The Nootka Sound Watershed Society (NSWS) is nearing completion of its three-year riparian restoration project for watersheds located within traditional Nuu-chah-nulth territories.

As the government tightens restrictions on salmon farming, an aquaculture company on the West Coast is relying on technological advancements to meet a growing global demand.

Getting open net-pen fish farms out of the ocean appears to be more complicated than it sounded when this plan was promised by the Liberals in last fall’s federal election.

This year Fisheries and Oceans Canada is consulting with First Nations across B.C., a mosaic of coastal communities with diverse connections to the controversial industry.

Back in March of 2020, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic put Cody Nielsen-Robinson in a tough position.

The 24-year-old’s Level 1 carpentry course was put on hold, with few prospects of progressing his career aspirations amid the new restrictions.

“I really was in a pickle because I couldn’t continue,” recalled Nielsen-Robinson. “They were pushing it through but they were online classes and I couldn’t really learn how to use power tools through Zoom meetings.”

Observations this year from Huu-ay-aht territory see that volume of herring may finally be improving, as the First Nation is reporting a growing number of wild salmon migrating through its rivers.

Vancouver Island MLA Josie Osborne has been appointed as minister of Land, Water and Resource Stewardship and the minister responsible for Fisheries by Premier John Horgan. 

"The new ministry for land stewardship reflects the fact that natural resources are foundational to our province and they are the backbone of many local economies," Horgan said in a release.

Since 2017, the B.C. government said it’s been working on three broad land and resource management goals: reconciliation with Indigenous nations, environmental sustainability, and economic activity.

An Indigenous-led dive team was busy last week scanning the waters of the Alberni Inlet for ghost fishing gear and garbage.

The team, consisting of lead Henderson Charlie, his brother Greg Charlie and nephew Jermaine Bulwer, all from Ahousaht First Nation, were contracted by the Coastal Restoration Society (CRS) to complete surveys of what they found while diving in the Barkley Sound.

Gold River, a small village municipality nestled in the mountains, has a separate waterfront 12 kilometres down Highway 28 at Muchalat Bay.

The unusual degree of separation stems from another era and a resource development boom in B.C., when Tahsis Company built the town to house employees for its pulp mill located in the river delta at the head of Muchalat Arm.

Ryan Broekhuizen can vividly recall the last time the Alberni Armada had captured a major girls’ basketball championship.

A senior girls’ squad representing Alberni District Secondary School (ADSS), captured the Vancouver Island championship way back in 1987.

“It was 35 years ago,” Broekhuizen said. “I graduated from high school that year.”

Fast forward to 2022 and Broekhuizen, an ADSS alumnus, is now the head coach of the Armada, a squad that features his daughter Jordyn as its star point guard and top point-getter.

It has been a quiet, picturesque village for as long as anyone can remember, but with road improvements set to begin later this year, Anacla and its neighbor Bamfield are seeing a dramatically increasing demand for housing.

Chief Councillor Robert Dennis says the Huu-ay-aht village of Anacla has maintained a steady population of about 85 to 90 residents up to the year 2020. But the following year saw a dramatic increase to 156, and he expects that number to grow even more by this time next year when the chip sealing and paving of the road to Port Alberni is complete.