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Dead Boat Society calls for inventory of derelict boats in qathet Regional District

Group is hoping to remove marine debris from coast including areas around Powell River
Abandoned vessel
This abandoned boat near Gibsons is one of many found on the coast in British Columbia.

Dead Boat Society is working to rid the BC coast of derelict vessels and wants help from qathet Regional District in identifying abandoned boats.

John Roe, one of the founders of the Dead Boat Society, appeared before the regional district’s committee of the whole on Thursday, March 14, and said he is familiar with the amount of debris, derelict boats and material on the BC coastal shoreline that interferes with the restoration of marine resources.

Roe said he has surveyed most of the BC coast for derelict vessels.

Since the beginning of the federal government’s abandoned boats program, Dead Boat Society has taken out 26 boats from the Capital Regional District and the Gulf Islands. The society has partnered with District of Sechelt, taking inventories on the lower Sunshine Coast. Roe’s organization is moving up the coast and wants to reach out to regional governments for assistance.

“We need to get an inventory,” said Roe. “We’d like to work with your community to get an inventory of where these boats are. As a non-profit society we are capable of managing the whole program.”

Roe said the big push is to get boat owners with derelict vessels to turn the boats over to the Dead Boat Society before they have to apply for seizure notices because it is far easier and a lot less paperwork. He said Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the Canadian Coast Guard have identified 1,000 derelict boats and he has a list of about 1,000 more. He added that he would like to work with the regional district to get a listing of derelict vessels in this region.

“Whenever there is a boat, call us, take a picture and we’ll add it to the list,” said Roe. “That way we can find out how much money we’ll need to go forward from the community or the provincial government and then make application to the federal government for removal.”

Roe said there is not a huge number of derelict boats in Powell River itself, but heading up toward Lund, and in the inlets, “there’s a lot of boats sitting there.”

“I’m looking the community to put a list together of where the boats are,” he said. “We need to get word out as soon as possible.”

Roe said the easiest thing is for the owner to give the boat up before it sinks.

Municipal director CaroleAnn Leishman made a motion that qathet Regional District partner with the Dead Boat Society and that staff work out the arrangements and details. The motion carried.