Sports Menu, Small step If you write for a newspaper you are bound to have a salvo or two fired at you via the Editor, I’ve had a few bricks thrown at me. The Forest Alliance, the forest in- dustry lobby group fronted by born- again, ex-union chief Jack Munroe, has taken exception to my opinions. I’ve had angry letters from indignant sportsmen who objected to the philos- ophy I espouse in my scribblings. T've dodged arrows from other good people whose reading of my work has - convinced them my cranium is stuffed with cotton batten. ¢ This is fair comment: I have my — space, the editor gives my critics theirs. Thus, when I sat down over lunch to read a letter sent this paper by Greg Taylor of the North Coast Advisery Board, I steeled myself for the worst. But it was not to be: here was Greg Taylor, an advocate of the commercial fishing industry and employee of the Northern Processors, writing about how much he enjoyed my piece about the Copper River steelhead originally caught in the commercial fishery, released and later caught by me in the Glory Hole. *Rob Brown’s steelhead,” he wrote, "is a celebration for those of us who believe that ‘norihem solutions to northem problems’ can allow for both economic prosperity and sustainable fisheries.” ; Lagree that gillnetters and seine boat operators should be required to release steclhead as a matter of course and a condition oflicense. |... Lalso agree with Greg when he says: “the catch-and-release. program is sot the total answer to the problem of | steelhead interceptions. We have to keep our perspective: the gill net is, after all, a lethal tool designed to kill fish, So we should not be surprised when nets, manipulated by men whose livelihood is inextricably linked with the number of fish they can kill, cause the incidental demise of a lot of coho aud a lot of summer steelhead. Similarly, nobody would seriously contend that the number of steelhead released last summer is anywhere near the number that were killed in nets. And, given a crew with more experi- ence that anyone else on the planet at catching and releasing stecthcad had only 6 of 49 fish it released during an Environment ministry’s radio tagging program survive to spawn, it appears uilikely many of the 400 released from the steelhead barge this’ summer will do so. To date only 19 of them have been recaptured by sportsmen. At best, catching and releasing steel- head from nets can only be a small, expensive part of a much larger initia- tive. That initiative would see the reduc- tion of boats through area licensing followed by the reduction, and eventual phasing out, of fishing in the mouth of the river -- areas known as statistical sub-area 4-12 and 4-15. Such a program would have ta ex- plore the use of experimental harvest- ing techniques like weed lines, their use rigorously evaluated by indepen- - dent personnel, Because information must be plenti- ful and accurate if a fishery is to be successfully managed, new methods of data collection, like mandatory ob- servers on a sampling of boats, must be implemented. Fishermen and processors must report non-target catches accurately and receive stiff fines if they do not. We . must. also rethink = and renegotiate the Canada/US Treaty, especially since it now scems clear Alaskans are having a large impact on Northern BC salmon stocks. Native in-river fisheries have to be contralled too, There are simply too many gill nets in the Skecna and they are presently impervious to regula- tions. If the natives believe they can be successful stewards of ibe inland fisheries once again, then let them prove it by demonstrating principles _ of conservation and wise use. Prior to its commencement, I char- acterized the gill net catch-and-release _ program as a step in the right direc- “tlon; I still hold that opinion. pervert, tid eth age Peer eT Caledonia may have had to settle for a 14th spot finish in this year’s Senior Boys provincial soccer championship, but coach Joe Duben says they can hold their heads high. “They played beyond my expecta- tions,’’ he admitted. ‘‘It was really good soccer.’” And, if it hadn't been for the touma- ment rules, the squad could have fin- ished much higher, he added. Duben was referring to the goals for and against system used to break ties from the opening round robin portion of the tournament. ; Cal had ended that in a three-way tie for second in their group. However, goals surrendered in the first two matches resulted in their being relegated to fourth and last even though they had beaten Alpha, the team awarded second under that same system. To add insult to injury, Alpha went on to finish sixth overall. Cal’s misfortunes continued in the game to decide 13th and 14th, he added, maintaining poor officiating resulted in the 1-0 win to Westsyde. Twice, Duben explained, Cal players had broken through Westsyde’s defence only to be hauled down by the goalie. “He never even looked at the ball ci- ther time,” Duben said of the keeper’s action. Not only should Cal lave been awarded penalties, the goalie should also have been tossed out of the game under newly adopted international soccer rules, “Ht should at least have been tied and gone into overtime,’’ he said of the game. All that aside, Duben was full of praise for his team, pointing out it was the best result achieved by a northwestern eniry at the provincials. Cal had got into trouble carly in the tournament, falling 3-0 to South Delta in its opening match. ies Soccer squad shines “They had a lot of trouble getting settled down,” said Duben. ‘And by the lime they did, they were three goals down.” Cal ihen had to face the Mount Douglas Rams from Victoria, winners of the 1990 championship and losing finalists last year. Knowing what they were up against, Duben said his team were a little nervous at the outset. However, they played through it and . kept the game close until the final 15 minutes when Mount Douglas scored a couple of quick goals to seal a 5-2 vic- tory. , Despite the loss, Caledonia emerged from the game with bragging rights no one else could claim. They were the only team in the tourna- ment to score twice against the eventual champions, he pointed out Terrace continued that standard of play into their final round robin match, ob Butptt is a very small step, What a difference a post can make. In the case of the Back Eddy Bul- lies, it may have made the difference between runner-up and top spot in the Smithers senior hockey inaugural toumey, Nov. 15. Having fought back to within one with five minutes left in the final, the Bullies found themselves robbed of the equalizer by a piece of pipe. As the puck rang off the post, it also tolled the end of the Terrace chal- lenge. A badly scared Bums Lake team _ promptly reversed the run of play to net a rebound less than 60 seconds later then potted an cmpty-netter to put it away 8-5. a It was-a disappointing end to a re- martkable come back for the Bullies who were swamped 4-0 in the first pe- riod, © Charlie Porter had got things rolling eight. minutes itito the second frame when he converted a rebound to put the Bullies on the board. Burns Lake re-established a four goal margin four minutes later but the Bullies refused to back down. On the power play, Porter struck again with a rocket from just inside the blue line to thread a tiny gap on the Burns goalie’s short side. ‘The bit between their teeth, the Bul- lies wasted no time in the final stanza, striking again just one minute in to narrow the gap to 5-3. Porter’s hattrick wrist shot having halved that at 13:12, Giesbrecht kept the drive alive by snuffing out a Burns Lake counter attack with an inspired leg save. 1 With the crowd loudly applauding the barnbumer, the Bullies narrowly failed to equalize when Dan Lind- strom accepted a defensive miscue and sent the puck net-ward only to watch it slide across the goal mouth inches short of the line. But Back Eddy was not to be denied. A minute later Phil Bradford broke over the blue line with a Laker in hot pursuit. Despite being hooked as he wound up, Bradford followed through to deliver the equalizer. Burns Lake quickly managed to regain the lead, the post ringer fol- lawed and that was all she wrote for the Bullies. Lindstrom, however, was more than pleased with the team’s performance, pointing out Back Eddy essentially sent their normal Rec League team on to the against a select all-star Burns Lake entry. Post bu his space, a Back Eddy rms Bullies PHOTOS BY LORNE CLARKE. = coy aE ATT EVICTION NOTICE, Taking exception to a Burns Lake forward's invasion of Bully (above) sends a none too gentle message to that effect during the Smithers senior hockey tournament final. Down, but far from out (below), Phil Bradford watches his shot beat the Burns Lake goalie to even the score, The Lakers, however, came back to win the game 8-5. Go for it! CALEDONIA KERMODES Senior Boys volleyball team begins its bid for greatness today as play gets under way in the provincial championship. Carrying local hopes are Shawn Palagian (10), Chris Tomas (12), captain Kurt Mul- ler (11), Derek Muller (5), Matt Soules (13), Bret Overton (10), B.J. Hansen (4), assistant cap- tain Dennie King (9), Brett Kluss (7) and Bryan Fick (14). Guiding the team through the tournament will be coach Shawn Krienke (back row) and manager Tom Hamakawa, The Kermodes first target will be a top-four finish In their group to take them to the ail important championship round. edging Alpha 2-1 to record their first victory. Having been bumped down into the playoff round to setile 13th through 16th, Cal punished Selkirk 6-1 to ensure they would at least improve on last. year’s basement finish and set up their final match, against Westsyde. Recalling the trip back to Terrace, Duben said the players were well aware of their achievement. “They were already planning for next year and how well they are going to do,’’ he said, Although half the squad will be lost when they graduate this coming summer, Duben said Cal is apparently going to be gelting some good young players from Skeena in 93, However, he cautioned, one thing that will not change for any northwestern representative is having to come off an extremely short season and face op- ponents who play 10 months of the year. ¥ Joey Losier Losier arrives: Imagine your worst nightmare com- ing truce. Soe es Well, that’s how young boxers fight- ing in the Intermediate 139]b. open category must feel now that Joey Losier is one of their own. The Terracite terrorized the 132Ib. division last year culminating an in- vincible season by taking the Canadian national title with a 15-0 points win over Carl Brassard of Quebec... ; Although lack of competition last season often forced Losier to move. up a division to find an opponent, this sca- son he’s there officially. , And he announced his arrival in no uncertain terms last month in- Prince George. Facing previous 1391b. champ Joh- nathan Yellowknees, Losier, | 16, delivered a third round TKO to sound a waming that’s unlikely to go un- noticed. Next up was a bout to secure a berth on the B.C. team to go to January’s National Intermediate championships in Winnipeg, Facing a Senior Open Class boxer in Vern Traincr of Kamloops, Losier made it two off the reel with a unani- mous decision, And keeping up Tezrace’s ever grow- ing reputation as one of the province’s top boxing clubs, local fighters have brought home two more tides from the Bronze Gloves held in Bumaby 10 days ago. Ben Dilley, a 140 Ib. Junior A Novice, took Maple Ridge challenger Steven Gadsby in a unanimous deci- sion while Brian Gervais couldn’t find an opponent in the 150 1b. Junior B Novice class. = a :