On Tuesday March 19 and Wednesday March 20, the Pender Harbour and Area Residents Association (PHARA) in conjunction with SeaWolf Diving and the Ocean Legacy Foundation will be retrieving abandoned nets (also known as ghost gear) and other pollutants (batteries, plastic, etc) from the waters of kalpilin/Pender Harbour. This project was authorized by Fisheries and Oceans Canada. These materials have been abandoned on the ocean floor for many years in the past when there was much less concern for our environment. That attitude has changed in recent years and whales, dolphins, herring and other sea life are increasingly frequenting our harbour.
PHARA has been working to find ways to improve the ocean ecosystem of the Pender Harbour area and one way to show that the people who live here are doing something real to improve our environment is to retrieve harmful materials and recycle them where possible.
The nets and other debris will be hauled up from the seafloor by volunteers from locally-based SeaWolf Diving. They will then be transported to the future site of the Pender Ocean Discovery Centre at Irvines Landing. Volunteers from the community will sort, clean as necessary, and ready the materials for transport to the Ocean Legacy Foundation’s Emergency Plastic Pollution Response Facility, located in Steveston Harbour, Richmond, for recycling. The project is expected to take two and a half days.
***
About PHARA: Founded in 2013, PHARA is a non-profit volunteer organization which exists to support the interests and needs of residents and visitors of Pender Harbour, Egmont and the rest of Area A. PHARA believes that all important decisions that affect local communities should be made by those who live, work and play in the areas.
About SeaWolf Diving Inc: SeaWolf offers a range of marine services including Marine Salvage, Underwater Construction, Underwater Inspection, Pile & Dock Repair, Open Water Anchor & Mooring Systems, Pipeline / Cable Installation & Repair and Ship’s Husbandry.
SeaWolf works with many Government Agencies, First Nations, Commercial Fishing Operations, Marinas, Private Yacht and Shoreline Property Owners and more. They are volunteering their services for this ocean cleanup project.
About the Ocean Legacy Foundation: (OLF) is a Canadian non-profit organization that develops and implements worldwide plastic pollution response programs, with the goal to end plastic pollution. OLF uses an integrated approach called EPIC which combines Education, Policy, Infrastructure Development, and Cleanup to create technologies, education, and skills training to convert plastic pollution into economic value while collaboratively building tailored tools with local communities to prevent and clean up plastic pollution.