While the number of confirmed COVID cases in Vancouver Island and the rest of the province continues to rise, data from the BC Centre for Disease Control shows there have been no new cases reported in North Island – which includes Courtenay, Campbell River, and the Discovery Islands, as well as communities further north – for at least a week.
Continue reading No new cases for at least a weekTag Archives: Read Island
Not many upsides for shellfish aquaculture
National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Marine heat waves, ocean acidification, toxic algae blooms.
B.C. oyster farmer Steve Pocock said he can’t see many upsides for shellfish aquaculture when it comes to dealing with the effects of climate change.
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Upgrading Hoskyn Channel Dock: A photo essay
Originally published in Surge Currents, August 2020
By Ginny Vassal, Read Island
The occasional grounding of the Hoskyn Channel dock became much more pronounced in September 2018. The stream at the base of the ribbons re-routed itself towards the dock following heavy rains; the up-stream clear-cutting most likely caused the concentrated run-off that moved large rocks and cut a deep channel with stream sediment running directly towards the dock.
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Surge Narrows grocery delivery program
The grocery delivery program’s origins go back to October 2019. A North Rendezvous Island resident, Judith Wright, organized a group run for four or five families every two weeks. After COVID hit, close to half of the permanent residents of the Rendezvous, Read, Maurelle, and Sonora Islands took advantage of the SRD Delivers program to have their groceries delivered every week for three months. While the funding ended in mid July, the Surge Narrows grocery delivery program proved to be so effective that it continues today.
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SRD Delivered to 230 Households
The ‘Sayward Futures Society‘ application was turned down because they proposed to use the funding to hire a coordinator. Emergency Management BC (EMBC) did not feel the COVID situation on Vancouver Island was sufficiently desperate, but they did approve a study to see how the SRD Delivers program could be implemented on Cortes Island. More than 80% of the $10,370 obtained from the province was forwarded to organizations that “offered assistance with grocery shopping, the delivery of food, prescriptions and other essentials for the benefit of the elderly (65+) and other vulnerable persons.” The SRD delivered to 230 households in Campbell River, Read Island, Gold River and Tahsis.
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