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.
Editor’s note:Someone pointed out this article is too specific for International readers who, for example, may not even know where Vancouver Island is. There is a lack of specific information.I have written Fisheries and Oceans Canada, pointing out: “Most of The articles I see mention Tidal Area 14 (which is the little stretch of Vancouver Island coast between Comox and Parksville), but when I talk to Cortes growers they mention Baynes Sound, which is only a small part of Tidal Area 14. If it is only Baynes Sound, a lot of growers in other parts of Tidal Area 14 are being negatively impacted for something that is not even in their immediate vicinity. At the moment, a lot of Vancouver Island growers appear to be negatively impacted for something that is not in their Tidal Area.“
There was a 10 hour interval during which Erik Lyon of Rising Tide Oysters, on Cortes Island, thought he was going to reap big profits. Dozens of Californians had fallen ill after eating raw oysters from ‘Tidal Area 14’ in British Columbia. That’s on the east coast of Vancouver Island, between Comox and Parksville. Lyon specifically pointed to Baynes Sound, where there are oyster growers that sometimes ship 20,000 dozen oysters in a week. By way of contrast, he described most Cortes Island growers as ‘little mom and pop operations.’
“We’re a little bit removed from Baynes Sound. We tend to have cleaner water and a lot of the buyers can reliably pick up more product from us when the big guys go down,” he explained.
That’s what seemed to be happening on Saturday, December 13, 2024.
In the most recent of her interviews about Cortes History, Lynne Jordan, former President of the Cortes Island Museum, traces one of the Island’s foremost industries from its pre-contact beginnings up until recent times.
Lynne Jordan: “ The First Nations cultivated clam gardens on this coast for 3,000 to 5,000 years, maybe even longer. One on Quadra Island was recently dated at being around 3,500 years old.”
The next phase of Klahoose Aquaculture growth grew out of a series of discussions that Pereira had with Operations Manager Paul Muskee, more than two years ago.
“Dead. Dead. Dead,” Nikleva mutters as he goes along.
The shellfish farmer stoops over to pick up one bigger specimen for inspection before tossing it back on the beach.
The stench along this stretch of Gorge Harbour at low tide is tremendous. But it was even worse two weeks ago when a record-breaking heat wave cooked thousands upon thousands of oysters in their shells in the final days of June.
