Skip to main content - Skip to contact information

Community Outreach

While the BC shellfish aquaculture industry has been active in expanding its capacity, it has not been active in communicating this capacity to the communities it seeks to serve. As a result, many members of these communities lack an understanding of shellfish aquaculture and its capability to stimulate a significant increase in employment opportunities. The CSR is investigating innovative strategies to raise the profile of shellfish aquaculture in coastal communities, and improve the flow of information to communities and employers.

Students talking

 

First Nations Youth Leadership Shellfish Program

FLOW at Deep Bay CSR tour song

With shellfish aquaculture becoming a key area of interest for most coastal First Nation communities, the Center for Shellfish Research has been providing training and support to many First Nation communities in BC.  One of the areas of concerns for communities is the availability of future aquaculture workers.  The Center for Shellfish Research is addressing this issue by delivering a summer program for teens that will improve their awareness and knowledge of shellfish aquaculture and provide them with leadership training that will allow them to share their enthusiasm within their communities.

The Center for Shellfish Research is designing the First Nations Youth Leadership Shellfish Program, which runs in July and is held at Moorecroft Camp in Nanoose.  The goals of this program will be to bring together youth, to learn leadership skills, provide a basic knowledge of key areas that are fundamental to successful shellfish aquaculture and will be ocean-focused and community based.

The program, which is targeting youth ages 13 – 18, will include leadership training, traditional knowledge, marine ecology, conservation, preservation and sustainable aquaculture. The participants will learn transferable skills through experiential learning, interactive team building and effective communication. The program will include field trips, marine species and native plant identification, historical significance of the Field Station location in Deep Bay and its importance to First Nations, both culturally and currently.

Our target is five youths and one adult mentor per community, but this may increase as levels of interest are determined.

Currently, we are interested in meeting with community/education coordinators to build relationships and share our vision. The role of this project is significant to the First Nation communities. Please contact Stephanie Richards to discuss our project and how your community can be involved.

 

Development of a Shellfish Aquaculture Communication Strategy

The CSR has received funding from Service Canada (SC) to develop a communication strategy for the BC shellfish aquaculture industry which presents the overriding message that:

Shellfish aquaculture is the vehicle through which a community's assets (skills, institutions, cultural traditions, natural resources etc.) can be exploited to achieve economic expansion and job creation.

As various geographic areas have different values and issues, three different target communities (North/Central Coast, Nootka Sound and Ladysmith/Chemainus) have served as the pilot group for the project.

The following is a brief description of the project's objective, target audiences and workplan:

Project Objective

To develop a shellfish aquaculture communication strategy for 3 coastal communities that will assist in moving the industry in that community forward.

Target Audiences

The primary audiences to be targeted by this communication strategy are:

  • Individuals already employed in shellfish aquaculture.
  • Individuals not currently employed in shellfish aquaculture. This group includes First Nations, youth and displaced resource workers.
  • Community/business leaders, local government and economic developers.

Project Workplan

To develop the communication strategy for each community, the following information must be determined:

  • What is the community's current state-of-readiness for shellfish aquaculture (e.g. what do growers need to know to make the next step towards viable operations? What do community leaders & local governments need to know to achieve a greater comfort level with industry?)
  • What kind of information/resources is required?
  • What is the most effective method (e.g. internet, workshops, training programs, newspaper etc.) to deliver information to each of the target audiences?

The development of this communication strategy will allow shellfish aquaculture information to be transferred to BC coastal communities in a well informed, comprehensive and coordinated manner.

Click here for a copy of the final communication strategy 

Funding for this project has been provided by Service Canada through the Labour Market Partnership Program. For further information on other Service Canada programs and initiatives click here: www.servicecanada.gc.ca

The Government of Canada has contributed funding to this initiative. Government of Canada Logo