Anyone visiting Squirrel Cove right now can see a series of freshly constructed rafts anchored close to the government dock. There were four of them when Cortes Currents first noticed, and another two being built on the beach. Now they are all in the Cove. There are piles of lumber and floats nearby, and a huge pile of hoop-like ‘lantern nets’ waiting on the Squirrel Cove Dock.
Continue reading The Scallop Rafts Being Built In Squirrel Cove
On Monday, May 15, Rami Rothkop and Oliver Scholfield unveiled their ‘Business Roadmap for Value-Added Forestry Products’ on Cortes Island at Mansons Hall.
Most of what they presented has been discussed before, the difference being that they were not just talking about ‘ideas.’ These were things they had already accomplished. That is why the Cortes Community Forest Cooperative hired them.
Continue reading Cortes Island’s Business Roadmap for Value-Added Forestry Products
“When I came to Cortes, I imagined just making boards is a great thing to do. I’ve had a number of years to assess and reassess that reality. It’s possible as a one man operation for me to do okay at that, but it’s a subsistence business not a business model. It’s not a business plan,” explained Aaron Ellingsen.
His company, Ellingsen Woods, is about to go through a relaunch.
Continue reading Ellingsen Woods search for a value added market
In 1949, Newfoundland joined Canada as a new Province. Its fisheries then fell under the authority of the central government in Ottawa — the infamous DFO (Department of Fisheries and Oceans, or as some call it, the Dead Fish Organisation).
DFO’s mismanagement of the Newfoundland fishery — the immensely productive shoal banks of the northern Atlantic seaboard — is now a classic cautionary tale. DFO’s bureaucrats ignored repeated warnings — from marine biologists, environmentalists, and fishermen themselves — and allowed brutal overfishing of Canadian waters.
The high-value fish in those waters were the prolific Atlantic cod, the basis for centuries of both subsistence and prosperity for fishing communities. Larger industrialised boats, more entrants each season, and ruthless exploitation of the stocks ensured that prosperity was short-lived. To be fair, other nations hammered even harder on the cod stocks of the North Atlantic; but Canada could have done something to protect the fish in its territorial waters — and did far too little, far too late.
Continue reading Running on Empty: Déjà vu
Narrator: “Mills have closed across rural British Columbia, devastating the economies of many small forestry dependent communities. Tiny Harrop-Proctor Community Forest has bucked this trend. The Harrop-Proctor experience shows that even a small, locally controlled mill can make a significant difference in creating local jobs while adding value to forestry operations generally.”
“ About a quarter of the wood from the community forest is staying in the community. Comes four kilometres down the hill, ends up here, gets bucked up, runs through the mill, and local builders are coming to buy stuff. There’s a huge benefit there because those jobs weren’t here before,” explained Rami Rothkop speaking in a film about Harrop-Procter Forest Products (close to Nelson, in the Kootenays).
Continue reading Cortes value-added wood products: A workshop for Champions
