7 i 4 { ( INSIDE ss ~ SPORTS MENU C14 | --SKEENA ANGLER. ROB BROWN __ The Dodo's path HE MORE WE find out about wild creatures, the more vulnerable they become. The Atlantic salmon, the king of fieshwatcr sport fish, is a case in point. Not very long ago the migratory habits of Salmo Salar were as mysterious as the riddle of anadromy. — But in the late ‘50s all that changed when the feeding grounds for Atlantic salmon were dis- covered off Greenland. Predictably, the commercial fishery sailing out of Scandinavia were on the unsuspecting fish like flies on rotting meat. In short order close to 3,000 metric tonnes -- nearly a million fish a year -- were being gilled in drift nets with the Danish fleet taking the lion’s share. Half of those fish were spawned in Cana- dian and U.S, rivers. Over the course of the past 40 years Atlantic salmon have been going the way of the Dodo bird and Atlantic cod. The work of Danish scientists indicates. only two per cent of the salmon which dined on shrimp in the icy Greenland waters when Norsemen set sail for North America still forage there today. Even more frightening is the Danish discovery that 60 per cent of that stock has been netted in the past two decades. ‘With an entrenched fishery, it was obvious the species was doomed. Experts predicted their dis- appearance as soon as the beginning of the next century: . Alot of people havespent a Jot of money trying to bring-back the once abundant runs of Atlantic salmon, The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has spent no less than $35 million’ since 1970 on hatchery production while other agencies have spent another.$165 million on restoration, conser- vation and re-introduction programs for the sal- mon rivers of New England. ‘Since the carly ’70s our country has spent a ‘whopping $100 million buying back commercial salmon licences in Atlantic provinces and enhanc- ing habitat and developing educational programs. ~ Almost half of that was spent compensating Newfoundland and. Labrador. market fishermen who targeted over-wintering North American At- lantics and whose fishery was shut down in 1992, A lot of people have spent a lot of money trying to bring back the once abundant runs of Atlantic salmon. Despite ali the time, effort and cash, the rcturns of fish to Yank and Canuck rivers alike range from disappointing to dismal. To friends of the Atlantic salmon it became clear the salvation of the stock lay in drastic reduction in the Greenland fishing ground harvest. Yet, as long as there was money to be made from over-fishing Atlantic salmon, there scemed little hope. At a United Nations sponsored aqua cullure conference in Japan in the late ’70s, Atlantic Sal- mon Federation president Wilf Carter realized raising salmon in fish farms would eventually relieve pressure on wild stacks. Agalnst strong objections from prominent Fed- eration figures, Carter convinced a majority of ASF directors to support the development of a vi- able salmon culture program. OF the 226,000 tonnes of salmon sold world- wide last year, 220,000 were raised on fish farms. The Greenland fishery had become obsolete, but the nations exploiting the salmon-had to be con- vinced the fishery was dying, along with the sal- mon, and the only logical and economically sound course was 'o buy out the netters and slop raising salmon in hatcheries. Enter the indefatigable Orri Vigfusson, an ar- dent salmon angler and son of a net fisherman. Vigfusson brought. together the key patties over three years, obtained finance from the ASF and - the U.S. State Depariment and hammered togeth- er a buy out where netsmen will be paid $800,000 to forego catching salmon in 1993 and 1994 and an additional $50,000 when negotiations re-open. to extend the moratorium through 1997, The agreement brings the market fishing for the. . majority of wild salmon stocks to a halt with the ' exception of sustenance fisheries. “Conservationists around the world,’’ says Vig- fusson, ** must congratulate Greenland for its wise and courageous decision. “And, what is more, Greenland’s commitment io salmon serves to further isolate those. nations. which persist in antiquated and irresponsible resource exploitations practices.’’ Nations like Canada, he mi lght have added. Wade Flaherty WADE FLAHERTY has signed a new, multi-year contract with the San Jose Sharks, The local product and Interma- tional Hockey League all-star goalie agreed fo terms last week with the NHL team. Although unable {o reveal details until the Players Associa- tion releases them, agent Art Breeze said the contract could be worth as much as $1.5 million to Flaherty over its lifetime. And that figure does not include what he called ‘highly attractive, and achievable’’ bonuses. **{t’s an indication they see him as a significant cog in their fu- ture,”’ Breeze said, ‘*San Jose realise he is a real blue chip pro prospect.’* He also suggested it was clear the Sharks saw Flaherty as bee- Flaherty nets $1.5m oming their number one goalic one day, Breeze said the contract con- tained a‘‘large resigning bonus’’ and pages of potential bonuses tied fo both team and individual performance. Flaherty is coming into his own as a_ national league goaltender. ... Breeze He also confirmed bonuses could be earned whether Flaherty played in San Jose or stayed with its THL affiliate, the Kansas City Blades. However, he added, it would be very surprising if Flaherty did not - get a lot of playing time with the - : SECTION c MALCOLM BAXT ER 638-7283 parent club this season. ; : Describing Flaherty as “very, very marketable’’, he said there had been a lot of NHL interest in the Terracite. Breeze pointed out Flaherty was still a young man who was only now beginning to mature as a player and ‘coming into his own . as a national league goaltender,”' Flaherty has racked up his share of awards since going to the Biades: rookie of the year; mosi popular Blade; all-star; in tandem with Arturs Irbe, the league's top goalic; team most valuable player; and recognized for his work within thc community. He was called up to. San Jose seven times last season which in- cluded a starting assignment against Calgary which saw him stop 43 in a one-goal loss. » Under fire PEPPERED with Terrace Timbermen shots, ‘the Wranglers backstop proved just hot enough as Riverside edged the Oldtimer league leaders 7-6 last Wednesday night. The victory moved the Wranglers level on points but the Timbermen have a game in hand over the challengers. SWIMMING: Demetzer dynamite in opener SLOW AND easy: that’s the sea- son start Blueback coach Mike Carlyle had in -mind when the - team went to the Prince Rupert regional mect. ‘But eight-year-old. Thomas Demetzer pul together a string of results he’ find hard to top. After ail, winning every event you enter and setting personal best times in tach is.a hard act to follow. Demetzer’s ‘age-group gold medal performance included slashing nearly four seconds off his 50m Free time and demolish- _ing his previous fastest 50m Breast by close to 14 seconds. Anna Farrell, 7, was another |" leaving past marks far behind, clocking 1:07:14 in the 50m Free, more than 22 seconds faster than she’d ever swum theevent... 2 |: . That result left her with a per-'.-}’ fect three-for-three record for dest times. - The duo’s results were typical” woe of. the: strong “showing of the - club’s younger swimmers which drew praise from Carlyle. _ Maria Farrell (8: yrs) picked up a win and a second in the 25m and 50m Breast respeclively, both . personal bests, while Brent McKamey (3) swam his fastest in’ alt six evcnis he entered. “At the otter end! of the e age ; ‘Tristan Brown ‘ange, Jocelyn Coxford and Tori ‘MacKenzie continued to make thelr’ preserice felt with a silver and a bronze In jhe girls 15 years and up division. -boys .- -while Tristan “brought ‘home a bronze j Chris Kerman picked up overall silver among: (he 11-12 years ‘Tori MacKenzie years boys’ competition. While the medal haul might have been less thari usual, Carlyle emphasized that hadn’t been the targel going in. ‘Because the club had only been back in the water three weeks, he Said members limited ‘their g to Just six of the:pos+ « AANA sible eighl events, And, as in training, the focus of the coaching staff had been on - improving the execution of starts and tums rather than speed. Noting mistakes in those two departments at last year’s equiva- lent meet had resulted in 26 Blucback disqualifications, he poinled out speed was irrelevant if the swimmer was DQed. How well had it worked? Very, given there were only two red cards this time. And, Carlyle added, getting the turns down can also be a big fac- tor in improved times, especially during this short-course season. Short course refers to races ina 25m pool and the shorter the pool ihe more turns. So if swimmen can shave a half second off their turns, they’re ob- viously going to be a full second and a half quicker over a 100m race, be said, Significantly, nearly 60 per cent of the persons] bests were re- corded over the 100m distance, . The Biuebacks will be hosts for the next two northwest mecis, be- ginning with a Novices competi- tion Sunday, Nov. 7. - The following weekend is the. McDonali’s Invitational’ which . runs from Friday evoilng until = Sunday a afternoon.