Coastal News

Winter 2007

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

Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup
Over one ton of refuse was removed from Nanaimo and Ladysmith beaches and shorelines by the Nanaimo Paddlers, a recreational canoeing and kayak club, in September 2006. Newcastle Island’s shoreline gave up 632 pounds of flotsam, ranging from food wrappers to car tires, items left by picnickers or washed or tossed overboard by uncaring recreational boaters and fishermen. 454 pounds of garbage was taken from Ladysmith Harbour. Loaded baby diapers, dozens of used syringes, dead animal parts, household garbage, shopping carts, broken crab traps, tattered tarps and discarded clothing made it to the dump from a secluded beach in Nanaimo Harbour.

50 Years Left For Fish
An international team of scientists published a dire warning in the journal Science in 2006, stating that if current trends continue, there will be virtually nothing left in the oceans to fish. “The way we use the oceans is that we hope and assume there will always be another species to exploit after we’ve completely gone through the last one,” said research leader Boris Worm, from Dalhousie University in Canada. “What we’re highlighting is there is a finite number of stocks; we have gone through one-third, and we are going to get through the rest.” Steve Palumbi, from Stanford University in California, one of the other scientists on the project, added: “Unless we fundamentally change the way we manage all the ocean species together, as working ecosystems, then this century is the last century of wild seafood.” The study paints a picture of the cumulative harm caused by a combination of over-fishing, pollution and habitat loss. A key finding of the research is that the protection of marine conservation areas helps to maintain biodiversity and viable fish stocks, but good management of fishery practices is also essential to reverse the state of collapse. Following the release of the study, Greenpeace called for protection of 40% of the world’s oceans in marine reserves.

Plan for a Healthy Puget Sound
On December 13, 2006, The Puget Sound Partnership released its final report to Gov. Chris Gregoire outlining recommended actions to reach a healthy Puget Sound by 2020. The 22-member commission deliberated for a year before producing the report titled Sound Health, Sound Future: Protecting and Restoring Puget Sound. The report states: “The dazzling appearance of Puget Sound is deceiving; the numbers of salmon, orcas and many other creatures are at a fraction of historic levels and tell us that our ecosystem is in trouble. The essential natural processes that support the wealth of species in Puget Sound have been disrupted through our actions.” The 2020 action agenda includes priority areas for immediate work.
www.pugetsoundpartnership.org

Skookumchuk Narrows Provincial Park
Due to the growing popularity of Skookumchuk Narrows Provincial Park for kayakers and hikers, BC Parks is asking for assistance in meeting their goals of providing recreational opportunities in the park while protecting the natural environment. They will be primarily focusing on the impact at Roland Point, where heavy recreational traffic has caused significant impacts to the marine life and the surrounding forest area. Some of the steps to be taken to help reduce the impact: the creation of one put-in and take-out site for kayakers; encouraging kayakers not to drag kayaks along the rocks; asking the kayakers who are not in the water to keep their kayaks above the high tide mark and to minimize their time spent in the inter-tidal zone; signage stating these requests and outlining the put-in and take-out site; asking that kayakers no longer lock their kayaks to trees and set up tarps or drying lines. BC Parks is willing to help in the creation of a kayak storage rack at Roland Point, but are asking for assistance from the kayak community. Please contact Ryan Elphick, Senior Park Ranger, with ideas, questions or offers to help. Phone: 604-885-6755. Email: RyanElphick@gov.bc.ca

Victoria Ordered to Begin Sewage Treatment
Funding has been pledged and work is underway to determine how best to deal with Victoria’s sewage. The Capital Regional District was told last July that it must submit a plan detailing a fixed schedule for the provision of sewage treatment no later than June 30, 2007. The order by the provincial government was announced after decades of campaigning by environmental groups, and the recent release of a study that found that the seabed around the city’s sewage outfall is contaminated. Treatment of the sewage will reduce and remove contaminants, including endocrine disrupting chemicals and PCBs. Two treatment plants in the Greater Vancouver Regional District are also being challenged by environmental groups.

TAPS Donation
The Trade Association of PaddleSports, organizer of the West Coast Sea Kayak Symposium, has donated $2500 each to the Georgia Strait Alliance (www.GeorgiaStrait.org) and People For Puget Sound (www.PugetSound.org). Each year, moneys raised by the WCSKS Silent Auction are distributed to one British Columbian and one Washington State non-profit organization that work on paddling related issues that affect the paddling community in the Pacific Northwest.

Sea Lice Kill Wild Salmon
Research published in October 2006 in a peer-reviewed journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, has confirmed that sea lice from fish farms kill 95% of wild juvenile salmon migrating past fish farms in late spring. This is the first study to combine field surveys, experiments and mathematical modeling to estimate the total impact of the farms. Sea lice are natural parasites of fish, but fish farms raise the sea lice levels, and if fish farms are in the path of migrating salmon, the lice are transferred to the wild stock with devastating effects.

Despite this research, the B.C. government is ignoring the recommendation of its own Special Legislative Committee on Sustainable Aquaculture by allowing the application for a new open net-cage salmon farm in the Broughton Archipelago to move through the review process. The proposed farm at Providence Point is on a salmon migration route through Wells Passage which is also habitat for orca and sea lions. The Canadian Wildlife Service has identified the passage as an “area of interest” for wildlife protection.

Alaskan Belugas Beleaguered
Beluga whales, once abundant in Alaskan waters, may be headed for extinction, according to a report from government biologists released in January 2007. The National Marine Fisheries Service estimates the Beluga whale population in Cook Inlet to be 302, down from earlier populations of 1,000 to 2,000. Biologists blame the decline on overharvesting by the area’s Natives, who are entitled by law to hunt whales, oil drilling with its associated noise, vessel traffic from cargo shipping and commercial fishing activities, sewage and storm water runoff and other industrial factors.

New Executive Director for GSA
Georgia Strait Alliance (GSA) is pleased to announce the appointment of Deborah Conner as its new Executive Director. Deborah Conner is a native West Coaster who brings a broad range of experience and skills to the position. Ms. Conner succeeded Laurie MacBride who co-founded Georgia Strait Alliance in 1990 and became its Executive Director in 1992. Under Laurie’s leadership, GSA has brought positive change that will have a long-lasting impact on the health of the Strait. Ms. MacBride will remain with GSA on a part-time basis as Senior Advisor. www.GeorgiaStrait.org

New Name For Buffer Zone
After 25 years of carrying the Buffer Zone title, Bruce and Josée McMorran have changed the name of their wilderness resort to The Broughton Archipelago PADDLER’S INN to better reflect what they offer—services to paddlers who want to visit the Broughton.
www.paddlersinn.ca

Columbia III 50th Anniversary
Last summer, Discovery Harbour Pier in Campbell River was the site of an on-ship tea to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the launch of the hospital ship Columbia III. She was one of the last in a long line of ships maintained by the Anglican Church’s Columbia Coast Mission, providing medical, religious and social services to remote settlements, logging camps and First Nations villages along the inner coast from 1905 to the late 1960s. Now owned by the Campbell / Kornelsen family and their company, Mothership Adventures, Columbia III hosts cruises through the Broughton Archipelago and the Great Bear Rainforest out of Bella Bella, taking people into wilderness areas to explore in a combination of cruising and kayaking. They also offer historical, natural history and other special interest tours throughout the region.
www.mothershipadventures.com