“The whole place is just silted up and it’s only getting worse," he said. John Legate, one boat's capatian say he was stuck for approximately three hours in the harbour on Tuesday. Melnychuk says any large fishing boat is at risk of getting stuck if the water dips to around 10 feet. “If I come in with a load of fish, I draw 12 feet and you still need water under the boat so I would be rubbing bottom which is very dangerous.”ĬTV News toured the harbour by boat Wednesday, approximately three hours before low tide, and observed some areas in the harbour had recorded a depth of fewer than five feet. "This is the worst I've ever seen it and we need something done," said Albert Melnychuk, a commercial fisherman who's captained boats in the Steveston Harbour since 1979. Public works was dredging this channel since 1901," said Gusto, adding that she noticed the issue worsened after the atmospheric river in 2021. Gusto says the problem isn't new and doesn't understand what's taking so long for the federal government to step up. Fisheries and Oceans Canada – the federal department that owns the harbour - has yet to commit any funding.ĬTV News reached out to Fisheries and Oceans Canada Wednesday for comment but did not receive a response by deadine. So far, the City of Richmond, the provincial government and the Steveston Harbour Authority have committed more than $2 million each to help fund dredging the harbour. Boats won’t be able to unload their catch – they won’t be able to access the 45 businesses here.” "I mean, the harbour will be at a standstill if we don’t get funding. “It’s extremely frustrating," said Jaime Gusto. The general manager of the non-profit Steveston Harbour Authority, which manages the federally-owned harbour, says the issue is only getting worse and continues to negatively impact the local fishing industry. Over the last 24 hours, two more boats became stuck in Steveston Harbour as a result of increased sediment and low tide. The Steveston Harbour Authority says the channel of water in the south Fraser River requires immediate dredging and is calling on the federal government for funding support.
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