Tag Archives: Baynes Sound

Rivers & Oceans

Deep Water Recovery executives say shipbreaking operations aren’t polluting Union Bay

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By Madeline Dunnett, The Discourse,  Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

On a stormy day at the end of September, the vessels at Deep Water Recovery’s site in Union Bay were being pummelled with rain. Robert Bohn Senior, one of the company owners, and operations manager Mark Jurisich were clad in high-visibility clothing and gumboots.

The two men were leading myself and The Discourse Nanaimo reporter, Mick Sweetman, on a tour of the property. It was the first time The Discourse was offered a visit to the site, though we have been reporting on the shipbreaking situation in Union Bay since October 2023.

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Transportation

BC Ferries was in negotiations with controversial ship-breaking operation, email shows

Editor’s note: The following article is of interest because of BC Ferries involvement and the fact Union Bay is close to our broadcast area.

By Madeline Dunnett, The Discourse,  Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

BC Ferries was at one point actively negotiating with Deep Water Recovery, a controversial ship-breaking operation in Union Bay, regarding the dismantling of an end-of-life vessel. That’s according to an email from BC Ferries, obtained through an access to information request.

“Everybody thought it was just here because they didn’t have a place to store it,” said Marilynn Manning, a Union Bay resident and member of Concerned Citizens of Baynes Sound, during a rally against the operation in October. “But we found out through freedom of information that [Deep Water Recovery] was in negotiation to take it apart here.” 

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Rivers & Oceans

DFO ‘responds’ to shellfish growers concerns

On March 27 Cortes Currents published some of the concerns shared by many Cortes Island shellfish growers. Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) did not have adequate time to respond, which it eventually did by email on April 6, 2023. Cortes Currents was hoping to secure an interview and sent DFO a list of topics to be covered. The most important was ‘the problems of liveaboards and recreational boaters coming too close to shellfish growing sites.’

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Rivers & Oceans, Waste

Coastal communities ‘fed up’ with B.C. shellfish sector’s plastics problem

National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Coastal communities are tired of paying to clean up plastic and debris from the B.C. shellfish industry to protect the marine environment, stewardship groups say.

The amount of garbage being retrieved from beaches in areas where shellfish aquaculture is concentrated grows year after year, and there’s little apparent enforcement by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) to deal with the issue, said Dorrie Woodward, chair of the Association for Denman Island Marine Stewards (ADIMS).

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Rivers & Oceans, Weather

Oyster & Clam sectors burned during heat wave

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National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Dave Nikleva walks the shoreline of a Cortes Island beach nudging oysters with the toe of his boot.

“Dead. Dead. Dead,” Nikleva mutters as he goes along.

The shellfish farmer stoops over to pick up one bigger specimen for inspection before tossing it back on the beach.

The stench along this stretch of Gorge Harbour at low tide is tremendous. But it was even worse two weeks ago when a record-breaking heat wave cooked thousands upon thousands of oysters in their shells in the final days of June.

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