ee

_ Spinning prosperity

Fish wheels are
appearing in rivers
across the province as
First Nations capitalize
on the selective fishing
benefits they offer

By KEITH FREEMAN
ABOUT 20 kilometres upriver from Terrace is
the Kitselas Canyon. It’s no Hells Gate, but
the rapids there are sorrounded by high cliffs
with trees protruding at strange angles, and the
railway tracks flanking the north bank.

Eagles flock to the area to enjoy the spoils
of the salmon run as the fish make their way
upstream to spawning grounds as far as several

undred miles further inland.

Iris also here that the Kitselas Band, based
near Terrace and part of the Tsimshian First
Nation has managed two fish wheels for the
past cight years.

The wheels, an old technology that’s been
rediscovered, are part of a huge trend in First
. Nations fishery toward selective harvesting for
the commercial, ceremonial, and food catch.

Harvesting from the Skeena is nothing new
‘to the Kitselas who, for thousands of years,
“have lived off what the river offers — for suste-
nance and more recently for their economy.

. -The wheels offer young band members jobs

"and provide a sustainable commercial harvest
“of sockeye, coho, or anything else the wheel’

_ brings out of the water.
Their catch is surprisingly efficient, often
scooping thousands of fish a day into holding

“pens. River water is let inta the pens so the

fish will survive and undesirables can be re-
-leased back into the river to continue their
spawn.

-Some of the undesirables that turn up in the
pens include trout, eels, and even the occa-
sional tiny white sturgeon. Pink salmon that
fetch a smal! price — about 50 cents apiece —
are also thrown back into the river.

Every day from June to October, a crew of
about seven leave for the wheels from the Kit-
selas fishery boat launch, on the old Kitselas

' reserve, northwest of Terrace.

Empty bins scrubbed and ready for the
slime of hundreds of wiggling sockeye are loa-
ded onto the boat.

Sockeye season is rapidly coming to a

‘close and the pink are strong these days, mak-
ing the task a little more unprofitable, but only
temporarily.

Coho are starting to show up, and in a few
weeks, they will outnumber the sockeye, and
become the prime catch.

A brief explanation of how the aluminum,

fish wheel works is helpful to anyone who
hasn’t seen one. in action.

The wheel itself is four baskets, each about
six feet wide, attached to an axle. Two pon-
.toons float the device, and cable cords moor it
‘to the canyon’s rocky cliffs.
: The wheel’s rotation is powered by the
sheer current of the river. Fish swimming up-
stream end up in the basket and are scooped
out of the water and slide into holding pens
‘where they await their fate.

Fred Mason, the operation's foreman said
that even the location of the wheels in the ca-
‘nyon was something that had to be fine tuned

.
eT

_VICTOR WRIGHT of Kitselas Fisheries holds a prized sockeye that he netted from the

fish wheel holding pen. The sockeye were the only fish retained in fast week’s fishery,
other species such as pink salmon and eels were released back into the river.

over time.
“At first, we had them [along the north

side], but we found that we'd gel a lot of pink
-over there,”

he said. “The sockeye like the
faster current, and we've been catching way
more since the wheels have been on this side.”

A few years back, wooden fish wheels

‘ floated on the river, and can still be seen bea-

ched on the riverbank several kilometres
downstream from the canyon.

After trying the wheels underneath the old
Skeena bridge, and on the north side of the ca-
nyon, the wheels have found themselves with
a new, more lucrative home where they are
now.

With a host of costs such as labour, fuel

‘and repairs, the wheels cost up to $75,000 per”

year to set up and operate, but at two dollars
per pound, sockeye can be lucrative.
The band also gets help from the Depart-

“ment of Fisheries and Oceans, which this year

“granted them nearly. $14, O00 for operational
: expenses.
The workers, a group of four or five, scoop

out nets full of fish from the holding pen,, call.
“jack,.:
-as- each undesirable: is thrown back.-:

jing out a, chorus, of “gel”,
sockeye”,
into the river. Damaged sockeye, usually ei-

itt . a
pin kr,

ther seal or eel bitten are released back into -

the river. The good fish are tossed into a bin on
the boat.

“The eels are real parasites,” said Mason.
“What they do is they latch on to the fish and
suck the blood.” ;

The species of incidental, released cat-
ches, including the eels, are recorded by Chad
Gerow of Tsimshian Fisheries, who hands the
figures over 10 DFO for stock assessment, and
DNA analysis.

“It’s my second year, it’s lots of fun,” said

Gerow, adding that the time spent on the river,
helping to fish selectively beats most other
jobs.

The Kitselas, although one of the first, is
by no means the only First Nation with a mod-

River and the Wet’suwet’en have two fish:

wheels in the Hagwilget and Moricetown ca-

nyons on the Bulkley River. The Kitsumkalum

Band also tried out a fish wheel earlier in the
ear.

The Gitksan received about $35,000 from
DFO to construct and operate a fish wheel in
the Gisgagaas canyon.

“Other nations have come to us for help in
starting the wheels up,” Mason said.

Nations such as the Taku River Tlingit,
based in Atlin and the Fort Babine Band have
wheels, and the Lheidli T’enneh First Nation
out of Prince George have one planned.

Even more southern First Nations have,

some wheels in operation. DFO granted the
Siska of Lytton $15,000 to develop a presenla-
tion explaining how their wheels work and how
the benefits include preservation of en-
dangered slocks.

Upper, Skeena coho is, one, such stock, so
the Kitselas’ catch of them will ‘be smaller
than the sockeye, according to Mason. °

The fish wheel isn’t a new concepi — they
were popular in B.C, rivers around the turn of
the last century — but they soon became obso-
lete in the wake of oceangoing commercial
gillnetters and trawlers which raked in huge
amounts of fish of many species.

Now they’ve come full circle and are a
leading innovation in an age when picking and
choosing what gets caught in the commercial
harvest is crucial to the survival of all salmon
species

High fish returns spur
increase in native quotas

The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, August 16, 2000 - A5

CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE TERRACE STANDARD

HARRY DANIELS and Gordon F Rush of the Gitanyow Fisheries Authority help
breach a beaver dam on the upper reaches of the Kitwanga River last year,
They'll be back again this falt ensuring safe passage for upper Kitwanga coho.

Gitanyow clear way for coho

THE GITANYOW Fisher-
ies Authority will receive

an extra $12,000 this year

from the federai govern-
ment to determine salmo-
nid populations and clear
passages through beaver

dams for spawning coho in -

the Kitwanga River.

The nearly $35,000, .
earmarked for coho habilat.
restoration and enlance- -
ment, will come from the,

Department of Fisheries
and Oceans as part of theit
long-term plan to rebuild
Skeena coho stocks.

A large part of the chal-
lenge in.clearing spawning
channels will be breaching

beaver dams to allow coho
to pass through on their
way upstream.

Mark Cleveland, of the
Gitanyow Fisheries Au-
thority, says that past log-
ging in the area has contri-
buted to blockages in the
river,

“A lot of the elders say
that when logging came
in, the beaver dams came
up,” hé said. “A strategy
that might be used here is
to neuter some of the do-
minant males.”

Cleveland also hinted

* that some beavers might

have to be destroyed if the
Fisheries Authority is un-

able to ensure a cleat
spawning channel for coho.

“In some cases else-
where, and I don’t like to

bring this up, bounties

have been put on the
beavers,” he said.

At least a dozen dams
are in-the way of coho that
use the river, so the job of

-ensuring passage along the
‘20 kilometres of the upper

Kitwanga in question is
likely to take most of the
fall and continue every
year.

Last year, an “estimated

1,300 coho returned to the

Kitwanga River.

DESPITE RECENT
trends towards declining
salmon stocks, it’s shap-
ing up to be a record year
for sockeye and chinook
returns on the Skeena
River.

Coho stocks, although
lower than desired, are
starting to return in mod-
erate numbers.

David Einarson, of the
Department of Fisheries

and Oceans in Prince Ru- .

pert, attributes the high re-
turns ta

tions.”
So far over 2,000,000

sockeye have escaped into.
the river. The commercial :

fishery has benefited with
one of its stronger years
recently.

Nearly 1,3 million
sockeye were caught in

the gillnet fishery, which -
is above both the 10 year |:

and five-year averages of
about 1.2 million fish,
First Nations alloca-
tions under Excess Sal-
mon lo Spawning Re-
quirements are also on

target to exceed last years .

pace.

sockeye have been alloca-
ted to three First Nations
groups — the Tsimshian,
Gitksan, and Babine
Lake.

The Tsimshian and
Gitksan have harvested
the buik of the fish, that
ate well on their way to

_the Babine spawning

“strong ocean
survival and good condi-

grounds.

“This is one of the best
years for that fishery,”
Einarson said.

The upper Skecna coho
stocks are rebounding
slightly this year. Their
returns are measured at
the Tyhec Test Fishery
between Terrace and
Prince Rupert.

This year’s return
ranks as 22nd best in the
45 years that the test fish-
ery has been measuring
returns.

The brood year for this
year’s coho, 1997, was
poor, so DFO precau-
lions, such as not extend-
ing the gillnet fishery
even longer, had to be
laken, said Binarson.

Chinook returns are
coming back as the high-
est in the 45 years records
have been kept.

“This is what we can
expect If mother na-
ture is kind.”

kind,”
As of Aug. 1, 98,000

“This is what we can
expect if mother nature is
Einarson said,
adding that he’s optimis-
tic about future returns
providing selective har-
vesting becomes more
widespread.

Einarson said that al-
though some commercial
fishers are implementing
seleclive methods, more
needs to be done by the
gillnet ficet. _

The Mail Ba

Media, not public, banned
from land-use plan finale

Dear Sir:

As process coordinator for the Kalum Land and Re-
source Management Plan (LRMP), f feel compelled to
respond to several inaccuracies reported in your Aug 2,
2000 stary “Land-use talks ta end in seerecy.”

The RMP is founded on principles of broad and
comprehensive public participation.

It should be clarified that the public are always wel-
come to attend all LRMP meetings including-the ones
scheduled for Aug. 21 and 22. LRMP is a truly publicly
driven process.

There are no decisions being privately” debated re-

garding any issucs within the LRMP.

The Terrace Standard, has in the past, done an admir-
able job in providing coverage of the LRMP. |

Several recent articles in The Terrace Standard have,
however, served to present an tinbalanced perspective on
the activities and discussions of the planning table.

This issue was brought to the reporter’s altention with
the intent of improving media coverage, and hence pub-
lic understanding,’ of LRMP discussions,

Reporters altending the June LRMP meeting printed
an article that focussed on table’ members’ comments
that were taken aut of context, rather than providing 4
comprehensive synthesis of the issues,

This article was potentially misleading and inflam-

| matory rather than insightful or informative.

Reporting of this nature makes it difficult for some
table members to speak openly about challenging issues
for concerns that their comments may again be taken out
of context.

Open and collaborative dialogue-among table mem-
bers is the cornerstone to building trust, problem solving
and ullimately reaching agreement on the complex and
sensilive issues associated with land and resource man-
agement.

The Terrace Standard’s recent reporting on the LRMP
may have served to suppress the open exchange of ideas
in the quest for a consensus land use recommendation.

it is with this concern in mind that it has been deci-
ded to have media-free discussions and instead prepare a
media briefing that details the oulcomes from the up-
coming table meetings.

Eamon O’Donoghue
process coordinator, Kalum LRMP

Bread-taking was approved

Dear Sir:

I am writing to you in regards to the article
“Katimavik group used food bank” in jhe August 2nd
edition of your paper.

I feel compelled ta clarify the misconstrued facts that
make up this article.

In April, a Katimavik participant, volunteering al the
Salvation Army food bank, noticed large surpluses of do-
hated bread not being used by local families.

After talking to her coworkers about the idea of Kati-

mavik using this surplus bread she brought the idea to

myself, the group leader.

] confirmed with the Regional Katimayik Project Co-
ordinator that the taking of surplus bread was acceptable
and the proup proceeded to make weekly pick-ups.

T also spoke with an employee of the Salvation Army
Store to inquire what came of the bread left over at the
end of the day. She informed me that it was given to
people to feed their dogs.

With a clear conscience, the Kaltimavik group has
used bread from the Salvation Army that was nol needed
by local families.

The Katimavik participants and myself have put cight
months of hard work into forging a strong and wonderful
relationship with community members and organizations.

This July alone Katimavik participants gave over 800
hours of community service to Terrace.

We arc bolstered by the strong support given to us by
the local organizations and families who have been a
part of the Kalimavik experience.

If community members feet they need further clarfi-
cation of this issue in any way, they are welcome to
contact Katimavik directly at 1-877-525-1503.

Justine Dawson

project leader, Katimavik Terrace

Katimavik goodwill hurt

Dear Sir:

J am responding to the story “Katimavik group used
food bank” (Terrace Standard, Aug. 2, 2000).

] have worked with the Katimavik program for the
past two years first as a project leader and most recently
as coordinater for the northwest region of B.C,

Throughout my time with Katimavik and the host
communities (Terrace, Smithers, and Prince Rupert) |
have enjoyed, with constant amazement, the resolve and
dedication with which these communities have suppor-
ted young people and their endeavors to discover more
aboul our great nalion and themselves.

In the Terrace project in particular [ have had the
good fortune to witness what happens when caring fami-
lies and individuals take relative strangers into their
homes, workplaces and lives to share with them their
pereeplions of what it is to be Canadian and a member
of a wonderful community.

Your article has done damage ta the overwhelmingly
positive associalion that the citizens of Terrace, who
have come into contact with the program, have for these
youth and the staff that support them.

Justine Dawson, the project leader for this group, has
worked incredibly hard during the past-ten months and
deserves nothing but our respect ‘and admiration.

She has demonstrated constant commitment to en-
riching the lives of these young people and guiding them
through their lime here in Terrace.

Such passionate commilment towards youth is a rare
quality indeed and should be nothing but fostered and
encouraged at all times.

Your story did not offer a proper balance to the sitpa-
tion with the Salvation Army Food Bank (a ie ait
perception) nor did it offer-your readers a cleat”
tive of the Katimavik program in general,

I would encourage your readers to educate themselves
more compleicly on the very positive impact that Kati-
mavik has had on your community.

‘We remain dedicated to the peuple of Terrace and for
a continuation of this most synergistic relationship.

Nathan Cullen
BB Cc. Yukon Katimavik project coordinator

Tspec-