Activism
FOSH, along with its allied organizations, have had a significant positive impact on issues affecting the natural values of the Shoal Harbour Migratory Bird Sanctuary. They have championed a Bioregional Framework to guide the updating of municipal Official Community Plans, achieved the prohibiting of fireworks within the sanctuary, persisted with relevant authorities for the removal of abandoned vessels and illegal moorages , and commissioning a study of the legal and jurisdictional requirements affecting the sanctuary and its foreshore. These are but a few of the actions that FOSH and its partners have taken to ensure the protection and restoration of Shoal Harbour Migratory Bird Sanctuary.
The abandoned vessels and illegal moorage issue is a current top priority for the Friends of Shoal Harbour. Meet Malcolm Falconer and learn more about he and FOSH have been doing about it.
Malcolm is the coordinator of the Tsehum Harbour Task Force.
He has been active in bringing attention to the problems associated with the placement of private mooring buoys in coastal waters, particularly in Tsehum Harbour and the Shoal Harbour Migratory Bird Sanctuary.
There was oversight and enforcement of private mooring buoys by the Canadian Coast Guard until 2004. In 2004 Transport Canada’s Navigation Protection Program, intended to streamline the regulations for the benefit of commercial operators such as fish farms, effectively removed critical oversight and enforcement. Moreover, Transport Canada lacked the sea-going capability of the Coast Guard.
Malcolm is working with political partners, other societies, First Nations, and businesses to reestablish effective regulation and enforcement of private mooring buoys.
We collectively must do better to protect our marine ecosystems while representing a community vision that respects the values of its citizens.
Here is a link to the Tsehum Harbour Task Force Mandate:https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qUPMoSG4Qll6w2Iecl2rflwv1qM47SN3/view?usp=shari