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Resolutions adopted by the meeting, which included members of the union, the Native Brotherhood, the Nishga Tribal Council, Prince Rupert Co-op, the Pacific Gillnetters Association and even company officials, reflected the broad concerns of the fishermen.
They demanded:
• that the government take a tougher stand in treaty negotiations and stand ready to back this stance by moving the sur-fline or limiting energy exports to exert pressure on the U.S.;
• that the department take full responsibility for the consequences of the Davis Plan and initiate a complete review of licensing based on the recognition the plan was a mistake;
• that the government ensure fishermen receive full unemployment benefits and are protected from increased company ownership of licences should foreclosures take place; and
• that the department take immediate action to protect the fishery from the environmental threats of logging, the Amax project and Kemano 2.
In an opening address to the meeting, Hewison told Johnston fishermen need direct contact with LeBlanc to dispel the myth the industry is split on the need for action on licensing, treaty talks and the environment.
UFfiWU Meetings
UFAWU SENIORS CLUB
Wednesday, August 6
1 p.m. FISHERMEN'S HALL 138 East Cordova Street ALL RETIRED MEMBERS OF UFAWU AND THEIR SPOUSES INVITED TO ATTEND
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• Handicrafts
• Net making
• Bingo
August — meeting on first Wednesday ONLY.
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"One critical problem is the licence limitation plan," he said, "which has created $600 million worth of gear to catch $500 million worth of fish.
"The Davis Plan is a wreck, a mistake. We have to acknowledge that mistake and we haven't."
Hewison said the Sinclair Report released by the department in 1979 would simply prolong the Davis Plan.
"If we implement that report, it'll mean curtains for a lot of fishermen. The Davis Plan was a cruel hoax that means destruction of the resource and destruction of fishermen.
"One corporation now controls 70 percent of the production. We've seen cuts in price on every major species and we have an emergency situation. We've got to look not only at the future of the resource but the people in it."
In what Hewison said as "an historic statement" Johnson replied that he "couldn't agree more that the Davis Plan was a tragedy with scores of loopholes.
But he defended his department's record in fighting environmental battles, saying negotiations with Alcan are continuing about flow rates to the Nechako and that a further review of the Amax project is under way.
(Amax £ot cabinet-level approval to dump toxic waste deep in Alice Arm.)
Fisherman Al Campbell wasn't satisfied with Johnson's reply. "Romeo himself should have been out here to listen to us," he said. "The only reason this crisis didn't hit sooner was because herring bailed us out.
"Now salmon is poor, halibut is poor and herring is gone. What kind of a plan have you got? We've got to feed and clothe our families. What are you doing for us?"
Johnson's reply that a major problem was gear conflict in the fleet brought a stinging reply from fisherman Jack Jantzen.
"You say the problem is gear conflict. It's not. It's a question of backbone. If you went out and crapped around here, that wouldn't be tolerated. Why do we tolerate it when the companies are doing it in the streams?
"The biggest problem we have is the six million salmon we're giving to the U.S.. it's the pollu-
tion killing our salmon, it's the growth in the sport fishery."
Willis Crosby owner of the seiner Tanu Warrior, asked bluntly, "Where are the new licences coming from?"
Johnson's reply that "there are no new licences being issued" was met with derision.
The fishermen gave a roar of support when he demanded that Johnson "throw out the moonlighters and put the licence on the man, not the boat."
James Gosnell, chairman of the Nishga Tribal Council, also won an ovation from the meeting when he called on Johnson to open up the Dixon Entrance so Canadian fisherment can even the score in interceptions.
In a year when Canadian salmon are few and far between, he said, there is no need to give millions to the U.S.
"We've told you before to wake up," he told Johnson, "and now you'd better. If you can't do the job, maybe you should get out and let me be director."
Gosnell delivered a scorching attack on Johnson for his department's support of the Amax project and read excerpts from a government study which claimed there was no Indian fishery in the area.
"What an insult! We've owned that inlet for thousands of years." Gosnell asked for full union support for his council's battle against Amax and was assured by union representative Mike Darnell that he could count on 100 percent backing.
Wally Johnson's career prospects were raised several times during the meeting and although Hewison welcomed his admission on the Davis Plan he asked if he wasn't risking dismissal for criticising a scheme the department has backed for more than a decade.
Doug Johnston assured Hewison that the remarks reflected a department consensus, and Wally Johnson added that, while many of the Sinclair Report's recommendations were under study, licence limitation is in for major changes.
Johnston said LeBlanc could not attend the meeting because of the impending pipeline debate in the House of Commons. The meeting also heard written message from Skeena MP Jim Fulton and Nanaimo MP Ted Miller, NDP fisheries critic.
skeena
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
eries of 229,287 sockeye from a combined fleet of 326 gillnetters and seines.
That brings Barkley Sound's total landings to 677,932 sock-eye.
A fleet of 152 seines fishing in Area 23 July 15 averaged 524 fish with landings of 79,483 sockeye. A reduced seine fleet of 136 seines delivered 48,492 sockeye the next day, while a similar concentration July 17 took 54,592 sockeye.
A fisheries department tally July 24 showed a group of 40 seines averaged 943 fish in a one-day opening in Area 23.
Initial gillnet catches in Area 4 July 7 totalled 49,455 sockeye and 1,856 pinks for a fleet of 552 boats which averaged a devastating 72 fish each.
Similar catches on the second day of the opening in the same area recorded an average of only 75 fish for each gillnetter. The day's catch was 37,313 sockeye and 5,090 pinks.
strike
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
tion Board in 1976. McCurdy said the strike and the companies' lock-out now affects the whole fishing industry, including trawlermen who signed an agreement with the companies earlier in January, 1979.
McCurdy added that provincial premier Brian Peckford's announcement July 22 recommending "a 30-day cooling off period," was totally unacceptable to union members.
"In fact," he said, "he is asking us to throw away our strike leverage." He said Peckford's recommendation contained no specific terms of reference for a compromise.
"If what he said was followed by specific recommendations, then we would possibly sit down and discuss it."
He said the union faced a similar situation in 1974 when the province's premier recommended a cooling off period, but provided both parties with specific terms of reference for an agreement.
The 1974 government recommendation," hesaid, "was based on the operators' ability to pay and on the fishermen's annual income.
"If we accept Peckford's challenge, it's like we throw away our right to collective bargaining," he added.
McCurdy said Newfoundland fishermen averaged a net income of onlv $9,000 each in 1979.
"We definitely can't operate under the present prices, otherwise we'll go bankrupt," he concluded.
2/THE FISHERMAN — JULY 25, 1980