Canada: Community mourns thousands of fish lost as B.C. drought risk looms again

DUNCAN, B.C. — Images of steelhead and trout flicker over long sheets of paper, brought to life in blue and green crayon rubbings by the thousands. It's called Project 84,000, and is intended to depict the number of steelhead and trout that died in a massive fish kill in the drought-stricken Cowichan River on southern Vancouver Island last year. Jennifer Shepherd has been managing the project, which involves a series of gatherings in the community to create the rubbings that will go on display later this year in what will be an art event, an environmental awareness campaign and an act of mourning for the fish killed last July. “The enormity of the loss was something that really struck me," said Shepherd, a community researcher with water sustainability group Xwulqw’selu Connections, who said the project aimed to help people comprehend the scale of the loss of life. "It felt really tragic and sad to me, and I thought this would be a good idea for us to mark together in the ...