Cortes Currents

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - An interview with Erik Lyon, of Rising Tide Shellfish who is selling scallops on Cortes Island.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - An interview with Erik Lyon, of Rising Tide Shellfish who is selling scallops on Cortes Island.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - An interview with Erik Lyon, of Rising Tide Shellfish who is selling scallops on Cortes Island.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - This is a COVID update for the Greater Campbell River area on March 11, 2021.

While the numbers are now falling in North Vancouver Island, yesterday the BC Centre for Disease Control released statistics for what was hopefully the peak in the Greater Campbell River Health Area.

There were 21 active cases in the Greater Campbell River during the week ending on Saturday March 6.

At that point there were 62 cases in North Vancouver Island, yesterday Island Health reported that the number has dropped to 44.

Though Cortes, Quadra and Read Islands are all on the list of islands where vaccinations will be carried out for the entire adult population, no further details have been released.

While there are no known active cases on any of these islands, Island Health does not release this kind of data.

Campbell River City Council discussed 113 reports of COVID violations at their March 9th board meeting.

One of the businesses reported belonged to city councillor Kermit Dahl, who explained that someone saw his staff not wearing masks. They were not aware that the staff were members of the same family, or that they were actually adhering to COVID regulations. Dahl’s business was given a warning to the effect that they were ‘working in a fishbowl’ and, whether it is justified or not, everyone has the right to complain.

Councillor Charlie Cornfield mentioned an incident where someone not wearing a mask entered a Campbell River business. The person was approached, but refused to wear a mask and left.

>>> Three cases reported through social media

Two Campbell River businesses, and North Island College, released details of COVID cases through social media.

Steve Marshall Motors reopened on March 8th, and their Facebook page mentions selling an SUV and a truck. The store closed down on March 4th after a staff member tested positive. This person is presumably still in isolation.

The Ideal Cafe reopens today, after being closed for 6 days. One of the servers tested positive on March 1st. She tested negative on the 4th, but will remain in self isolation until March 12th.

There were also two exposures at North Island College on March 2nd and 3rd. Only a small group of students came into contact with the infected person.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - This is a COVID update for the Greater Campbell River area on March 11, 2021.

While the numbers are now falling in North Vancouver Island, yesterday the BC Centre for Disease Control released statistics for what was hopefully the peak in the Greater Campbell River Health Area.

There were 21 active cases in the Greater Campbell River during the week ending on Saturday March 6.

At that point there were 62 cases in North Vancouver Island, yesterday Island Health reported that the number has dropped to 44.

Though Cortes, Quadra and Read Islands are all on the list of islands where vaccinations will be carried out for the entire adult population, no further details have been released.

While there are no known active cases on any of these islands, Island Health does not release this kind of data.

Campbell River City Council discussed 113 reports of COVID violations at their March 9th board meeting.

One of the businesses reported belonged to city councillor Kermit Dahl, who explained that someone saw his staff not wearing masks. They were not aware that the staff were members of the same family, or that they were actually adhering to COVID regulations. Dahl’s business was given a warning to the effect that they were ‘working in a fishbowl’ and, whether it is justified or not, everyone has the right to complain.

Councillor Charlie Cornfield mentioned an incident where someone not wearing a mask entered a Campbell River business. The person was approached, but refused to wear a mask and left.

>>> Three cases reported through social media

Two Campbell River businesses, and North Island College, released details of COVID cases through social media.

Steve Marshall Motors reopened on March 8th, and their Facebook page mentions selling an SUV and a truck. The store closed down on March 4th after a staff member tested positive. This person is presumably still in isolation.

The Ideal Cafe reopens today, after being closed for 6 days. One of the servers tested positive on March 1st. She tested negative on the 4th, but will remain in self isolation until March 12th.

There were also two exposures at North Island College on March 2nd and 3rd. Only a small group of students came into contact with the infected person.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - This is a COVID update for the Greater Campbell River area on March 11, 2021.

While the numbers are now falling in North Vancouver Island, yesterday the BC Centre for Disease Control released statistics for what was hopefully the peak in the Greater Campbell River Health Area.

There were 21 active cases in the Greater Campbell River during the week ending on Saturday March 6.

At that point there were 62 cases in North Vancouver Island, yesterday Island Health reported that the number has dropped to 44.

Though Cortes, Quadra and Read Islands are all on the list of islands where vaccinations will be carried out for the entire adult population, no further details have been released.

While there are no known active cases on any of these islands, Island Health does not release this kind of data.

Campbell River City Council discussed 113 reports of COVID violations at their March 9th board meeting.

One of the businesses reported belonged to city councillor Kermit Dahl, who explained that someone saw his staff not wearing masks. They were not aware that the staff were members of the same family, or that they were actually adhering to COVID regulations. Dahl’s business was given a warning to the effect that they were ‘working in a fishbowl’ and, whether it is justified or not, everyone has the right to complain.

Councillor Charlie Cornfield mentioned an incident where someone not wearing a mask entered a Campbell River business. The person was approached, but refused to wear a mask and left.

>>> Three cases reported through social media

Two Campbell River businesses, and North Island College, released details of COVID cases through social media.

Steve Marshall Motors reopened on March 8th, and their Facebook page mentions selling an SUV and a truck. The store closed down on March 4th after a staff member tested positive. This person is presumably still in isolation.

The Ideal Cafe reopens today, after being closed for 6 days. One of the servers tested positive on March 1st. She tested negative on the 4th, but will remain in self isolation until March 12th.

There were also two exposures at North Island College on March 2nd and 3rd. Only a small group of students came into contact with the infected person.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Two well known Quadra Island environmentalists are speaking out in favour of the DFO’s decision to phase out salmon farms in the Discovery Islands.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Two well known Quadra Island environmentalists are speaking out in favour of the DFO’s decision to phase out salmon farms in the Discovery Islands.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Two well known Quadra Island environmentalists are speaking out in favour of the DFO’s decision to phase out salmon farms in the Discovery Islands.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The BC Salmon Farmers Association will make a presentation about the Discovery Island’s salmon farms at the March 10th Strathcona Regional District Board Meeting and Sierra Quadra believes they will be responding.

The two groups wish to speak about very different topics. The Salmon Farmers wants to talk about ways to address the economic hole left by closing down 19 salmon farms. Sierra Quadra is concerned about past and ongoing environmental impacts.

Ray Grigg, one of the environmental group’s Directors, claims that fish farms have been a disaster form the beginning.

“For a period of about 13 years, they were killing about 500 seals a year because they were predating their salmon farms. This does not account for the otters that they probably killed, the blue heron, anything that was eating their fish. They have acoustic devises that scare the orcas away from their fish farms and those orcas are just returning to the Broughton Archipelago now that the salmon farms have been moved out.”

Another Sierra Quadra Director, Angela Koch, said “They keep saying that the science is done, but we just found out that seven new viruses were discovered on the farms.”

She was one of the participants in the Cohen Commission, where “we learned that one in four farms has a major fish health event every year.”

John Paul Fraser, Executive Director of the BC Salmon Farmer’s Association, came to speak about.

“We had a lot of support from local government and it isn’t something we’ve had to rally, it is real. Local government has so often been left holding the bag. What we are talking about here is how to execute the removal of a number of salmon farms,” he said.

Fraser is critical of the lack of leadership DFO has shown throughout this process.

“we are almost three months into this and I ask you and your listeners, how many calls do you think we’ve had returned? Letters that have been returned; emails; anything from Ottawa after this decision was made? If your answer was zero, you win the prize,” he said.

Fraser believes the best way to go forward is to renegotiate the manner in which the farms are phased out. This should not be an artificial timeline, like the 18-month limit DFO imposed last December. Instead industry and all the government stakeholders should come together to discuss the best exit strategy.

>>> A place at the table

However Fraser does not want the environmental sector to have a seat at that table.

“It has to be focused, let’s not turn this into a circus,” he said.

Pressed, Fraser added, “I do not know why they deserve a seat at the table, quite honestly. This is based on a consultation between governments, indigenous and non indigenous. Now it is about how to implement a decision the government has made. If environmental groups get upset about that, it doesn’t really matter. What really matters is doing this in a manner that works and is in the best interests of the communities, indigenous and non-indigenous. So let’s get to it.”

Whether Sierra Quadra will get an opportunity to speak at tomorrow’s SRD Board meeting, remains to be seen.

Grigg believes they will, because they applied last Friday, but Sierra Quadra’s name does not appear on the Agenda.

In response to the idea that fish farmers do not want environmentalists at the larger table, he replied, “This has always been their position. They are not an environmental problem so they do not want any representation from the environmentalists. The very reason they are being evicted from open net pens is environmental problems.”

He added that while moving on land may cut into the aquaculture sector’s profits, “they wouldn’t have the disease problems, and they wouldn’t have the environmentalists to deal with.”