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Fishing & Aquaculture
Aquaculture, shellfish operations, seafood processing, a large commercial fishery for salmon, herring, halibut and increasing harvest of species of sea cucumber, cod kelp, goeducks, sea urchins, octopus and roe on kelp give northern Vancouver Island a strong economic base in the fishing industry.
Situated in the heart of British Columbia's "Aqua-Zone", the North Island is the fastest growing area for aquaculture in B.C. Miles of undeveloped foreshore and ideal biological and water conditions provide the area with an unlimited supply of high quality sites for raising salmon. Conditions are particularly ideal for raising Atlantic salmon |
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Photo: North Island Kayak
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Commercial Fishing
Port Hardy is the hub of commercial salmon fishing on northern Vancouver Island and the Central Coast. Centrally located midway between the northern and southern fishing grounds and close to the west coast fishery,
Port Hardy has become an important port for British Columbia's salmon fleet. During the summer fishing season, from June through mid-October, between 800 to 1,000 seiners, trollers and gillnetters use Port Hardy as their home base.
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Business & Industry
Several operators are currently involved in secondary manufacturing such as sawmills and value-added production. For more information on business opportunities see the District of Port Hardy website. |
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Photo: Tom Handfield
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Forestry & Silviculture
Port Hardy is situated in the Port McNeill Forest District and Kingcome Timber Supply Area (TSA), an area of some 1.8 million hectares on northern Vancouver Island and the adjacent B.C. Mainland.
Just over 650,000 hectares of forest land are under Tree Farm Licenses held by several major forest companies, including Western Forest Products Ltd., Weyerhauser and International Forest Products Ltd. Several smaller operations and independent logging contractors operate under individual forest licenses and the Small Business Program.
In total, about 6.5 million cubic metres of wood is harvested annually by an industry which employed more than 2,800 people in 1989 and had a payroll of $132 million. Another 5,600 jobs on the North Island are indirectly related to the forest industry. |
Mining & Heavy Industry
Northern Vancouver Island is rich in a variety of mineral resources, including copper, zinc and gold. Over the years, several extremely successful mines have been developed on the North Island. Island Copper, an open-pit copper molybdenum mine located just outside Port Hardy closed after 23 years of operation, in 1995. The operations area of the mine site is available for industrial site re-use, while the open pit has been flooded and the immediate surrounding area returned to a natural state.
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Photo: Dan Guenette
Mine site is no longer available to the public.
Currently under private development.
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Tourism, Eco-Tourism , Adventure
Tourism is Port Hardy's newest Industry. People from all over the world visit here for the serene environment, research and development, exercise and much more. Please visit our Attractions page or VINVA for more info on Eco - Adventure, Kayaking and other activities.
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Photo: NI Kayak
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