Cortes Community Docks ( formerly called Harbour Authority Cortes Island) received the necessary funding to carry out needed upgrades to the 111-year-old dock in Whaletown. In today’s article Harbour Master Jenny Hartwick gives the details, and also talks about the upcoming August 30 dock swap.
Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Mamalilikulla Chief Winidi, or John Powell, wiggles his pitchfork back and forth to loosen the sand and gravel along a remote stretch of beach in the Broughton Archipelago, sandwiched between Vancouver Island and the BC mainland.
As he churns over layers of sediment, a fistful of clams surface with a couple of disturbingly large, fiery red marine worms that flail hundreds of legs to rapidly burrow back into the sand.
“Look at all those worms. That’s a good sign,” Powell said.
“You see those a lot when you’re digging. They seem to aerate the soil.”
Continue reading Ancient clam gardens nourish the Mamalilikulla’s past and futureFrom the Cortes Island Seafood Association
First, some relevant facts —
The pressing problem now —
Continue reading Oyster update
Harbour Authority Cortes Island (HACI) started taking applications for summer moorage spots at 9 AM on April 1st.
Harbour Master Jenny Hartwick explained, “What’s happened over the last few years on Cortes, especially after Covid, is we’ve seen a steady increase in summer visitors and local residents getting out on the water. That puts additional pressure on the available moorage that we have at the docks.”
“The one point that I want to make really clear is we have ample space available for anyone who is looking for moorage at the docks. What we do not necessarily have available is moorage at your first choice dock. We have some areas of higher population density and the docks that are in those areas tend to be the most popular. For safety reasons, we cannot accommodate every single boat that puts in a request for moorage at those docks. If we tried, there would be too many security issues: be it vessels getting damaged or the possibility of people getting hurt and, literally, the facilities themselves wouldn’t be able to support the weight of all of the boats that we have asking to stay there.”
Continue reading Summer Moorage Spots on Cortes Island
By Nora O’Malley, Ha-Shilth-Sa, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
This is article is part of a series of stories on Nuu-chah-nulth clam gardens.
Clayoquot Sound, B.C. – From the captain’s seat of his fishing boat called ‘La Fortune’, Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation (TFN) fisherman Leo Jon Manson popped the lid off the proverbial can of worms labelled ‘float homes’.
Float homes are encroaching cultural and harvesting sites in Tla-o-qui-aht territory, says Manson. One spot in particular, Lemmens Inlet, a protected body of water located just north of Tofino that cuts into Meares Island, has succumbed to the region’s “laidback” regulations on float homes.
“We still have some spots in our territory, but we have to travel farther away from Opitsaht or Načiks (Tofino). We have to go farther back in the inlets. Our local grounds are gone, pretty much,” Manson said.
Continue reading ‘I wish we had our territory back’: Influx of float homes in Clayoquot Sound forces Tla-o-qui-aht families to go farther for traditional foods
