Tag Archives: BC shellfish Grower’s Association

Environment, Rivers & Oceans

B.C. launches blueprint to fend off climate’s ‘one-two punch’ on the ocean

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

B.C. has unveiled an action plan to tackle the two greatest climate threats to the ocean, coastal communities and marine ecosystems on the West Coast. 

Ocean acidification and hypoxia (OAH), or plummeting oxygen levels, that often occur in tandem with a snowball effect, are spiking due to human-caused greenhouse gas emissions. 

The plan’s goals include strengthening scientific collaboration and research and public awareness on these issues. Finding ways to adapt to or mitigate the negative impacts of OAH is also a priority. 

The province also wants a better understanding of how or if blue carbon — CO2 captured naturally from the atmosphere by marine plants and algae — could or should be used as a natural solution to buffer acidification and hypoxia.  

Continue reading B.C. launches blueprint to fend off climate’s ‘one-two punch’ on the ocean →
Rivers & Oceans, Waste

Quadra Island’s ‘Dream Team Beach Clean-up’

Quadra Island’s 3-month-long beach clean-up finished over the weekend.

“Once a week, usually on Wednesdays, we would go on a remote beach hike,  to different areas on Quadra that were hard to access.  We had to go hiking for maybe an hour or so to some of these places and then collect and leave debris, and then we’d have to return by boat another day,” explained Nevil Hand, who organized the campaign.

Continue reading Quadra Island’s ‘Dream Team Beach Clean-up’ →
Rivers & Oceans

Growers Perspective: Boats and Aquaculture in Gorge Harbour

On Monday March 6, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) closed the waters and intertidal foreshore of Deep Bay Harbour, on Vancouver Island, to oyster and scallop growers, due to ‘sanitary reasons.’ 

 Erik Lyon, owner operator of Rising Tide Shellfish on Cortes Island explained, “The problem is too many people  in too close a proximity to shellfish farms. You can’t have any shellfish destined for human consumption in  water where there’s any kind of a man-made dock, boat liveaboard or float house within 125 metres. That’s a setback that’s always been in place.” 

Continue reading Growers Perspective: Boats and Aquaculture in Gorge Harbour →
Rivers & Oceans, Waste

West Coast infrastructure is on the rise to stem the wave of ocean plastics

National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Editor’s note: FOCI volunteers carried out a ‘Mother’s Day Beach Clean-up of the beach between Hollyhock and Seaford Road, Cortes Island on May 9, 2022.

Coastal community cleanup groups on eastern Vancouver Island have been itching for the opening of B.C.’s newest ocean debris recycling depot. 

The Cumberland site, operated by Comox Strathcona Waste Management (CSWM) in partnership with the Ocean Legacy Foundation, opened in mid-June to tackle the tonnes of plastic washing ashore in the region, said Stephanie Valdal, CSWM’s waste management services co-ordinator. 

Continue reading West Coast infrastructure is on the rise to stem the wave of ocean plastics →
Rivers & Oceans

B.C. shellfish growers experiencing a watershed moment


National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Quadra Island oyster farmer Steve Pocock believes B.C.’s shellfish sector is facing a watershed moment. 

West Coast growers have endured a tough couple of years as the COVID-19 pandemic dried up demand from restaurants and international markets, and extreme temperatures in June cooked countless beach-grown oysters and clams alive in their shells.   

And now growers have another sink or swim dilemma — the need to change farming practices and tackle marine debris created by the shellfish sector, said Pocock, who is also president of the BC Shellfish Growers Association (BCSGA). 

Continue reading B.C. shellfish growers experiencing a watershed moment →