Canada: Fishermen Urge Wheatley Harbour Dredging

Fishermen Urge Wheatley Harbour Dredging

Fishing boats get stuck daily on the Wheatley Harbour’s sand bar, and that is the main reason for the commercial fishermen in Wheatley to try to find a permanent solution to an ongoing silting problem, according to windsorstar.com

The harbour manager Al Matthews said: “Now it’s to a dangerous point where there’s going to be property damage to the vessel, personal injury or there could even be an environmental disaster. The water has dropped a foot and a half since July.

Kevin Hill, the spokesperson with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, stated in a written statement that “onshore dredging has been on-going for approximately three weeks and is currently 70 percent complete. Approximately 5,000 cubic metres of sand and silt will be removed from the harbour entrance.

Hill added the “contract for off-shore dredging of the approach channel was awarded last week and the contractor will begin work shortly, subject to weather conditions.

[mappress]

Dredging Today Staff, December 5, 2012; Image: wheatleyharbourauthority