Morice Land and Resource Management Plan
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- Recommendations to the LRMP Table
- Commercial Fishery
- Sector Development Strategy
- Identified Opportunities
- Fish and Roe Processing Plant
ConclusionFurther real estate development studies are needed to identify viable sites, project size, type, infrastructure and location, to assure congruence with community planning objectives, and to secure cooperation from Ministry of Lands and Water, but to not purchase or undertake any property development costs at this time. Recommendations to the LRMP TableIt is the recommendation of this review, if a viable development is desired, that no development of property be undertaken at this time due to local economic hardship, inflated real estate price cycles and limited market demand. Though not currently feasible to recreational lots the following recommendations should be considered: Recommendation - Further study is needed to identify and protect potential development lands so they are available for development when the local population eventually expands and real estate price cycles stabilize. As employment in the Morice LRMP region grows, expect an increase in demand for the commuter sites. As employment in the region and near the region (Smithers, Telkwa and Burns Lake) grows, expect an increase in demand for cottage/cabin sites. Recommendation - The LRMP Table should identify lands, surrounding lakes and other landscape features, that are suitable for development given criteria such as existing infrastructure, fish and wildlife values, water quality, distance from settled areas, social values, etc.. Recommendation – The LRMP Table could recommend to the provincial government that a streamlined environmental regulatory system be put in place to govern lake and stream classifications and its impact to future recreational lot development. Commercial FisheryIntroductionCommercial fisheries are a vital to the economic well-being of the province. Most jobs associated with this industry are located in coastal communities. The Economic Development Action Plan Working Group has taken an interest in seeing if a commercial fishery could be viable inland. With a multitude of very productive lakes and rivers the possibility of operating such an industry needs to be explored. Babine Lake is well known for its large returns of sockeye salmon. While other rivers such as the Bulkley and Morice have similar reputations for chinook, pink and coho the numbers of returning salmon do not approach those of the Babine sockeye. In addition to the potential harvest of wild sockeye salmon from the Babine River system inland aquaculture (or fish farming) was thought to be an opportunity worth exploring. Sector Development StrategyFirst Nations would likely operate any commercial salmon fishery in the Morice. The Lake Babine Nation community of Fort Babine is situated at the outflow of Babine Lake. During seasons of large sockeye returns individuals from Fort Babine could operate a commercial fishery. To ensure a continued viable fishery, spawning grounds have to be protected, salmon enhancement programs would have to be maintained and better federal control of the commercial ocean fishery would be in place. To achieve this, the LRMP could impose land-use designations and special management directives designed to protect salmon stocks in Lake Babine. Even with these controls in place a commercial fishery is prone to short fishing seasons and uncertainty of the seasonal returns of salmon. To make a commercial fishery viable the enterprise would have to investigate alternative uses for fish waste and/or fish roe. In addition to operating a commercial salmon fishery there may be opportunities associated with developing inland aquaculture sites. Francois Lake and Babine Lake are large cold lakes that could potentially house inland aquaculture operations. In order to develop this potion of a fishery zoning these lakes for aquaculture use is necessary. Consideration also has to be made for shoreline access to fish pens. Though an inland aquaculture operation is primarily water based there is a need for shoreline access for maintenance purposes. The LRMP can assist in meeting these strategic needs of the commercial fishery sector The following sections explore the criteria and conditions for developing these opportunities. Identified OpportunitiesTable 29 lists the Economic Development Action Plan Working Group’s Commercial Fishery opportunities and their respective rankings. Table 29. Identified Commercial Fishery Opportunities and Rankings
The Working Group identified three opportunities in the Commercial Fishery Sector. Upon completing the ranking process the ratings indicated that fish processing and inland aquaculture were of significant value to pursue a technical analysis of their viability. It was decided that any opportunity associated with the production of freshwater pearls would have a negligible impact on the local economy and thus did not warrant any further analysis. For further information on these and other economic development opportunities interested individuals are asked to review the Ministry of Sustainable Resource Management, Building Blocks. Information on these Building Blocks can be obtained online at http://srmwww.gov.bc.ca/rmd/ecdev/analysis/building_blocks.htm . Fish and Roe Processing PlantDownload 1.06 Mb. Share with your friends:
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