Tag Archives: fishing on Cortes

History, Rivers & Oceans

Paul Kirmmse remembers Cortes Island in 1971

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Originally published on April 22, 2021

Born in New York, he chose Canada. Another two years passed before he arrived on a remote island off the West Coast. Paul Kirmmse remembers Cortes Island in 1971.

“I originally came here in January of ’71, looking for land. A guy gave me a job for the summer, beginning in April, serving coffee to the fishers and the loggers. There was a little cafe just above Mansons Lagoon, across from what used to be the Barton store – which I understand is now the Cortes Island Museum. It was dragged up the road and put in place to become the museum,” he says.  

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History, Rivers & Oceans

Open House at the Whaletown Dock; Renovations Needed

There were 45 people on the Whaletown dock when Cortes Currents left half way through the Open House on Monday, September 16. Some were listening to Andy Ellingsen, a Director of Harbour Authority Cortes Island (HACI), talk about the current condition of the wharf and what needs to be done. Others gathered in small groups, eating the free pizza, sharing memories or their perspectives on the matter. HACI has owned the 110-year-old structure since 2009 and now it is in need of extensive repairs. 

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Rivers & Oceans

Fishing communities welcome B.C. intention to reform licensing and quotas

Editor’s note: Fishing was one of Cortes Island’s major industries. The museum records the names of 28 boats and 40 individuals active during the 1970’s. Government regulations changed that. According to  the study SET ADRIFT: THE PLIGHT OF BRITISH COLUMBIA’S FISHING COMMUNITIES, 71% of the people working in the province’s commercial fishing industry lost their jobs. “What remains in the commercial fishery is not a vibrant and healthy fleet, but a fleet ravaged by consolidation.” DFO licensing practises “diverted the fish away from the populous small-boat fleet and delivered the resource into the hands of a venture capitalist…”

By Hope Lompe,  Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Fishing communities, harvesters and advocates are welcoming British Columbia’s intention to work with the federal government to reform the purchase system for fish licences and quotas for B.C.’s commercial fishing industry.

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Rivers & Oceans

Feds must fix unfair West Coast fishing rules: House committee (Cortes, Quadra, CR data added)

Editor’s Note: There was once a thriving fishing industry on Cortes Island. Chris Kendel is still based here, but catches his fish up north on the Taku River. Meanwhile Campbell River’s Highline Fish Company sells some of its catch at the Mansons Landing dock. There are still fishing boats in the Discovery Harbour Marina, owned by the Wei Wai Kum First Nation, and some Campbell River residents buy their fish at the dock.  Quadra Island Fisheries’ boats ‘fish the rugged coast of Northern Vancouver Island, West  Coast Vancouver Island, and the mainland inlets.‘ The Tantrum 1, also based on Quadra Island, ‘trolls our coasts from Northern California all the way to the Alaskan border.‘

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Federal inaction means West Coast harvesters still flounder with unfair fishing regulations, says a parliamentary committee.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada faces a wave of criticism in a recent report by the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans (FOPO), which reiterated a call to equalize fishing policy on the coasts.

For the second time in five years, the committee is pushing the fisheries department (DFO) to make changes so only Canadian fish harvesters with actual “boots on deck” of a boat can own fishing licences or quota on the West Coast.

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Food, Rivers & Oceans

Canada needs to curb its import-export swap to make seafood sustainable

Editor’s note: While only 3 or 3 fishing boats still working out of Cortes Island, Klahoose Aquaculture employs about 20 people during the season. There are 10 or so lease holders belonging to the Bee Islets Corporation in Gorge Harbour and numerous shore leases around Cortes, Marina, Read and Quadra Islands. The photo above shows the fishing boats tied up at Quathiaski Cove on Quadra Island.

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A deep dive exploring how seafood can reach the tables of Canadian consumers and remain sustainable took place at a recent UN World Food Day event in Vancouver.  

Keeping equity and the environment top of mind while creating a new ocean or “blue” economy was a key theme for panel experts at the day-long conference. 

The pandemic’s disruption of the global food supply chain underscored how vital it is to develop local and regional seafood sovereignty and empower small-scale fisheries, said panel member Claire Dawson, Ocean Wise’s senior manager of its fisheries and seafood initiative.  

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