Posting “No Shooting Area” in the Cowichan Estuary
North Cowichan Bylaw 3077I am pleased to let you know that I have received a confirmation by the Mayor of North Cowichan on January 5th that the signs for posting the “No Discharge of Firearms” in the northern section of Cowichan Bay have now been ordered and will be placed in strategic locations shortly.As you may recall from earlier correspondence between CERCA and the Municipality of North Cowichan, the northern section of the Cowichan Estuary under jurisdiction of the Municipality is closed to the discharge of firearms by authority of Bylaw 3077. The Municipality extends southward 1000 feet into the Estuary from the northern foreshore and covers the delta and marshes at the mouth of the North Arm of the Cowichan River. Despite the closure, hunters have continued to frequent the closed area to the annoyance of Cowichan Bay residents, the ever increasing number of bird watchers, photographers, nature lovers, and folks walking their dogs on the dyke. The fall and winter of 2014 has resulted in an increased number of complaints about waterfowl hunters and shooting. The number of phone calls received by CERCA about this issue had increased dramatically between Christmas and New Year by persons asking CERCA as perceived custodians of the estuary to address this issue. We hope that the announced posting of the no shooting area by the Municipality will solve the problem. It can be expected however that hunters not being aware of the no shooting Bylaw may take some time to get accustomed to the closure.We also have noticed that the privately owned "Blackley Farm" has recently been posted by the owners which do not permit hunting and/or trespassing on their pasture land. This effectively will eliminate hunting in the entire northern section of the estuary.Chair