Ae os B4 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, August 3, 2005 “ue he SKEENA ANGLE __ ROB BROWN | Lice ain’t nice “ice have never received sO , much ink on ». this side of the Atlantic. as they have in ~ the last couple:of years. The lousy para- sites have that indefatigable champion of the Broughton Archipelago, Alex Morton, that aa curmudgeonly, conservation-minded conservative _ mouthpiece, Rafe Mair, all those tireless warriors , who make up the groups that, in turn, make up the. - Coastal Alliance for Aquaculture Reform and con-’: ~ cerned individuals Who know a bad idea when they : “see one to thank for the publicity. -Lepeophtheirus salmonis; is the big scientific : , handle for the little creature responsible for all this ” fomentation. That’ s lep-the-op-the-yur-us sal-mon- ‘is, if you want to affect a way cool scientific pose, _or Leps, if you’d rather warp yourtongue. ~ - Leps have a taste for fish flesh, fish fins, skin and mucus. They’ ve been chewing on adult salmon ._ forever, as any river fisher will tell you. -On a large . fish they’re an irritant but the same can’t be said for _sardine-sized salmon smolts. - Salmon. juveniles are crippled and killed by - Leps. Formerly this wasn’t-a significant problem - since the lice rarely attached themselves to the wee salmon, but that has changed dramatically since the © introduction and expansion of fish farming in the oceans. Since the advent of salmon aquaculture, lice in- festations of juvenile salmon known as epizootics . have become commonplace in Norway, the British iIsles,:Chile, New. Brunswick and on our coast — all ithe locations where salmon farming is thriving. . You won’t be surprised to learn that in each of . ‘ these locales wild salmon runs have declined. That farms are the primary source of lice is no . _ longer debated in Europe. In Scotland, research sci- entists have found that lice larvae concentrations existed only in waters that had salmon farms. In Norway, 220 million farmed salmon produced something in the order of 145 billion lice eggs dur- ing the period of wild salmon migration. In Norway, Scotland and Ireland. about 90 per cent of all the lice come from salmon farms. The . Temainder come from escaped farm salmon. Closer" to home, non-government organiza- tions hired researchers to study the situation in the . Broughton Archipelago, where they found signifi- _cantly higher numbers of lice on juveniles collected near the fish farms there. Not only that, the researchers discovered that ‘the juvenile salmon did not pick up lice until they .. came near the farms. They also found that the lice _ infection near the farms was 73 per cent higher than ‘normal and the effect of the farm, its “footprint,” extended for 30 km from the facility. In November 2004, 25 scientists gathered at Si- ‘mon Fraser University to review the above findings and those from elsewhere. Their conclusion: the weight of evidence showed that the lice killing wild juvenile salmon were Pro- duced by the salmon farms. The problems associated with lice don’t end there. Parasites are notorious vectors of disease. Dreaded fish plagues like infectious salmon anemia and a piscine kidney disease called infectious he- . " Matopoietic necrosis can be conveyed by lice. Since lice can*increase stress and reduce the growth of farmed salmon, fish farmers aren’t fond of them either. A typical New Brunswick fish farmer will spend about $350,000 per.crop of fish as a result of down- grading, mortality, stress-related growth reduction, labour and chemical costs in lice control attempts. And what about the cost to the marine ecosys- tem in pesticide contamination? So what does our government do in response to ‘all this evidence? They’ve downplayed or flat out denied the risk to wild salmon, claiming there is no “definitive proof of the link between farms and lice and their impact on wild fish.” The DFO has clung onto the flimsiest bit of un- certainty like a shipwreck survivor clinging to the remains of a wrecked lifeboat, in a pathetic effort to justify the status quo. It’s deviously attempted to shift the burden of proof onto conservation organi- zations and the public. The department. has done its utmost to 6 dodge its own scientific responsibility in an area that clearly falls within its jurisdiction, while expending energy in.a ludicrous attempt to disregard and dismiss the. weight of evidence and the scientific consensus with absurd contentions, like BC is somehow different from Europe. when it comes to lice and salmon. | The Auditor General has said that the DFO can’t be both the protector of wild fish and a promoter of unsustainable fish farming practices. “Perhaps the largesi cost of lice.” Orr of Watershed Watch, “‘is the loss of public con- fidence in the sustainability of currently favoured open net-cage farming practice and in the govern- _ meat itself.” said Dr. Craig. _ THESE TERRACE SENIORS took on the world’s best athletes at the 2005 World 4 Masters’ Games in Edmonton last week. From left, coach . Theresa Mandur and athletes Leona “t. ‘Maxine Smallwood, Bob ar and Joe Mandur. . Seniors ‘master’ world sports “FOUR LOCAL seniors matched - their sports skills against the world’s top masters athletes at the World Bob Goodvin came fourth with his throw of 10.43 metres in the men’s 80- to 84-year-old group. “metr es. 4.30-metre throw. Smith scored sixth Spot , ‘with a ‘ MARGARET SPEIRS PHOTO place in the 50-metre breaststroke . and the 100-metre breaststroke with ‘times of 45.51 and 1: 43. 07, respec- ° tively... 638-7283 - Masters’ Games in Edmonton July 21 to July 31.. , Maxine Smallwood won a ‘gold ‘medal in javelin, throwing a distance of 12.52 metres, more than three metres farther than the silver medal- In the 100-metre sprint, Leona. - Smith. zipped to a silver medal in the 75- to 79-year-old division with | a time of 23.79 seconds. Small- wood dashed to a fourth place time of 27.23 seconds. Goodvin finished ‘ Goodvin tossed the shotput 4.82 metres for fifth place. ; In their final event — discus — Smallwood won silver for a 12.99 metre throw. and Goodvin threw 11.71 metres for sixth place. _ He finished seventh in the 100- metre freestyle with 1:19.28, sixth in the 200-metre freestyle with a time of 3:01.67 and’ eighth in the 400- metre freestyle with 6:39.84. list. A fantastic toss for Smallwood, who’s competing in the 75- to 79-- In. year-old women’s category. . New challenges await Skeena cyclists By MARGARET SPEIRS — CYCLISTS: DARE yourselves: to complete the longest race in the northwest this weekend. The Skeena River Challenge road -race rides from Prince Rupert,to Terrace past 100 miles of gorgeous scenery along Hwy 16 this Sunday. Organizer Lucy Praught says this year’s goal is . to encourage more recreational riders to enter and to not think the event is just for elite racers. Ideally, she’d like to see 100 competitors like in previous races. About 26 cyclists took part last year.and she hopes to see at least 40 this year. , For the first time, competitors will ridé along- side the new rumble strips on the shoulder of Hwy 16. strips could force riders to try a different strategy, Praught says. “They'll probably ride on the. white line,” Praught says.” Riders who draft will have to change position carefully. A lead rider moving to the back of the pack could hit the rumble strips whereas one or. two riders may not have a problem. Bikers will be instructed to stay on the right side of the road. The electronic highway warning signs will tell drivers to watch for cyclists and Praught says she might contact BC. Ferries to alert. its travellers about the race, particularly RV drivers, whose ve- - hicles* larger width can pose a hazard to bikers. Praught advises competitors to bring lots of water to the race due to the lack of aid Stations along the course. ‘She says an ideal way to keep energy levels up during the ride is to carry snacks, such as bananas, - cliff bars, power bars and water on the bike, “T have done the race in the past and drank four large water bottles,” Praught says, adding she has two water bottle cages on her. bike plus a separate one on the seat post. She reminds racers to stay hydrated even if the weather is cool or wet and they don’t feel thirsty. A sweeper vehicle will drive the highway and — volunteers with cell phones will keep an eye out for any emergency: situation or for anyone who can’t finish and needs to be.picked up. - Winners usually finish in less than four hours depending on the wind direction and how well racers work together. Riders from the Queen Charlotte Islands, Low- er Mainiand, Houston and Smithers are expected to compete. Bikers register at the McDonalds in Prince Ru- pert at 8 a.m. om race day. The recreational category rides at 9.a.m. and competitive racers begin at 9:30 a.m. to allow ‘both sets of cyclists time to finish and partake in - the post-race meal, awards and socializing. Dinner is included in the entry fee. Riders leave from the Prince Rupert civic cen- tre, cycle through Ridley Island and back to the ’ eighth with his 34.97- second | run. shotput, fourth place with a distance of 5.06 The shoulders aren't that big and the rumble “Smallwood “took _ °Senior swimmer’.Joe Mandur, | competing in the Men’ s 70- to 74-__ years-old category, swam to fourth — These-athletes join other Zone 10, _ Seniors for the Seniors Games in the Cowichan Valley Aug. 24 to 27. JON LAMBERT powers s toward the finish | line i in the 2004 | Skeena River Challenge r road race. He placed third in the 160 km trek. This year organizers hope to see 40 riders take up the - challenge from Prince ‘Rupert to Terrace. FILE PHOTO highway and continue on to Terrace, ending at the DHL courier office on Keith Ave. Awards and the post-race meal will go at Bos- ton Pizza around 4 p.m. or 4:30 p.m. Recreational riders will have a chance to win draw. prizes and mountain bike riders are wel- come. All riders must be associate. members of Cy- cling BC or a TORCA member, Praught says. Anyone who isn’t a member can sign up on race day. Helmets are mandatory. There may be a bike check and helmet i inspection before the race to en- sure riders are using safe equipment. Competitors will need to plan for their return home after the race, such as having someone drive their vehicles back from Prince Rupert. Anyone who's thinking of carpooling can call Praught at 638-7603. For the race’s 20th anniversary next year, Praught plans to hold a pre-race clinic on proper eating and how to grab water hand- ed to riders from aid stations along the race course. , aA ah hens eee. eeeee ht RSA AA A tb te oh cpap ta he SA GIT AT Sica ELBE SEL ELEM OTE Tae eet meer AP west