In case you missed the comment under “The Last 10 Per Cent from Comox Valley Voice” here it is.

Last 10 percent comment.

The Last 10 Per Cent from Comox Valley Voice

Expressing my concern by pictures. Aquaculture has been growing in Baynes Sound. Only 10 per cent is left for nature and recreation, free from aquaculture tenures. However right now applications for shellfish operations are being applied for between Gartley Point and Union Bay, in the face of Comox Valley residents and adjacent to the Courtenay Estuary. Sandy Island and Henry Bay, in the Marine Park, may not be protected now either.

This video is a plead for action to preserve the last 10 per cent of Baynes Sound for recreation and nature. A green space/buffer zone for people to relax and aquatic creature to live in harmony, apart from the aquaculture industry.

Sea cucumbers dropped from two Baynes Sound aquaculture applications

Sea cucumbers dropped from two Baynes Sound aquaculture applications By Comox Valley Record Published: April 01, 2013 01:00 PM Updated: April 01, 2013 01:471 PM Two large and controversial aquaculture applications for sea cucumbers in the Baynes Sound area have been resubmitted — minus the sea cucumbers. “The previous application for sea cucumbers was not accepted by DFO (federal Department of Oceans and Fisheries) and Ministry of Lands (Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations, FLNRO),” says applicant Dan Bowen. Nearly a year ago, Bowen co-applied for a sea cucumber licence and land tenure for an area 155 hectares in size, stretching from south Royston to north Union Bay. The area is sub-tidal, meaning it’s underwater at all times. Joey Tarnowski is a co-applicant for a 107-hectare application for tenure — which was also sub-tidal and stretched from just south of Union Point in Union Bay to about 300 metres north of the Buckley Bay ferry terminal. His application to grow sea cucumbers was also stopped in its tracks. When the applications surfaced last year, there was some public outcry, such as from the Friends of Baynes Sound, and some public support, such as Project Watershed’s support for the proposed research phase of the application. Both applications were resubmitted with the same size and location for tenure, but with aquaculture licencing for scallops, cockles and oysters instead of sea cucumbers. “We were a bit ahead of our time with regard to this concept (of growing sea cucumbers),” explains Bowen of his application. “The DFO was not up to speed with that type of application and so they had to go back to their policy and look at it.” FLNRO’s Kathy Evans confirms DFO is developing a revised management approach for sea cucumbers and expects the work to completed in 2014. “The work will consider a number of factors, including science advice, DFO and Government of Canada policies and priorities, as well as socio-economic and environmental considerations,” says Evans. “The approach will also be informed by discussions with First Nations, industry, stakeholders and provincial agencies responsible for aquaculture. “Until this work is complete, DFO will not be considering new or amendment licence applications for sea cucumber aquaculture under the Pacific Aquaculture Regulations.” According to a media spokesperson for DFO, a project review team with representatives from Transport Canada, the Province and DFO staff will be reviewing the new applications from Bowen and Tarnowski shortly to decide if they will be formally accepted for detailed review. Until the applications are reviewed by the review team, DFO can’t comment because it doesn’t yet have information on the applications. Tarnowski says his application features only bottom-growing species. “There’ll be no raft, no buoys, no nothing — you won’t be able to see anything,” he says. “There’ll be no interruption to people that are using the water above it.” Both applicants say they hope to revisit the idea of growing sea cucumbers once DFO develops a management approach for them, and Bowen in particular still hopes to conduct research on them. “We’re still hopeful that some progress will be made in the next year or two,” says Bowen, adding environmental degradation in Baynes Sound could be improved by growing sea cucumbers. “We have the ability to restore the bottom of the ocean to what it was hopefully, years ago, and mitigate some of the environmental damage done. “This is certainly is a chance to make things better, you know, that was part of our philosophy and we believed that from Day One.” writer@comoxvalleyrecord.com

Find this article at: http://www.comoxvalleyrecord.com/news/200932621.html

Open House at the Deep Bay Marine Field Station in Bowser on Saturday, March 30

Check out the Open House at the Deep Bay Marine Field Station in Bowser on Saturday, March 30

Check out link below:

http://viudeepbay.com/2013/03/19/community-open-house-march-30th/#more-1327

Updated: Reports of the hundreds dead and dying herring (gilled) under the shellfish industry clam predator netting

 

 

The reports received today (March 5, 2013) were quite disturbing about the reports of the hundreds dead and dying herring (gilled) under the shellfish industry clam predator netting in the central west area of Denman Island (West BC Ferry Terminal to Denman Point). These fish seem to be larger and quite fat, possibly females that have not spawned yet.

From Association For Denman Island Marine Stewards (ADIMS)

To DFO Conservation and Protection  Attention:  Garth Sinclair / Denver Marraty

Re: Observe and  Reported phoned into  ORR Line from Denman Island Marine Stewards,  March 5, 2013

Further to Resident reports which were phoned in to the Denman Island Marine Stewards,

Re: Large amount of herring tangled and dying under shellfish predator nets

Further to a resident report received Sun Morning, a Marine Stewardship member attended the location at low tide (5pm-6pm March 4 to observe firsthand this concern.

Location: East Side Denman Island, Shellfish Tenure located South of Fillongly Park Beach. Tenure has seeded clam beds with large predator netting covering these portions of tenure.

Concern: Predator Nets are tangled, ripped, dragged into piles, washed away, buried  and generally in disrepair and poorly secured. A large number of herring are getting tangled, gilled, trapped and dying under these nets.  The Herring have spawned on these nets and on the seaweed growing on the nets, then get tangled as the tide recedes.

Buckets of fish are being collected by residents, (for garden?) and the dying fish are also easy prey for birds etc.

Further Concern: is that the same disaster (as seen in 2009)  will occur where thousands of live herring will be gilled and killed along the west shore lines also (Baynes Sound shoreline) under these shellfish predator nets.  As there was an commercial herring opening yesterday on the west Baynes Sound side of the island.  Local residents will try to check the west side locations.  There are still hundreds of predator nets poorly maintained and unsecured at Shellfish Tenures along West Denman Island (as reported to DFO Jan/Feb 2012 )

 

CVRD will be hosting agri/aquaculture policy review open house

CVRD will be hosting agri/aquaculture policy review open houses this month, the first being Wednesday, January 16th http://bit.ly/UlNSWQ

For more information have a look at the CVRD website: http://www.comoxvalleyrd.ca/search_results.asp?id=7510&fragment=0&SearchType=&terms=agri/aquaculture%20policy

Shellfish mess litters Denman Island

Wow!  What an ugly mess on Denman Island with the unbelievably huge number of oyster trays/baskets/rope/styrofoam as seen in Gord Kurbis’ story on the news today on CTV. As the Denman Islander states in the story, all sorts of birds and marine animals will ingest the plastic and styrofoam and suffer a horrible death.  There is no excuse not to do better than this.  There must be better control of oyster farming debris so that it doesn’t all end up dumped into Baynes Sound or on our shores.

Doug McIntyre

Many residents of Union Bay witnessed the “runaway” oyster floats December 19 and 20.

Many residents of Union Bay witnessed the “runaway” oyster floats December 19 and 20.  But that was just the beginning of the mess created by the shellfish industry in Baynes Sound after our last storm.

A resident of Denman Island took these photos at Henry Bay of the millions of plastic styrofoam beads that now litter Baynes Sound after the storm.  These bits of styrofoam will only sink and further pollute our waters.  It is tragic but these styrofoam beads can be ingested by birds/fish/baleen whales, etc. which will fill their stomachs and the same time cause them to die of starvation.

Reggie Armstrong
Union Bay

ATTENTION OYSTER FARMERS:

Oyster Raft

Is anyone missing a “runaway” oyster raft that was spotted west of
Tree Island, floating north towards Comox Harbour? (See photo taken at
1:09PM on December 19, 2012.) If so, contact the Coast Guard.

Oyster rafts can create a serious navigational hazard if they break
loose. Shouldn’t there be stricter rules for regulation of these
rafts? We all know that we have serious storms in Baynes Sound.

RE: Public Watching Sea Cucumbers

RE: Public Watching Sea Cucumbers

Residents aren’t alone when it comes to wanting water conservation areas in Baynes Sound. The Nov. 13 letter asking for coastal areas to be set aside and left “untampered by industry” actually echoes a longstanding recommendation from Canada’s lead scientific body, the Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat (CSAS).

In a 2001 baseline review of aquaculture’s environmental impacts on Baynes Sound, the CSAS recommended: An effective network of protected areas in Baynes Sound that exclude shellfish aquaculture should be established. The network should include sensitive habitats and key bird habitat. The coastline of Baynes Sound is already 80-90% tenured by the aquaculture industry – which dramatically drives up the social and ecological value of the last remaining unfragmented areas. These sensitive habitats need to be protected.

If approved, the sea cucumber tenures would become the second and third largest tenures in BC. Whereas the average aquaculture footprint is less than five hectares, the sea cucumber tenures total 270 hectares. Although a native species, sea cucumbers have never been farmed in BC and their impacts haven’t been studied. Because it is a brand new species for ranching, there isn’t yet a policy framework for guiding the development of sea cucumber aquaculture. Wild harvesters of sea cucumbers are concerned. I wonder the position of the commercial fishing associations like the Herring Industry Advisory Board, the BC Seafood Alliance and the Underwater Harvesters Association and if they oppose the proposals as they currently stand.

Raven coal mine opponents might benefit from the creation of a recognized water conservation area in Baynes Sound. Protected areas would also protect existing shellfish aquaculture from the losses caused by unrestrained industry growth. This supports the Comox Valley Regional Growth Strategy, which said in 2010 that, “with little room for additional tenures and shellfish farms, existing farms and tenures should be protected with no net loss.” The Regional District has no goal to expand the footprint of aquaculture in Baynes Sound, but rather to maintain what’s already in production and increase the weight of output. The current 470 hectares is the target that the Regional District wants to maintain until 2030. How could we possibly add another 270 hectares of sea cucumbers? As climate change and acidification ramp up threats, the best way to protect our coastal economies is to protect biodiversity.

 

The CSAS recommendation for protected areas falls under the DFO (and all conservation groups’) mandate to follow a precautionary approach to ecosystem management. The CSAS explains that “protected areas of an appropriate scale are essential as reference sites for future research studies and as “insurance” areas to ensure that elements of the natural ecosystem are being conserved.”

The sea cucumber proposal is speculation – because the proponents’ statements are based on scientific conjecture, not peer-reviewed independent research. The CSAS report states that the “lack of aquaculture impact studies in Baynes Sound renders opinions on ecological effects of aquaculture speculative.”

 

Cumulative impact assessments, socioeconomic impact assessments, and baseline studies recommended by researchers and government have not been completed in Baynes Sound. The Institute for Coastal Research at VIU says that aquaculture’s “cumulative environmental impacts are not well known nor are the ways the industry affects the resilience of the sound’s social-ecological system or the well-being of the communities within it.” We must know if aquaculture activity adds up to a significant disturbance. Even the sea cucumber management plan, obtained through a Freedom of Information request, states that “these are optimistic plans and there could be many variables that could change these figures.”

 

Those linked with the project, including a consultant and a biologist, and the Comox Valley Conservation Strategy, have downplayed the public’s concern that these experimental ‘ranches’ might negatively impact the environment. But even a good research project can have a negative impact if it’s in the wrong place. The proposed sea cucumber tenures include sensitive areas, like the top five percent most vital herring spawn habitat, eelgrass beds and an internationally recognized Important Bird Area, which makes these areas ideal candidates for protection.

Intangible quality of life factors – lifestyle, cultural and recreational values – must also be given weight in the assessment process. These proposals haven’t met the criteria for economic, ecological or social sustainability, which requires community consent (social licence) in order to proceed.

Some areas just aren’t right for industry. Let’s support the creation of conservation areas in Baynes Sound for the benefit of everyone and everything.

 

Phase 0 Review of the Environmental Impacts of Intertidal Aquaculture in Baynes

Sound. 2001. Jamieson et al.

Comox Valley Regional Growth Strategy. 2010. Schedule ‘A’ Comox Valley Regional

Growth Strategy Bylaw No. 120, 2010. Comox Valley Regional District.

Social-Ecological Resilience in Baynes Sound. 2012. Institute for Coastal Research.

Vancouver Island University. http://www.viu.ca/icr/research-2/community-

university-research-for-recovery-alliance-curra/

Sue Smith

Royston