Tag Archives: Cortes Island Aquaculture

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

All things Shellfish comes to Folk U

On January 9, 2025, Max Thaysen and Erik Lyon hosted a hands-on workshop on all things shellfish! This fantastic teaching team chatted harvesting, sustainability, identification, risks and benefits of eating local shellfish, and so much more! This is a field-recording-style episode made possible by Decoda Literacy, the Cortes Island Community Foundation, and the Cortes Island Food Bank. Big thank you to Max and Erik.

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Food

From Shore to Table Workshop on Cortes Island

Max Thaysen and Erik Lyon led a shellfish harvesting workshop in Mansons Lagoon on Thursday January 9, 2024. This was a free event sponsored by the Cortes Island Community Foundation, Decoda Literacy, and the Cortes Island Food Bank. Cortes Currents interviewed Max a few days prior to the workshop. 

“ I would love to support people to get more of their food from our local environment in a way that is ecologically sustainable  and invited my friend Eric Lyon to join me in  presenting the glory of shellfish to anybody who hasn’t yet heard, or felt comfortable accessing this food,”he said.

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Rivers & Oceans

DFO Confirms No Problems with Raw Oysters from Cortes Island

Audio by De Clarke; Research & text by Roy L Hales;

There has been a flurry of media stories about the dangers of eating raw oysters lately, but Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) confirmed that there have been no problems with Cortes Island grown oysters. (And there have been no problems anywhere with cooked oysters.) Only one of the 8 emergency closures DF0 listed, in response to Cortes Currents request, is in the Discovery Islands. A DFO notice from December 23 states, “The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has received reports of illness linked to BC Aquaculture Tenure Landfile #1402974” in the Bold Island-Crescent Channel area between Quadra and Read Islands. The other 7 oyster closures pertained to 42 ‘Landfiles’ in the Baynes Sound area across from Denman Island. 

Mo Qutob, Communications Advisor with Fisheries & Oceans Canada, emailed that all of the closures he listed were in force as of December 31, 2024. 

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Business

A Closer look at Cortes Island’s Economy

When the Cortes Island Foundation released Cortes Island’s Vital Signs Report last month, Executive Director Manda Aufochs Gillespie said she’d like to go into specific sections in more detail. 

“One of the things that really stood out to me is the information around income and work and economy.  This area starts around page 13 in this document and I’m going to be using a lot of words to talk about this, but when you look at the report there’s graphs,  little quotes and etc. that make it easier to read.”

She suggested inviting Kate Maddigan, from the Cortes Community Economic Development Association (CCEDA), to get another perspective.   

Continue reading A Closer look at Cortes Island’s Economy →