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SEEN ANGLER
"ROB BROWN

A Irish trout
: n Nériay, the country where salmon farming

porations began growing into the giants they

not sea lice populations that have grown excessive-
ly large m response to the proximity of net pens
full of farmed salmon pose a threat to wild salmon
stocks.

Moved to action decades ago by the collapse of
stocks in some of its internationally famous salmon
rivers,: ‘the’ Norwegian fisheries authorities began

examining disease transference from tame to wild’

salmon and other possible links between fish farms
and Norwegian salmon. ..

This. initiative led inevitably to the recognition
of the deleterious effects of lice on wild salmon

juveniles. After that discovery, the Norsemen be--}

gan monitoring lice populations. As result of this

: program, they issued. warnings and levied fines to
those farms ,whose nearby lice infestations were |

deemed to be excessively high.

“in 2002, the Norwegian government examined
the’ evidence and listened to the findings of their
fisheries scientists and decided that even more ac-
tion. was necessary to maintain the health of their
wildsalmon. —-

‘To that end they identified 34 vitally important
salmon fjords and salmon rivers (out of 405 wild
salmon areas) then banned fish farming in all of
them. Now, four years later, the Norwegian Par-

~ liament i is‘now proposing to increase the protected

areas'to over 50.

While ‘all this was happening, the fish farming »

4

corporations went global, settling in critical fish
habitat in Chile, Scotland, Ireland, and Canada,
where they could conduct business unfettered by
the tightening restrictions being imposed by their

» homeland, and buy time by re-engaging in the de-

bates long laid to rest in Norway, at the expense
of- wild fish utilizing the habitat adjacent to their
farms. .

' The sea-going brown trout or sea trout has long
been highly prized by. European anglers. Some of
the most robust populations existed in Scotland

: and Ireland alongside’ indigenous Atlantic salmon’

populations. f
Like our sea run cutthroat trout, the sea trout ‘of

‘the British Isles divide their lifetime between the

rivers and sea, spending much of it in the fertile.
river and creek estuaries and nearby bays.

» Salmon farming began.on the west coast of Ire-

land 20 years ago. Very soon after its advent, sport
fishermen started to notice a marked decline in
salmon and sea trout fishing.

“ Simon Ash, fishery and estate manager at the Bal-
lynahinch Castle Hotel, noted that the wild salmon

and sea trout stocks on the west coast of Ireland are

the lifeblood of a vibrant tourist industry.
“Wild fish populations can bounce back if we re-
move the obstacles in their path — and that means

_ not just removing drift nets but having better man-

agement and more sensitive locations for aquacul-

_ture farms.

“Why is a Norwegian- owned company like Ma-

‘rine Harvest being permitted to discharge untreated

wastes and spread sea lice around Lough Swilly
and’ Mulroy Bay, both. natural resources belonging
to the Irish people, and at times in breach of spe-
cific licence conditions, when salmon farms are be-
ing banned from fjords and rivers up and down the
Norwegian coast? -

“Everyone is entitled to make a living but not at

_ the expense of other users, nor indeed of nature. In-
. Ireland, it seems, the polluter pollutes, and every- -

one else pays,” asks John Mulcahy of Swilly Bay.
‘Don Staniford, European representative of the
Pure Salmon Campaign — a global project of the

National Environmental Trust that has partners in -

the United States, Canada, the European Union,
and Chile all working to improve the way salmon

_ is produced — went to the heart of the issue when

he observed that “to save wild salmon and sea trout

‘stocks in Ireland, Scotland and Norway we must

close the net on open net cage salmon farms..

A scientific paper published last week by the
National Academy of Sciences revealed that sea.
lice from salmon farms can cause mortality rates in
wild salmon of up to 95 per cent.

If that is not a wake up call nothing is. Contral- .

ling sea lice and introducing closed containment
systems is the only safe and sensible solution to the
sea cage salmon farming problem.”

. It appears that Irish fisheries scientists have con-
firmed the Norwegian experience with fish farms
and have identified areas of particular ¢ concern for
Irish wild trout and salmon.

The protection of these critical areas is now be-

~ fore the Irish Parliament, backed by the weight of

science,-and unrest of ‘Irish residents, sportfishers
and environmentalists. The BC government should
take note of the proceedings.

i

* got its start and where the major fish farm cor-

are today, there is no debate over whether or .

TERRACE STANDARD @

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a The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, December 20, 2006 - BS

M@Sweetvictories ==. °.

CLARENCE MICHIEL Grade 7 girls and boys Volleyball teams went undefeated to victory at the district championships over other lo
cal elementary schools. Girls team captain Colleen Haddad, boys team co- captains Stephen McColl, left, and Kenneth Monture show.
- off their winnings above. Haddad, who was on the winning Grade 6 team last year, said it felt good to win again. The boys team. beat:
Centennial in the final this year, after losing to the same @ squad in the Grade 6 championship game last year.

ve

MARGARET SPEIRS PHOTO ~

‘Bantam Re S

By MARGARET SPEIRS

Hubbard netted one each.
_ “We tied ‘them earlier in the

- er and Turner:

The Bantams

prevail for. third

met

Prince

p olac

ONE i ey

wise okay.
Prince George received © 49

THE CHALLENGES keep. on

coming but the Bantam Reps
take them in stride with winning
results:

The squad snared third place
at a tournament in Prince George
to finish off the year. F
In their first game, the Ban-
tams came from behind to beat
Prince Rupert 4-3.

“Their goalie of course stood

“on his head again. He played re-

ally well,” said coach John Amos:

about the Rupert team.

_Ben Reinbolt scored two, Will
Fisher made an assist on every
goal,
and Reid Turner scored the win-
ning goal.

The squad went on to beat

Prince George 5-3 in its second

game.

Aaron Bergey netted one .

season so it’ was a good hard-
fought game,” he said.
Whitehorse proved to be a chal-
lenge with a “really hot goalie.”
“T hate it when that happens
but it happens,” said Amos. .
Terrace lost the game 3-1.
Fisher scored the lone goal.
_ At the end of the round robin,
Terrace was tied with Whitehorse
and Prince George.

-All three teams had identical .

records so penalty minutes deter-
mined first place, which turned
out to be Terrace.

In the semifinals, the squad .
‘met. Smithers and lost 5-3.

“We just couldn’ t score,’ ” said

‘Amos.
Joey Cormano did find the net 7

for one as did Fisher and Turner.
Reinbolt had two assists on a

George in the match for third
place that proved to be a “very
Spirited game.’

“Jt was a rough one,” said their total penalty minutes in the

Amos, , round robin, said Amos.
Terrace prevailed for the 6-2

victory. Turner netted two, while’.

— oe one goal each went to Jeremy .

“We tied © them  Vandenbroek, Fisher, Chris Ber-.

earlier in the season
o. it was a good
game,” —

hard-fought
- John Amos

Sheidon Smaha got ‘slammed
in the head by a Prince George
player who probably outweighed
him by 55 pounds, said Amos...

'. enents:at the tourney.

~ the final.

‘in. a mini-tournament before re-

minutes in penalties.
Terrace had 24 penalty min-
utes in that game, about half of:

gey and Corbin Legros. ae
“They are a AAA team so: they:
don’t like losing to. AA teams,”:
said Amos, adding Prince George’.
‘was Terrace’s only AAA. Oppo-. .

Smithers beat Kitimat 6-3 in. .
‘The Bantam Reps will contin-
ue to practice during‘ the Christ-.

mas break and plan to participate —

turning to regular season Play, :
next month, | :

Reinbolt, ‘Fisher and. Cory:

Junior curlers battle |
for the title of best
in the province

By MARGARET SPEIRS

(CURLING FANS get their chance to

see the future Canadian champions

compete next week as the curling
club hosts. the BC Junior Curling |

Championship Dec. '27 to 31.
Organizer John Evans, who partic-

ipated the last time the event played

here in 1982, is proud to welcome the

eight girls’ and eight boys’ teams rep-

resenting the zones from around the

_ province.

Evans
showcase. some of the best action
curling fans have ever seen.

“We have our bonspiels and people

come out and have fun but these are

the future curlers playing in the Brier
and the Scott,” he says.

The! full weekend of events in-
cludes.a banquet on Saturday night
followed by a casino night and other
off-ice fun.

“We don’t have many opportuni-

- ties to do this so we want to show

them.a good time,” he says.

Curlers will be piped onto the ice
for the opening ceremony.

The first rock will be:thrown by
Gordie Olson, 59, who’s been curling

new line combination with Fish-

‘team, skipped by Jordan Johnson, lost

team, coached by former'local junior

promises the event will -

p.m. that day and on Dec. 28 and 29.

Dec. 31 with closing ceremonies to

_end online at playdowns.com as each

" since he was 10.
Terrace didn’t send-a girls team to
the Zone 6 qualifier and'the local boys

out, so fans here can cheer for the.
winning Prince George/Kitimat boys

curler Michael Dahms, and a girls .
rink from Kitimat. “

‘The boys rink is skipped by Chris =.
Calder, who will be joined on the
sheets by fellow Prince George curl-
er Cody: Montheith ‘and. Kitimatians
Darryl Bourque and Ryan Bailey. The -
girls. team will be skipped by Breanne
Muzylowski.

‘The first draw. of the Junior -Provin-
cials goes at 9 a.m: Dec. 27 with sub-
sequent draws going at 2 p.m. and 7

Draws start at 8 a.m. and 11:30
a.m. Dec. 30.
Tiebreakers, if needed, are sched-

uled for Dec. 30 and Dec. 31. -
The final draw goes at 2:30 p.m.

follow at about 5 P- m. ,
Fans who can’t come out will be’
able to check out the results of each

draw progresses.

. smaha was rattled but other-

F Coach of the year -

TERRY MONTURE receives a Special "Session.
Coach's Award for Zone 7 from the BC Lacrosse As-
sociation from Terrace Minor Lacrosse Association’
president Shelley Anderson. The award is designated
as special session because it was decided at the
BCLA annual general meeting.

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