Terrace Review —— Wednesday, October 9, 1991 13

Angling guides threaten b tt
\ A lobby group of sports fisher- effort to strike a management plan cial fishery before next year’s agement directions of the govern- Society, the Northwest Guides and
men and licensed angling guides is that will meet with agreement from commercial season, Culp said, t, ment. Outfitters Association, the North-
threatening to try to stop the com- commercial, native and sports we'll be exerting every possible The group has set March 31 of em Steelhead Guides Association,
mercial fishery at the mouth of the fishermen, but to date the problem pressure to make DFO’s fishery next year asa deadline for DFO to the Hazelton and District Chamber

Skeena _ River and organize an still hasn’t been addressed and managers’ and bureaucrats’ lives come up with something accept- of Commerce, and a number of
international and domestic boycott angters have run out of patience. as miserable as can be." able. Members of the lobby group fishing lodge owners and individ-

of salmon products unless some-
thing is done to save the Skeena

If the DFO hasn’t come up with Culp added that his group is not are the Bulkley Valley, Terrace ual anglers.

"a workable plan” to reduce inci- directing its anger at the commer- and Kitimat rod and gun clubs, the © Culp is the proprictor of River’s
steelhead population before the dental: catches of steelhead, cial fishermen, who he says are Houston, Smithers and Terrace Edge, a licensed angling guide

next commercial fishing season. chinook and coho in the commer- only fishing according to the man- branches of the B.C. Steelhead service near Terrace.
Jim Culp, a spokesman for the | |

H Skeena Watershed Sportfisher-
men’s Coalition, said his organiz-
ation will attempt to file an injunc-
tion to stop the spring fishery
unless there are sweeping changes
to the way the fishery is managed.
Culp said the group wil! also ask
‘the B.C. Wildlife Federation to
organize a boycott, intemational
and domestic, of all products made
from commercially caught wild
B.C. salmon.

"The Department of Fisheries and
Oceans is presiding over the
demise. of summer-run steelhead
and up-river coho in the Skeena
River system... we’ve lost the July
steelhead in the Copper, Bulkley
and lower Skeena rivers, We’ve
nearly lost the August steelhead in
the Copper, Bulkley, Morice, Kis-
piox, Babine and Sustut rivers, and
we're now in the process of losing
the September steelhead in all of
the up-river Skeena tributaries,"
Culp stated in a press release Sept.
21.

Culp noted that while sport
fishermen are bearing the brunt of
the conservation effort by having
their catch quotas reduced, often to
zero, quotas for both commercial
and native food fisheries have
steadily increased for all species.
"The fishing sector that has the
least impact on the resource is
being penalized the most, and the
needs of conservation are not
being met! We're mad as hell

about this, and we're not going to
take it any longer,” Culp said.

The group is demanding a spe-
cies-selective commercial’ fishery.
The decline in retuming steelhead,
the most prized game fish among
tourist and resident anglers alike,
has been blamed.on the commer-
cial sockeye salmon fishery.
ei Steelhead return to the Skeena at

the same time the sockeye come
back, and gillnetters and seiners at
the mouth of the Skeena scoop up
both type of fish during commer-
cial openings. Although the
steelhead are supposed to be
thrown back in the water, many of
them end up in cans and those that
are thrown back seldom survive to
go up the river and spawn.

Culp says river angling groups
have been discussing the issue for
seven years with the Department
of Fisheries and Oceans in an

If you don’t know
what’s going on,
things go on
without you.

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MR. HARCOURT
TS NOT TELLING THE TRUTH:

ot He promises fiscal responsibility and a balanced budget. .
7 He promises to implement the NDP manifesto. He cantdo both. :.
The NDP debt plan would cost B.C. $15.3 billion dollars lO
over 5 years. He simply cannot deliver these promises without i
a dramatic raise in your taxes. a iE

THENOPPLAN =
WOULDCOSTEACH =|
BC FAMIY'ANEXTRAS3I4.00 |
~ PER MONTH OVER 5 YEARS.

*Assumes a B.C. single income family of four.
18 3 billion dollars divided by every four British Columbians = $18,860.00.

 BRITISHCOLUMBIA.
CANTAFFORDTOPAY
- MIKE HARCOURT’S TAX BILLS.

~ OCTOBER 17TH ELECT |
ARITAJOHNSTON GOVERNMENT _

Paid for by the B.C. Social Credit Party

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