Crusader makes bid for bear hunting ban By DAVE TAYLOR AT ORIENTAL bear banquets, live bears in cages are towered onto hot coals until their paws are cooked, On the Chinese black market, workers extract gail bladder bile from live bears housed in tiny cages to sell _ as medicine. These are some of the atrocities that ” Anthony Marr of the Western Canada Wildemess Committee trying to prevent. He's on an eight-week tour to dram up support for a province-wide vote to ban bear hunting in B.C, While grizzly and black bears aren’t endangered in B.C., Marr says that could soon change. “The decimation of the Asiatic black bear aud the rising affluence of the Asian community will lead to an increased demand for Canadian bears and bear parts,’’ says Marr. ‘‘That will mean even more hunting and poaching in B.C.”’ According to Marr, when a species becomes endangered, it's probably al- ready too late. “It’s a Catch-22 situation,” he says, “Once a species becomes endangered, its black-market value goes way up. So poaching actually increases.” says he’s “There aze only 10,000 grizzlies in B.C.,”" says Marr. ‘‘And at today’s Fishery freeze sought TSIMSHIAN natives say their future share of various specialty fisheries are being given away while they ne- goliate, At issue are the rights to fish lucrative species Like — sea urchin, geoduck and harvest kelp. Tsimshian negotiators say the Department of Fisheries and Oceans is handing out. licences to take those Species in areas that are likely to become part of a future Tsimshian land claim settlement. They're looking for a commitment to protect a Share of those fisheries for the future Tsimshian treaty entillement — while there's Still some left. Already Tsimshian Tribal Council president Bob Hill says the undersea forests of kelp are disappearing from areas where natives have traditionally harvested the seaweed, The kelp and some of the shellfish at issue are tradi- tional native foods which some marketers have dis- covered sell well in Japan. Spawned-on kelp was never harvested here’ com- mercially until recent years when someone discovered the Japanese will buy it, Hill explained, The Tsimshian want the issue of allocations in those fisheries dealt with as soon as possible as an interim measure, ahead of treaty ne- gotiations. So far federal officials have been reluctant to make that commitment. “The management of the Tesource has to continue even while negotiations are underway,’’ says federal ne- gotiator Bill Zaharoff, Hartley Bay representative Art Sterritt said it only . makes sense for the goveri- ment to put some restraints on the issuing of urchin, geoduck and kelp licences in light of the treaty negotia- tions. “They're creating third party interests in the fishery,” he said. ‘‘It’s pointless. The public ends — up paylng compensation at the end of the day. It doesn't make sense.” “They'll actually finance people to go out and harvest these species,’’ says Sterritt, “It’s akin to trying to create a new tree farm Hcence in the middle of a land claim negotiation.” Sterritt says the issue around shelfish and kelp is simpler to deal with than salmon, because they don’t migrate thousands of miles. 210,000 names to force referendum killing rate, within five years I predict it will be endangered.”’ Marr says that he has to go after legal hunting because stopping puach- ing in a province the size of B.C. is al- most impossible, He points out that there are only 150 conservation of- ficers in the entire province, which is five times as big as Washington State, which has 750 officers, In order for Marr to call a referendum, he has to get 10 per cent of all af the registered voters in every riding in B.C. to sign a petilion. That's 210,000 names. Marr is confident he will succeed, If he does, it will be a Canadian first, The earliest the referendum could be held would be 1999, If there is such a referendum, Mar thinks it will pass, citing a 1995 Angus Reid poll that indicated 85 per cent of British Columbians were op- posed to bear trophy-hunting. One person in the other 15 per cent is Bobby Ball. Ball was a bear- hunting guide for over 40 years, He disagrees with Marr, “There is no danger to the bear pop- downpayment or equivalent 4 tiade and‘ $350 secisrity deposit. Includes 5790° frei Ask about our oD Money- a Option. . CHRYSLER ' ‘Dodge. ulation,” he says. ‘‘There are more bears out there than you can shake a stick al.” Ball is not happy with people like Marr, wha he says are misinformed, **Those bear-watch yahoos really do more harm than good,’? he says, “What those armchair conservation- ists don’t realize is that trophy hunters go after the old animals, so it’s a gaod way to control (he population.’’ Ball says that knowledgeable guides take hunters to old boars that rarely reproduce and can be a nuisance, “When grizzlies get old, their teeth get weak and they can’t eat well, and that makes them bold,’’ he says, “We had one crash through our kitchen window at the ranch.”’ Ball also says be doesn’t understand the reasoning behind the referendum bid, which gocs after hunters, hot poachers. “Isn't that stupid?’’ he says. “‘Stop and think about it — isn’t that stupid? Huating brings lots of good, clean dollars to the region. If this guy wants to help, he should after the poachers, not the hunters.”’ But Marr sees a trophy-hunting tan as possibly the only hope ta save the bears before things get out of control, “We need to do something now,” he says. ‘“‘People have to take some responsibility before it’s too late,” The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, July 10, 1996 - A9 LUCKY DOLLAR BINGO JULY 1996 -- SUNDAY. MONDAY PALACE TUESDAY. . WEDNESDAY THURSDAY. ° JULY 1996 SATURDAY. - FRIDAY 1 ferace 2 cemeée Terrace — | tenace winor Satan] ~ Canadian Totem Saddle Club Hockey Frencship 4 Peaks tigundaun Paraplegic Assoc, “Vamenta ABy acialy yma astics hs 6 Nisqa'a Tribal Insmen Wit Association Salgmocd * | comncirterrace | Ter Skating Club / Skeena 8 Terrace 9 10 1 12 thers & 13,, EM Ad Assoc Jr, See Minor Kermode — Jconmunty vounteer| Tetace Lite i Hf Wen 7 School Baseball Friendship . |. 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