A Plea

I reiterate the message yesterday from Chris that we do not want an aquaculture industry operating in Preedy Harbour. Since the area was made into a Rockfish Preserve 20 years ago there has been a noticeable increase in sea life as many will have noticed; herring, sea lions, orcas, and humpbacks have all been making a recovery in Preedy harbour. An aquaculture enterprise that involves PVC pipe, predator nets, and marker buoys, covering many hectares of sea floor disrupting the local ecosystem , is a bad idea on many levels. Not to mention that all approvals by both Provincial and Federal Regulators were given without any meaningful local input or even notification is cause for concern. As witnessed with the anchorages of tankers surrounding our island, once permission is granted it is virtually impossible to have any meaningful input into what happens after the fact. Also witness what happens when companies go bankrupt or are sold (as seen with orphan oil wells in Alberta) as the companies abandon any responsibility for cleaning up, the taxpayer assumes the cost).

If you care about our local environment, please make your opinion known to the appropriate authorities.

Norm Kasting