, Standard, Wednesday, August 9, 1995 INSIDE. SPORTS S MENU “SKEENA ANGLE ROB BROWN Tune changes ERE WE GO again. Frustrated be- . cause they are not being allowed to net approximately a million: artifi- cially enhanced Babine Sockeye, 200 ‘gillnetters assembled infront of Labour. — minister. Dan Miller’s office to dump dead sock- . eye and scatter bogus $20 bills to the winds. .- In a radical departure from the conservation | minded'stance that had fishers blocking the pas- sage of an Alaska bound cruise ship earlier this slimmer, United Fishermen and Allied Workers’ Union Veep, Dennis Brown, has clambered up on ihe soap box to decry what he Sees as the _ waste of tonnes of fish flesh, and the consequent loss of what he ‘éstimates.to be $20 million, much of. which will, of SoUrse,, acctue to his brotherhood, ; **Here we have all these’ ‘brilliant managers, the DFO scientists, with PhDs, eaming tex- payers money — and, as far® as I'm concerned, any damn fool would. have managed as well as " they have,’? said Brown, as reported: in the Au- gust 1 edition of the Vancouver Sun. -° ee bombast'is vintage Dennis Brown. True ‘to the. technique’..of - other hot headed demagogues he conjures up boogie men — in this case the fish manager/scientists with doc- torates — to play upon the: misguided distrust far too many uninformed people in this country. have of well-educated people. In reality very few DFO personnel are Doctors of Philosophy, and we would probably. be better’ off if they were, And, what would a tirade be without the invocation ‘of the overburdened taxpayer whose : -hard-eamed-dollars -~ in the- UFAWU cosmol-. _. _ ogy, at least. — _ are, being squandered on the luxuriatit salaries Of Fed Fish personnel. This tiresome cant, with its implication that people on the government payroll are overpaid and under worked, is inaccurate and irritating, and, sadly, all too-common, As Dennis Brown and his ilk.know well, political pressure from all sides and ill-considered government cutbacks to already under funded federal institutions such as the Department of Fisheries and Oceans have conspired to make the difficult jobs of fisheries managers and their staffs all but impossible. . When Mr, Dennis Brown is through burning crosses on the lawns of politicians and govern- ment employees, when -he is finished beating the bushes for welfare bums, he should ponder where his membership would be were it not for the unique deal fishermen get from the Unem- . ployment Insurance Corporation. I’m not saying. that hardworking fishermen, or any other sea- sonal worker, shouldn’t get a ‘subsidy (I'll let the PhDs hurt their heads over that conundrum) but I think the Vice Pres, of the UFAWU may wish to'exercise greater circumspection before he risks opening any discussion of the allocation of tax dollars. Any damn fool could have done a better job managing our west coast fisheries, according to Dennis Brown. I disagree. The DFO and fishing industry grew up with, and next to, each other. Tt is largely as a result of pressure from the fish- ing industry that the Department of Fisheries has been less vigilant than they should have been when it has come to. the welfare of the Skeena salmon stocks, The building of the spawning channels at Fulton and Pinkut, the event that has precipitated the crisis in which we now find ourselves, was misguidedly un- deriaken for the benefit of the fishing industry, Nature, doesn’t create surpluses, man does, The fish that arrive at the spawning channels flowing into Babine Lake are a man-made sur- plus. It’s sad that we can’t afford to use them, but if we do we will imperil near-extinct sum- mer coho, severely depressed runs of steelhead, as well as discrete runs of wild sockeye, Scientists the world over have been telling us that variety is not only the spice, but the very stuff of life: biodiversity they call it, So how does Mr. Brown respond to the need to keep Skeena stocks wild and diverse: ‘‘Let’s try and catch some ‘of those fish over the next few days and sce how it works out.’’ And if things don’t work out? Presumably the fishermen will say *‘oops’? and pocket their extra carnings. Appar- ently Mr. Brown doesn’t sce this is not quite good cnough for the unsubsidized industry up: stream that earns its livelihood from the in- cidental catch, or people like me who care for the health of the ecosystem. I thought the commercial fishing industry had disabused itself of the notion that there is no conservation. problem for the fish stocks here. Commercial fishing’ representatives to the Skcena Watershed commitee showed they un- derstood there was a problem when they signed off this year’s fishing plan. The appearance of large numbers of sockeye are enough to get Brown and his 200 cronies huffing and puffing and yearning forthe halcyon days when com- mercial fishers did pretty much as they pleased. What a short sighted and selfish lot they are. TERRACE STANDARD. OL rare ATM LOWER MAINLAND raiders took the overall top spots in this year’s Skeena Valley Tri- athlon. That result was not surpris- ing considering the event was also the 1995 Provincial Championship, but what did surprise — and disappoint — organizer Ray Warner was the low local turnout. : “We had only two individu- al entries and seven teams from Terrace,’’ he pointed out. “Which left other north- western communities, particu- larly Prince Rupert, to clean up many of the age group cat- egories. - Overall winner. was Scott Bryk of Vancouver who exil- ing the waters of Lakelse Lake | vim: -second, two: and a. half _ minutes adrift of Prince * George teenager Graeme ’ Martindale, “Bryk took over on the cys ' cling leg, however, and never - looked back, finishing in 2:09.40 to win by a minute and a half from Tavis “| : » McDonald of Prince George. ‘Out of the top 10 after the __ swim, McDonald had moved up to fifth on the cycle section : -and then charged to the runner -up spot wilh a 35.51 run, the - fastest of the day. - On the women’s side, Van- ~eouverite Kari Bailey was also ‘second out of the water, built . her lead on the bike then kept KC. Emerson (Vancouver) at bay to win by a minute and 20 “seconds, Bailey’s time-of 2:19.46 was -:: the ninth - fastest individual. dime.” Bernd Guderjahn of Prince Rupert took top. honours minutes clear of nearest regional + pursuer. Dave. LeBlanc of Smithers. Guderjahn also took ‘the a men’s 35-39 years division | title, co Terrace’s lone men’ s entry was Tom Zarezecki who had only four behind him after the ~ swim but pulled other entries~ . back on the next two legs for. - an 18th place finish, = Prince Rupert also produced’ : the fastest individual female, - Cheryl Steele - finishing: in. 2:45.06, better than 15° minutes ahead of clear Ter- race’s Wendy Shymanski. And it was the coast city again in the team event, Sandy =~ Geddes, Michael Morse and: - Judson Rouse comfortably took the title. ; A close third after the swim, _ Morse pedaled the trio toa six minute lead and Rouse opened - - ae still further on the run. Their. = combined time of 2/12.51 was: fifth fastest overall, Erin Kearley was on the top ~ mixed team for the second” year in a row. This time she - was joined by fellow Kitimatians Mikko Jaakkola — amember of the °94 win- ning men’s team — and Dave Thomson. o And, although missing last . year’s teammate Paddy - 7 Graetz, Iris Unger‘and Ester | Bahen of Burns Lake repeated as the female team champions. : vo Terrace’s top. leam per- ° formance came from Joe: ' Mandur, Mac Fell and Blake Asseltine (third overall and -second in. the menjs) and: the trio of George Gough, Wendy © Biffle and Bob Sheasby who finished in 2:51.21 for 11th STRIDING OUT on the way to overall victory in the Skeena Valley Triathlon: is: Vancouver's: Scott Bryk among northwestern male overall and fourth in the entries with a.2:20,40 clocking mixed. who headed up a strong southern raiding party for that put him ninth among the —_For full results, see 2 the Score what was also the Provincial al Championships. Chilly reminders. ; THERE’S STILL a lot of sum- mer to come — hopefully — but harbingers of winter will be evident this weekend. That’s when Terrace Minor Hockey and the Terrace Skat- ing club hold their registra- tions. Both take place Saturday, 10 am. to 2 pm, in the _ downstairs lobby of the Arena. Programs being offered by the Skating club include KidSkate (3-5 years), CanS- “kate (4 years and up), Can- Figureskate, Icebreakers (18 and up), hockey power skat- ing, precision skating, CFSA Test Stream and competitive skating, An equipment swap will also be held for those involved in both sports. People bringing in equipment, skates and/or dresses are asked to do so be- fore 9:30 a.m. and ensure the items are tagged, For further information on Minor Hockey phone Anne at 638-1552, for the Skating Club contact Barb Harvey’ at 635-6992 before 9:30 a.m, Minor Hockey is also look- ing for coaches and their as- sistants for the coming season. Anyone interested or requiring further information should conlact Steve Smyth (638- 1143), Dallas Stevenson (638- 0649) or Joe Duben (635- 9338). And those who can’t wait for the regular season to take in some hockey action have a ‘chance to do so when the Ter- tace Hockey School cranks up next week, After five days honing their skills, participants will sce game action Saturday, Aug. 19. The two-hour match-ups: - begin at 9 am. with the last scheduled for 3 p.m. -men’s individual entries, 11 Board on page B7. . 7 High and dry A SIMULATED water fowl shoot was one of the: eight stations at the Ducks Unlimited Sporting Clays shoot held at the local range Sunday, July 30, Com- petitors, including local sharpshooter Terry Morris (above), sat in a small aluminum boat set amongst the brush to mimic a hunter lying up In the reeds. The 100 bird event attracted 29 shooters with Bill Watson of Terrace coming away with the tournament's high score. Terrace also came up winners in the two raffles, Vic Dean and Arlle Watson both going home with new long, guns.