O
n a typical Satur-
day morning, Steve
Pocock loads up his
white minivan with
stacked ice trays full of manila
clams, mussels and oysters
before heading out for the five-
hour drive, punctured by two
ferry crossings, from his home
on Quadra Island to a farmers'
market on Vancouver's west
side. He's one of the few still
making that weekly trek from
the islands. Small producers
like Pocock—who make up the
majority of B.C.'s 300 shellfish
operations—are struggling
just to stay afloat these days,
faced with both a shortage of
baby oysters (known as "seed")
and a burdensome regulatory
environment that favours large
players who can afford to wait
out the multiyear approval
process to operate.
Nowhere is the pain being
felt more acutely than in the
oyster trade. Oysters account
for 80 per cent of all of B.C.'s
farmed shellfish by weight
and around 40 per cent of its
value, with the small-but-world-
famous fishery (worth some $33
million annually) a mainstay of
the Gulf Island and Vancouver
Island economies. B.C.'s oyster
farms saw production fall by
12.5 per cent from 2012 to 2013
(from 7,200 tonnes to 6,300
tonnes), even as the landed
value of that product increased
from $10 million to $12 million—
dean vant schip/getty images (aBOve) may 2015 BCBusiness 13
t he mon t hly in for mer
TMı
"I am deep in the hole.
But I talked to various
restaurateurs in
Vancouver, and
everyone told me go
big or forget it"
– Uwe Boll, p.14
small producers
like steve pocock
(above) – who
make up the
majority of B.c.'s
300 shellfish
operations– are
struggling to
stay afloat
m ay 2 0 15
The Worry Is Your Oyster
A q u a c u l t u r e
Warming seas and onerous rules are raising concerns for
B.c.'s bivalve farmers by Jacob Parry
INSIDE
Uwe Boll's Big, yummy Bet ... transit Wars ... David Suzuki foundation's future ... + more ...
OYSTER HOISTERS
Oysters account for
80 per cent of B.C.'s
farmed shellfish by
weight
