A derelict boat that sank in the Oak Bay Marina several days ago was pulled out of the water by the Canadian Coast Guard on Saturday.
The district’s mayor said the vessel went down in the last week and spilled a lot of fuel in the waterway.
“It’s bad for the environment, it’s bad for navigation,” Nils Jensen said.
It’s one more example of the dangers of derelict and abandoned boats in the community’s harbour, the mayor added.
“The need for not only Oak Bay, but for the region to deal with this,” Jensen said. “This same problem is repeated in virtually every safe cove and bay around the CRD.”
The district will try to figure out what caused the vessel to sink and track down its owner.
The SeaChange Marine Conservation Society is a non-profit group that works on the conservation of marine ecosystems throughout the province and says people need to think collectively on the issue.
“It’s a systematic problem in Canada and we need to face it as a systematic solution,” said the executive director, Nikki Wright.
The City of Victoria has been fighting to remove a cluster of derelict vessels along the Gorge waterway.
It applied for an injunction on Feb. 3 to remove the boats from the water.
Bylaw officers visited the area on Friday and served the notice of the filing to 14 different vessels.
The people living on the boats have 21 days to respond to the order.
