NEWS

October-November 2002

This is an article from WaveLength Magazine, available in print in North America and globally on the web.
To download a pdf copy of the magazine click here: > DOWNLOAD

NEW MAPS FOR PADDLERS

Coastal Waters Recreation is announcing the publication of four new maps covering the Queen Charlotte Islands (Haida Gwaii) in northwestern British Columbia (including Graham Island north and south, Moresby Island and Gwaii Haanas).

The addition of these four maps increases the CWR catalogue to 19 maps covering some of the most popular sea kayaking and boating destinations along the coastline of BC. The maps are available at most popular outdoor and paddling stores.

Coastal Waters Recreation, Ph/fax: (250) 383-5555,

Email: info@coastalwatersrec.com, Web: www.coastalwatersrec.com.

WATER TAXI SERVICE

Village Island Tours is offering water taxi services with their high speed aluminum boat this summer in the Johnstone Strait, Broughton Archipelago areas of BC.

Costs: $225 (minimum) from Telegraph Cove to Village Island and anywhere in between. Free kayak storage at Village Island to all water taxi customers. $150 for each additional hour of boat time, on trips beyond Village Island. For booking arrangements call: (250) 282-3338.

SPRING/SUMMER PADDLEFESTS

The fourth annual Okanagan Paddlefest will be held in Summerland, BC June 15- 16. A new site with new organizers should make for a great event, including a large industry tradeshow as well as kayak, outrigger, and dragonboat racing.

Ph: 250-862-8049. E-mail: okpaddle fest@yahoo.ca

On Vancouver Island at Ladysmith BC, the fourth annual Vancouver Island Paddlefest will be held June 21-23. The event is designed to make it easy for anyone at any skill level to plan an enjoyable paddling vacation. Boat tryouts and workshops are by donation.

Web: www.paddlefest.bc.ca or E-mail: paddlefest@paddlecentre. com.

CORRECTION

The website for Ray Klebba’s White Salmon Boat Works, featured in our April/ May issue is www.raysdreamboats.com.

WOMEN’S SEA KAYAK PROGRAMS

Bonny Glambeck of Rainforest Kayak Adventures will be running two womenonly trips the summer: “LunaSea—A Solstice Journey”, June 17-22 and “Women Who Run With the Waves” (Touring Basics). August 5-10.

Web: www.rainforestkayak.com, Ph: 1-877-422-WILD (9453).

COASTAL TOURISM CONFERENCE

The Centre for Coastal Studies, the Centre for Tourism Policy and Research and the Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University are holding a conference on “Coastal and Marine Tourism” at the Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue in Vancouver on October 19-20.

Speakers from Canada and abroad will share coastal case studies and strategies to address challenges and opportunities of coastal and marine tourism development. Strategies and solutions for building a more sustainable coastal and marine tourism industry will be identified.

E-mail: penikett@sfu.ca.

RACING SEASON!

BC’s kayak racing season is here, beginning with the first race of the Necky Series at Bowen Island June 8 followed by Ecomarine (July 14) and Deep Cove (July 27). See Events.Gabriola Island will host the ‘BC Championships’ on September 14th.

The 4th annual Howe Sound Outrigger Iron Race will be held in Gibsons, BC on the Sunshine Coast, July 13-14. Community teams paddle Hawaiian-style outrigger canoes on a short course, while the iron athletes paddle a 29km course in Howe Sound competing for the National Championship. E-mail: suzannedaniell@dccnet.com.

BEST PRACTICES

People for Puget Sound is hosting a “best practices” workshop to bring together the kayaking, whale watch, hiking, camping, WaveLength and other marine recreation sectors. The event is intended to educate, inspire and involve participants in developing and adopting best practices guidelines to ensure ecosystem health. This is the first workshop of its kind in North Sound and will be held on June 19 from 10-3 in Mt. Vernon, Washington. See www.PugetSound.org.

EAST CREEK

East Creek is the first watershed North of the Brooks Peninsula and is one of the last six unlogged primary watersheds of formerly ninety on Vancouver Island (a primary watershed is one over 5000 hectares and emptying directly into the ocean). Lemare Lake Logging has been approved to build an extensive road network and up to 17 cutbacks over the next few years.

It’s hard to convince government that such logging will undermine ecotourism, in part because wilderness tourism tends to go unnoticed. So wherever you visit this summer, make sure that you stop in at the local communities and buy supplies, use their services (such as drop-offs and pick ups) and hype tourism. It’s important in the effort to keep our wild places wild that wilderness tourism be seen as the sustainable diversification of our economy that it is. If you head up to East Creek this summer be sure to stop in at Coal Harbour, Port McNeil, and Port Alice—spend some money, and tell them what you think. East Creek remains unlogged—for now. For more information visit: www.saveeastcreek.com, or contact the Sierra Club of BC at (250) 386-5255.

ORCAS CONTAMINATED

An orca whale found dead on the coast of Washington state earlier this year had the highest level of PCBs ever measured in killer whales. The female orca was so full of polychlorinated biphenyls that when scientists attempted to test her fat, the result was too high for the machines to read it. The PCB level was dozens of times higher than that known to affect the growth, reproduction and immune system of the harbor seal. This adds new urgency to old questions about pollution of the oceans and bays of the West Coast, including Puget Sound. What killed the orca remains a mystery. There were no obvious signs of disease. The website for the Orca Recovery Campaign is http://www.saveorcawhales.org

ORCA PASS MOVING AHEAD

The Quarterly Meeting of the Orca Pass International Stewardship Area Initiative was held in Richmond, BC in early May. The meeting attracted participants from Canada as well as south of the border, including representatives of diverse groups such as the Georgia Strait Alliance, People for Puget Sound, Ocean’s Blue Foundation, SPEC, Parks Canada, Canadian Power Squadron, Recreation Diver’s Association, Islands Trust, whale watching tour operators, sports fishing, and recreational kayakers. The coalition is currently trying to gain support from the public and a variety of interest groups through a petition process. This unprecedented transboundary effort, linking groups in BC and Washington, will next meet in Washington state. For more on this project see www.GeorgiaStrait.org or www.PugetSound.org.

WELCOME TO QUEST!

Georgia Basin QUEST is an interactive game that allows you to develop “what if?” scenarios for the future of the region. It is a key component of the Georgia Basin Futures Project at the University of British Columbia’s Sustainable Development Research Institute. The scenario that you create and save will be part of a larger research question that seeks to understand how we can meet our needs within the limits of our environment in the Georgia Basin. Every choice has a consequence and QUEST puts you in the position of making important choices for the future of the Georgia Basin. What will the future look like 40 years from now? The choice is yours. See www.basinfutures.net.

MARINE ECOLOGY STATION

During the summer, the Marine Ecology Station at Port Sidney Marina has a variety of special programs including marine science day camps for ages 9-16; family field trips to explore Gulf Islands during low tides; and underwater explorations using a remotely operated vehicle. These programs are led by Dr. Bill Austin, a professional marine biologist. Summer hours are noon to 5 pm daily. The Station is accessible by road, 30 minutes north of Victoria and 5 min. south of the Swartz Bay ferry terminal. Kayaks are available for rent right next door, from Island Camping Company: 250-888- 9169. For the Marine Ecology Station call 250-655-1555, ER-mail: mareco@mareco.org, Web: http://www.mareco.org.

FOREST REMNANTS AT RISK

World Resources Institute has released a new report which reveals there is actually less untouched forest than was previously estimated, due to poor management and unenforced laws. Global Forest Watch was created using satellite coupled with ground level information to track forest degradation on the internet. IKEA sponsored the mapping of intact forests in order to follow better business practices (only ordering wood from places that manage their resources properly), along with some investment companies. The World Resources Institute (http://www.wri.org/wri) is an environmental think tank that goes beyond research to create practical ways to protect the Earth and improve people’s lives. Contact: Adlai Amor, tel: 202-729-7736,

E-mail: aamor@wri.org. Or visit www.wri.org/wri and www.globalforestwatch.org

SHIPS KILLING WHALES

Studies of whale carcasses showing serious bruising suggest that some deaths have likely been caused by ships. Propeller marks, internal injuries, and crushed skulls are among indicators suggesting some whales have been run down. The US federal government has taken action on this issue, asking cruise ships to reduce their speeds in certain areas. A mandatory reporting system is in place for boats over 300 tons. They are required to indicate when they are entering whale habitats.

CARNIVAL PAYS POLLUTION FINE

The US district attorney announced in Miami in April that Carnival Corporation has agreed to pay $18 million after pleading guilty on charges of polluting the ocean’s waters. Carnival admitted as part of a plea agreement that some of its 43 cruise ships had illegally released oily bilge water into the ocean and that the company had lied about the practice to the US Coast Guard. The company also admitted that employees had falsified documents on waste discharges from July 1998 to January 2001. Carnival will pay $9 million in fines and another $9 million to environmental groups and projects, and must change environmental- safety practices aboard its ships. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., paid $27 million in fines and penalties for ocean dumping charges in 1999. Web: www.marinematters.com

CRUISE SHIP STEWARDSHIP

The cruise tourism industry has a duty to protect and preserve the marine environment including the duty to prevent, reduce and control environmental harm. Oceans Blue Foundation (OBF) has been in active collaboration with a coalition of other national and regional marine conservation NGOs conducting research, planning and implementation for a best standards accreditation and certification initiative that would apply to large and small commercial passenger vessels operating in the world’s oceans and inland seas.

Contact Tracy London, Oceans Blue Foundation, Vancouver, BC: tel: 604-684-2583 ext. 2, seastar@oceansblue.org, www.oceans blue.org. For Oceans Blue Foundation (USA), Seattle, WA, ph: 206-583-8338.

DON’T EAT FARMED FISH

Do you know if that salmon you’re eating has come from a fish farm feedlot?

• a report by Dr. Michael Easton shows that farmed salmon has almost 10 times as many PCBs as wild salmon; eating even just one meal of farmed salmon per week could be dangerous to your health.

• since late last summer, at least 16 fish farm sites in BC have been infected with infectious hematopoeitic necrosis (IHN). In one case 1.6 million Atlantic salmon infected with IHN were removed from a Heritage Aquaculture farm site and composted on Vancouver Island, raising concerns about potential impacts from the transport and disposal of diseased fish and blood water;

• infected fish that survive disease outbreaks can, and are, being marketed for human consumption once the outbreaks have subsided;

• the BC salmon farming industry has refused to provide the government with a record of disease outbreaks and drug use on a farm-by-farm basis, so we have no way of knowing when a particular farm or company has a disease outbreak or has opted to medicate its fish;

• federal inspection programs are severely under-funded, so only a tiny proportion of farmed fish are actually inspected for disease or drug residues, yet even with this limited inspection, significant levels of antibiotic residues have been found in 3 to 4 per cent of the farmed fish that go to market (by the time the drug residues are found, the rest of the fish from the tested batch have normally been sold to consumers);

• the provincial government has eliminated the requirement for industry to retain medicated fish for 105-days before processing so now we must rely instead on the veterinarians hired by the salmon farm companies to set the withdrawal period.

Ask your server, “Is it wild or farmed?” For more info see. www.GeorgiaStrait.org.

OIL AND WATER DON’T MIX

The provincial government in BC is hoping to lift the moratorium against the exploration for oil and gas off BC’s coast. But many are warning of dire consequences.

The Pacific Northwest coast is known as one of the stormiest areas on the planet so oil and gas rigs would be subject to enormous waves. Scientific wave height studies have measured waves twice as high as rigs could survive.

The Haida of Haida Gwaii are hoping to derail their plan with a court challenge on aboriginal rights to the land and sea in the area.

Help maintain the moratorium against the exploration for oil and gas off BC’s coast. Check out www.oilfreecoast.org.

Paddlers and boaters are also urged to speak out against BC Hydro’s proposed GSX natural gas pipeline crossing Georgia Strait, right through the middle of the Orca Pass International Stewardship Area. For info: www.GeorgiaStrait.org.

GABRIOLA CAMPGROUND

This beautiful, forested waterfront campground is under an hour’s paddle from the BC Ferry terminal at Departure Bay, Nanaimo. Paddle over or take the hourly car ferry from Nanaimo. Developed and semi-wilderness sites available through October. Call 250-247-2079.