Proposed handyDART facility in Town of View Royal

ACS member Esquimalt Anglers’ Association wrote this letter to our provincial government with concerns regarding the Proposed handyDART facility in Town of View Royal.

Despite assurances and guarantees to the contrary, degradation of stream habitat and contamination through sedimentation continues to occur during construction of infrastructure projects.  One has only to look at the McKenzie Avenue interchange where several such incidences have occurred.  This past August there were two stop work orders issued for the sewage treatment project pipeline crossing of Colquitz River at Marigold and Interurban.  This was a result of an environmental management plan which failed to avoid excessive sedimentation of the fish bearing waters.

Letter to BC Minister of Transportation & Infrastructure Claire Trevena from Esquimalt Anglers’ Association.

The Minister’s Office recently responded by email, the contents of which are reproduced here:

288863 – Proposed handyDART facility in Town of View Royal
 
Dear Mr. Zaccarelli,
 
Thank you for your email regarding BC Transit’s plan to construct handyDART
facilities in the Town of View Royal.
 
As you likely know, increased ridership and investments in new transit
fleets have made it imperative that BC Transit construct a new handyDART
facility. Without this facility, transit service within the Victoria
Regional Transit System—conventional or handyDART—cannot continue to
expand.
 
Greater Victoria has limited space for new or expanded commercial and
industrial development. After careful, considered analysis, BC Transit
recommended provincially-owned land at the View Royal location as the best
option.
 
BC Transit is committed to engaging with View Royal staff on the handyDART
facility’s design, possible improvements and environmental protections.
Furthermore, BC Transit has committed that the facility’s designer will be
contractually obligated to ensure the project meets all View Royal’s
existing bylaw requirements, as well as other provincial and regulatory
requirements, including streamside protection and enhancement areas.
 
This is a critical project. The new facility will ensure BC Transit can
efficiently maintain and operate fleet to support nearly 400,000 annual
handyDART trips and 26 million annual conventional transit trips across
the region.
 
Thank you for taking the time to write.

Yours sincerely,
Claire Trevena
Minister
 
Copy to:          Premier John Horgan

                  Honourable George Heyman
                  Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy
                  MLA, Vancouver-Fairview

                  Mitzi Dean
                  MLA, Esquimalt-Metchosin

We remain hopeful but skeptical that this project can be completed and the handyDART facility operated without any negative impact to the salmonid habitat of Craigflower Creek.

BC Sports Fishing Regulations: Suggest a Change

For the full background on this topic, please read this update.

1—What is needed is for the various Local and Regional Committees to review their fisheries and to identify any gear or equipment that should be considered for change allowing it to be varied in season.
2—We ask that in your review, don’t be too concerned about whether your suggestion might be something that can already be done. If you are unsure, identify it. It is anticipated that some of the suggested changes will:

  • Already be able to be done
  • Will not be able to be processed at this time as they require a regulatory change.

We need the SFAC’s to really think outside the box…

To offer your suggestions and recommendations, please use this form. When complete, give the form to your local SFA Committee Chairperson.

SRIF Awarded 700K for SFI Projects

The BC Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund (SRIF) has awarded $700,879.00 to the Sport Fishing Institute of BC (SFI) to deliver four key projects designed to help implement the first phases of SFAB’s Vision 2021.

The projects are:

  1. Public Fishery Advisory Process Review
  2. First Nations Consultation and Enhanced Participation in Public Fishery
  3. Increase Participation in Public Fishery – Special Focus on Youth and New Canadians
  4. Establish Public Fishery Socioeconomic Data Warehouse

See the full announcement here.

SFAB Survey ends November 13

As a part of the SFAB Vision 2021, Sport Fishing Advisory Chairs are asking their membership to complete this survey.

Your input will be included in a Gap and Opportunity Analysis that will be provided to a team we are assembling for a workshop on November 20 to 22 to review the SFAB process, its operating model, funding, and services delivered.  As a participant in the SFAB process, your input is highly valued, and we want to provide a wider opportunity for SFAB participants to share their input.

Oct 15 2019: Halibut Fishing Still Open

The IPHC has released its latest catch assessment for 2019 here. As of this posting, fishing for halibut in BC waters remains open. As ever, subject to change in future, and for sportfishers, always subject to size and limit restrictions as published by DFO per area.

October 8: Fall (SFAC) Sport Fishing Advisory Meeting Victoria and Areas (19-20)

Ryan Chamberland, Area 19/20 SFAB Chair, invites you to attend the Fall SFAC Meeting for Area’s 19/20 on October 08, 2019 at 6pm.

Location:  Esquimalt Anglers Association, 1101 Munro St, Victoria.

Topics of discussion include:

  1. Priority messages on regulations for Chinook and Coho Salmon fishing to carry forward to the department.
  2. Halibut – Update on Season. How did this years regulations work for you?  Priorities requests for 2020 season?  What are possible changes you could accept?
  3. Prawn/Crab Update.
  4. Southern Resident Killer Whale Update. How are closures and restrictions effecting you?  Changes to be made, live with? 
  5. Enforcement Issues – Conservation and Protection Representative.
  6. BC Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund

Your SFAB chair needs motions to carry forward for a few of these topics. Please write down your proposed motion and bring it forward at the meeting. It will help to keep the meeting going, stay within the scheduled times, and be effective.  Once brought forward for discussion, we can edit as a group as and if needed.

Please check out and “like” the Facebook page Ryan has started for area 19 here https://www.facebook.com/SFACVictoria/ .

➤