Fishery Notice

The City of Campbell River reported a bypass of 167.5 m3 of raw sewage into 
Simms Creek at 1815 on July 22, 2019 when a sewage line was struck while 
upgrading a water line. Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) has 
completed effluent plume modelling and given the above, has reason to believe 
the sanitary conditions in the areas outlined in the Emergency Closure 
description below, will be degraded to the point where accepted water quality 
standards of the CSSP have been exceeded. Given that overlay waters are a 
pathway by which pathogenic micro-organisms and other contaminants may be 
introduced into shellfish, Environment and Climate Change Canada concludes that 
the degree of contamination of the water would likely pose a risk to public 
health if the shellfish were harvested for consumption.

In accordance with Chapter 6 of the CSSP Manual, ECCC recommends that the 
following area be placed immediately in Closed Status under Emergency closure 
13.qq to prevent the harvesting of potentially contaminated bivalve shellfish:

Effective July 23, 2019, the following Emergency Closure, prohibiting bivalve 
shellfish harvest for any purpose, is now in place in the following area:

Portion of Subarea 13-2 of the mouth and outside waters of Simms Creek as 
follows:

Emergency Closure 13.qq - Simms Creek - "The waters and intertidal foreshore of 
Georgia Strait at the mouth of Simms Creek south of Campbell River lying inside 
a 1750 m radius centered on the mouth of Simms Creek at a point on land at 49°
58.74' north latitude and 125°13.31' west longitude. " [NAD 83]

This closure shall remain in place a minimum of 21 days following the cessation 
of the overflow, at which time Environment and Climate Change Canada will 
advise DFO if the area may return to open status. 

Note that this notice does not describe other sanitary closures which may be in 
effect, or Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP, red tide) and other marine 
biotoxin closures.  Detailed bivalve shellfish closure information and maps are 
available at our website: 

Detailed bivalve shellfish closure information and maps are available at our 
website: 

http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/contamination/index-eng.html

and at local DFO offices.

For more information contact a local DFO office or Elysha Gordon at 250-756-
7192.

Fisheries & Oceans Operations Center - FN0684
Sent July 23, 2019 at 1529

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Visit Fisheries and Oceans Canada on the Web at http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca
Printed from the Pacific Region web site on August 27, 2026 at 1350