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Terrace Standard, Wednesday, June 13, 1990 — Page AS

LETTERS _ _

TO THE TERRACE STAN DARD

Nenehag Sate CO MR AR GD NY AD te Ay i ads

- boost

: fishery

. TERRACE —. As. ‘some 200

coho fry slipped into the waters
-of Herman Creek last week, a
group of Centennial Christian
school. students concluded a
nine-! manth project the federal
departmént of Fisheries and
Oceans (DFO) hopes will leave
them with a greater knowledge
and appreciation of the fisheries
resource.

Explaining the project was
part of the department's
Salmonid Enhancement Public
Participation program, DFO
community advisor Barry
Peters’ said 11 schools in
Teérrace-Thornhill took part this
year.

For all classes involved, the
project. began last fall with a
field trip to the Lakelse River —
Herman Creek is one of its
tributaries — to collect coho
eggs and sperm. .

'- That done, it was back to the
school where Peters fertilized

the eggs under the watchful eyes
of the youngsters. ‘'They
started right from step one,” he
said, adding the eggs were then
placed in a tank in the
classroom allowing students to
observe incubation, hatching
and the early growth of the fry.

While the Christian Centen-

_ nial eggs/fry enjoyed a 90 per

cent survival rate, Peters

". pointed out that wasn't ‘always

the case. One school involved in
.the program this year had suf-
fered a die-off that left them
with just four fry to be released.
However, he added, “That just
made those four all the more
important to the kids.”
Although the time of release
is the last the students will see of
‘their!’ fish, they have. learned
all. about. what. happens: after
that point; :The fry will remain
in the creek.and river until they
reach the smolt stage when they
will head for the ocean. Once
there, they will begin the long
migration up the coast of B.C.
and Alaska before swinging
westward on a circular route

‘ that could take them as far as

A NINE MONTH \ VIGIL came to an end for a group Christain Centennial students with the release of
coho fry they have watched hatch and grow in a classroom tank. Above, Department of Fisheries and
Oceans worker Barry Peters carefully introduces the minnow-sized fish to their new home, Herman

‘Creek. Those surviving. the long migration that lies ahead will return in the fall of 1992,

nba

Japanese 'waters:The- cycle will
be completed in the fall:of 1992
when the mature salmon return
to the Lakelse to spawn.

But the students are under no
illusion about the = survival
chances of the fry. Cataloguing
the predators they face at every
stage of their development,
Peters told the Christian

Students bring
back Howe creek

TERRACE — Coho salmon
spawning in the heart of Ter-
race. -

That is the vision a class of
Grade'.1] biology students at
Caledonia Senior Secondary
have for Howe Creek,

/ They?ve, spent the last month
cleaning. up sections of the
Stream,, which once held coho

- and trout but now passes for lit-.

tle more than a drainage ditch.

The creek starts on Terrace —

Mountain, winds its way along
the backyards of Terrace homes
before crossing thehighway and
the railway tracks near Skeena
Sawmills to empty into the
Skeena River. -

’ «So far the students have haul-
ed several truckloads of garbage
‘out of the creek,.and are prepar-

. ing plans to turn the creek into a

park to run the length of the ci-
ty, and make it habitable for
fish once more.

’ Biology teacher Glenn Grieve
says the class has applied for a
$38,000 federal grant to renew

TERRACE _ Although the
number of days angling guides

-- Can take clients to local rivers

are -to be reviewed later this
year, the chairman of the local

~ angling’ guide association Says
_ his members are generally
. Satisfied with how the pro-
cedure is working out. :

“Limitations on the number of

guides Operating and clients
~ they could take out on local
_Tivers -were introduced by the -.

- environment minlitry. The-fiew
“regulations were . introduced

_ «following ‘a sharp increase. In.
. angling - guide apolications beat 7

- pngling that had’ taken, /place-o

1g ALA ai

the stream. Most of the money
is to go toward culverts,
publishing a booklet about the
creek, and building.a- fish lad-
der.

A 20-foot drop into the
Skeena at the creek’s . outlet
keeps fish from getting
upstream, Grieve said the lad-
der would help the fish past the
drop, and setting the stage for a
re-stocking of the creek.

“The kids enjoy this ~-
they're really enthusiastic,” he

said. “Four years from now we

want to see those coho come
back upstream and spawn.”
Log berms — logs placed i in

the stream bed to create rifles -

and artificial spawning grounds
— are also part of the stlidents’
plans.

Some of the plans are exten-

‘sive — such as the re-routing of

the creek around the Skeena
Sawmills yard. Grieve said the
creek now flows under much of
the mill through a culvert which
is too long for fish to swim

year which led to concerns
about overcrowding, on those
rivers,

Guide association chairman

Frank Thodt said he has heard

of no cases of guides being told
they couldn't work rivers on
which they had operated before,

This year’s allocations were:
based on past’ use: but are

preliminary pending the review
‘later this yearn

ae
It will examine the amount of

MMAR

fy. areas

various - rivers, ' identify

where’ there was. sfagenvg

pressure, ‘On: the” filth

Céntennial’ ‘students ‘dt average
survival rate‘ of one’ per cent
meant only two of their 200 fry
were likely to complete the
journey.

It’sa fact of life they seem to
accept easily enough, perhaps
because they also now know a
single returning female will lay
_2-3,000 eggs,

JUNE STREWN Howe Creek could someday be a nature park i i

Explaining: Atha: yauionale”
behind the program, Peters
said, “The idea is they learn
about the fish and gain an ap-
preciation for them.” That was
particularly important in the
northwest where “fish seem to
touch everybody's life in some
way,’” he added.

some Caledonia students get their wish. They see it as a ribbon of
green running across the city, where coho salmon could spawn, as

they once did. .

upstream.

’ He said any re-routing is like-
ly to mean.complex. discussions
_with several. property owners
and. government agencies to get
approval,

Grieve said: an even larger re-
routing project is being. con-
sidered: re-directing the creek to
flow, as oldtimers say it once
did, into - the Kitsumkalum
River.

This summer’ they want to

start building paths near where

determine what adjustments to
the allocations were required,
Guides must provide the en-
vironment ministry with detail-
‘ed reports of their activities and
| those, combined: with statistics
from the sale of licences should
give: @ clear‘ picture of fishing
‘patterns for both guides and
non-guided,* non-resident
anglers, ‘That's important

's. becauge’ we've" never had: that

before,” Thodt emphasized.

That, information would:also
Dw: ‘accurate.evaluation of the
nora ‘Value ‘of the angling

soniet 1

not ‘Available up

ul de dnelustry. to the communi- -

the creek passes De Jong Cres-
cent and Parkside School,
Grieve added. Fhe students plan
to set up route markers, and

signs marking” _hative plant ©

species.

“They want to encourage
people to be aware of the creek
area,’ Grieve said. “Twenty
years it’s going to be in the mid-
dle of big city — and by then
this creek should be a linear
park, which can be preserved.”

uides happy with limits

to now.
Recalling local guides had

been among the first to call for -

controls, he said they had been
necessary to ensure.the Skeena
River continued to offer the
‘quality experience’* that drew
so-many.-tourist anglers to the
area.

While accepting this fall's
review would probably result in
adjustments to allocations,
Thodt said he hoped they would
be the last for several years.
Guides rieetied a lengthy period
of stability If they were to effec-
tively plan 1 theif business, he ex-
plained.

a
7

ae

> says that”. céndoms

‘No’ to condom

logic refuted.

Dear Sir:

This is in response to ‘the
article titled “Love and faith
are the answer’? by Doctor
Pieter Van Herk. 1 really
have a problem with some of
the things he has to say. |
also wonder if he ever read a
dictionary,

He says the promotion of
the use of condoms to ‘help
comBat' the spread of AIDS
is a simplistic approach. He
also says that this same logic
teaches that abstinence is not
possible and that sex is
necessary in order to enjoy
life,

Well, perhaps advocating
the use of condoms is a
simplistic approach but then
you have to learn to crawl
before you start running
marathons,

There has to be a start
made someplace and it seems
that the proper agencies for
this action are not interested
enough right now to serious-
ly be involved in solving this
problem and forgetting their
personal prejudices for the
goed of everyone. Something
like the good doctor is soun-
ding.

With his experience in the
medical field he could be us-
ing his knowledge instead of
his ignorance to deal with
this situation.

As for abstaining from
sex, that’s probably the best
solution there is. However
teenagers aren’t always able
to control those raging hor-
mones coarsing through their
bodies. I know when | was
young (and that was quite a
few years ago) if someone
had said that sex would make
me go blind the only effect
that would have had on me
would have been the pur-
chase of a white cane, He
break,
well so does will: “powel. SO"

by his logic we should have a
vulnerable teen totally at-the
mercy of possible AIDS in-
fection. as well as an -un-
wanted (or needed) pregnan-.
cy.

He talks about the fact
that we are addressing a

_ group of unmarried people

then moves right in to talking »
about these people having to
be encouraged not to commit
adultery. Now that may bea ’
good idea but I think we
should be more concerned
with getting them through
high school alive.

f think we should be
more concerned with
getting them through
high school alive.

By my dictionary adultery
is defined as ‘voluntary sex-
ual intercourse of a married
person with anyone except
his or her spouse, Now unles
Doctor Van Herk is aware of
a whole lot of married folk
out: there who are just
waiting to pounce on these
yongsters, then this adultery
bit has nothing to do with the
subject at the present time.
Later when they are thinking
of getting married would
perhaps be a better time to
stress that ‘until death do
you part’ means just that,

I closing I will agree that
abstinence is the best protec-
tion. However 1 also realize
that emotions sometimes
Overcome good sense.
Because of this I feel that all
the assistance that can be
given these teens should be
made readily available to
them.

\« At Gtawberg
” Fetrace, B.C.

Students Skip

Dear Sir:

We would like to raise the
point of substitute teachers
within our school. We are
grade 11 students in
Caledonia Senior Secondary
who are close to writing final
exams for this semester,

Lately we have been seeing
a lot of replacement teachers
in our classrooms. This is
fine if our regular teachers
are sick, but we feel that we
should have adequate
replacements who can teach

the subject knowledgeably.

The substitutes which we
have had so far have been

mostly inadequate; music
majors for math, math
teachers for computer
studies, etc.

From our past experience
this year we have realized
that a percentage of students
skip because of inadequate
substitutes, ;

It is fine if a teacher has ta
be absent, but we believe it is
our school district’s respon-
sibility to provide us with
reasonably knowledgeable
replacements.

. Sylvie: Mageau,
Shondell Myram,
Terrace, B.C.

It's worth it

An open letter to school
board 88, re: Condom
machines in high schools,

I am an_ internationally
certified childbirth educator
and I would like to speak in
favour of condom machines
in our high schools,

‘My reasons are simple: I
am absolutely petrified of the
AIDS virus; I believe many
teenagers are having . sex
whether we discourage them
or not; I don’t believe a can-
dom machine in and of itself
has the power to make a
chaste person promiscuous;
and I am committed to trying
to prevent as many cases of
AIDS as possible.

I am tired of hearing
quotes from the Bible, of
how chastity before marriage
is the cornerstone of society,
how ‘wrong’ it is to be gay

(are gays maybe not the
modern-time lepers Jesus
befriended?), of how all you
have to do is not have sex
and you won’t be punished,
That’s not our present
reality. Our reality is that we
have a high rate of teenage
pregnancy, a high rate of sex-
ual abuse (any AIDS cases
found there yet?) including
among numerous Christian
religious groups, and our
AIDS rate for teens is in-
creasing. Those are our facts.
‘ Condoms may break, and
the pregnancy rate may not -
be zero per cent but if one
condom saves one life, it’s
worth it, I am getting the
scary impression from what I

‘am reading that people in

this town want to punish
people who are having sex

cont'd A6

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whey