Tag Archives: Boats too close to shellfish lease

Food, Rivers & Oceans

Oyster update

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From the Cortes Island Seafood Association

First, some relevant facts —

  1. Under the Pleasure Craft and Non-Pleasure Craft Sewage Pollution Prevention Regulations, Gorge Harbour has been a no-discharge-zone for boater sewage waste since June, 2000.
  2. Under the terms of the CSSP (Canadian Shellfish Sanitation Program), the presence of actual or potential pollution sources, which includes transient boats, warrants a preventive closure recommendation.
  3. In 2012, Environment Canada made a preventive seasonal closure on the west end of the Gorge due to the presence of recreational boats; this was not a pollution event.
  4. In early Dec 2024, there was an illness report on oysters shipped from a Gorge Harbour oyster farm to Vancouver.  An illness report goes to Coastal Health, the BC Centre for Disease Control, the Canada Food Inspection Agency and back to the Federally Registered Shellfish Plant. Inspection and testing at the restaurant is done by Coastal Health. In this case, a Michelin star restaurant in Vancouver served only oysters from Gorge Harbour, ie., there were no other oysters involved.
  5. Today, we have 55+ boats anchored out, some with people living in them. And more seasonally moored liveaboards will soon be moving into the harbour.

The pressing problem now —

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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.’

Continue reading DFO ‘responds’ to shellfish growers concerns →
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 →