4 “ch irp”.

EVERY YEAR millions
of salmon return to the
Skeena system, each headed
or its own spawning ground.
‘But when do specific runs
nter: the. river?. How long does
‘it lake them to reach their desti-
ation? Aré there any patterns in
their progress up the river?

Having answers to ques-
ns: like that is important to
understanding, and protecting

° ‘And they are the kind of
‘answers the radio tagging pro-

“gram provides.

Richard Alexander is a fisher-

“jes biologist working for LGL
". Limited’ which has been involved in

radio tracking of fish up here for

. the past three years.

- He explains receivers, prolect-
ed by a weather proof box, are
‘placed. at selected sites along the
Skeena or its tributaries, Although
generally. powered by 12 volt
recreational vehicle batteries, he

~ adds’ some solar powered batteries _

have been used,
Antennas, placed 30- oO.

ne above the ground, point both upriv-
er, ‘down river and, where located at

‘a confluence, into the tributary.

“Because the receivers carry out a
: “sequential scan of each antenna,

Alexander says that means not only
is. the presence. of the fish detected,
but’ also. the direction i in which it

wa smoving.

"With that equipment in place,
the radio tagging begins, the trans-
milters being implanted in the sto-
machs of fish from the ‘targeted
species: To date, these have includ-

~ ed:Kalum River chinook, Skeena

system coho: and steelhead ‘and
Nass River chinook: :

“The sophistication of the sys-
tem ‘means. each transmitter, and .

“ theréfore thé fish cuTying it, has its
own ‘identity. “It’s sort of like hav-
a ing a name on it, ” Alexander says.

The transmitters send out puls-

: es every five seconds, the receivers
‘recording. ihe channe), frequency,

transmitter code and‘ time of the

_ Chirping

TRACKING TOOLS. Richard Alexander holds one of the radio transmitters that are implanted i in
the stomach of target species. On the desk are examples of the receivers which pick up the signal
sent out by the transmitter and record all the data needed to track what the fish do and when.

Alexander collects all that
information by taking a lap top

computer oul to the receiver site

and downloading the data. . .
‘Once its fed into. the ‘special-

ized programs back at his Terrace

base, a remarkably. detailed picture
‘emerges. Alexander demonstrates
by calling up the results of a survey

the tagged fish made it to the Sustut
River.
But there’s more to come. A

couple of quick option selectins
‘dnd there is.now a single yellow

circle-on the map, located just

upstream of Terrace and bearing
-the number ~ andet
_ explains he has selected one of

one.

Then one last dash and itis in the

Sustut — 41 days after being tagged.

on Skeena River coho:

‘A map of the system appears |
on the screen complete with’
fumbers in small, yellow. circles,

each centred on a: Pp: .
tary of the ‘Skeena. “They indicate.

the number of coho’ that returned | to

that particular stream.
For example,

they. show two of

those two Sustut coho. The number.
indicates day‘one of its individual

record ‘and the location is the .

Kitselas Canyon fi fish wheel where
the fish was captured and tagged...

~ As we watch, the yellow circle
begins a stuttering progress upriver,

’ the number changing‘as the “days”
‘roll; Yok couple. Q pines fhe f fish

‘Alexander

‘Alexander. whe:

holds up in one spot for several
days before moving on. Then one
last dash and it is in the Sustut - 41
days after being lagged. -

“We find out where they bold.
up, how long, and how fast they.
move once they'do,” he notes. That

Sustut coho, for example, logged
as much as 30km ina single day,
Like all technology, transmit-
ters have seen rapid advances in the
past few years. Today there are
some equipped’ with sensors to
record water temperature, depth of

water and the fish’s activity level.

Already on ‘the way are trinsmitters
which will send signals to sdlellites
and work i is ongoing to produce one

that. works i in both fresh. and salt

water. “Théy’ re going to be around
for - “quite * sometime,” says

And the information they pro-

vide' should help 8 make sure e the. fish.
"Breas well oe

The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, September 20, 1995 - 43

News In Brief

Youth recognized

THERE'S GOING to be hotdogs and cake tomorrow at Skeena Jun-
ior Secondary School in honour of the good conduct of the area’s
young people.

RCMP Constable Kim Hall, the detachment’s community polic-
ing officer, says the youth of the community deserve recognition,

*“We're calling i¢ Student Appreciation Day. We haven’t had an
incident such a5 we had at Hallowe’en a few years ago and our
crime rate has dropped a lot,” said Hall,

The Skeena Junior noon hour barbecue will be followed, weather
permitting, this fall or next spring by others ‘at Caledonia and
Thombill Junior Secondary,

Canada Safeway’s providing the food and, in ‘honour of the 30th
birthday this year of the country’s flag, a cake with the red Maple
Leaf on it

Nisga’a on the Internet

* JUST TWO weeks after the provincial aboriginal affairs ministry
established a presence on the Intemet, the Nisga’a Tribal Council
has announced the same thing, ;
Its World Wide Web site is also known as a home page, best de-
scribed as an electronic magazine allowing people to: examine a
multitude of text and graphic presentations,
The Nisga’a Internet site makes it one of the first aboriginal
groups to venture into the new electronic communications age.
“Call it treaty-making in the digital age,”’ said Nisga’a spokes-
man Nelson Leeson. ‘If going into cyberspace can help us ‘gn a
treaty, we're all for it.’”
The Nisga’a home ~ page
hitp://newswire.flexnet.com/nisgaa/
In other Nisga’a news, Nisga’a: People of the Nass River, a hard
cover book published last year, has been designated by the educa-

lion ministry as a core resource and will appear in all ‘high school li-
‘braries.

‘can be! found | a

Planters vandalized:

CONCRETE flower planters. that help to beautify the Terrace
downtown area have suffered from increased vandalism .this sum-
“mer, The planters are owned by the Terrace Beautification Society,
and ‘society president Yvonne Moen reports ‘that flowers are being
ripped out of the planter,

In some cases the vandalism is so bad that the society ‘has had. to
remove the few Plants remaining, and: now some ¢ planters have no
Plants, .

Minimum wage increasing.

BC. ’S MINIMUM wage is increasing to $7.as of Oct: 1, labour
minister Dan Miller said last week. The increase is the second 50
cent an hour increase announced since last year.
Also being put into place is the right of employees: to take. up to
tive days.of unpaid leave each year for responsibilities relating to
“the care, health or education of any member of an emiployee’s i 8 im-
mediate family.
-_Notice or pay requirements for indiv idual termination aré now. one
week after three. consecutive months. of employment, two. weeks .
“after 12 consecutive monthis and. three Weeks after three consecutive
yéats of employment. |: .
. The provincial Employment Standards Branch now v has the discre-

tion’ to impose fines on tepeat employer, offenders. arid 1 those fines.

muy | eacalate for, t repeat 0 offenders. -

Ear Sit es ea Sy PAE a