Rugged Coast Research Society states on their website they have removed 104,580kg of debris and restored 499.73km of coastlines and marine habitats. Photo: Mick Sweetman / CHLY 101.7FM.

The coastline is going to get a whole lot cleaner with the province announcing a new round of funding for coastal clean-up projects. Through the Clean Coast, Clean Waters initiative, eight projects were selected this year and are expected to clean more than 1,400 kilometres of shoreline and remove at least 70 derelict vessels. This funding is expected to create 630 new jobs in the process.

The projects for this round of funding were selected through a merit-based process from organizations that bring their experience and dedication to the marine environment.

The funding is a part of the $25 million provincial investment into shoreline cleanup and derelict vessel removal projects that were announced in May 2023 by the province.

Two of the projects will be headed by the Nanaimo-based coastal clean-up and research group Rugged Coast Research Society. On their website, they state they have removed 104,580kg of debris and restored 499.73km of coastlines and marine habitats.

Cael Cook is the business manager at Rugged Coast. He says their work is primarily on shoreline clean-up focusing on large-scale remote locations but also cleaning up areas in and around Nanaimo.

“We've been focused on focusing on the harder-to-reach areas of the coast. We get out to the northwest coast of the island and some of the less accessible spots where the shorelines aren't being as frequently cleaned.” he said.

Their shoreline clean-up projects operating in Chatham Sound, Kyuquot, Checleseht (Ka:’yu:’k’t’h’/Che:k’tles7et’h’), Nuchatlaht and Hesquiaht territory received $1.9 million from the province, and their derelict vessel removal project taking place in Kyuquot territory received about $470,000.

The money will go towards large operation costs such as operating boats and helicopters that are needed to reach and transport the debris out of remote access locations. The money will also be used to cover wages for the projects and put money into the local communities they work with.

“One of the great aspects of this project was that we were able to provide a lot of jobs locally. Our indigenous partners are a huge component of these projects.” Cook said. “Their local knowledge holders, both geographically and environmentally, they've been stewards of the lands for 1000s of years. So we heavily rely on our local partners simply guiding us up to these locations.”

Cook said although it’s hard work, the work is a huge benefit to the local communities and very rewarding.

“It can be discouraging to see the amount of garbage on our coastlines. It's also very rewarding and a huge benefit for not only our marine life but tourism and the local communities to be able to walk the shorelines and not be stumbling over plastic bottles and fishing nets.” Cook said. “It's surprising amount of debris but our crews have been amazingly successful.”

Cook said so far their crew have filled up 1100 meter cubed Super Sacks which would equate to about 40 school buses in size of garbage of everything from large foam floats to tiny microplastics.

Joshua Charleson is the relationships director for the Coastal Restoration Society, one of the other groups that received funding through the initiative. They work on cleaning up derelict vessels from the ocean and remove as much recyclable material off the boats.

“But unfortunately, a lot of the vessels that we do encounter are very broken down already. They're very old so things like the fibreglass itself, old wood, and concrete are not recyclable.” Charleson said.

This year they were able to remove 42 derelict vessels from the coast.

Charleson says disposing of an old boat is very expensive and landfills don’t have a lot of room for boats. Boats have to be broken down with heavy mechanical equipment, a costly effort that leads boat owners to instead leave their boats in the oceans.

Recipients of the funds must complete projects from this current funding by February 29th of next year. A second round of applications will open in early 2024 to distribute the remaining funds.

Funding Note: This story was produced with funding support from the Local Journalism Initiative, administered by the Community Radio Fund of Canada.