Fanny Bay is a small hamlet in the Canadian province of

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. It is located on

Baynes Sound Baynes Sound is the channel between Denman Island and Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. The sound is a narrow western offshoot of the Strait of Georgia that separates Vancouver Island from the mainland of British Columbia. The area is act ...

on the east coast of

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest by ...

. In 2001, its population was listed as 815.BC Stats – Census 2011
/ref> It is best known for its fine

oyster Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but not ...

s. The area is served by the

Island Highway The Island Highway is actually a series of highways that follows much of the eastern coastline of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. While the Island Highway has no officially designated starting point, it is understood to begin at the ...

and

Island Rail Corridor The Island Rail Corridor, previously the Esquimalt & Nanaimo Railway (E&N Railway), is a railway operation on Vancouver Island and is the only remaining railway on Vancouver Island after the closure of the Englewood Railway in November 2017. ...

Fanny Bay with oyster processor and sea lions

Origin of the name

There is no consensus on the origin of the name Fanny Bay and none of the various explanations — comical, romantic, local or historical — can be considered without skepticism. The name first appeared on British Columbia maps in 1913 and was officially adopted by the government in 1923. This adoption was based on British Admiralty charts of the 1860s, taken from surveys by

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

Captain G.H. Richards. However, if Capt. Richards knew who "Fanny" was, he did not record the information. Geographer A.B. McNeill wrote in his book ''Origin of Station Names, Esquimalt and Nanaimo Division'' that "...Fanny Bay was named after a sea captain who lived in this vicinity"; however, no dates or any other supporting information are provided. A popular and persistent local theory holds that Fanny Bay was named by Captain George Vancouver in 1792. However, Capt. Vancouver's nautical charts and journals only describe the east side of the nearest body of water, the Strait of Georgia (including

Texada Island Texada Island is a large island located in the Strait of Georgia of British Columbia, Canada. With an area of , it is the largest island of the Gulf Islands and the third largest island in the Strait of Georgia after Whidbey Island in Washington ...

). There was only a rough outline of the eastern shore of Vancouver Island between Nanaimo and Comox, and his charts omitted several nearby islands and other features. Fanny Bay may have been named after Francis "Fanny" Palmer, the daughter of a popular Victoria family who ran a music and dance studio. Fanny perished in the sinking of the ''Pacific'' off Cape Flattery on November 4, 1875 at the age of 18. The Palmer family had a number of daughters who were accomplished singers, and their home was at the centre of the social circle in early Victoria.

Shellfish

Fanny Bay is well known as a source of farmed shellfish, specifically

Pacific oyster The Pacific oyster, Japanese oyster, or Miyagi oyster (''Magallana gigas''), is an oyster native to the Pacific coast of Asia. It has become an introduced species in North America, Australia, Europe, and New Zealand. Etymology The genus ''Mag ...

s ( scientific name ''

Crassostrea gigas The Pacific oyster, Japanese oyster, or Miyagi oyster (''Magallana gigas''), is an oyster native to the Pacific coast of Asia. It has become an introduced species in North America, Australia, Europe, and New Zealand. Etymology The genus ''Ma ...

''), manila clams (''

Venerupis philippinarum ''Lajonkairia lajonkairii'' is an edible species of saltwater clam in the family Veneridae, the Venus clams. MolluscaBase eds. (2022). MolluscaBase. Lajonkairia lajonkairii (Payraudeau, 1826). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at ...

''), savoury clams (''

Nuttallia obscurata ''Nuttallia obscurata'', the purple mahogany clam, dark mahogany clam, varnish clam or savory clam, is a species of saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusk in the family Psammobiidae. It was first described to science by Lovell Augustus Reev ...

'') and mussels (''

Mytilus galloprovincialis The Mediterranean mussel (''Mytilus galloprovincialis'') is a species of bivalve, a marine mollusc in the family Mytilidae. It is an invasive species in many parts of the world, and also an object of aquaculture. Systematics ''Mytilus gall ...

''), for both domestic and global markets.

Oysters were introduced to the area as early as 1912 or 1913, with further seedings around 1925.on GoogleBooks
/ref> As a result of the lack of Pacific oysters from Japan during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, further seeding occurred in 1942 (along with seedings in other parts of the Strait of Georgia). Eikichi Kagetsu introduced 9 crates of oyster seed from Japan around 1926-1927 In the 1930s they received permission from the E&N Railway to use 10 acres along the shore to develop oyster culture. This was interrupted by the internment of Eikichi Kagetsu during World War II as the Canadian government confiscated all of his property and businesses. https://onlineacademiccommunity.uvic.ca/press/books/titles/tree-trunk-pillow/ p46-47 Fanny Bay docks

Oyster and clam seeding in Baynes Sound at Fanny Bay occurred about 1947, by Joseph McLellan, a pioneer in oyster aquaculture. McLellan imported his first batch of oyster seed from Japan and seeded the beach areas around Fanny Bay - Mud Bay, Ship Point, Buckley Bay and Denman Island. His work started what is now a primary industry in the South Coast of British Columbia, Canada, employing over one hundred people and contributing significantly to the economy of the Baynes Sound region. McLellan's descendants still own and operate the oyster and clam farm located in Fanny Bay, Mac's Oysters Ltd. A fourth-generation family shellfish farm, Mac's Oysters is the only shellfish processor situated in Fanny Bay, though there is another company by that name, located in Union Bay approximately 11 km to the north. Mac's Oysters is a significant player in the Canadian farmed shellfish industry, processing approximately 34% of all of British Columbia's farmed oysters and clams from this area. Within food circles Fanny Bay is synonymous with oysters. Manila clam seed was inadvertently included in Joseph McLellan's initial seed shipments from Japan. The manila clam is as important as oysters to British Columbia's shellfish economy.

References

External links

* * * {{authority control Populated places on the British Columbia Coast Unincorporated settlements in British Columbia Populated places in the Comox Valley Regional District Designated places in British Columbia