FISH AND SHIPS
PRINCE RUPERT TROLLERS Pictured last month in Prince Rupert's new basin are these trollers, most of them making ready for the new season. _G. Legebokoff photos
NEWLY FINISHED MARKET More working space, more stock, and a complete refrigeration system are features of Henry's B-Y Market in Prince Rupert, recently renovated and enlarged. The smokehouse will soon be in operation and all will be well.
WINJO WRITES
Bull Harbor Aptly Named
v a r i e t y of I V -'eather here, ' * f£rf] lost of it bad, ff'm
WITH the c o h o fishing just three days away as I write this piece, quite a number of boats are making their start from Bull Harbor.
Most of the boats are trollers, and a few gillnetters who are trying their luck in Goletas Channel. So far, gillnet fishing in this area is very poor.
The weather is not too good around here. It seems that every-time I want to do some work 1 on the boat it
starts  raining,     f * and w h i1e I I write this, it is vl* coming   down , %.my
at a pretty fast rate. We do have
a
weather most
but when it's not raining it's hailing, so there's nothing to do but go along with it.
★    ★ ★
THIS HALIBUT FISHING IS
quite a challenge, especially jigging. Anyone with a bit of imagination can whip up a jig that can outfish everyone else. I have some dillies, but so far all I got out of my inventions is exercise. One of these days I may click, and then watch out.
The other day a fisherman came aboard my boat and wanted to see some of my killers. Well, I was reluctant to show them to a competitor, but he said he wasn't going to jig halibut. All he wanted to do was pass on his own idea of what he thought would be an easy way to snag some halibut.
Well, I was all ears, and I asked him if he would pass on his idea to me.
"Sure," he said, "I came over to tell you because I figured that of all the fellows jigging out here, you were the most likely guy to try my idea."
"Shoot," I said. "You can see by all my home made and manu-
factured jiggers that I would try anything to get those halibut to bite."
"Oh," said Merv (this fisherman's name is Merv), "you don't have to worry about the halibut biting, or taking a jig. This is something altogether different."
"Well, what is it?" I asked.
"I'll tell you. When you are home in the winter and have some time on your hands, go around to some of these junk yards that wreck cars."
"What's cars got to do with it?" I asked.
"Just a minute," said Merv, "let me finish."
"OK," I replied.
"Well, when you go to these car wrecking places, ask the owner to save you all the steel ball bearings laying around when they wreck cars. Tell the owner you will pay him something for the ball bearings, so this way you can get a large supply." (By this time I was getting a bit leary about his idea of how to catch halibut.) "You collect these ball bearings, see, and in the spring when you have a couple of thousand pounds you put them aboard your boat and head for the halibut grounds."
"Just a minute, Merv," I said, "should I bring a sling shot?"
"No, no, no, no sling shot — just wait and I'll tell you the rest of it."
"OK," I said, "go on."
"When you get to Bull Harbor, get the freshest herring that can be bought. The halibut go for fresh herring."
"What's the herring got to do with ball bearings?" I asked.
"Just a minute," he said, "let me finish."
"OK," I said, "but it better be good."
"This is guaranteed to work," replied Merv.
"When you go out to the halibut grounds you — oh yes, I forgot to mention that you
should get a very powerful magnet. I guess you can pick one up in Vancouver, but you have to have a good and powerful one."
(By this time I was beginning to get a hazy picture — I was beginning to get the idea that Merv was away from civilisation too long, and that his mind was doing funny things to him, but I though I should humor him and hear him out.) "Carry on," I said.
"All right now, you are on the halibut grounds, you have lots of ball bearings, you have nice fresh herring, and you have a powerful magnet."
"Yes," I said, "I have all these things. What's next?"
"You get a bunch of herring, and you stuff them full of ball bearings. Then you throw the herring overboard. With the ball bearings inside, the herring will sink to the bottom and the halibut will gobble them up. Now, this is where the strong magnet comes it. When you have thrown a couple of dozen herring into the water, you wait for about 10 minutes. Then you lower the strong magnet into the water and let it go right down to the bottom. Any halibut that has swallowed the herring you tossed overboard with the steel ball bearings inside of it, will be pulled up by the magnet. All you have to do is to haul the halibut on board your boat. This way you don't have to worry about the halibut taking your jig!"
IT'S STILL  RAINING IN
Bull Harbor, and the wind seems to' have picked up quite a bit too. It may be time for me to, take a trip somewhere, anywhere, away from halibut fishing, for a time at least, or I will have to join Merv in his happy world of fancy. So this is all from this end, and that's the halibut.
—WINJO
AS indicated on another page, the New Democratic Party has finally broken its self imposed silence on issues facing the BC labor movement with the call by leader Robert Stra-chan for a special session of the BC legislature. The current issue of the Democrat has belatedly begun to deal, rather gingerly it's true, with the Len-kurt situation. We know we expressed the views of a good many working people in the province when we said editorially on June 10 that we were "frankly disappointed at the silence emanating from the New Democratic Party on the use of injunctions in labor disputes and the contempt of court actions which arise from them." We pointed out that "The NDP as the political arm of the labor movement must help lead the fight on this fundamental issue." We might have added that it's difficult to fight with one arm not functioning. The silence continued through the special BC Federation of Labor June 19 conference with only Bob Clair, NDP candidate in Little Mountain, expressing the view that the Party should be speaking out. MLA John Squire of Alberni was present during part of the June 19 conference but said nothing. Again, we say, congratulations to Strachan for having spoken, late in the day as it is. Much more needs to be said and done by the NDP in support of the rights of organised labor and indeed by the trade union movement itself.
★ ★ ★
Captain William C. Cook, former skipper-owner of the Vel-ma C and now retired, recently underwent major surgery on his hip and is now recovering in Room 922 of the Centennial Pavilion, Vancouver General Hospital. That's the Orthopedic ward. He would like to see some of his fishermen friends. Captain Cook retired in 1984, retaining his connection with the fishing industry through a host of friends. Vancouver Fishermen's Settlement Service manager Aag Kopperud joins them in wishing him a speedy recovery.
★ ★ *
A news report tells of a narrow escape by Percy Fowler of Prince Rupert June 23 who suffered burns when his 32 foot gillnetter Devil Rock, owned by Canadian Fishing Company, caught fire and burned. Fowler was forced to leap overboard when the fire got out of control as he was nearing Prince Rupert. Harold Wesley of Port Simpson and the crew of the Canfisco packer Rivers Inlet spotted the burning vessel and plucked the fisherman from the rough waters. He was taken to hospital for treatment.
★ * *
The Prince Rupert Daily News also reported a fire June 24 that razed the old Millerd Cannery at Seal Cove. Lack of a fire hydrant hindered efforts to save the building but firemen managed to salvage the dock.
★ ★ *
We hope gillnetter Esumtsu Nakatani was able to get repairs to his vessel Hannah Rock in time to start the season. He was on his way north to start the season at Porcher Island when the Hannah Rock exploded and caught fire June 17 while he was crossing Milbanke Sound. He noticed gas fumes in the cabin as the result of a gas line break and the ensuing explosion and fire resulted in burns to his face. The Hannah Rock was towed to Klemtu by T. Yoshida and later to Porcher Island for necessary repairs to the inside of the cabin.
★ ★ ★
Well known tenderman John L. Hansen was struck by a car on June 15 at McLean Drive and Hastings Street, suffering a fractured pelvis. He is in St. Paul's Hospital where it is expected he wi'l remain for several weeks. John had just returned to Vancouver aftpr frrn'-ing the Fitzhugh to Namu. He was due to leave on June 16 aboard the Wawanesa to pack out of Bull Harbor.
★ ★ *
We are sorry to report that veteran Vancouver Fishermen's Local member Tom Pavelich is
in Richmond General Hospital suffering from what may be pneumonia and pleurisy. He was experiencing considerable discomfort when admitted June 19, according to Mrs. Pavelich, but his condition had improved this week. Tom is a salmon and herring seiner and one of the old timers who helped build the UFAWU and give it a solid backbone. We wish him well.
★ ★ *
Labor Party leader or not, British Prime Minister Harold Wilson is making a sorry display of himself in fighting the demands of the Seamen's Union. Conditions on British ships are notoriously deplorable and drastic changes in hours of work and wages are decades overdue. But Wilson, sadly and sicken-ingly, has resorted to redbaiting, the last refuge of a scoundrel, somebody once said. We're reminded of John Steinbeck's words in Grapes of Wrath: "A red is any son of a bitch who wants thirty cents when you're paying twenty-five." George Hewison won't need to do much editing to adapt his "Oh, Wilson, don't you weep, don't you mourn" to the British variety.
★ ★ *
The people who lecture the workers on their exorbitant demands are invariably making several times as much and living in the luxury that the poor are expected only to dream about.
★ * ★
George Ransford is undergoing extensive treatment in the Heather Pavilion of Vancouver General Hospital and his paper is being sent there at the request of his sister Molly who has herself been ill at home and unable to visit.
★ ★ Ik-General executive board member Reg Payne was in with a halibut trip in late June and we paid him a visit up on the ways at Benson's Shipyard. He was up there for a very good reason — a break in one of the pipes in his cooling system. Reg was getting ready to change his Saturnina over to trolling for the coho season. He made two halibut trips but they were only fair. He was telling us about one of the real anomalies regarding red cod, for which he had received five cents per pound dressed. Even at a low 30 percent recovery, this brings the price of fillets to about 17 cents per pound which in turn means at least a 200 percent markup when they are sold to the public. This is just one more area of profiteering that should be shut off.
★ * *
New Westminster Local has named the following camp delegates: Margaret Bay, John Person, Eric Arkko; Leroy Bay, Alf Hansen, Marvin McGregor, Cyril Lamoreux; Boswell, Harold Peterson; Clam Beach, Mas Kamachi; Goose Bay, Nels Hof-stad, Ole Maurstad; Wadhams, Ludvik Gulbransen; Sampson 4, Al Montgomery, Jack Shauer; Beaver, Bill Hansen, Bert Lam-din; Bella Bella, Frank Gladish.
★ ★ ★
Harry Corlett of Gibsons may not go out fishing this season and if he does, it will likely be only for a month or so. His daughter Sandra is in Vancouver General Hospital where she has undergone a series of operations, bearing up under them with courage and determination. We have only admiration for this brave young girl who has gone through a protracted period of suffering but somehow manages to remain cheerful. A devoted father, Harry will limit his fishing in order to be able to visit Sandra as often as possible. He is president of the Gibsons Local and a member of the Union's general executive board.
★ * ★
Why must there be pain and misery in the world when man has the ability and resources to eliminate their main causes?
★ ★ ★
Glenn McEachern is in Prince Rupert, Homer Stevens and Harold Wilcox are on the Chi-quita 3 in the Rivers Inlet area, Wally Paulik is on his way there, and Bert Ogden is in Victoria, to give you the current deployment of UFAWU organising forces.
THE FISHERMAN — JULY 1, 1966