing before the Aquaculture Review Board, Kelly Cove Salmon Ltd. (a division of Cooke Aquaculture) acknowledged it’s been dealing with elevated levels of sea lice in two […]
Sea lice are decimating Atlantic salmon, and climate change is making the situation worse
A recent study shows that the negative effects of sea lice increase as water warms, and that increases the risk that open-net pen salmon farming present for wild salmon.
A Dalhousie University researcher is among a team of scientists tracking a big threat to Atlantic salmon: sea lice. Climate change can increase risks of disease in marine ecosystems and pose an additional threat to the health of Atlantic salmon, according to a recent paper published in Nature’s peer-reviewed journal, Scientific Reports, and authored by […]
Small dam, big controversy
How the contentious aboiteau at the Windsor Causeway could generate a national conversation about fish passage.
The Mi’kmaq call the Avon River “Tooetunook,” which means “flowing square into the sea,” or more specifically, into the Minas Basin in the upper Bay of Fundy. Since 1970, when the Windsor causeway was constructed across the Avon, the river hasn’t exactly been able to “flow square” at all. That’s because the aboiteau — the […]
“Nature won”
Supreme Court ruling orders province to meet the obligations of the Endangered Species Act.
“Nature won.” That’s how retired wildlife biologist Bob Bancroft reacted to a judge’s decision on Friday which essentially orders the Department of Lands and Forestry to obey provincial law when it comes to protecting endangered, threatened, and vulnerable species. There are 60 plants and animals identified under Nova Scotia’s Endangered Species Act. But the judicial...
Muzzling the Forest Keepers
A Field Guide to Boreal Felt Lichen and DNR Message Control
Endangered boreal felt lichen. Photo courtesy Brad Toms. A redacted email exchange recently obtained through a Freedom of Information request revealed that on November 7, 2014, Allan Eddy, the associate deputy minister of the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources, was not happy with something he had just seen. Eddy was attending the annual science conference […]