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 TOFINO,
B.C.—Norwegian fisherman Jacob Arnet was one of the first
homesteaders to settle in Tofino
in 1894. A century later, local entrepreneur Roland “Roly”
Arnet is keeping his grandfather’s pioneer spirit alive by
growing a new economy in Clayoquot
Sound.
Arnet is part of B.C.’s booming shellfish aquaculture sector.
The B.C. Shellfish
Growers’ Association forecasts that the sector will expand
three-fold to $70 million in production by 2007. With a $50,000
loan from Ecotrust Canada’s Natural Capital Fund, his company,
Lagoon Island Mariculture Ltd., plans to double its oyster
production in the next few years.
PHOTO: Roly Arnet, general manager,
Lagoon Island Mariculture.
“It was more than a loan,” says Arnet. “I wanted
toestablish a working relationship with Ecotrust Canada because
of their philosophy of sustainability. One of my goals is
to promote shellfish aquaculture in Clayoquot Sound and create
a new economic base for the region.”
Shellfish aquaculture is diversifying the local economy,
providing much needed jobs and revenue in a region hurt by
downturns in traditional resource industries,
such as forestry and fishing, in the late 1990s.
Arnet’s family, in fact, has seen a century of resource booms
and busts in Clayoquot Sound. One of his uncles remembered
seeing the last sealing schooner leave Tofino around 1910.
Its crew pulled the anchor by hand, hollering with every heave-ho,
and then hoisted its topgallant sail catching a light westerly
wind out of Clayoquot Sound and into history’s economic dustbin.
The whalers, sealers, miners and sardine canners all came
and went.
 PHOTO:
Tofino, Clayoquot Sound, Vancouver Island.
The cycle of resource discovery, exploitation and depletion
is more than a history lesson to Arnet, who was a schoolteacher
for many years. His grandfather, father and uncles were all
fishermen. Soon after graduating from UBC in 1962, he too
bought a salmon troller to fish during the summer holidays.
He loved the sea, but left the fishing industry in the early
1980s.
“I could see that the salmon fishing was declining,” he says.
“It was being over-exploited and there was no commitment by
the government to protect the salmon’s habitat.”
It was a familiar story to Arnet: history repeating itself.
What’s so different about the shellfish resource? Arnet explains
that shellfish aquaculture has the potential to be a truly
sustainable, long-term industry because oysters, scallops
and other shellfish depend on a pristine marine ecosystem.
It’s a relatively pollution-free industry with minimal impacts
on marine habitat.
Arnet was one of the first to pioneer oyster farming in Clayoquot
Sound, starting Lagoon Island Mariculture Ltd. in 1985. He
set three long-lines of oysters on the west side of Lemmens
Inlet adjacent to Meares Island. The inlet contained fertile
waters with a good current and nutrients. Two years later
he harvested his first crop, 500 gallons of shucked oysters.
He was ripe for expansion.
PHOTO: Oyster harvesting in
Clayoquot Sound
“We ploughed that money from our first harvest backing into
more seed and floats for the farm,” he says. The company grew
slowly throughout the 1990s, investing little by little, year
to year.
In 2000, Arnet received approval to double his farm to 10
hectares, but didn’t have the revenue to self-finance such
quick growth. He needed two new floating platforms, one for
a caretaker’s cabin and a second for storage and a work shed.
He also needed a bigger skiff. He had about $10,000 in working
capital, but needed another $50,000. That’s when he approached
Ecotrust Canada to borrow money from its Natural Capital Fund.
Arnet is also working with Ecotrust Canada on the Working
Sound Project to promote the development of a conservation-based
industry in the region. Arnet says the potential is great;
the sound has the capacity to produce many more shellfish
and global demand is on the upswing.
And the sound’s clean water and rich nutrients produce a
premiere oyster that is second-to-none. “It’s one of our goals
to create a quality brand locally and internationally,” Arnet
says.
 Last
year he harvested 12,000 gallons of oysters worth more than
$200,000. Next year he’ll reap the rewards of his new tenure.
With the potential to double production in a few years, he’s
also talking about diversifying into scallops and mussels
and e ven foreshore tenures for clams.
At 68, Arnet sees a prosperous future in shellfish in Clayoquot
Sound. He knows that one generation can’t get rich at the
expense of the next. He has already sold part of his business
to his nephew, Derek, who is tending the oyster farm. After
four generations, the Arnets are still very much a pioneering
family in Clayoquot Sound.
For information on the Natural Capital Fund
in the Lower Mainland contact Pieter van Gils at tel: (604)
682-4141 Ext. 27 or pietervg [a] ecotrustcan.org.
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