Pender Island Whale Sanctuary

[ziggy]

Canada has taken comprehensive actions to address the complex and interconnected threats that the SRKW face. Annually since 2018, the Federal Government has announced enhanced measures to address key threats to the population’s recovery, including the threats of reduced prey availability, and physical and acoustic disturbance. The Government also announced the 2020 SRKW suite of management measures in May 2020. These measures included interim sanctuary zones (ISZ) that restricted vessel traffic from June to November 2020 to reduce noise and physical disturbance in portions of SRKW foraging areas. Authority for the ISZ falls under the purview of Transport Canada.



Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) does not currently have an active monitoring program within the ISZ to document the presence of SRKW. However, DFO scientists have deployed acoustic recorders in and outside of the ISZ to collect acoustic data which may help to quantify the presence of SRKW in the ISZ. The data have not yet been compiled and analyzed.



You may also wish to contact the BC Cetaceans Sightings Network, which collects reports of whale sightings from members of the public.



Thank you for writing. I appreciate the opportunity to respond to your concerns.

 

[ziggy]

Thought I would post a response I rec’d today from DFO
As you can see they have no idea if the Sanctuary actually accomplished anything. Remember this is the second year they have shut down Public Fishing and (supposedly) navigation and yet they have made no effort to validate their draconian measure and have no idea if the whales were even present!

You’ll also note the stickhandling of the ISZ to Transport Canada. Anyone believe this was their initiative? Yeah I think not! They are simply the ones who can shut down the waterways, but make no mistake, this is at the request of DFO.

So in Summary, DFO closed public fishery, had the area shut down for navigation ( by Transport Canada) and has no idea if it was necessary or accomplished the initial goal. They have so little idea of what’s going on they have to tell the public to ask an outside group, but they haven’t bothered to.

Defund DFO!

 

[wildmanyeah]

Thought I would post a response I rec’d today from DFO
As you can see they have no idea if the Sanctuary actually accomplished anything. Remember this is the second year they have shut down Public Fishing and (supposedly) navigation and yet they have made no effort to validate their draconian measure and have no idea if the whales were even present!

You’ll also note the stickhandling of the ISZ to Transport Canada. Anyone believe this was their initiative? Yeah I think not! They are simply the ones who can shut down the waterways, but make no mistake, this is at the request of DFO.

So in Summary, DFO closed public fishery, had the area shut down for navigation ( by Transport Canada) and has no idea if it was necessary or accomplished the initial goal. They have so little idea of what’s going on they have to tell the public to ask an outside group, but they haven’t bothered to.

Defund DFO!

yeah it was pretty disappointing last year when i asked at our local SFAC meeting what the result was of the studies that were to place in the SRKW zones and the response was no studies were conducted. I distinctly remember them saying that they were for the purpose of study in 2018.

its pretty clear that these zones are nothing but smoke and mirrors for their ENGO lobbyists


Here is advice from the SFAB to DFO:

Southern Resident Killer Whale

s i) The SFAB anticipates participation in the 2021 SRKW TWG process and looks forward to advice from that process being integrated into IFMP development in a timely manner.

ii) Of note it is apparent that SRKW have not spent much time at all in the Southern Gulf Islands interim sanctuary zones and that compliance within these zones from the general boating public is problematic. It is our desire to enhance measures that will work, not to expand on measures that don’t and therefore recommends that DFO consider the utility of these measures with regards to their contribution to SRKW recovery vs the negative social and economic impacts they create. The SFAB supports applying the mandatory 400M avoidance zone mobile sanctuary, and voluntary 1,000M avoidance zone in SRKW critical habitat, and for DFO to increase efforts to educate, monitor and enforce this important rebuilding tool.

iii) The SFAB questions the value of “no go zone” sanctuaries if they do not apply to all non-essential boating activities. The presence of any boats actively fishing and travelling in these areas, especially if engaged in fishing activities from small unmarked vessels, creates confusion amongst the boating and public fishery community, as well as reduces the effectiveness of these sanctuary areas from a competition for prey and physical and acoustic disturbance perspective. iii) The SFAB supports creating a 1nm shoreline corridor from Sherringham Pt. to East Point Pt. near Port Renfrew that will allow for chinook retention opportunity commensurate with management measures in place in PFMA 20-5..

 

[ziggy]

I pretty much pointed out to DFO and their Minister that it was ridiculous and incompetent to put major restrictions on public fishery and right to navigate and not even follow up to see if the measures were necessary or effective. This pretty much proves DFO is simply going where pushed and is unable or unwilling to stand up to ENGO’s. It’s a fearful department who may be well beyond its best before date. Let’s face it you never see a rising political star get saddled with this Department. Time for a change .

 

[High Time]

Thank you Ziggy for asking the hard questions and trying to get DFO to justify the farcical "interm whale sanctuary" at Pender Bluffs. I have spent 2 years now observing no SRKW transiting the area from April to August and we know from other sightings in other areas, that they were nowhere near the southern gulf islands.There were a handful of sightings of orcas in August which may or may not even be SRKW, as transient orcas appear to have taken over the lower gulf area. During this time there was a constant flow of vessels transiting the area with virtually no attempt at enforcement. The response you received was another lame attempt to justify a politically motivated action that is accomplishing nothing. They know full well that a whale avoidance scheme in the area would provide more than adequate protection but the ENGO demanded a "whale sanctuary" and that's what we had dumped on us. I guess in their vocabulary "interm" means "as long as we can get away with it without providing any justification".