No one’s happy with fish news TERRACE — Only one person thinks last week’s blow up over cuts in the commercial fishery might have struck a fair balance. ‘"Nobody seems awfully happy with the plan as it sits right now,” said Department of Fisheries and. Oceans (DFO) area manager Chris Dragseth. - Some sports: fishermen don’t think the cuts this month of fish- ing time in: the” mouth: of the Skeena River go far enough. The cuts were brought in be- cause of fears that too many steel- Shelter coming TERRACE — K’san House Society has been given the con- tract to operate an emergency hostel for homeless people here. The contract will be worth more than $150,000 to the society, said social services ministry area man- ager Bill Anderson. He said the hostel will provide accommodation and meals for seven to 10 people at a time. Anderson said the society hopes fo open by late fall. The shelter will likely be some- where in or-near the downtown area, he added. : “We would: be looking at something quite distinct from the transition house,” he said speak- ing of the shelter for women op- erated by K’san, | Until the emergency hostel is in place, he said, the ministry of so- cial services ‘will ‘continue .con- tracting with a local motel to pro- vide shelté?for homeléss péople. The two unsuccesful bidders for the shelter contract were Ashnat Enterprises; which runs a2 group home and shelter for foster ‘chil- dren, and the Daisy Wesley Housing Society. That society sprang up from the death of 52-year-old homeless woman Daisy Wesicy last winter beneath a tarp ona vacant lot. Numerous volunteers formed a group that operaicd a temporary emergency shelter in the Skeena Health Unit auditorium, - The community’s response to the death prompted the govern- ment to budget money for a permanent emergency shelter in Terrace, Anderson said the three bidders went through a selection process and their proposals were raled. Past experience, qualifications, originality and cost were some of the faciors they looked at, Ander. son said. ‘All the bids were ‘within a & rea- sonable range of each other,’’ he said of the costs. head, prized by recreational anglers, were being caught in the nets of fishermen after salmon. Steclhead.-mix in with runs of salmon heading - up. the Skcena River to spawn, making it dif- ficult if not impossible to catch one -wilhout: also catching the other. Commercial’ fishermen ‘think the cuts ga,too far, aan The: original: “plan, said Drag-: seth, was to allow the commercial fleet to fish a maximum four days per week off the mouth of lhe Skeena and a maximum two days per weck at the mouth. The change — announced last Tuesday clal fleet to fish two days a week in the outer area and one day a week in the inner portion curing the month of August. Dragseth said the move was made- afler monitoring showed poor returns of steelhead and coho salmon, Greg Taylor, the chairman ofa fishing advisory board, said. the cuts were unacceptable because — allows the commer- . ihe board isn’t convinced there is a legitimate conservation concem for steelhead, And-he said the DFO. action is the result. of what: he. alled “political interference.” The ~ steelhead - iobby, said Taylor, has the ear of several: in-- fluential. bureaucrats, » including the federal depuly minister - of Fisheries and oceans. : “These steps will completely bankrupt 100 to 200 commercial fishermen, including a large .com- ponent of aboriginal commercial j ae ‘Mountain footrace, Over’ ‘60 brave | an eric tuners $ took place. in this'years annual which: wound iis “way ‘over : ‘Terrace Mountain,’ Above, d' by’ Rob: MacLeod ds they, make their ‘way up, a store. slope: ‘at the Wail le Tesults, Please. bee tha 1a Spon section.” 5 ‘Brien - fishermen,”’ said Taylor. The head of one recreational fishing group says it has been **betrayed.”’ Anglers were promised much more extensive closures starting earlier. in the season, Wild Stcel- head Campaign president Craig Orr said from Vancouver. “Inslead, there was more pres- sure than we've ever seen at the mouth of the Skeena, and the commercial fishing effort has been as bad or worse than last year.’ Retuming sockeye predicted to number 2.3 million are now projecied at between 3.5 and 4 million. As a result, DFO in Prince Rupert widened commercial fish- ing openings unilaleraily, without consulting sport fishers, . Orr charged. The result was increased inter- ception of steelhead, coho, chum salmon and lesser stocks of sock- eye, which ‘have been pushed one step closer to extinction,” said Steelhead Socicty of B.C. director Peter Broomhill. Cuts called discrimination TERRACE -— A move to cut back the commercial fishery at the mouth of the Skeena River discriminates against natives, says Jim Ciccone of the Northein Native Fishing Corporation. 1s a form of ethnic cleansing as far as I’m concerned,” sald’ Ciccone, who says 95 per cent of the those who fish the river mouth area arenatives. Federal fisheries officers last’ week announced commercial fishing at the river mouth will be restricted to one day a week in August because of poor returns of steelhead and coho salmon. But Ciccone says it’s not fair’ that natives be the hardest hit, “It’s absolutely desperate to these guys,”” he said. He said the average gross: in-_ come of fishermen at the river mouth is $7,700 a year. - Many native villages upriver depend on money from the.come,.. mercial fishery for survival, he added. “Tes going to meat abject poverty in those villages this- Wwiriter.”? Afid he fejects steelheadérs’ arguments that the issue is one of conservation. “‘Ti's an allocation issue,” Cic- cone sald,°“‘One group wants more of a specific fish for rectea- ‘tion — it’s a plaything — and an- olher group ncéds lt for _Sur- vival,”’ He said commercial fishermen may break the law and. fish anyway. “I’m hoping there’ s nol going to be violence,” he said. ‘*I hope . it doesn’t happen but it wouldn’t surprise me If it does occur.’”. “Some of.the stuff I hear being discussed it worries me.”” The ‘*purist’’ steelheaders re- . ject the idea of -a steelhead hatchery to boost stocks of that species, Ciccone: says, but.addsit .. . shouldn’t be discounted. TERRACE Pine mushrooms are springing up two months before they’re sup- posed to. And pickers say it’s all thanks to the wetter than. aver- age weather in June and July. “This is the earliest I can re- member il starting,’ says Al McGivern, of AlPac Wilder- ness Products, a company that “Operates a mushroom. depot here. ' ‘Several depots opened in mid-July . in various spots around the region. could stifl ruin -fall mushroom crops. But the carly start to the Sea- Fungus frolics — underway early . pound for the highest grade "until after the holiday. Hot dry weather in August’ - been the picking hot spot’ so son (s giving pickers hope that this year will be better than last" year's dismal crop. Prices were still Jow at $10 a mushrooms late last weck. And several depots may shut down - completely in mid-- Avgust because of a week-long holiday in Japan, McGivern says. Prices will likely remain low - “Japan doesn’t want them right now,”’ he said, ‘They want them later in the season.’’. McGivern says the region surrounding Kitwanga has far. Lakelse abuzz with criticism of jet ski use recklessness — (otal disrogard for 7 TERRACE — A collision be- tween a jet ski and a floatplane on Lakelsc Lake has sparked a debate about the former. The driver of the jet ski was un- - hurt in the July 24 accident but there was about $2,000 damage to - one of the plane’s pontoons. “The float plane was operated by Sunrise Aviation, which is based : at Lakelse Lake. =. |. Pilot Syd Munson says “his plane was moving along: at about 25 miles perhour. . “He came screaming out from shore and went right in front of me,’’ he said. ‘‘He never saw. me. He never looked. Those guys don’! look, they just go.’? Munson says he made the plane ‘dig’? down into. the water in what. he ‘called a. somewhat dangerous attempt to rapidly slow the plane down.’ ‘ When: he - realized a. collision. § could” ‘hot: ‘be avoided, he said, ‘he “pulled the nose up: . That. manoeuvre’ helped Mutison avoid: hitting: the jet skier . square. on with the left. float, ‘and also pulled the propeller higher up out of the water’) 2 The jet skier, wasn't hit by: the propeller, and collided. instead with the left. float, about six feet down from. the front, Munson said. “T didn’t think he'd get away that lucky,”? he said. os Now the skier-;wants Munson to pay the $400 bili to repalr his jet. He sald I hit him, z Munson says, ‘“That’s true but he came in. front of me when d was in the Tigh? © Aircraft’ have the right ‘of way over any boat traffic.on water, he explained. ““E think hese guys. with their jet skis have got to smarten up. They ® so fast, ey don’t pay attention Io going.’” Munson said the plane was out of commission for two days while mechanics worked on it. -'¢We?re .. concemed,’’ staff sergeant John Veldman said of the - incident. ‘*There’s. more and: morc jet skis and more and more traffic on the lake.” where they’re Transport: Canada is: ‘invest! gat-~ ing the incident, said spokesman Rod Nelson.» - The incident has given fuel to the arguments of those who " would have jet skis banned from the lake. RCMP. . “'They’re noisy and they’re a nulsance — mostly because of the way these guys handle therm,”’ says Sandy Sandhals, president of the Lakelse Community Assocla- tion and the’ elected regional dis- trict director for the area. -:“They have to come zooming in and show off,” he says. ‘If ~ they were 10 stay out in the mid- dle of the lake it would be OK.” Water Lily Bay Resort operator Michael Bowen-Colthurst says he doesn’! allow jet skis to launch, fuel up or operate at his dock. He says jet ski enthusiasts he has seen in action exhibit ‘'total Medal winner | + Terra ce equestrian brings home. ¢. bronze “Game the B. Cc. Summer SPORTS. + BS : the safety of other peopic.”” Parks spokesman Jamie Hahn’ say’ the ministry has concerns about jet skiers who occasionally . get too close to the swimming. - grea al Furlong Bay campground. He sald:some jet skiers: like: to - **jump’’ the line of floats that are supposed to keep boats out of the. swim area and splash thelr friends there. “There are people | whe swim across the Jake and back,’’ Sand- - hals added. ‘‘I ‘sure as heck wouldn't be doing il without a boat escort now.’”