The removal of derelict boats and illegal moorings from Oak Bay this week was done by the kind of partnership that needs to be made permanent. Oak Bay residents have been complaining for years about derelict boats moored in the bay, but getting someone to take responsibility has been difficult. If a vessel is a navigational hazard or presents an environmental risk, it鈥檚 Transport sa国际传媒鈥檚 responsibility. If it鈥檚 not recognized as a vessel, it鈥檚 the province鈥檚 problem. Municipalities are responsible for shorelines. The issue, which has global ramifications, often gets bounced from one office to another.
The Oak Bay operation, involving Oak Bay police, the RCMP marine unit and Transport sa国际传媒 staff, grew out of a meeting at the Union of sa国际传媒 Municipalities conference last fall, with municipal officials talking to sa国际传媒 Natural Resources Minister Steve Thomson and Transport sa国际传媒 officials.
The two police forces started putting notices on vessels and buoys several months ago, warning owners to remove the obstructions. Most owners complied, but about 10 structures remained for the police to remove.
What鈥檚 parked in the water is a perennial headache for all coastal communities.
The city of Victoria, for instance, is working with the provincial government to find a solution for the liveaboards in the Selkirk Waterway, the management of which is shared by federal, provincial and municipal governments, depending on the issue.
Sheila Malcomson, chairwoman of the Islands Trust Council, said local governments don鈥檛 necessarily have the authority to remove boats, but get the runaround from higher levels of government. She said municipalities have been pleading with senior governments for a comprehensive solution.
That, of course, is the answer. A permanent body comprising municipal, provincial and federal representatives should be formed to deal with derelict boats, illegal moorings and other issues in multi-jurisdictional waters. Instead of an issue being bounced from one agency or government to another, it should be handled by a body that represents all of them, one that has the authority and resources to help ensure the safety and quality of coastal waters.
For too long, the ocean has been a dumping ground. Perhaps it鈥檚 the vastness 鈥� toss something into the water and it goes out with the tide, never to be seen again.
Except that it doesn鈥檛 just magically go away. It gets caught in winds and currents, and much of it joins massive flotsam-collecting vortexes. The largest of these, halfway between here and Hawaii, is known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a country-sized area that abounds with refuse. There鈥檚 another one in the southern Indian Ocean 1,850 kilometres west of Perth, Australia.
Trash can be found anywhere in the ocean, which is complicating the effort to locate evidence of the Malaysian airliner that disappeared March 8. Searchers have been busy tracking down floating debris detected in satellite images. A New Zealand search team in a P-3 Orion aircraft spotted 70 objects in four hours. None had anything to do with the missing plane.
鈥淎 lot of stuff we are seeing is basically rubbish,鈥� said the commanding officer of the New Zealand team.
It鈥檚 unnerving to think of the abundance of garbage hampering the search for a missing airliner, but the problem has even more serious and longer-term consequences 鈥� the health of the oceans, the food chain and the planet is threatened by our trash.
Removing a few boats from around Vancouver Island will not solve the global problem, but it鈥檚 a good start. And it will make a substantial difference locally.
Like comedian Rodney Dangerfield, ocean waters 鈥渄on鈥檛 get no respect.鈥� That must change.
