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VOL. 27 NO. 19
www.terracestandard.com
Wednesday, September 2, 2015
Commercial catch upsets fish group By JOSH MASSEY
JOSH MASSEY PHOTO
■■ Problem putting RCMP CNST. Nick Evelyn oversees the impaired mobility simulation station in the Skeena mall. Wearing the drunk goggles, Aidan Corving finds out just how hard it is to perform precision tasks when impaired. The Northern Brain Injury Association organized the awareness day Aug. 26 and ICBC also participated.
Building policy could be reviewed THE CITY’S policy of how it handles abandoned buildings “lacks teeth” and could be reviewed, says mayor Carol Leclerc following three fires in two such buildings this summer. But such a review, which would involve safety concerns surrounding abandoned buildings in the city, would only happen if enough people raise the issue, said Leclerc. “When there’s complaints by citi-
zens, it enables the city to build a case for being reactive,” she said. “If there’s a property that’s derelict, if it’s unsightly, there is a bylaw on unsightly premises.” Her comments follow three fires – the first on June 20 which heavily damaged a former CN bunkhouse structure on Atwood near the rail tracks and a second which finished off the building the evening of Aug. 16 and then a third
which destroyed a building at 4727 Park the same night. Both buildings were known to be used at times by homeless or other persons. “It was a bit of a shock, I’d say, periodically you would see those buildings burn, and to have two of them within a short period of time on the same night was a bit of a, oh wow,” said Leclerc.
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A LOCAL fish conservation authority is upset federal officials opened a coastal commercial fishery for sockeye salmon, a move which it says goes against previous decisions. On Aug. 23 and Aug. 24, a fishery was opened for gillnetters at the mouth of the Skeena in response to an influx in sockeye numbers that pushed the total return for this summer past the one million mark, approximately one-third of the expected number and minimum for a commercial opening. Because the influx or “bump” happened late in August when the sockeye typically slows, Gitanyow Fisheries Authority head biologist and Skeena Fisheries Commission advisor Mark Cleveland says the commercial fishery shouldn’t have opened at all according to a conservation strategy created earlier this year. He said the previous federal plan contained provisions about holding off on the commercial harvest of late intake sockeye. “It’s basically a short term economic gain decision to benefit a few commercial fisherman and we think those actions are going to have long term impacts on salmon stocks,” said Cleveland. “A lot of taxpayers’ money went into insuring that all the players were at the table and we talked about these things during integrated harvest planning sessions and for them to just throw that away makes a mockery of the whole process.” One reason late run sockeye needs to be conserved is because of the by-catch – the term meaning one species being caught by chance when another is the actual harvest target. Late-run sockeye tend to be fragile, highlighting the importance of the trip to their spawning beds to ensure there are future generations. “We decided in the pre-season to put measures in place to ensure that stocks of concern, specifically Kitwanga sockeye, Lake Babine river sockeye, chum stock, steelhead stocks, would be protected. And that there wouldn’t be any late season openings, and the minister signed off on that in the integrated fisheries management plan,” said Cleveland. But according to federal fisheries officials, the surge in sockeye was a legitimate reason to allow a fishery. “The Skeena River sockeye run size is estimated at 1.16 million and growing. Timing of this run is late; most years this run is over by mid-to-late-August,” said Michelle Imbeau from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans last week. “This unusual run timing led to a change in the planned harvest method to ensure that commercial fishing would be carefully controlled and monitored to ensure careful management of the returning stocks,” she said. The permitted recreational catch was also raised from one, set in July, to two because of the late entry for the sockeye, said Imbeau. For Cleveland, who looks after the fisheries upstream where the First Nations and recreational fisheries happen, there is a need to keep the annual return strong and not have the spawning salmon subject to a commercial fishery. “If the bump had come three weeks earlier then the fishing would be okay,” he said.
Who cooks for me
Election tango
Wild race
Barred owl saved by locals from crows recovers in Prince Rupert \COMMUNITY A14
Federal candidates draw battle lines in StewartHyder border debate \NEWS A17
Racers tackle Copper Mountain slope in summer challenge \SPORTS A22