Tree cash |

Work works

Fine finale

Stumpage fees came back t to the ye
northwest last week, ‘and then |
some\NEWS A13

oh A local student. proves hard work |
ye ‘pays off, landing a full time job é as.
=, a result\COMMUNITY Bi. |

ia | | Bluebacks wound up their season
| with medal winning provincial
- | performances\SPORTS B7

~ WEDNESDAY:
JULY 26, 1995

FRESH FISH makes for a tasty

barbecue, and 4 lucrative sale, but -

illegal vendors and their
customers can face stiff penalties
if caught with the goods.

To sort out confusion over who
can legally seli salmon, and
where and when to buy, the De-
partment of Fisheries and Oceans
office has set up a toll-free in-
formation line for the North
Coast.

Callers to 1-800-257-5574 will
hear a recorded message explain
that coastal commercial
fishermen may sell their catch (as
long as a receipt is issued), while
sport fishermen cannot.

Fish tally ,
job turns
hi tech

FISH COUNTING has entered
the high tech age,
Fisheries biologist Mark Beere
noted the traditional method of
tallying steelhead passing through
the Babine River fish fence was
lo have an observer standing

there, clicking on .a. counter as |

each went by...

This year, however, a new tool -

was introduced — a video sur-
veillance system with a built in
486 computer. Beere said the

$30,000 system was purchased ©

from a Newfoundland company
which also installed it

Enclosed in a waterproof box
with a plexi-glass bottom, the
camera-comiputer was . positioned
above a gap in the fence through
which migrating fish had to_pass.

Explaining how the system
worked, Becre said the camera
operated continuously, mostly at
a super slow speed that allowed
480 hours of recording on a
single cassette. However, picture
quality at that speed was
“lousy”, so when motion was
detected the camera kicked up to
a higher speed, or “‘high resolu-
tion mode’’.

He pointed out the images at
that speed were sharp enough to
tell the type of fish and, if the
water was clear enough, it was
even possible to spot whether it
had been tagged,

Meanwhile the computer was
doing some recording of its own
— the time cach fish passed by,
its length and the direction it was
travelling, plus cumulative tallies
of each.

And it can’t be fooled into
counting a stick as a fish or a
trout as a steelhead, Beere added.

That’s because the computer
has been programmed to tally
only objects that are shaped like a
fish and are longer than the mini-
mum length that qualifies as a
steelhead,

With this being the first time
the technology had been used in
the region, he said Fisheries staff
had watched the video tapes to
ensure what the computer re-
corded was accurate,

Stewart finds a treasure trove -

THERE’S NOT gold in them thar
hills but gravel - at least as far as
the District of Stewart is con-
cemed,

That gravel is carried down the
glacial-fed Bear River from the
mountains and deposited on the
flats where Stewart sits.

But the gravel has built up the
river bed to the point where it
now poses a flood threat during
high water times,

So council wants to: dredge the
river as a safeguard and sell the.

none for

Fish harvested by native
fisheries under communal
licences for food and ceremonial

_ Purposes are also not for sale.

Only native communities with
agreements with the DFO can sell
their harvest legally — and only

in the case of a surplus of sock-.

eye and.pink salmon above con-

servation levels, and only at

designated locations. 7

In this area, the Gitksan and
Wet’suwet’en
Authority has a licence as docs
the Tsimshian Tribal council
“Buyers are required to have an
aboriginal fish sales slip in their

possession when transporting .

Watershed

their purchase.
Smithers DFC field supervisor
Terry Turnbull said the line was

set up to help native bands sell-

their fish and to let the public
know the legal sources for their
salmon dinner,

‘Most local residents know the

law, said Turnbull, “but they just

like fish,’’ while tourists may not

know the mules. He pointed to a!

group of | _ Europeans recently
nabbed with illegally caught fish
near Terrace, -

Turnbull said a legitimate seller
will provide a receipt with the
name of the purchaser, the name
‘ofthe band, the name of the

species. Sold, ‘and the. number and : 7

m Recyclers at work

NOT EVERYTHING that ends up at the local dumps is garbage. Just ask Frank Walker who's
Seen above with power tools he elther salvaged from the dump and repaired or baught with
the proceeds of scavenging, For more on Walker and other salvagers, turn to page A5.

weight of the fish,

“You must,
receipt for your salmon,’”” said
Turmbull.

“TE you're caught with 9 sal-
mon Without the proper receipt
you'll likely find youmelf in
court, ‘You have ‘to have a° rea-

sonable explanation as to how
you came into legal possession of ..

the salmon.'”

Near the end of the 1- 800 tele.
phone message there’s a warning:

“The public should be suspi-
cious when approached and of-
fered fish for sale at places other
than designated sites listed on this
recording,””

gravel,

To Stewart mayor Andy Burton
the project kills two birds with
one stone, as it were.

“This way we can achieve
flood protection and money from
the sale of gravel can help pay for
the work,”' said Burton..

Even «-better, according to
Burton, is the potentlat for a con-

tinuing gravel sale business be--

cause the river. will keop continul-
ing’ to deposit gravel... :

“Neve “got. ‘several. million

tonnes of gravel we have to mave
right now. It’s got to go,” said
Burton,

“And there’s 350,000 cubic
metres a year that comes down. It
appears there’s a market for
gravel and its good quality, too,
We'll be able to provide jobs.’

Burton said dredging now will’
be far cheaper than Gleaning up '

aftera flood, -
SH Its ‘going to happen —

han

Stewart's port f facilities

sald.

“In some places the river’s 15
to 20 feet higher than the town.
It’s a Mississippl-levee situation,
We either pay now or later —

- clean up, compensation, loss, of
“Hfeh

Some of the gravel from the ini-

tlal-dredging “can be’ used” to
reclaim. some of the foreshore of ..

~ Stewart. =:
“this te
“yéar or next year or in 10 years: 2:
“ but. it’s. going: to, happen,” he. =

‘Burton ‘paid’ the dredging i |
grew. out-of: ideas v

must,’ “have - a.

"786 PLUS 5¢ GST

IF THERE had been a contest

workplace, the library would
have won.

Problem is, nobody knew
how hot it got inside the
recently expanded structure,

“Our thermostat goes up to

. 30 and that's it, I came in one

the scale,’’ said head librarian
Ed Currel.

There is no air conditioning
in the expanded library: It was
included in original expansion
plans but cut as a cost item
when there wasn’t enough

last week for hottest. inside |

night at 11 p.m. and it was off -

‘Library workers _
facing the heat

‘ night to turn on the system to

money to cover all that was
wanted.
There is an air exchanger
which does help, Curell added,
It’s on a timer system which
means Curell comes in late at

at least provide some fresh air
for the next morning,

“By the next morning it's
down to 25 degrees,” said
Curell of the interior,

Library workers did prop a
back door open several weeks
ago to let in some air,

Somebody came itt that
entrance and stole a CD player,

Council votes

to save trees

A ROW OF 80-year-old
spruce trees near Sacred Heart
. Church will be spared.

In a split vote, council decid-

ed to abandon plans to develop :

. the graveled section of Hughes St.»

to the north of Straume: into two |

lots. The sale of the lois. ‘would

have brought. about $60, 000 to

the city,

tial dollar value, councillor Ruth
Hallock said the parcel already
hada value as parkland, -

While conceding that poten- ,

She also suggested some’

councillors were taking’ too ‘nar-

row a view of what. constituted .

parkland.
Hallock maintained any -quiet

area where people of all ages . -

could sit and enjoy the aesthetics.

qualified, not just playgrounds ©.

with monkey bars,

“The worse thing we could .

do is bulldoze down the trees,”

Councillor. Ed Graydon’:

agreed, suggesting the addition of -

amenities such as picnic tables |
could turn the land into an asset to °

the neighbourhood,

Pointing out the Horseshoe

was already crowded with homes;
he said council should be looking

for what other small parcels in the’.

area could be saved:

However, councillor Gordon’
Hull expressed doubts the, strip .
had the potential to be useful >.
parkland. He ‘also ‘pointed out «

' there were two ‘school grounds, °
Christy Park and the Howe Creek ‘*.
trail all within easy walking dis- 7

tance of the parcel.

“Are we going to start look-

ing at all the back alleys in town: .
and turning them into parkland, ae
| mean more’complainis: about traf

he asked,

Echoing that view, ‘counelllor :

The district already bas a bulk
loading terminal from previous
industrial activity in the area.

Stewart has asked the provincial
government for $2 millon. as

-seed financing for the project.

“That ‘request “is through «the
employment and investment min-
istry’s Natural Resource Com- .
munity. Fund which’ provides
money . for. Lane hit. a sig:

- the church's. Father, John Smith

David Hull noted the Horseshoe: :
already had the highest con-.
: Y.. Centration of. Parkland of any. area».

in Terrace, |
Council, he said, t
ligation to all the. people

Terrace”, and. that obligation:

could: be better met; by.. using
‘ money from the sale of the lots to.

develop parks in the pats of, the.

south side that had none. :; yee to
-By a:4-2 vote, ‘councillors.

decided to: dedicate the. Hughes. eo

Street parcel as. parkland, -
Hallock, Graydon, McDaniel and

" mayor Jack -Talstra voting for, QL

Gordon and David Hull against, ..
Actively; involved: in. ‘the’
Catholic. church, councillor. Val

; discussion of the i issue had : seen a

“Atthat time, Talstra suggest j
ed the. church buy. the land from: -
the ¢ city, and then develop. it into, a

. Smith, ‘But the. priest ‘discounted .
that idea as too expensive | for the
parish.

“So you just want tou use the
property, but youdon't, want, t
pay for it,” Talstra Teplied,

“Smith noled the: Public;

- large uses the playground next to: 3
Veritas School that-was devel :
-oped by the Catholics,

vy

“And you. get'a tax exen p- 7

tion for that,’ Talstra countered, =
“Smith said: the church fears
more neighbouring houses: will

fic and noise at the church

operations: closed, | Tail
smelter layoffs and the: Bik‘ Val
ley

oar

affected by _woal’ dide ©.

clostires, |

‘Stewart's request Fe 5 now works :

Ing . through’: the. provincial

' government’ bureaucracy. and. Is -
now in the hands of. a. “group: of. t
senior civil servants. ot :

They’re pzeparing cost figures
‘for the provincial Treasury Board —

- which in turn will make a aubmals-

cee ee eel ee

6 en a wee re ne reraneberry eeernerinon une nsonanoneon,