A failing fishery, falling forestry prices and a local mine going bust could have meant the end of the small town of Port Hardy in the closing years of the 20th century. Instead, the community has taken big strides in turning around a sagging marine and primary industry-based economy by seeking a route to diversity.
Port Hardy is a coastal community at the northern end of the Vancouver Island highway, with a population of about 4,500. This municipality has faced its share of economic disaster, from the shutdown of the local copper mine to the downturn in the fishery and forestry industries over the past decade.
The massive unemployment that plagued the region led the current municipal council of Port Hardy to generate a strategic plan for the economic development of the municipality over the coming decade. The central focus of the council plan is diversification – and at the centre of this plan is Mayor Harry Mose.
Mose has lived in Port Hardy since 1980 and served three years on council before being elected mayor in 2002. The marine economy is more than just a theoretical construct for Mose, as in his day job he’s been the local manager of Bornstein Seafoods since 1992.
“This area has had some big economic problems in the past,” Mose says.
“But we’ve learned a few things. When the copper mine closed there were huge repercussions throughout our community, with job losses and dropping real-estate values and so on. There’s a lot we can do to spread out the economy so that events like that will have less impact on Port Hardy in the future.”
Though Mose acknowledges the ongoing reliance on the traditional marine economy, he points to the strides that the municipality is taking to encourage development in other areas.
A resurgence in mining has occurred in the North Island region, with a number of staked claims being explored. A new quarry opened recently mining geyserite, a mineral used in the manufacture of cement and some paper products.
Tourism has become a principal focus for locals with kayaking, canoeing and diving added to the traditional sport fishery.
And while Mose notes that roughly 10 per cent of the local population still relies directly on the fishery, a new emphasis on aquaculture is changing the traditional face of the marine economy in the region.
“We have the most efficient processing plant for farmed salmon in North America,” Mose says, “and it’s second in the world only to the one in Norway it was designed after.”
Whether being caught by tourists or cultivated in aquafarms, fish may still rule the marine economy of Port Hardy but local reliance on its once-primary industry seems to be a thing of the past.
Web watch:
www.districtporthardy.bc.ca
