- Demise of thed
One of the unfortunate: aspects of. our society is that
people are rarely mobilized to act in a crisis until they

are directly and unambiguously affected by it. The.

dismal return of steelhead trout to the Skeena River
system this year, coming at the end of.a series of bad |

seasons for the prized. sport fish, illustrates-again that ~

in a free-market economy it is people’s wallets that __
have to be affected before the action starts. . |

The Skeena’s international reputation ‘for some o

the world’s best river fishing has germinated a healthy. ;
guiding industry that has in turn’ brought.a lot of ~~

ream fish

}BGS INSDE PASSAGE... ©

We

tourist money into this area. One guide .we spoke too bal

- said fully 50 percent of his offshote clients.come here: te
specifically to land-(and. most of the time, throwback)

big steelhead. There are now the strongest possible in-.
dications the we — or somebody — are onthe verge”
of doing in the fish that lays the golden roe.
We’ve been warned for many years by provincial
government fish biologists that steelhead stocks can’t
withstand the decimation inflicted by the gillnet
fishery in the Skeena estuary, but the federal Depart-
ment of Fisheries and Oceans, which sets the commer-
cial openings.and controls‘the fishery, has been unable
to come up with an effective solution. The steelhead
have a spawning cycle that spans a period of several
-years, sO next year’s return has already been.deter-
mined by the upriver spawning escapement that occur-
red in the mid-1980’s. The die has already been cast,

but it isn’t too late to start a vigorous lobby effort in

the interest of later years. ——

Two years ago the first major party of Japanese
fishermen came to Terrace.as the result of a col-
laborative effort among local tourism businesses and
local government officials. Their stay here was an un-
qualified success for everyone involved, but we have
to wonder how successful it would have been if the
steelhead run had been as poor that summer as it was
this year.

There are no hard data on the effect that the
notorious. driftnet fishery has on. steelhead cruising the
open ocean, but those vessels consume everything in
their wake, and there must be steelhead among the

catch. It would be a terrible irony for the 25-million
‘member: Japanese sport fishing association to discover
that the “‘dream:fish’’ they travel halfway around the
globe to catch — and release — are being destroyed in
part by their own commercial fishing fleet.

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_ WILLIAMS LAKE — Boy oh

“boy, but are there a lot of
games being played up here in ©
Cariboo country, or what?

‘In the lead-up to today’s

provincial by-election, both the
Social Credit Party and the
New Democratic Party were
playing “‘head games” with the
media and with the public to
such a degree, that one didn’t
know who or what to believe...
if anything or anyone!

It’s hardly surprising, I sup-
pose, given the enormous. im- .
pact the results tonight will

have on the future of the
ptemier, the political parties
and this province.

To clarify — the Socreds
have been gaining ground in
the polls, after trailing by as
much as 10 percent; but they
continue to act as though all is
lost. That way, if they do win,
it will appear to be a stunning
come-from-behind victory in a
seat which never should have
been in doubt in the first place.

Meanwhile, the NDP has

~ been acting like a winner,

- whilst fretfully fearing that its
original big lead is being eaten ©
away. Their ad campaigns have
slammed Premier Bill Vander
Zalm, not Socred candidate Joe
Wark, thus making the Premier
the issue yet again.

It may backfire.

_ Although the Premier hit the
low point of the campaign last
week in a pathetic ‘‘grip and
grin’’ tour of this city’s

. deserted mall and its ghost-

town-like downtown, indica-
tions are the last few days —
leading up to the ballots today
have seen considerable im-
provement for Vander Zalm
and Wark. /
As the Socreds kept pouring

TEE ON ACUGE SPIN

“The view from

by John Plfer

’

-jn millions of-dollarsin |
highways projects and support.
for new industry, it’s hardly —
surprising that the local papers
call this a buy-election!

The government can deny all
it wants that the largesse it’s

handing out by the bucketful is

merely coincidental; but most
people up here know that to be
a load of the stuff they throw
around in ‘‘prairie frisbee”’
competitions. .
Mix into all that, the an-
nouncement that. Vander Zalm
had switched his address to the
annual Union of B.C. Munici-
palities’ convention in Pentic-
ton, from this Friday (two days
after the by-election) to today.
That was read by many pun-
dits as a desperate move to —
avoid the humiliation of speak-
ing after his fifth straight by-
election loss in just 15 months.
But, what if it is part of a .
strategy to make it appear as
though all is lost, whilst know- .
ing that their own polls are
showing they could well squeak .
through with a victory?
~ Vander-Zalm’s handlers .are
playing it very cagey with such.
-a move. They know they will
~ gain more crucial primetime-
news radio and TV exposure on
this day of the vote, when the -- .
Preem makes a major policy ~
‘announcement at the UBCM:
‘session. oa :
And at the same time, just in
case they do lose to NDPer
David Zirnhelt, they will have —
protected the Zalm from being.
- committed toa full-blown
“public appearance, and eim- —
barrassment, so soon after the
' defeat. mo
_ There are always wheels ©

within wheels in politics, ©.
especially in an election as

. crucial-as this one, soit has...
.been most intriguing to watch .
- for what giveaway — of our

money, remember, dear tax-
payers — that Vander Zalm
was coming up with next, .
Don’t believe that bunk
about Vander Zalm’s repeated
visits to the Cariboo in the past
month being on government

- business.

~ It’s on the business of saving
his butt. 7

If he can convince the -
Cariboo voters to buy the siz-
zle, not the steak, he may stick
around to play the role of -
Richard (Hatfield) the Second
in a general election.

But remember, these Cariboo
folk know a lot about steak!

Prediction? Almost too close
to call; but methinks the NDP |
by 350 to 500 votes. We'll

' knowin a matter of hours. ff

Skeena’s own, Forests

Minister Dave Parker, is get-. /.: -
ting alot of flak fromall 3° 0s,
quarters latély; but Tunder- 2° °
stand he’s getting some sup- ‘|
port, too. *
. The stupidity of someone in:
his position saying that AIDS is
‘sa self-inflicted wound” can- —
not be excused; but it’s his _
comment about a planned cam-
paign or conspiracy by en-
vironmental extremists which
bears a closer look, I suggest.

Those who believe that :
British Columbia must find a fe,
way to balance erivironmental”
concerns with reaping there-
wards of the natural resources -
we are blessed with, think Our:
Dave may just have something .
there, | : oe
" Among various speeches and

“ “eontinued on page 6