A white oyster shell road at the end of Crome Point Road in Deep Bay stretches 800 metres to a distinctive clamshell-shaped structure overlooking Baynes Sound.
The building is the long-awaited Deep Bay Marine Field Station, an off-campus research facility of Vancouver Island University’s Centre for Shellfish Research that officially opened Thursday, June 23. The purpose of the facility is to find sustainable ways to farm shellfish, and to help re-energize B.C.’s coastal aquaculture industry. It will also support First Nations shellfish aquaculture businesses through training and mentoring.
“It certainly is an exciting project,” Parksville-Qualicum MLA Ron Cantelon said. “It’s going to inspire students who come here from around the world to take back what they learn about how we can do things, about how we can work with aboriginal people to develop a sense of community centred on the ocean.”
The university received funding from various levels of government for construction.
Read more about the field station in Friday’s News.
— Comox Valley Record/Black Press