Canada’s Oldest First Nations Newspaper - Serving Nuu-chah-nulth-aht since 1974 Canadian Publications Mail Product Vol. 33 - No. 24 - November 30, 2006 haas^i>sa “Interesting News” Sales Agreement No. 40047776
Sockeye to struggle into next year By Debora Steel Ha-Shilth-Sa Reporter Hupacasath—Preliminary reports from the department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) indicate concern for Barkley sockeye in 2007, with a jack return of less than 10 per cent of average in 2006. Somass escapements in 2006 were below average, particularly in age four fish. Henderson Lake sockeye are fairing somewhat better with a slight increase from recent unprecedented low escapements, but the 2007 returns are expect to be low as well. In 1993 the estimated escapements to Clemens Creek inched near the 160,000 mark. In 2006 that number has plummeted to 3,500. Kennedy and Jentzen lakes are considered depressed as well. The preliminary report was given at the West Coast Vancouver Island (WCVI) Salmon Summit by Arlene Tompkins, a DFO assessment biologist working at the Nanaimo biological station. She said the official peerreview numbers would come in March or April. Barkley sockeye stock assessment activities include intense escapement estimates, test fishing and weekly re-forecasting and biosampling, she said. Continued on page 6
Debora Steel
The City of Port Alberni, the regional district of Alberni-Clayoquot and the Tseshaht and Hupacasath First Nations paid tribute to Stephen Lewis, UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, by presenting him a piece of art created by Connie Watts (centre), seen here with Hupacasath Chief Councilor Judith Sayers, Lewis and Tseshaht First Nations councilors Dennis Bill and and Wendy Gallic. (Story page 10.)
Stormy weather wrecks havoc in NCN territories By Denise August Titian, Ha-Shilth-Sa Reporter Port Alberni – From sizzling summer to pineapple punch in just over eight short weeks; people went from draught and dried-up wells to torrential downpours and flooding after a wild rainstorm on Nov. 15. According to Environment Canada, a storm system originating in the Hawaiian Islands, known as the Pineapple Express, drifted across the Pacific Ocean hitting British Columbia’s West Coast hard. Heavy rain and strong winds felled trees, knocking out power lines and electricity to thousands of homes. In one day, 126.4mm of rain poured on Port Alberni as winds hit 120 kilometres per hour. The city was cut off from the rest of the world for most of the day as both Highway 4 to Tofino and Highway 19 were closed due to flooding and debris. Yet within the city, vehicles filled with the curious flooded the streets. People were out surveying flooding and damage, or took to their vehicles to stay warm and search out food and emergency supplies. All that was open were a couple of
Denise August Titian
After the storm on Nov. 15, as seen from the Harbour Quay in Port Alberni, the Alberni Inlet water looked like a river of caramel sauce. The community was under a boil water advisory for two weeks. The storm of a lifetime because rates of turbidity in the drinking water was higher than quality standards allow. service stations that could only deal in cash and credit cards, since debit machines couldn’t be used. Tseshaht Market, which has its own generator,
Fireman receives service award................................ Page 2 Naming ceremony reconnects family....................... Page 4 Storm cuts Port Alberni off from the world............ Page 8 Building a healthy community in Kyuquot...........Page 11 You can’t ask that: Handling illegal questions...... Page 12 NEDC Business News .............................................. Page 20
looked like a Walmart on Boxing Day with people flocking to the only place in town selling hot food. Traffic that made it up the Tofino
highway was lined up by Hollies golf course and Timberlodge Hotel as drivers waited for the road over “The Hump” to open. Likewise, people attempting to get to Port Alberni were stranded on the east side of Cameron Lake for as many as nine hours as they waited for Cathedral Grove to be cleared of fallen trees and for the flooding to subside. One Nuu-chah-nulth woman was forced to drive under a fallen tree that was held precariously aloft by a crackling hydro line. A nearby television news crew filmed the scene. Later she nearly drove off the severely flooded road. Her passenger said tree branches were falling all around them as they tried to get through. Power in the city, for the most part, was restored in early evening, but neighboring communities had to wait days to have service restored. Power to Tofino, Ucluelet and Ahousaht was restored two days later. Bamfield residents had to wait four days. In Ahousaht, the community not only had to contend with the storm, but woke early that morning to a tsunami warning, the result of a major earthquake off the coast of Japan. Continued on page 8
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