OPINION

Coho may be too far gone
_ to save both fish and jobs

By BRUCE HILL

FEDERAL FISHERIES minister David
Anderson will soon’ release his government’s
plan to save British Columbia’s beleaguered
_coho salmon,

Anderson is under intense pressure from the
provincial government, commercial fishers,
anglers, First Nations, conservation groups and
his own staff and scientists to do the right thing
by coho,

Unfortunately, there is no consensus on what
the right thing is,

One thing is certain; west coast fisheries face
a looming catastrophe of unprecedented propor-
lions.

Saving coho will have huge price — with pos-
sibly thousands of lost jobs, hundreds of mil-
lions in lost revenue annually and many failed
businesses in both the commercial and sport
fishing industries.

Terrace will not be immune from these losses.

There seems to be as many explanations for
why coho are failing as there are fishermen.

- The scientific version goes like this: we have
over-harvested coho for far too long, we com-
promised or destroyed far too much habitat, and
we have entered a period of extremely bad
oceanic conditions for coho with drastically
teduced coho stocks,

How bad is it?

Scientists tell us that ocean conditions are so
bad that even if we catch no coho they may not
be able to recover.

Adding to this gloomy picture is the fact that
Alaska now harvests around 60 per cent of
endangered Skeena coho (DFO estimate).

This means that all of Canada’s conservation
‘Measures for coho could be for naught if Alaska
doesn’t reduce its catch.

All the while Premier Clark keeps insisting
Minister Anderson should somehow force
Alaska to shut down its fisheries, damaging its
own coastal communities, and bail us out of this
mess.

The most irrepressibly irresponsible would
have us “‘teach the Americans a lesson”’ by get-
ting into a ‘‘fish war’’, which entails Canada
fishing ils remaining healthy stocks of salmon
into oblivion to prevent Americans from catch-
ing them.

The. situation is so bad it simply may be

beyond our capacity to fix. One bright spot is
that DFO is oficn wildly off on its salmon
predictions and it’s possible, if unlikely, coho
could return in decent numbers,

And oceanic condilions bave a history of
being cyclical —- the current El Nino event will
probably moderate eventually.

As we learned from the cod fiasco, the cost of
mismanaging fish is born by communilics, indi-
viduals and taxpayers, not bureaucrats (who

seem able ta spawn more of themselves with

great consistency),

Many of the major commercial troll fisheries
in B.C. are going or gone.

Commercial gillnet and seine fisheries are
going to be managed according to how many
coho are caught accidentally.

And coho, the mainstay of a huge billion dol-
lar sport fishery, may be put off limits to sport
fishermen.

First Nations are increasingly upset and are —

warning everyone that they hold the aces —a

The situation is so bad it simply

may be beyond our capacity to
! dest

fix.

ps

clear legal priority to coho for sustenance ‘pur- -

poses — and will go to court if necessary to
preserve coho stocks.

Unfortunately this crisis is not really a sur- ,

prise, nor was it unpredicted.

For years, First Nations and others have .-

wamed that coho were in (rouble.

A recent report issued by the professional or-
ganization of fisheries biologists, the American
Fisheries Society, warned that hundreds of sal-
mon stocks in B.C, were cither extinct, clase to
extinction or in trouble,

For the most part DFO ignored the warnings
but did institute some coho conservation
measures in 1988, restricling the Skeena gillnet
flect in August to one day a week [ishing.

That conservation measure led to excess cn-
hanced sockeye escaping to Babine Lake, lead-
ing our MP at the time, Jim Fulton, to slam a
dead fish down in front of the fisheries minister.

For years DFO has been like a deer caught in
the headlights of a truck — knowing something
awful is about to happen, but frozen in its
tracks.

In meetings called by the federal and provin-
cial governments the usual solutions — killing
seals, building hatcheries, and replacing spawn-
ing salmon in our streams with thousands of un-
employed loggers and fishermen restoring
habiiat — are touted with great fervor.

Unfortunately, scientists tell us
measures simply won't work,

The first and most important measure, they
say, is to stop killing coho.

While almost everyone agrecs that coho are in
big trouble, and must be saved, that is about as
far as the agreeing goes,

Many commercial fishermen are unwilling to
stop fishing altogether just to save the coho they
catch accidentally.

Many sport fishermen, especially the commer-
cial operators, are reluctant to shut down half of
their business, pointing out they only catch 2 to
5 per cent of the coho in the north anyway.

The recent report by Parzival Copes commi-
sioncd by the provincial government advocates
for continued fishing
coastal com-
munities go extinct.

But the scientists are
insistent — any har-
vest of coho is un-
acceptable.

Despite the causes of
the current crisis being
rooted in past mis-
management, the cur-
rent fisheries minister
gets to wear it. It’s our
way, however illogi-
cal.

He’s going to need
the wisdom of a 7 —
Solomon, balancing Bruce Hill
jobs and livelihoods in one hand, the fate of the
silvery coho in the other.

But unlike Solamon, he’s going to get a net
wrapped around his office no matter what he
does,

Bruce Hill is a past president of the Steelhead
Society and a Terrace resident.

these

Copes’ flawed vision comes too late

THE RECENT report for the
provincial government by retired
SFU fisheries economist Parzival
Copes joins a huge pile of similar
reports all trying to deal with the
seemingly never ending crisis with
fish.

His recommendations seem rea~
sonable, and his point of veiw, that
the Department of Fisheries (DFO)
has to be replaced by local control,
is politically correct with the pres-
ent provincial government.

Copes concern for coastal com-
munities and commercial fishers is
apparent.

And no one can be far off the
mark when they take a run at DFO.

They are a fat and tempting
target, having managed Canada’s
two highest profile fisheries, the
East coast cod fishery and Pacific
salmon, into collapse.

And few would deny that DFO is
the most despised and mistrusted
government agency in Canada,

Unfortunately the Copes report,
despite its palina of reasonableness,
and his obvious goodwill and con-
cem for fishers, is seriously flawed.

Copes recommendations for con-
servation secm reasonable, but are
nothing new. These measures have
been proposed by various conserva-
tion groups for 20 years.

Unfortunately its been coastal
communities and fishermen who
have fiercely opposed these very
Measures,

And anglers cannot sit back and
point fingers at commercial fishers

anymore either.
The southcoast coho sport fishery

has played a large part in the col- :

lapse of southern B.C. coho stocks,
with sport iobbyists fiercely
defending their fisheries on coho
when all the evidence said that
fishery was not sustainable (as it
has proven to be).

Copes report has been received
well by commercial and commer-
cial sport interests, who want to
continue fishing, but ignores the
clear recommendations of scientists
— that any mortality of coho is un-
acceptable.

The report makes the fundamen-.

tal mistake that led to the collapse
* of coho in the first place: it con-
~ fuses the short term economic in-
lerests of fishers with the long tenm
(Uequirements of fish.
Copes bluntly states that the busi-
* ness of fish management is manag-
ing to the interests of fishers. Ex-
acily the reason DFO management
“has failed.
| He simply advocates someone
‘else should be making the same
“mistakes: His call for regional
-tanagement and local control ig-
‘nores: the nature of B.C,’s current

fishery

“manage these migrating stocks

Coastal communities no longer
tely on local salmon stocks. The
overwhelming economic gencrator
in the commercial fishery are huge
interior stocks of sockeye from the
Fraser and Skeena rivers.

The question of how you can
solved,
through a mishmash of regional
and local committees isn’t ans-

hundreds - of genetically distinct
races, and it would be physically
atid economically impossible to en- )
hance all of them, even if one ig- - fishermen — the huge collapse in
nored the mountain of evidence
that enhancement has caused more
problems for salmon than it has

‘curiously glosses over the one fac-
tor that has recently caused the
most devaslating harm to salmon

salmon prices as a result of the
growth in salmon farming globally.

Farmed salmon now constitute
-\ over 50 per cent of all salmon con-
‘sumed, and salmon is now some of
the cheapest fish available. Wild
salmon are worth less than a third

wered.
The report makes fundamental
mistakes in regards to the biology
-of salmon, claiming that
“‘overescapements”’ have damaged
spawning beds. :
There is no proof that this has,
happened, or if it is indeed pos-'
sible. It conjures up images of sal-'
mon rooting around in rivers in an:

Copes curlously glosses
over the one factor that has .
recently caused the most
devastating harm to salmon.
Ashermen — the huge col
lapse in salmon prices as a.
result of the growth in salmon
farming globally.

of what they were worth a few
short years ago.

How would Terrace’s logging-
based economy be doing if lumber
and pulp prices were a third of
what they were? ‘

In all fairness Copes had an im-
possible task. He was given just
weeks to analyze a fishery that has
been a mess for decades, and he

orgy of self destruction, and it begs’
the question of how these self
destructive creatures — survived’
without us.

Copes also leaves the impression
that we can enhance our way out of,
this crisis. ;

The problem here is that the two |
coho stocks most in peril, Thomp-

_ Son and upper Skeena coho, are ag-
gtegate stocks © comprised of

‘coho.

Indeed, thousands of miles of still
pristine habitat on the Skeena and: munities are in trouble. And no

’ Fraser, the best hatcheries of all, is.' one wants to see fishing boats te-
simple devoid, or nearly so, of’ placed with cappuccino shops in

mainly consulted with just angry
commercial fishermen.
Copes is right that coastal com-

B.C.'s coastal communities.

Copes is a recoguized authority ~ Unfortunately Copes vision and
on the effects of the global econo-' medicine is forty years too late.
my on local communities, but he

The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, May 13,1998 - A5
CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE TERRACE STANDARD

The Mail Bag

tJ a a
Open up fish guiding
Dear Sir:

‘I’m impressed with the fact that Helmut Giesbrecht,
in au April 22, 1998 letter to The Terrace Standard,
would seem to be finally paying some attention to the
constituency in general and not just a select, self-
serving group.

The Gish guiding industry should be open to all com-
ers. When the fish guides associations were organizing
many years ago, I attended a meeting. I vaiced the fact
that | did not believe a single group of people should
control this industry and that if the guide was a good
businessman, he or she would survive and prosper
regardless of the competition.

To control overfishing, the fisheries department
would merely have to limit the number of non-resident
anglers allowed permits on a yearly basis. This would
allow more pople to take part in the tourist guiding in-
dustry and make it more competilive.

The guides as much as anyone cry about controlling
and reducing logging as it is detrimental to fish habitat.
If logging is reduced, where will the displaced loggers
and future generations of loggers find decent jabs?

My answer is to allow all residents to take a chance
in the tourist industry; the ones who are better busines-
speople will survive, Control the amount of prospective
non-resident anglers, not the amount of guides.

If you go to the Okanagan, everything is geared to the’
lourist industry. You can stop at almost any lake and
Tent a speed boat, peddle boat, sea-doo or what have
you. Wouldn't it be nice of Jocal unemployed
tradespeople and loggers could sit at their boats parked
at Ferry Island and vie for some of the fishing tourist
trade instead of giving it all to one group?

] agree that all non-resident anglers have to employ a
licensed B.C. full time resident guide, not just a guide
who resides in the province during the tourist season. I
believe there is room for many more people to get into
the tourist industry, thereby spreading the wealth
around instead of one group getting it all.

Consider this — a permitted non-resident angler ap-
proaches a line of boats with a group of licensed guides
milling around, This angler can shop for the best pos-
sible deal just as you would when on vacation.

This angler would not have to pay an outrageous fee
for a day’s fishing and, if treated well, would likely
return his or her business to the same guide next year.

As for the existing guides crying about hard times, at
least they keep on fishing and are not shut down com-
pletely when stocks are low such as is the case in mini-
ng, construction, commercial fishing and forestry when
someone cries conservation or preservation. ;

Allan Grier, Terrace, B.C,

What about next time?

Dear Sir:

With the Co-op closing, who will feed ali you.
bargain hunters the next time Safeway and Overwaitea
lock out their staff.

G. Maguire, Terrace, B.C.
(received via email

Men are victims, too

Dear Sir:

Regarding the April 22 article, ‘Violence Won’t be
Tolerated.”” Three women proudly display the new
RCMP bumper sticker stating “This isn’t enough
anymore — Prevent Violence Against Women and
Children.”’

Yet this is prefaced with the RCMP stating they
won't tolerate family violence. This tells me that men
are not considered part of ihe family, How about the
men and children? Where is their bumper sticker?

I don’t believe this application was an RCMP deci-
sion and am appalled that they would have to put this
pender-biased statement on their vehicles when nobody:
is more aware then the police themselves that domestic
violence is not perpetrated against women only.

What message is this sending to the men out there
when their only source of assistance suggests the as-
sumption of innocence lies with the woman?

Not only is this the ultimate betrayal to all sectors of
family violence, but enhances the sexist propaganda
fed regularly to newspapers, TV and our ministries.

D. Halbaver, Terrace B.C.

Poetry theft
Dear Sir:

T see from a blue notice on the counter in our Centen-
nial Library that it is running a contest for young poets.

I know weil enough what such contests constitute.
For if one reads the small print on the back of the ad-
vertising notice one line states, ‘‘all entries to become
the property of Terrace Library.”’

Some people may be a little slow mentally, but I in-
terpret the offer of prize money (up to a whopping
$150) and the fine print as a sneaky way to get some-
one’s hands on the intellectual property of creative
young people. Another line of fine print reads: “‘All
poems must be previously unpublished,”’ the implica-
tion being complete ownership of the property.

Of course, uncreative people have always had to steal
(or buy) from the creative just as unproductive people
must take from the productive. Alas, the more things
change the mare things stay the same!

Floyd H. Dean, Terrace, B.C.

Work harder you MLAs

Dear Sir:

The Electoral Boundaries Commission has recom-
manded the increase of six MLAs from the current 75
io 81. It’s an interesting subject.

In the light of global right-sizing of governments,
should we expect the MLAs to work harder. Remember
ihe last retrofit of the legislature, how much it cost to
add six seats. At the current financial situation, it may
be very unwise for our government to spend that
money to inrease the number of MLAs,

MLAs these days must work harder by using the state

—

_ of the art technology.

Anthony Yao, Terrace, B.C,

The Terrace Standard welcomes letters to the editor.
Our deadline is noon Friday for the following Wed-
nesday’s issue, Qur mailing address is 3210 Clinton
St, Terrace, B.C. V8G 5R2, Our fax number is 250-
638-8432, We particularly welcome letters via e-mail,
Our e-mail address is
slandard@kermode.net

— Bruce Hill