Swine Flu Has Islands College Cleaning Up

The swine flu is being taken very seriously in the CEGEP college campus here on the island as well as in the Gaspesia and the Lower North Shore. Intervention plans are underway with preparations made in collaboration with the ministers of Education and Public Health. Classes will not begin before next Thursday, a full week later than originally planned. They are hoping to avoid a new outbreak of the viral sickness this fall.

As well, students, professors and staff members of the CEGEPS must pay special attention to quality hygienic measures. At the entrance, there will be antiseptic hand rinses installed at strategic places in hallways, entrances and the cafeterias.

The director for Human Resources for the Gaspesia and Islands Colleges, Nicole Brunelle has been assured that the hygiene material has been ordered and the recommendation of a firm specialized in this area, is being followed.

Maintenance workers will be asked to mop the floors more often on ramps and stairs, and clean counters and doorknobs. There will be notices and signs on the room walls, asking that each person does his part to help prevent the spread of this virus.

If the classes are suspended during the semester session, the establishments have already taken all precautions necessary to assure essential services, such as the student loans.

Most strange news cast indeed, since classes are starting on Tuesday, here at the CEGEP level. Registration is on Monday, the 17th of August. Hmmmmmmm!

There have been several cases of the H1N1 virus (swine flu) here at the islands hospital this summer. Visitation rights were often suspended and at least one nurse contracted the virus.

The SEDNA IV Moves To Gaspe

According to the president of the organizing committee for the Gaspe festivities, Claudine Roy, the presence of the ship represents a veritable blessing. “It’s extraordinary. All in all, we are pleased in having her attached here for the summer financially. Then we will have free visits for the Gaspesians and the visitors who come,” said Mrs Roy.

The legendary ship will go into dry dock of the Maritime Shipyards Forillon in order to prepare for a two year scientific voyage around the world.

The man responsible for the Sedna IV’s missions, Jean Lemire, wishes to give leave to his crew, “The Sedna IV has become an ambassador who sails the world and we like that the scientific crew has a regional base. Why not the Gaspesia?”
The foundation of the Sedna IV has considered buying a house in Gaspe to create a museum. “There are many projects. We hope that we will be able to announce something soon. But the idea is to have a base port in the region,” commented Jean Lemire.

The Sedna IV is a steel sailing ship with three masts, which is 51 meters long. She was constructed in 1957, in Germany and underwent a complete refit in 1992 to respond to the needs of her private owner.

Acquired in June 2001 by a group of Canadian men of action, it has traveled the northern oceans and the Australian waters and has accumulated oceanographic missions, of which the Antarctic in the most popular.

The next mission, which will take on the loss of biodiversity and the access of potable water, is foreseen for 2010.

This is a surprise! The Sedna IV was supposed to be based in Grand Entry harbour. In fact, the new section of the harbour built in 2003 was made to accommodate the ship's berth. The company had bought the bar at Grand Entry Point to retain the records of the scientific escapades of the ship. Then they tore the historic bulding down after moving several small businesses out, all of which never recuperated. To my knowledge the ship was never brought to Grand Entry, not even for a visit. Occasionally she would appear in Grindstone harbour and tours would be given by the crew. The Sedna IV is a beautiful tall ship!

The ship sailed the Northwest passage in 2003.

Coast Guard Removed 650 bags of Contaminated Sand From Islands Dunes

The Canadian Coast Guard discretely unearthed 650 bags of sand that had been contaminated with PCB’s from the west beach of the Magdalen Islands last May.

These bags had been the waste of heavy oil that had been released into the Gulf when the oil barge Irving Whale sank in September 1970.

In December 2008, one of the islanders had found one of the bags on the West Beach, but because of snow and high tides, the work to recuperate the bags had been postponed until May 2009.

The recuperation of the bags left a large hole of around 25 square meters in the dune. More work will be necessary to restore the site, explained the superintendent of the Coast Guard, Martin Blouin, “The work has cause a cavity but not a breach, very near the area of the lagoon, therefore there will be some consolidation of the dune to do.”

It has been 39 years since the barge, Irving Whale sank to the north of Prince Edward Island, causing black sea on the beaches of the west side of the Archipelago. At that time, the authorities had decided to bag the contaminated sand that had been soaked with the oil and bury the bags in the dunes of the islands.

Some 200,000 bags in all had been buried. The burial sites had not been recorded. Since the ship wreck, 7000 bags have been found.

The Coast Guard will present it’s action plan to the municipality of the Iles-de-la-Madeleine this fall.

Parasite Affected Crab Has DFO Minister Worried

On June 29th, 2009, in a press communication it was said, that the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) was worried about the presence of a microscopic parasite that is both contagious and deadly which attacks the meat of the crab. The parasite has been identified in Nova Scotia and the Minister wishes to avoid a propagation in other fishing zones, such as the Gulf of Saint Lawrence.

The sickness developed by the parasite hits the crab during the molting season, when the carapace is changing. Then the parasite infects the blood, modifying the texture and the taste of the meat of the crab, before it finally kills the crab.

“It is not really a meat that is very interesting to eat. It’s texture and taste properties have been profoundly altered by the parasite,” indicated biologist, Bernard Ste-Marie.

The illness of the infected crab does not pose a danger for human health. However, it lowers the commercial value of the catch and the fishers of the crab are affected. The federal minister want therefore to stop the propagation, but also avoid an epidemic resembling that of the Alaskan infestation, where the parasite costs are approximately 5 million dollars a year for the fishermen.

“The fishermen are warned that if they find an infected crab, they are not to throw the crab back into the water, where it can infect other crabs in the area. They must bring it to shore,” explained the biologist.

Exact Air Island Air Service Suspended

The air delivery service between Mont-Joli and the Magdalen Islands will be suspended for the summer months starting on the 18th of June, 2009. The company Exact Air and the regional airport of Mont-Joli have decided on this decision because the service is used less at this time of the year.

In a daily flight, the number of passengers doesn’t cover the costs of the service. The direction of the airport stated that the link responded particularly to the business clientele and to certain institutional clients, whom are people who travel very little during the summer season.

The managers of the airport and of Exact Air wish to profit from this suspension of activities, to meet with the ministers, organizations and the businesses, who have shown interest in having this service put in place and in order to learn how to better respond to their needs.

Lobster Industry Crises: Financial Aid of Almost One and a Half Million Dollars

The Minister of Agriculture, Fishing and Food and the Minister responsible for the Regions of Chaudière-Appalaches and of the Centre-du-Québec and Deputy of Frontenac, M. Laurent Lessard, announced on June 9th, 2009 that a series of measures evaluated at almost one and a half million dollars is to be given in order to help the lobster fishing enterprises of Quebec. He is working in collaboration with the Deputy of Gaspe, Mr. Georges Mamelonet and the deputy of the Magdalen Islands, Mr. Germain Chevarie.

As well, the lobster fishermen can prevail on measures of transitory aide which will be in effect until March 31, 2009. The first measure is made up of an amount by the Minister, to be used to help with the interest on their loans. The second proposes to reimburse loans fof the fishermen profiting from government funding, in the form of a loan guarantee.

“It is well that the federal government had announced recently the funding of 10 million dollars for the commercialization and the promotion of lobster, this incentive will be in effect for the fishermen only for the year to come. The Minister of Fisheries and Oceans must accept her responsibilities and restructure the fishery, as the industry of Quebec requested and the other fishermen of the Atlantic. It is necessary to increase the minimal regulation size of the lobster, support the restructuring of the industry and allow fishermen to benefit from the employment insurance. The other provinces must be inspired from the industry of Quebec, to increase the quality of lobster and improve the value of their fishing businesses. I’ll continue to follow very close to the situation of the lobster fishermen over the course of the season, in order to assure the appropriate support,” Mr. Lessard said precisely.

Elsewhere, the Minister Lessard will follow his representations to the federal government in order that this last request be put to work on concrete solutions for the support of the industry of Quebec.

“The objective is the sort of aide for the fishing businesses, which were struck by the world wide economic crises, so that they can follow their activities, which represent an essential part of the economic development of the maritime regions of Quebec,” indicated the deputies of the Magdalen Islands (Germain Chevarie) and of Gaspe (Georges Mamelonet).

“The Fishermen Association of the Magdalen Islands (APPIM) and the group of professional fishermen of the south of Gaspésie estimates that Ottawa will use the example of the government of Quebec, which is to help it's fishermen victims of this major crises. The delivery of this funding program will allow us to concentrate on our work on a second level of aid to help the Quebec lobster fishermen,” declared M. Leonard Poirier and Oneil Cloutier, who had been encouraged by the support of the Minister Laurent Lessard.

The Quebec lobster fishing industry is comprised of 550 fishing businesses which supports 1,400 persons and which contributes in an important manner to the creation where it maintains some 2,000 employment positions in factories in maritime Quebec.

I'm thinking that fishermen of Quebec and the Maritimes don't benefit from a systematic Cooperative, such as that of the Cap Dauphin in Grosse Ile.

The New Entry Island Ferry To Start This Week

The ferry , Ivan Quinn*, was constructed at the Maritime Méridien Shipyard in Matane, will soon be starting her service of a daily delivery between Entry Island and Grindstone Harbours, on the Magdalen Islands this week. The ultra modern ship had been constructed in eight months at a cost of seven million dollars.

The president of the ferry society of Quebec (STQ) Georges Farrah, highlighted that the ship had been constructed on measure for to respond to the needs of some one hundred residents of Entry Island.

The managers of the STQ ad met the citizens for this project. They had concluded that a ship adapted to their needs. As well, the Ivan Quinn will transport heating fuel to Entry Island and will transfer waste products to the truck on the central island.

Moreover, those isolated who want to do their grocery shopping in Grindstone will have access to a refrigerator and a freezer during the voyage.

*Mr. Ivan Quinn was a colourful person of Entry Island. He was a warm store owner and the mayor of the island for many years. Mr. Quinn had also been known for his talents as a musician and a singer. He was a composer of country ballads on Maritime themes.