Editor:
We read with interest the article on Sept. 1 about the shellfish tourists who are harvesting shellfish indiscriminately, ignoring closed designations and limits, and hauling out buckets loaded with oysters and clams (“Fisheries officers fine shellfish tourists $3,000”). This is happening all over the Sunshine Coast, not just in Powell River.
On the long August weekend, we witnessed carloads of people taking large buckets of shellfish from the beach area near Dusty Road in Sechelt. They were also walking to this public beach access from a private campsite nearby and in that campsite you could see many large white buckets sitting near the tents. We talked to the harvesters on the beach and let them know that the area was closed and that they could become quite sick from eating the clams, and those individuals did empty their buckets. We were able to stop a few from their illegal clam harvesting, but as we left, we saw still more individuals arriving.
We also notified the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), but with no officers located on the Southern Sunshine Coast, they obviously cannot provide immediate action in catching the violators in our area. After speaking to a DFO officer, we now know to (safely) take photos of licence plate numbers of the vehicles and forward to DFO for further action. It appears the protection of this natural resource on our Coast will depend on the diligence of Sunshine Coast residents to monitor the closed beaches and continually report the infractions to DFO. We don’t believe that this is the most effective way of managing our shellfish resources.
Pat Moore, Diana Mumford, Sandra Sharkey, Sandy Hook