Tribal council fights to save foghorns

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The Canadian Coast Guard recently announced that it intends to decommission nine foghorns on the west coast of Vancouver Island, citing the availability of advanced technology. According to Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council's fisheries biologist Josie Osborne, in "a recent CBC Radio interview coast guard spokespersons said 'foghorns are essentially obsolete in this technological age of wonder, where onboard navigation systems are available to everyone'."

The technology they are referring to is the Global Positioning System or GPS. GPS is a worldwide navigation network that uses signals from satellites to receivers that can be as small as a cell phone to calculate one's position. The positioning can be accurate to within metres. It was pointed out that it costs at least $200 for a hand-held GPS device to protect mariners.

Osborne pointed out that many living in coastal communities where unemployment is high cannot afford the GPS.

"I'd like to invite the coast guard's superintendent of Aids to Navigation to come up to Ahousaht this winter, a community with high unemployment and with many on social assistance, and tell the 70 intertidal clam harvesters as they get ready for this winter's fishery that they don't need foghorns or whistle buoys any more because they should all have GPS on their boats by now. A coast guard employee in Victoria or Vancouver with a $50,000 plus salary cannot even begin to understand what it's like not to be able to afford a $200 hand-held GPS."

The nine foghorns slated for decommissioning are Lookout Island (near Kyuquot); Nootka (near Yuquot); Estevan Point (near Hesquiaht); Sharp Point (near Hot Springs Cove); Lennard Island (near Tofino); Amphitrite Point (near Ucluelet); Cape Beale (near Bamfield); Pachena Point; and Carmanah Point.

Osborne warned that the removal of these life-saving devices may spell tragedy in the future.

"The reality is that government decisions are made by people with high salaries in offices far away from where the effects of their decisions are felt . . . what evidence is there that in five years' time we won't be analyzing another fatal accident like the Cap Rouge II, in which another decision to 'cut the budget' is blamed?"

Tribal council fisheries staff said they would write the coast guard in an effort to save the services.