SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN

Termination Tackle

ate in the last year of the Jast cen-
tury, Vancouver Island fisheries staff
in what was then sensibly known as

SKEENA ANGLER
the Ministry of the Environment

ROB BROWN
looked at the best population esti-

mates of the steelhead stocks under their care
and protection and realized they were eyeball to
eyeball with the spectre of extinction.

The problem was acute on the formerly pro-
ductive winter steelhead streams that water the
-island’s east coast. The ministry had already
imposed angling closures on many of those
streams, The problem for the government ap-
pointed stewards of the resource was how to
maintain a traditional, historic fishery on the
‘few remaining rivers where anglers were now
‘ concentrated. To this end, they proposed a ban
on natural baits in an effort to reduce mortality
on precious and alarmingly rare wild steelhead.

Now, you might think that habitat destruc-
tion, or the depletion of fisheries by commercial
interests, or those environmental cancers polite-
ly known as fish farms, would altract the most
altention and extract the most vitriol from the
sport fishing sector. If you think that, you think
wrong. Though it is true that all those pressing
problems do rouse a small, politically charged
group of anglers to action, the issue guaranteed

_to cause the greatest reaction and stir up even
the most lethargic fisher is whether anglers
‘should be allowed to use worms, eggs, shrimp,
-Or, prawns at the end of their lines. So il was on
‘Van Isle where, instead of behaving well,
crowd of..bajt dunkers kicked up.a terrible fs
over the. Ph osal to get rid ‘of bait

will kids do without bait?” moaned some.
“We're not the biggest part of the. problem so
why should we be restricted?” howled others.
“We weren’t properly consulted,” argued those
who believe that government should consult on
every issue, then say thal government isn’t lis-
tening when they don’t get their way, and then
_ have the audacity to complain that government

nants even maintained ‘that bail was no more le-
thal than other terminal tackle.
As a result of this debate, and a perceived
lack of technical evidence, the Ministry of En-
vironment charged senior biologist Bob Hooton
to prepare a background paper. The resuit was
Facts and Issues Associated with Restricting Ter-
minal Gear Types in the Management of Sustain-
abie Steelhead Sport Fisheries in British Colum-
bia, a fascinating document that should be re-
quired reading for anyone holding a fishing li-
cense.
In his literature search, Hooton discovered
that the data on hooking mortality in B.C. was
limited to two sets: one where wild. steelhead
Were angled for hatchery brood stock on Van-
-couver Island during the early 1980s; and a
Keogh River study specifically directed at
; hooking mortality on steelhead.

' ‘In the first data set, the mortality was 3.4 per
cent among 3,715 angled and retained for broad.
‘In the Keogh study, the mortality rate was 5.6
per cent, But, as Hooton points out, both these
data sets are negatively biased because, in the
case of the brocd capture study, fish that were

unlikely to survive were released and therefore
not included in the final catculations. Moreover,
‘fish that died after 24 hours in holding tanks
> were not included in the data. Hatchery fish that
were hooked and killed were not recorded. And,
the high standard of fish handling exhibited by
the trained fisheries professionals compared lo
‘that which could be expected from anglers at
large was not taken into account. .

In the case of the Keogh study, the data was
also misleading. Fisheries scientists talk of
Catch Per Unit Effort (C.P.U.E.). In the Keogh

‘study the C.P.U.E. was defined as the number of
fish hooked and landed per hour of fishing time.
“The problem was that bait was so much more
effective than artificial lures it was impossible
to get a large enough sample for the artificial
. gear unless the sampting began with lures. In
other words, the study participants located some
- holding water, fished it with artificial lures until

caught. The same water-was then fished with
_ bait. Even so, bait caught twice as many fish as
artificials.

The other noteworthy finding of the Keogh
exercise was that the incidence of hocking in
critical areas like the tongue, ‘esophagus, gills,
and heart, was nearly two times higher among
' bait caught: fish than among those caught on
> dures. 28
In preparing his ‘paper, Hooton scoured the li-

: steelhead 2

id found confirmation of: the Keogh
Tesults.

ext week, more on bait a

Tired’: “ofd arguments were advanced: What

.takes too long to take action. Some complai- :

‘they were convinced no other fish could be;

te

{erature for similar studies on species other than”

Ayericket,” she says.

SETH WARREN negotiates the swirling water of the Butze Ra- kayakers and filmmakers who spent two weeks in the Terrace’
pids outside of Prince Rupert. He was one of 10 professional area hitting waterfalls, creeks and rivers. SHANE SPENCER PHOTO

Catch the wave

White water here lures professional kayakers and filmmakers

SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN
TUCKED away in the woods near
Rosswand runs a creek which
feeds a 63-foot magnificent wa-
terfall and it's drawn the attention
of some of North America’s top
professional kayakers.

“Tt was the tallest waterfall
I’ve ever run,” said Missoula,
Montana-hased professional kaya-
ker Seth Warren, 25.

Warren is ane of a crew of 10
kayakers and cinematographers

‘who recently spent two weeks

shooting footage for an action-ad-
venture kayaking film to. be we
lensed: in?2003. V

The crew is part of' Teton
Gravity Research, a production
company which makes breathtak-
ing films about adventure sports
in some of the world’s most re-
mote and stunning locations.

They came to Terrace with the
goal of paddling the Butze rapids
just outside of Prince Rupert.

But after arriving in Terrace

TERRACE STANDARD

than a half-hour drive from Ter-
race on Kalum Lake Dr,, not only
offered a challenge for the kaya-
kers but was a good spot for the
cinematographers as well.

“Any time you have a waterfall
like that it’s really spectacular to
see,” said the film’s producer, dir-
ector and cinematographer, Trask
McFarland.

But getting the shot proved lo
be a chore in itself.

The camera operator at the top
of the shot was lowered down on a
climbing rope from a cliff above
the water fali.
ett was sort of.a personal mo-

ment for me and the cinematogra-

pher,” says Warren.

'“T went paddling over the lip
and I looked up and gave him a
big smile.”

Fellow kayaker Matt Rusher
agrees the Wesach falls, which
were first run two years ago by
local paddler and the group’s
guide Shane Spencer, were in-

“It’s the whole adventure of the access...in
this area it’s really unique.”

the group was overcome by the
variety of creeks, waterfalls and
rivers they could run in the im-
mediate area and extended their
shooting schedule by one week to
two in order to include more loca-
tions.

“It was way beyond what we
expected,” says one of the cine-
matographers, Loren Moulton.

The Wesach waterfall, less

Coach draws on Aussie experience

JENNIFER Keuhne, 25, is
just going to have to get
used ta not wearing shorts
to the skating rink any-
more.

That’s because she’s
just come home after
teaching the finer points of
figure skating to Australian
skaters — and she’s the
newest addition to the Ter-
race Figure Skating Club’s
coaching team.

Keubne left Canada to
coach at Mnt. Thebarton
Snow and: Ice Entertain-
ment (now called the
Snowdome) in Adelaide,
Australia in May 1999.

The indoor recreation
centre has two skating
rinks and an indoor ski hill.

“You take a flat escala-
tor to the top,” laughs
Keuhne.

Figure skating is not a
huge sport in Australia.

“There’s two sport sea-
sons down there — footie

credible.

But he was equally impressed
with some of the other creeks he
paddled in the Terrace area.

Rusher was especially taken
with Jesse Falls, located in the
Douglas Channel. The falls are
made of fresh water which drops
off into the ocean.

Another highlight was Upper
Williams Creek which has not

The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, October 16, 2002 - BS

638-7283

PROFESSIONAL kayaker Matt Rusher says the creeks and rivers
in the Terrace area are impressive but getting to them can be
something of a challenge. SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN PHOTO

been explored by extreme kaya-
kers to date.

But it wasn’t always easy get-
ting to those remote locations,
says Rusher.

While many rivers and gorges
in the U.S. are accessible by road,
the paddlers visiting the northwest
had to diversify their approach.

That included using boats and
helicopters, doing a lot of bush-
whacking and even rock climbing
to get to their destinations.

“Ona personal level, I’m nat
much of a climber,” Rusher says.

Roping up and rappelling down
cliffs to check aut prospective
runs tested his comfort levels.

“I'd kind of pick: the closest
tree and kind of hang on to it,” he
says laughing.

Though the experience pushed
him in that area, he says it was

NO MORE shorts for Jennifer Kuehne - she back on Canadian ice teaching
figure skating for the Terrace Figure Skating Club. SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN PHOTO

_mm film should be realeased next

worthwhile.

“It’s the whole adventure of the
access,” Rusher says. “In this area
it’s really unique.”

The crew was also blessed with
several days of sunny weather —
which could make the difference
between footage making the final
cut or ending up on the cutting
room floor.

“Our footage usually surprises
us when we get it back,” says
McFarland.

Editing on the yet unnamed
project begins this winter. The 16-

spring.
Terrace was just one of several
locations the group travelled to
this year.
- Other spots included the Otta-
wa Valley, the Montreal area,
Norway and Icetand.

something she says she'd
like to try here.

As she adjusts to being
a club coach back in her
hometown, Keuhne. is
thankful to be back with a
Canadian club where she -
can grow as a coach and
continue learning.

And she’s especially
grateful for good ice.

“It’s really nice to be in
a rink whose ice is done
on time,” she says, adding
she often had trouble find-
ing someone to prepare. the
ice for her skaters at the
club in Adelaide,

“They were actually
going to train me on the
Zambeonil”

Because of the heat in’ !
Austrailia, the ice at her —
club also tended to get a
bit bumpy ~ which doesn’t _
bode well for skaters,

“There were big bumps
in the ice from where the
ceiling was dripping -be- -

(Aussie rules football) and

petitive are at the same

“They just do free

nized junior skating team

cause it’s so hot outside,”
she says.
Keuline won't have that

But Keuhne was im-
pressed with the skaters

who did come: out to the
~ club which was about the

‘same size as the one here.
"fhe kids that are com-

level as; our competitive
kids,” she says.

The major difference |
-between. coaching -in Ca-.

“nada and coaching is Au-
stralia Is teaching figures.

skate,” she says, adding

-she took matters into her

own hands. “I made my
kids do figures.” ”
She also helped coach

an award winning synchro-

which earned a spot al an
international competition
in Croatia this year. Syn-

chronized skating -sees a

full team of. skaters per-

‘forming together and it’s

problem here — with fresh.
snow on the mountain wa’
she's Idoking forward to a:
full Medged € Canadian win-. oo
tere Gece aoe