-SKEENA ANGLER |
ROB BROWN

Kiss and tell

nt the last two and half decades I've

met a lot of dedicated people whe

work for the Ministry of Environ-

ment, Lands and Parks. I've
listened to them at public meetings and spoken
to them in smaller forums. I’ve gone on field
trips with them and attended workshops given
by them. I’ve read papers by them and spent
many, many hours discussing environmental is-
sues related to fish with some of them. I’ve also
participated in programs overseen by the Minis-
try.

I've come to know researchers, fisheries tech-
nicians, biologists, and bureaucrats at every
level. Invariably these people have a strong
commitment ta the outdoors and to the
maintenance of outdoor sports, They endure low
staffing levels, a meagre pay scale by profes-

sional slandards, political neglect, and plenty of .

public abuse.

If you do something for a living you tend to
leam a fair amount about it. If you decide your
avocation will become your vocation, and you
must study in a post secondary institution for
five or more years to adopt il as your profes-
sion, a fairly thorough working knowledge of
your chosen field is guaranteed. The staff of the
fisheries division of your provincial Ministry of
Environment are in that position. Their actions
will be based on better information and will be
backed by more expertise, than you or I have
available to us.

The fisheries staff of the MOELP understand
that the welfare of the stocks is critical to the
sport of angling. They spend a [ot of time
gathering information that is used to determine
the status of fish runs, To maintain runs of fish
or fish stocks in jeopardy, they make recom-
mendations for regulatory changes. In some
cases (hese regulatory adjustments have meant
tackle changes. In other cases they have lead to
the closure of sections of rivers, or of entire
Tivers.

The imposition of closure is always attended
by a chorus of bowlers who, because they have
done a little sampling with a rod and reel, think
they kiow more about stock abundance than the
pros. Govermment personnel, in the myopic
world view of these jokers, exist solely to ruin
everybody's fun.

A more likely scenario for river closure might
go like this. First, a group of uninformed guides
who know little about the nature and abundance
of the animal they plan to exploit for profit, lure
some American fishermen to Terrace with cx-
aggcrated promises of spring steelheading. The
fish, say the guides are stacked like cord wood;
there are thirty pounders in the Kalum and Cop-
per, many of them bright and shiny like chrome.

The clients arrive, They are boated down the
Kalum where they hook a dozen steelhead. The
next day they catch another batch using bags of
salmon eggs as bait. When he arrives home, one
of the Americans cobbles together a crude arti-
cle of the ‘“‘kiss-and-tell’”? genre wherein he
enthuses about spring fishing on the Kalum and
Copper Rivers. ‘‘The Kalum’’, he writes, ‘“‘has
been among the most consislent steelhead pro-
ducers on the continent.’’ Even though he can't
fish it because it’s cut, the awthor of article
thapsodizes about the Copper River too, citing
the 20 fish days his guide had on it the previous
Fall.

The impression left by the article is one of
abundance, It is the wrong impression, Datla
from radio tagging programs and creel surveys
indicate otherwise. In Spring, steelhead of all
seasons, gather in the Kalum’s pools to spawn.
Anyone fishing bait for them may easily get the
impression there are many more fish than there
are, A responsible guide would tell his sports
that, and steer away from the ripe summer fish.
where possibie. OF course, telling people there
are few bright steclhcad in our rivers in the
spring, and that the ones they do catch are slug-
gish because of cold water regimes, isn’t very
good for business.

The article is circulated widely. Over the hext
few years more and more foreign fishers make
the trip to the Kalum. Some hire guides, others
discover the access to the river isn’t that bad,
Despite what the article says, men can and do
run boats down the ziver from boat launch at the
Culvert Run. Of course all the fishers use spawn
sacs, that’s what the article recommended after

all,

With the growth in angling pressure come the
inevitable restrictions: first bait disappears; next
sections of rivers arc shut down to protect the
relatively small number of steelhead. It’s the
same sad dance we've danced before. Can't
happen here, you say? Not on the Kalum?
Read this month’s issue of Salmon Trout Steel-
header, then tell me it won’t.

"TERRACE STA

ros i

The Terrace Standard. Wednesday, February 19, 1997 - A11

— 638-7283

Skaters perform magic

THE TERRACE Skating
Club pulled a rabbit out of a
hat earlier this month at the
provincial Sectional
Championships in Duncan.
The Junior precision team,
called Northwest Magic,

‘hoped to make an impres-

sion at the finals and use the
experience as a building
block for future success,

They ended up qualifying -

for the Canadian Nationals.

*We really didn’! expect
it,”’ says coach Harold Sher.
“They skated almost flaw-
lessly in front of thousands
of people.”

The Magic placed second
in the short program on the
first day of the finals, then
followed up with an
equally-impressive long
Program the sext day, They
ended up finishing second
overall, earning them a
berth at the Nationals —
something the club has
never done before.

Just as amazing was the
performance of the young
Juvenile team, known as the
Northern Blades. The Juve-
nile category is open to
skaters up to 15-years-oid,
but the Terrace squad’s
average age is only 11, so
Sher didn’t expect them to
be very competitive,

“We weren’t even plan-
ning on bringing them,”
says Sher. ‘‘But there was
room on the bus and we
thought il would be a goad
experience.”

The Blades were by far
the youngest team al the

Sectionals, but that didn’t.

secm to matter as they blew
away both judges and spec-
tators.

The little underdogs ended
up winning the B.C,
Championship in their
category.

Sher says ‘the club’s suc-
cess at the finals was really
the culmination of a three-

THE NORTHERN Blades show off some of the moves that gained them a gold medal at the B.C. Finals.

step process that built up the
group’s self esteem.

It started back in January
when the Magic awed spec-
tators) with an impressive
full-costume exhibition at
the arena.

Flushed with confidence,
the team headed off to the
Prince. George Regionals
where they placed first in

the Nationals in Halifax
next month, but there’s a
catch,

They aren’t going.

Sher explains that the trip
would cost the club about
$30,000, which they don’t
have. And he is confident
that if the team waits, they
will be better off.

- “Tf we bold out the carrot

“They skated almost flawlessly in front of
thousands of people.’’ -Harold Sher-

both the short and long. pro-

grams io lake
Championships.
*“We weit to Duncan feel-
ing like winners,’’ says
Sher “And we = were
definitely the surprise of ihe
competition, The judges
were very impressed,’*
Their success means the

team is cligible lo skate at

the

just a little further and wait
a year we, will be much
more compelitive,”’ he says.
“The Nalionais are ex-
tremely challenging. When
you are skating against
clubs that have 1,500 mem-
bers you want to be ready.”’

Sher says if the club dove
into fundraising full-till they
could probably drum up

enough community support

to go to Halifax. Bul he
thinks it would be better to
wait.

“Qualifying put a dig
feather in our cap,”’ he says.
“This way we can start
fundraising for next year’s
Championships. We've
been on the podium now
and there’s no reason we
should fall.”’

Sher’s confidence proba-
bly stems from his own per-
sonal successes. This is his
first year coaching in Ter-
race, but he coached his pre-
vious club to gold in
Ontario at the Sectionals for
five years straight.

‘He has quite a reputation
in back cast,’’ says club
president Gail Lam. ‘‘And
he obviously gets resulls.
It’s been just fantastic.’”

Lain says Sher’s experi-
ence aud enthusiasm has
really boosted the skaters’
coufidence. And she says
this is just the beginning.

“If they’re willing to ga
for il, then the sky’s the
limit,”’ she says.

Sher has also been coach-
ing powerskating programs
for Terrace Minor Hockey
and Canskate, a learn-to-
skate program. Both have
been very successful,

“Tl think I’ve had a posi-
tive impact on the club and J
feel good about that,’” Sher
says. ‘And F love it here.
The children are especially
channing, honest and inter-
ested, Figure skating is full
of prima donnas and atti-
tudes, but this town has
none of that.’”

Skating fans will get a
chance to sce the gold and
silver provincial champions
in action at the Kla-how-ya
Interclub competition next
mouth, Skaters from around
the northwest will perform
at the competilion here

-March 14-16. Admission is .

free,

Thornhill takes third at Zones

THEY WERE short on height bul huge in

spirit

That’s been the strength and the weakness
of the Thormlill Junior girls’ basketball
team ail season and it was enough to bring
them to bronze at the Junior B Zonc Finals

last weekend.

Thornhill hosted the nine team toumey.
They started out well by demolishing
Stewart in a hoop-fest that ended up in a 50
point difference for the home team.

The girls lost their next match against
tournament finalists Queen Charlotte. before
beating Centennial Christian and advancing

do the semi-finals,

There they went up against a tough

Hazelton squad and were handily beaten,

hard.”

although they fought it out right to the end,
“{?m very proud of them,” says coach
Shannon Murdoch. “They played really

- Murdoch says that while the girls bad a

fifty-fifty season, their tie for third-place
finish shows how much the team improved.

“They were just a super bunch ef girls to
work with,’’ she says. ‘I think everyone
should know that there are some really
great students al Thombill. These girls are
just a few of them.’’

‘7 think everyone should know that there are
some really great students at Thornhill. These
girls are just a few of them.” -Thornhill Junior
Girls’ basketball coach Shannon Murdoch-