Skeena will be war victim

THE SKEENA and Nass rivers
will be the hardest hit in B.C. if a
full-blown fish war develops be-
tween Canada and the U.S.

And Skeena MP Mike Scott has
week endorsed the hard-line ap-
proach of Liberal fisheries minis-
ter Brian Tobin.

“I’m in complete agreement
with the position taken by the
Liberal- governement,’ Scott

sald.

‘Months of negotiations have
failed: to produce an agreement
under the Pacific Salmon Treaty
for the 1994 season.

Now. Canadian officials say
they’re forced to the point of
directing Canadian fishermen to

~specifically target U.S.-bound
salmon as they pass through Ca-
nadian waters.
Federal and provincial officials
have been demanding the Alas-
kans reduce their catch of B,C.-
bound salmon.
~Tf. the confrontation isn’t
averted, northern B.C, salmon
will have to run a gauntlet of
Alaskan nets more formidable
than ever before.

“It doesn’t bode well for the
resource at all,’’ said Scott. “‘It's
going to be largely the Skecna,
Nass, Taku, and Stikine river sys-
lems that are going to be the ones

"that are going to feel the impact
of American overfishing.”

Washington state has closed its

fishery this year because stocks

North
fish
atrisk —

A potential war in the fishing

grounds off the Pacific coast

could spell disaster for fish stocks
in northern B.C, rivers.

Bob Hooton, head of the
fisheries section for the Ministry
of Environment in Smithers, said
the failed attempt by Canada and
-the United States to reach a com-
mercial:salmon fishing agreement

~-is:‘‘not a pretty picture for those
in the north.”’

Hooton said all the fish from
the Skeena and Nass Rivers must
pass through Alaskan waters be-
fore they get to the Canadian
rivers.

He predicts the major problem
to be at Noyes Island, just off the
south coast of Alaska.

“An awful lot of fish landfall
and meet a lot of Alaskan nets
there,’’ he said,

Alaska is the main stumbling
block to an agreement, he added,
because that state has nothing to
gain by entering into a treaty with
Canada.

“They can only lose with a
treaty. The way it is now, they
can catch as many fish as they
want. Alaska could put a huge
dent in the Skeena and Nass sock-
eye, chinook and steelhead
slocks. Alaska is the problem,
Washington and Oregon would
have no problem coming to an
agreement with B.C.”’

Hooton ‘said Alaska is acting
like a third country in the negotia-
tions.

“There’s really three countries
involved in this thing,’’ he said.
“Canada, the U.S, and Alaska.”
Long-term effects of the “fish
war,’ as it’s being called, could
bring serious damage to fish

_ stocks in the north.

The big losers are the fish and
everyone who relies on them, in-
cluding bears and cagles,”’
Hooton said. “‘It would hurt the
sport fishery, the native fishery
and the entire ecosystem that’s
built around the fish economy.’’

John Brockley, chairman of the
Sport Fishery Advisory Board in
B.C., said he doesn’t know how
the lack of a treaty will affect the
sport fishery in the north.

‘'There’s nolhing now that I
can comment on,’” he said. “This
thing has the potential to escalate
downwards or upwards.”’
~ Right now, Canada Is trying to
~ get the U.S. back to the bargain-

‘ing table,

> Federal Fisheries Minister
Brian Tobin and his provincial
‘counterpart David Zirmbhelt
recently met with U.S. officials in
Washington to try and put an end
to the impasse.

Just last week Tobin imposed a
$1,500 fee for U.S. fishing boats
_ wanting to pass through Canadian
"waters. +
 - “Conflicting fisheries interests
in. Alaska, Washington and
Oregon have brought negotiations

with Canada to a standstill,”

_ Tobin sald in a release.

there have been devastated
through overfishing and habitet
destruction.

“There are two states that are
playing their own game and the
American government refuses to
fake a leadership role,’’ added
Skeena MLA Helmut Giesbrecht,

Scolt says the Americans may
be our friends, but their being op-
portunistic right now and it’s not
tobe tolerated. _. . ;

“Canada has spent a great deal
of money conserving and enhanc-
ing our resource, while the Amer-
icans have let their resource ac-

PRICES IN EFFECT JUNE 15,

coast

tually dwindle through lack of
manegement,’’ Scott said,

“The American fishing fleet
has really got its eyc on taking

advantage of the investment Can-
ada has made — and that is
wrong,” he said.

‘*This is a Canadian resource. It
exists because of the effort Cana-
dians have made and = the
sactifices that commercial
fishermen and sportsfishermen
have made over the years,’’ Scott
said. ‘‘The fisheries minister is
absolutely right in maintaining a
very hard-nosed approach.’’

phe ee

B.C. fisheries minister David
Zimhelt noted a series of pro-
grams protect and enhance west
coast salmon.

“(In contrast,’ he said. “U.S,
industrial expansion has resulted
in the extincton of over a hun-
dred salmon stocks.’”

Under the treaty, each country
is entitled to an equal amount of
the fish as are produced in each
other’s rivers,

Last year the U.S. caught six
million more fish — $65 million
worth — than did Canadian
fishermen.

fhe Terrace Standard, Wednesday, June 15, 1994 - A7

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a a = ee |
A classic recips developed by an’ -
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j brolling on a preheated broiler rack,
To bake, preheat oven to 400°F
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__ fish flakes eventy with a fork: 15-20
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HEART
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FOUNDATION |

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