B4 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, July 12, 2006- . ‘MARGARET SPEIRS SKEENA ANGLER _ROB BROWN . Jo. : Spin unravelled | shill and apologist for fish farmers, filled . ” a guest column in this paper intended ..to rebut an earlier condemnation of fish: ‘farms: by my learned friend, Andrew Williams. Walling’s PR is such’ disingenuous bumph it begs for dissection. The folks at the, UN, who. monitor such things, " say that aquaculture i is the fastest growing food pro- ducer, crows Walling, claiming this to be a good - thing from a health perspective because salmon is filled with Omega-3 fatty acids and farmed salmon ; * will do’much to feed the masses. What she conveniently’omits is that farmed fish also pack around antibiotics, dyes, pesticides, mer- cury and other heavy metals, and that the amount of healthful Omega fats.they contain is less than the ‘amount found in mother nature’s product. , Also absent from Walling’ s defence is the fact _ that a lot of aquatic species lower down the food chain are ground up to feed the faux salmon raised “on the. farm. In fact, the process represents a net withdrawal of nutrients from the marine food banks ‘of the world. We are supposed to be impressed by the fact that fish farming has been practised in B.C. for 30 vears and that it generates a lot of capital - a whopping $450 million, claims Walling. So what? say I. Fish. farms have been operating a lot longer on Scotland’s west-coast, which is why there are al- most almost,no wild salmon returning to the rivers _on that side.of the country... ~ Walling would have us believe that somehow the longevity and profitability of that industry make it a good thing? The tobacco industry has been thriving on this continent for more than two centuries now, and it’s been enormously profitable. Would we all _ be better off if it had never existed? Walling and her ilk never factor the loss of wild fish, jobs in the fishing industry, and the enormous long- -term environmental costs into their account- ing, just as the tobacco industry never has room on _ its balance sheets for the societal costs of lung can- cer and cardiovascular disease. “Like many other industries, Aquaculture has evolved over the past three decades and public in- terest.in health, safety and the environment have “contributed to a culture of continuous improvement . -of B.C.’s salmon farms,” writes Walling. Well, that’s good news! We should be heartened to learn that farms have underwater cameras to pre- . vent food from Spilling through pens and contami-— nating the ocean floor. We should be pleased that fish farmers have had 10 develop an environmental protection plan for - their sites as a condition of licensing. We should -also celebrate ‘the fact that the nets in the salmon _ pens get regular maintenance. Underwater photography may help the consci- * entious fish farmer keep some excess feed from hit- " ting the ocean floor. but how does it help contain all the fecal matter produced by huge schools of penned fish? — Curiously, Walling makes no mention of the fact that the pollution. from a single fish farm is on par with that from a small town. that Canadian fish farms still discharge more than 10.000 tons of un- eaten food annually, and that fallowed or not, the ocean floor under fish farms is a dead zone. Walling’s suggestion that well. mended and ’ tended nets will solve the Problem of contaminated exotic salmon from escaping is a red herring. Farmed fish go over the top in heavy seas. . . They've done so-for three decades and continue to » do so. When you have more Atlantic Salmon than steelhead in Van Isle’s Salmon River, you have tan- gible proof of this. * “Fish health is also of critical i importance to farm- ers,” writes Walling. Of course it is, just as the health of his swine is important to a pig farmer and the health .. _ of his herd is a serious issue with a cattle rancher. Notwithstanding this concern on the part of farm- ers, we have suffered through swine flu, millions” perished from smallpox, many millions more died from tuberculosis and now we have to contend with avian flu, mad cow and quotidian doses of E. coli. When you crowd critters into small spaces-you increase their susceptibility to disease and the risk of disease transference as happened when disease ridden fish farm escapees spread disease to wild - Atlantic salmon i in some of Norway’s most famous salmon rivers. _ Conspicuously absent from Walling’s piece is . any mention of sea lice or the vile pesticides fish — ‘ farmers use to fight them. The reason for this is that Walling knows as well as I do that the sea lice prob- lem is devastating to wild salmon and there is no effective way to eradicate it. Such is the modus operandi of the PR hack: trot out some vague facts, steer away from the inconve- nient truths and create the big lie. yo ‘few weeks back Mary Elien: ‘Walling: . Evans clinches second -AFORMER two-time BC Women’ ‘s Amateur Golf champion now has the distinction of placing second in the inaugural ° BC Ladies Mid-Amateur Golf Championship. Kim Evans finished with a ‘four under par behind win- ner Jackie Little of Port Alberni at the tournanient that took place at the Fairview Mountain Golf Club in Oliver. B.C. Evans won.the first round by two. strokes, followed by a “horrendous” second round, but pulled through the final round to finish in the top 20, guaranteeing her a spot in the.’ final round of the BC Amateur Championship, that was held at the same time, where she tied for 14th place overall. “I was certainly trying very hard to beat her,” she said, adding that Little is somewhat of a golf legend. having won five amateur titles. “I’m very happy.” “Evans won a crystal trophy for her efforts. ‘The Mid-Amateur debuted this season. for the over-25- year-old players who wanted to compete’ but realized they. : w /Weren’ t quite up to par with the younger g golfers. “-- “It's a great addition to competitive golf because most of . us: -over-30- somethings recognize we're probably not going | she said, adding that tournament ~ to contend for the title,” winners are usually college-aged golfers. ' The course had some of the toughest greens — lots of slope and very, very, very fast - Evans had ever played on. “I never played there before. I heard all about it being very hilly,” she said. “I wanted to'make the cut and see how _ far I could finish. ” Golfers were allowed to use. golf carts to get around be-. _ cause of the tough walk and the 42 degree heat, but Evans chose to walk. ne " “T walked but Terrace is a pretty good walk as long as you stay hydrated. A lot of people were surprised that I walked, ” ' she said. « Evans didn't expect to come out'so high i in the standings, ~ having played a-minimal amount of golf this year. She starts every year with the intention of playing more F » but family and work responsibilities make it a lower priority: however, she’s always had the fortune to still play good- - quality competitive g golf. | “IT guess maybe all the years 1 put into practice and play > kind: of honed my golf swing.” she said, adding her T game is solid from tee to green. - She plans to compete in the tournament again. next year, which will be in Vancouver..Evans ‘won the BC Amateur ‘Championship in 1988 and 1990. TERRACE STANDARD J KIM EVANS shows off the fe crystal trophy from her second place finish: in ‘the first- 7 _ ever BC Ladies Mid- Amateur Golf Championship. _ MARGARET SPEIRS PHOTO Lacrosse teams pumped for provincials By MARGARET SPEIRS: TERRACE MINOR Lacrosse is tact. young, lacrosse is still a high-speed . game with quite a bit of body con- to provincials to defend their cham- pionship title and attempt to be the only undefeated team again... ~ “We went down with the goal to 9 sending its first championship team and two new squads to provincials this month. The Bantam Raiders will defend their championship title while the Midget Raiders and Peewee Raiders | debut at the BC Minor Lacrosse Pro- vincial Championship. Peewee coach Gord. Tuckerman said the tournament will definitely “be exciting for his 11- and 12-year- - old players, who will be competing in the C-division starting today until | Sunday in Vernon. “I'm hoping we win our division, -You've always got to go confident- * ly.” he said. . Even though the players are “We've going to have to work hard to earn our spot at the top,” he said. Tuckerman’s squad will play a defensive game. “We try to protect our goalie at all costs and hope for a low-scoring game,” he said, adding he expects the competition to be very good. About half of the team is made up of first-year players and he’s proud ~ of their accomplishments. “They're come. a long way in a _ short time,” he said. -He believes the players will be nervous before their first game but will relax once the match starts. The Bantam Raiders will return. be in the top four and to win a medal and this year is the same,” said coach Terry Monture. Monture wouldn’t say whether _he believed the team would win gold again. “['m not going to jinx it. We're going to get up there and do the best we can, "he said. He said his team, which only con-' sists of two players from last season, is stronger and has more depth even , though 10 of the 18 players had nev- er played lacrosse before this year. The team’s strategy is to play an “aggressive. physical game without penalties. One of the team’s assets is the “ft ~. § number of goal scorers — seven -— who intend to make it difficult for their opponents who don’t have enough defensive players to cover them. Monture’s riot sure what to ex- pect from the competition. “Last year we didn’t know what to expect going in blind. This year you never know. Last year could’ ve been an average year and this year could be a strong year, ”* he said. The goal is for the team to have a lot of fun, he said. The Bantam Raiders battle the - province’s best lacrosse teams in Prince George July 26 to 30. The Midgets travel to provincials in Ridge. Meadows/Port Coquitlam LUCY PRAUGHT, a Sprockids: leader, demonstrates a 2 braking skill to children at the recent Sprockids clinic at Ferry Island. Adults interested in becoming a Sprock- ids leader can learn how from the founder of the program this weekend. Cyclists: learn to lead biking clinics for children By MARGARET SPEIRS - Participants will teach cycling skills to each other in order to lear how to teach. LOCAL CYCLISTS get a unique chance to learn from one of B.C.’s top riders this nN weekend. Doug Detwiller, founder of the Sprock- ids program, a program designed to teach youngsters how to nde, will be in town to teach a workshop | for parents and other adults — interested in becoming a Sprockids leader. ‘It’s a rare opportunity for bike enthusiasts -in the north. says organizer Lucy. Praught. “It's pretty big for him to come. He does stuff like this in Whistler so to get to do it here is big.” she says. The workshop will consist of half class- room time and half riding time with a focus on understanding how to mentor children. Interested adults don’t have to be expert cyclists to attend, says Praught. who's new to the sport and wants to learn about the leadership program is welcome. “You don’t have to be'a superstar to en- joy riding,” she says. “Any riding is fun.” One of the nice things about cycling is it’s not:a sport where parents drive their children to it and then stand on the sidelines watching. rather parents get to participate. she says. Interested cyclists can register for the workshop at Out Spoke’N Bike and Sport. A police background check will be required. The Sprockids leadership workshop goes from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. this Saturday. July 15. For more details call Lucy at 635-1191. -, July 19 to 23. \Anyone | U- 14 Kermodes win award > at provincials — " SOCCER PROVINCIALS proved--to be a valuable experience for the Under-14 Kermode girls. who” netted the Most Sportsmanlike Team award and finished fourth on an unfamiliar playing field. The Kermodes made an impression on their oppo- nents that led to being named the most sportsmanlike . team, an important award to the girls: “Everybody loved Terrace,” said coach Candido Guerreiro. “That fact that we never made it there (A-Cup) be- . fore\was a big novelty for those in Vancouver.” _ The girls, playing in their first Youth Provincial - A-Cup Soccer Championship after winning the Youth Provincial B-Cup last year — A-cup is a higher level of competition — found themselves faced with a speedy ball on a turf field and a physical competition. The Kermodes have never played on turf before “while the Lower Mainland teams play 0 on turf regu- larly, he said. - The worn turf was like playing soccer on a gym floor with carpet — slicker and. faster — making it dif- ficult for the girls who were used to having more setup time with the | ball. Two members of other teams suffered broken bones when going for the ball against the Kermodes. “The competition was ruthless.” he said. “In all the years I’ve coached and watched soccer, I’ve never seen girls break their ankles playing soccer.” Guerreiro had to move some of his forwards back to . play defence after he lost his defensive core to injuries and had to switch goalkeepers after Bailey Neufeld _ suffered some torn ligaments in her arm. The Kermodes came on strong in their first game. scoring within 49 seconds but couldn't keep up and finished on the wrong end of a 6-1 loss to the Semiah- moo Nitro, a team from Surrey. “We were really excited when we started,” he said. 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