Vol. XXXI, No. 22        VANCOUVER, B.C. July 12, 1968
Pact Signed
Agreement Ends Louisburg Tieup
An amicable settlement was reached with the H. Hopkins Ltd. plant at Louisburg, N.S., this week to end a tieup by some 30 inshore fishermen, members of the Louisburg UFAWU Local.
• Cabinet changes announced last weekend by Prime Minister Trudeau gave Jack Davis (above), MP-elect for Coast-Capilano and minister without portfolio in the pre-election cabinet, the newly combined fisheries and forestry portfolio.
Immediate cause of the tieup was the company's action in cutting the fish price from five to 4% cents a pound. The independent fishermen who normally supply the plant responded to the price cut by tying up their boats and refusing to fish until the company met their demands on price and a number of outstanding grievances.
The fishermen set out picket lines, with an assurance of support from other unions in the area.
Negotiations with the company concluded this week with signing of an agreement setting the fish price at 4% cents a pound but giving the fishermen the right to use company facilities to freeze their own bait. Independent fishermen have long complained that lack of facilities prevents them from freezing their own fish for bait when prices are low and forces them to buy bait at high company prices.
The company also undertook to press the federal fisheries department for a bait and trawl fish subsidy comparable to that now given Newfoundland fishermen.
Under the agreement, the company will buy fish from fishermen after 5 p.m. "when absolutely necessary" and allow fishermen use of its hoist to unload their fish "when tides are low or for any other good reason."
Hemispheric Peace Conference Planned
Leading figures in the trade unions, on university campuses and in cultural and other organizations are among Canadian sponsors of the Hemispheric Conference to End the War in Vietnam which will bring an estimated 2,000 delegates from Canada, United States and many Latin American countries to Montreal October 12-14.
Canadian sponsors of the conference include Aid. Harry Rankin of Vancouver, Rabbi Feinberg, author Farley Mowat, broadcaster June Call wood, Prof. James Steele of Carle ton University, Gerard Rancourt, general secretary of the Quebec Federation of Labor; Pierre Vadborncoeur of the Confederation of National Trade Unions; Mac Makarchuk, Ontario New Democratic MLA.
On July 27, Canadian and U.S. sponsors will meet in Montreal to
discuss conference plans. Among U.S. sponsors are actors Ossie Davis and Howard Da Sijva, historian Herbert Aptheker, Mrs. Dagmar Wilson, national chairman of Women Strike for Peace, and several state legislators.
Latin American sponsors include artist David A1 f a r o Si-queiros of Mexico, poet Pablo Neruda of Chile and an impressive list of legislators from several countries, 14 senators and 43 deputies from Chile alone.
The conference call opens with this paragraph defining its spirit and purpose:
"We, citizens of Montreal, concerned about this immoral war, are taking the initiative to convene a conference representative of all those in the Western Hemisphere who are striving to end the war which the United States is waging against the people of Vietnam. The conference will work for peace on a basis which will establish the unqualified right of the Vietnamese people to determine their own destiny free from all foreign interference."
'Cape Scoff in Seymour Narrows Collision
See Story on Page 9
Skeena Runs Held Best Since 1956
IWA To Vote On Wage Pact
Members of the International Woodworkers of America employed in coast lumber operations begin voting this weekend on whether to accept a new agreement recommended by a bare majority of the union's negotiating committee on July 10, with president Jack Moore reportedly casting the deciding vote. Balloting will end on July 31.
The proposed agreement would provide a 36 cents an hour increase in a two year contract, 18 cents retroactive to June 15 and another 18 cents on the same date next year. Improved sick benefit payments, reduced working hours for camp and culinary employees and increased fare allowances are said to be part of the settlement proposal.
Union negotiators reportedly were divided almost evenly on whether to recommend acceptance of the offer which came after IWA members in many areas participated in job action to force operators into realistic bargaining.
Figures released by Skeena Salmon Management Committee indicate the Skeena sockeye run in the first two weeks this year was larger than in any year since 1956. Total sockeye catch to July 7 amounted to 124,367 with an estimated escapement of 215,987.
Some 360 boats operated in the Skeena area when fishing opened on June 23 and produced approximately 28,000 sockeye in the two day period, compared with 30,000 in the comparable week last year and 11,000 in 1966. Average weight of sockeye landed was 6.1 pounds, the Committee said.
In the three day period last week, about 400 boats took 96,000 ,sockeye, compared with 49,000 last year. Average catches on the first day stood at 100 sockeye per boat, decreasing to 50 per boat on July 2 and rising to 70 per boat on July 3. Average weight was 6.6 pounds.
Sockeye escapement estimated by test fishing totalled 215,978 to July 7, greater than totals to the same date in all years back to 1956.
Catch Reports Good From Central Areas
Good fishing in central areas highlighted fishing on the coast early this week with a fleet of 945 gillnetters reported averaging 140 sockeye in Area 9, Rivers Inlet, on July 8 and 357 gillnetters averaging 170 sockeye and 12 pinks in Area 10, Smith Inlet, on July 9.
Fair to good catches were recorded in Area 3, Nass River, on July 8. In Area 3X, 49 gillnetters averaged 90 sockeye and 13 pinks while 14 gillnetters averaged 52 sockeye in Area 3Y. In Area 3Z, some   46   gillnetters reportedly
No Decision Yet
At Fisherman press time this week, no word had been received from justice minister John Turner on amnesty for jailed UFAWU officers H. Steve Sta-venes and Homer Stevens, although they now have less than two months of their sentences to serve.
—John Rutka photo
• A broken oil line apparently caused the outbreak of fire aboard the seiner Cape Churchill near Bella Bella last mohth. Flames ripped through housing and accommodation. Badly damaged vessel is pictured here alongside dock at Sterling Shipyard in Vancouver where she is undergoing repairs.
averaged 66 sockeye on the same date.
Catches in Area 4, Skeena River, were reported lower than a week earlier with 429 gillnetters averaging 49 sockeye on July 9. In Area 1, 36 gillnetters averaged 13 sockeye, three pinks and 10 chums on July 8.
Area 5 on July 9 saw three gillnetters at Browning Entrance average 26 sockeye, 13 pinks and 21 chums. In Principle Channel on the same date, four gillnetters averaged 18 sockeye and seven pinks while on the west coast of Banks Island five gillnetters averaged 51 sockeye.
PINK CATCHES
In the Wright Sound, Lewis Passage and Squally Channel section of Area 5, 40 seiners averaged 767 pinks and 98 chums on July 9 and 13 gillnetters averaged 17 sockeye and 40 pinks.
Some 26 gillnetters in Area 6 averaged 12 sockeye and 34 pinks in Whale Channel on July 8 while 138 seiners averaged 704 pinks and 64 chums. Laredo Sound recorded averages of 30 sockeye and 13 pinks by seven gillnetters while five seiners in the same area averaged 81 pinks, 36 chums and 28 sockeye. In Higgins Pas-
See CATCH — Page 6
Postal Strike Arrangements
• In the event postal workers are forced to strike for their demands, next Friday's issue of The Fisherman, the last for the month, will continue to be flown to upcoast ports and camps, and arrangements will be made to have copies available at floats in Vancouver, New Westminster and Steve-ston.