STRATFORD, P.E.I. — The Stratford- and Charlottetown-area shellfishery is on track to reopen soon following recent effluent samples.
The shellfishery in the Hillsborough River – between Stratford and Charlottetown – was shut down shortly after opening on June 1 due to high levels of effluent from Stratford's wastewater lagoon system near the Hillsborough Bridge.
Stratford Mayor Steve Ogden addressed the topic during the town's recent council meeting, held via video conference.
"It caused a lot of hardship for the shellfishers," Ogden said.
Jeremy Crosby, the town's infrastructure director, said there wasn't enough time to have the lagoon's sludge removed because of earlier confusion as to when P.E.I. shellfisheries were set to open and because of delays caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19 strain) pandemic.
He updated councillors with some of the latest effluent samples received on June 9. The results were below their conditional management plan's guidelines, meaning things are headed in the right direction.
"(But) from what I understand, it still will be seven days at least before the fishery would be reopened," he said at Wednesday's meeting.
AT A GLANCE:
- The structure of Stratford's wastewater collection system, which will connect to Charlottetown's pollution control plant via the Hillsborough Bridge, is about 75 per cent complete.
- Construction work on the bridge is complete, with structure work underneath set to begin in a week or two.
- Jeremy Crosby, Stratford's infrastructure director, said once the new system is operational they'll wait a month before starting to decommission the Stratford lagoon system. He's hoping to start that process by late October, he said.
The samples leading up to this one were above the guidelines – the situation is subject to change and the ultimate decision to reopen the shellfishery is in the hands of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and Environment Canada, Crosby said.
His staff is working diligently to have the sludge settled by using natural chemicals.
"We're monitoring it very closely," he said. "It's unfortunate that we were unable to remove all of the sludge."
Deputy Mayor Gary Clow pointed out the upside of the situation is that this could be the last year shellfishermen have to deal with issues like this with the ongoing construction of Stratford's new wastewater collection system to replace the lagoon system.
"It'll certainly make their life a lot easier," Clow said.
"They'll not have to be worrying about that as much as they do probably every year."
Hopefully, the shellfishermen will be back in the river sooner rather than later, he added.
Daniel Brown is a local journalism initiative reporter, a position funded by the federal government.