Public consultations leave crabbers cool to wind farm plans

Recent public information sessions on the Queen Charlotte Islands hosted by NaiKun Wind Development haven't done much to reassure the crab fishery that they have much of a future.

With fears that up to half of the crab fishery grounds of Area A, could be lost to the proposed developement on Hecate Strait. Crab industry representatives from Area A and the general public had a number of questions for NaiKun officials, but for the crabbers the answers didn't do much to provide any satisfactory answers for them.

The Daily News featured the feedback from the crab industry as their front page story in Wednesday's paper.

FISHERMEN WORRY GROUNDS MAY BE CLAWED FROM THEM
By Kris Schumacher
The Daily News
Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Pages one and three

A wind farm project proposed for Hecate Strait could impact more than half of Area A's crab grounds by the time it's completed, say the British Columbia Crab Fisherman's Association.
NaiKun Wind Development sponsored two evening public information meetings on the Queen Charlotte Islands earlier this month, the first held in Skidegate and second the following night in Massett.

Geoff Gould, Area A Crab Association executive director, attended both meetings on behalf of the British Columbia Crab Fisherman's Association and was not impressed.

Gould said that while the Skidegate meeting only brought out only around 10 members of the public, the meeting in Massett was much better attended because there are two crab plants in the area and more concern about the impact the wind farm might have.

With crab fisherman and plant workers in attendance, Gould said the second meeting was much more lively, but, he said, audience members left frustrated after they did not receive adequate answers about environmental issues.

"There were were some hard questions asked, but all they did was deflect or defer the questions to 2009 when the Environmental Assessment will be done, so in my opinion they were evasive," said Gould.

"Their stock answer was 'wait for the assessment' but a couple of crab fisherman weren't too pleased with that. The people from the Delkatla Bird Society weren't happy with many of the answers either, and they're not happy with the style of the environmental assessment because they don't think there's enough research being done."

The Area A Crab Association engaged with NaiKun officials twice before these meetings, outlining where their crab gear is located in Hecate Strait, but Gould says the company has not said it will ensure wind towers are away from the crab grounds.

"If they do go ahead with this, we will lose about 20 per cent of the crab grounds in the first phase, and if the whole thing went through, we'd lose over 50 per cent of the crab grounds," said Gould.

Crab fishery still concerned over off shore wind farm location

Naikun Wind Energy Group is proceeding with its plans to construct an large off shore wind farm to harness the North coast winds for energy purposes, with phase one of the project occupying approximately 30 per cent of traditional crab fishing grounds in the area.

It's an incursion that many in the industry feel will be just the beginning of a forced relocation of the crab fishery and ultimately may lead to its demise on the north coast.

The progress of the project has alarmed crab fishermen in Area A of the coast, who outlined their concerns for their livelihoods in Wednesday's Daily News.

Wind farm project advances, but angers crabbers
By Kris Schumacher
The Daily News
Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Pages one and three

The company building an offshore wind farm off the coast of the Queen Charlotte Islands has recently installed a marine meteorological station, but not everyone is happy the project is proceeding.

Naikun Wind Energy Group, a Vancouver-based energy company, is engaged in the development of a major offshore wind project off the coast of British Columbia in an area known as the Haida Energy Field, which is home to some of Canada's best wind regimes.

The first phase of the project involves the recently installed marine meteorological station, which is equipped with several high-tech instruments that will measure and collect data pertaining to atmospheric conditions, wave and current climate, wind speed and direction and air and sea temperatures. The measurement data will also play an important role in pre-engineering the project and identifying the optimal siting of the wind turbine locations.

This is the first offshore measurement station of its kind on the west coast of North America, and happens to be located in an area used by Dungeness crab fishermen in Area A.

The location of the wind farm in this area has been a point of contention for many crab fishermen who have voiced their concerns over the past year, such as Area "A" crab fisherman Mitch Vermeer.

"The proposed first phase of the Naikun Wind Farm project will cover approximately 30 per cent of traditional crab fishing grounds in Hecate Straight," said Vermeer in a recent letter to Fisheries and Oceans Canada Minister Loyola Hearn.

"Fishers will not be able to set gear near the area during or after construction. Phase 1 will severely reduce the fishing grounds, forcing fishers to be more concentrated in the remaining available area, resulting in less production per vessel, more trap loss and navigational hazards."

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Vermeer estimates that if the remaining 4 phases of the proposed project were to be completed, the entire fishery would almost assuredly come to an end.

"To my knowledge, the Department has no stand on the proposed Naikun Wind Farm project," continued Vermeer.

"The location of this project does not have to be positioned on traditional fishing grounds. Hecate Straight is a large area, and the area fished is only a portion of it."

Vermeer and the rest of the Area "A" Crab Fishery feel that immediate action on behalf of DFO is necessary in order to preserve the existence of the Area "A" Crab Fishery, and believes that it is the responsibility of the government to intervene before further approvals of the Naikun project are made.

"My question to you, Honourable Minister, is this: why does it appear that the DFO wants this fishery, a fishery that polices itself with very little involvement by the DFO, and has excellent conservation measures in place and is still viable for the existing users, to come to an unnecessary demise?" asks Vermeer.

"The Department has the ability and, more importantly, the duty to preserve and protect this way of life for myself and hundreds of others. DFO must take the appropriate action to protect the Area 'A' Crab Fishery, and assure that it will not end in vain."