Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Cynthia Bendickson believes an ecological battle along the inside passage of Vancouver Island is looming. It’s not a question of if, but when the invasive European green crab will land on the shorelines of the Salish Sea, says the biologist and executive director of the Greenways Land Trust.
Continue reading Coming Soon: the European Green CrabCanada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Editor’s note: According to the BC Shellfish Growers Association: “the most prolific areas for shellfish farming have been Baynes Sound, Cortes Island and Okeover Inlet.” The Shellfish industry is one of Cortes Island’s largest employers. Twenty-two people were working at Island Seafarms when the COVID crises began and a skeleton crew is preparing for next year. There are also a number of independent contractors in the Bee Islet Growers Corporation, in Gorge Harbour, and other lease holders around the island.
A Vancouver Island researcher is developing an early warning system to prevent the contamination of farmed oysters along B.C.’s west coast, which can cost the industry millions.
Continue reading Early Warning System For farmed OystersOriginally posted on Cortes Radio.ca
Mike Moore obviously has an intense passion for the ocean and for the waters around Cortes Island in particular. He has been working on the water or under it for more than 40 years, as a commercial halibut, crab and prawn fisherman, as a diver harvesting sea cucumbers, sea urchins, scallops and the giant pacific octopus, as a Navigation Officer with the Canadian Coast Guard for 11 years and finally, along with Samantha Statton, he was owner/ operator of Misty Isles Adventures, Cortes Island’s kayaking and passenger schooner tourism business, which was the vessel by which many tourists and locals got to appreciate Cortes as an island, seen from the water.
Continue reading Mike Moore Talks About The Waters Around Cortes IslandThe shoreline of the spit, in Manson’s Landing Park, is eroding.
Last summer BC Parks brought in Northwest Hydraulic Consultants Ltd (NHC) to investigate the causes and to develop viable engineering options to reduce erosion. On February 25, Grant Lamont of NHC unveiled his findings at a Friends of Cortes Island (FOCI) meeting at Mansons Hall.
Continue reading Mansons Landing: Shoreline Of The Spit Is Eroding
There are good reasons that boaters are not allowed to dump chemicals, sewage and other debris in Carrington Bay, Cortes Bay, Gorge Harbour, Squirrel Cove, or Manson’s Landing. “[Cortes Island] has the best oysters in the area, [possibly] because it is supposed to have such pristine clean water,” says Julia Rendall, President of the 13 member Bee Islets Growers Corporation. She explained that violations “could close us down and if we are closed down I think we have to have three tests, three weeks in a row, clear. So it could, in theory, close you down for about a month.” Cortes Island’s unique environmental features resulted in the creation of several marine parks. Contamination is a concern for all islanders, whether they are shellfish harvesters or not. These areas are currently designated as “No Discharge Zones” under federal regulations. Never-the-less, violations periodically do occur and a recent incident illustrates the difficulties of trying to stop recreational boaters from polluting Cortes Islands protected areas.
Continue reading Stop Recreational Boaters From Polluting Cortes Islands Protected Areas
