Tag Archives: Oysters

Food, Rivers & Oceans

Seafest – Coming to Squirrel Cove Saturday, May 18

Seafest will be returning to Squirrel Cove this Saturday, May 18, with delicious platefuls of locally grown and prepared seafood. with live music.  

“ I think the first one was back in 1990 or 92. It was down in Smelt Bay with Redonda Sea Farms  and the rest of the community and it was a huge event. I think they had walk-on overloads on the ferry. That was really when the Seafood Association was formed.  Its primary mandate being water quality and it was formed in response to new technology that could assess dioxin pollution from the pulp mills,” explained Dave Nikleva.

Julia Rendall added, “I think in the  late eighties, it was to fight the pulp mills.  ‘Water quality’ was our mandate. Then there was a time when some people were a little bit reluctant about  us oyster farmers. They thought maybe we were getting in the way of their pristine scenery. We decided to  show them that we did have a good product for everybody to enjoy and that it is a viable industry on the island and it is necessary.”

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Food, Rivers & Oceans

Oysters: Unsung climate heroes for your holiday buffet

Editor’s note: Shellfish harvesting is one of Cortes Island’s largest employers. According to Paul Muskee, Klahoose Aquaculture probably employs ‘about 20 different people between Klahoose and Islanders.’ While Cortes Currents has not seen any recent numbers, Island Sea Farms employed 21 people when COVID broke out. Erik Lyon, President of the Bee Islets Growers Corporation, in Gorge Harbour, said there are about 10 lease holders in his organization. In previous articles, Rochelle has identified the Steve Pocock mentioned in the following article as both a Read Island grower and a Quadra Island grower. (These are not mutually exclusive statements.) Oysters are a significant local business on Quadra and Read Islands and there are numerous shore leases around all three Discovery Islands.

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

There are moments when Steve Pocock questions the wisdom of his chosen profession as a shellfish farmer.

Picking oysters off a beach in the dead of night during a low winter tide, then navigating whiteout conditions to get a loaded vessel home to port, while freezing and weary, is one of those times.

However, his disillusionment is short-lived when he hits mirrored waters at daybreak. Odds are he’ll also cross paths with orcas, bald eagles or sea lions during the morning commute.

Continue reading Oysters: Unsung climate heroes for your holiday buffet →
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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Environment, Rivers & Oceans

Marine heatwaves a threat to B.C.’s shellfish industry says expert

Editor’s note: The shellfish industry is one of Cortes Island’s principle employers.

By Mick Sweetman,  CHLY 101.7 FM Nanaimo, through an LJI grant from Canada-info.ca

This summer was hot, not only for us, but also for the life in our oceans as marine heatwaves swamped B.C’s coastal waters. According to researchers, sea temperatures off northeastern Vancouver Island reached 21 degrees Celsius in July, boiling kelp alive.

In the first week of August the average global sea surface temperature reached a record-breaking 30 degrees Celsius.

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Food, Indigenous Nations, Rivers & Oceans

Paul Muskee on Klahoose Aquaculture & QXMC

Paul Muskee has been working for QXMC for close to 15 years and for the last decade has been with Klahoose Aquaculture.

“I feel like my life has led me this way. When I was younger, I did work in aquaculture and I did work in forestry. I was also a mining technologist for a bunch of years, but I grew up  around Powell River, Lund and Desolation Sound.  Running boats has always been part of what I’ve done. I’ve loved working for Klahoose. They’ve been a great employer and I really like the people I’ve work with,” he explained.  

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