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ALERT BAY
• ECHO SOUNDERS • RADIOTELEPHONES • RADAR, ETC.
Alert Bay Electronics
SALES AND SERVICE
RO. Box 324, Alert Bay, B.C. Telephone 974-5451
Nimpkish Hotel
The Centre for Commercial Fishermen
Blueline Supermarket, Ltd.
Box 349 Alert Bay, B.C. VON 1A0 - 974-5521
Open Monday thru Friday 9 AM-9 PM, Saturday 9 AM-6 PM, Sunday 10 AM-5 PM
Free Delivery in Alert Bay
MARINE PROVISIONS SERVICES & QUALITY
ISLAND CENTRE
ALERT BAY, B.C.
GROCERY - HARDWARE - DRY GOODS RAINGEAR - ICE
Monday-Saturday 9-6 p.m. Fishing Season - Open Sunday 9 a.m.-12 p.m."
Free Boat Delivery • Boat Order Forms Available
Phone 974-5535 Chan. 16 'Knight Misf
— Fishermen Are Our Business —
ALERT BAY FOODS
• Total supply of fresh meats, produce, in-store bakery and full line of groceries. • Cafe — take out food 'till midnight • Will open after hours if contacted by processors. • Delivery to the boats
974-5501
974-5502
10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. 7 days a week
(across from the Post Office and Liquor Store)
Processors not passing price cuts on to consumers
B.C. fish processors handed fishermen price cuts of 20 to 40 percent this summer, according to a Fisherman survey, but have passed only half of that reduction on to consumers.
Although information on wholesale prices of canned and frozen salmon is scanty, initial indications are that processors have rolled back their quoted sales figures about 20 percent, only half of the cut they imposed on fishermen.
The most savage cuts were borne by fishermen landing chinook and coho, which faced ruinous dumping of farmed salmon in world markets.
A UFAWU delegation was taking the information to Seattle at Fisherman press time for a union-sponsored international meeting of salmon fishermen to discuss the price question.
All three union officers attended the meeting Oct. 19 at Fish Expo in Seattle to which delegations from a dozen fishermen's associations from Bristol Bay to California were invited.
(A full report of the meeting will be carried in next month's issue.)
The UFAWU is the only union on the entire Pacific seaboard. Collective bargaining backed by strike action is illegal in the United States and the last major tie-up of American salmon fishermen occurred in 1980 in Bristol Bay.
According to the union survey, final landed prices for net-caught sockeye are likely to fall in the range of $2.15 this year, a sharp cut of almost 43 percent from last year's average landed value of $3.75 a pound.
But B.C. Packers' reduced its
quoted wholesale price for a case of Clover Leaf Sockeye to $135 from $170 last month, a drop of only 20 percent. A large percentage of this year's sockeye catch was canned.
Troll sockeye prices showed equally sharp declines to a late season level of $3.86 a pound for frozen dress head-ott lish, down from $5.57 at the end of last season. In general, fish prices seem to be heading for the 1985 to 1986 levels.
Chinook and coho showed similar declines, sparked in large part by continued dumping of farmed salmon.
B.C. salmon farmers were selling two to four-pound chinook so cheaply that it was offered last month for U.S.$1.70 a pound in the Seattle wholesale market. A year ago, the same fish brought U.S.$3.75.
Union urges action on race tensions
Worsening conflict between Vietnamese and non-Vietnamese' fishermen in Steveston — which has erupted into fistfights and gunfire on at least two occasions — must be tackled by a comprehensive government program, says the UFAWU.
In a meeting with fisheries officials in Vancouver Oct. 18, a UFAWU delegation urged that a task force be formed of representatives from the immigration department, the fisheries department and other agencies to help integrate Vietnamese fishermen into the community.
DFO representative Dave
Schutz agreed to convene a further meeting to discuss the concept with other industry groups.
Most of the friction this summer occurred because hundreds of fishermen targetting on Fra-ser River sockeye crowded into Small Craft Harbours facilities which normally service many fewer vessels. Squabbles over net mending erupted into violence, but no charges were laid.
"The fisheries department can't sit back and watch this pot boil," says UFAWU small boat organizer Dennis Brown. "We think the department should head up a task force on racial
problems to allow these grievances to be aired."
Such a body could help orient fishermen new to the industry to the time-honored ways things are done, Brown said, such as traditional fishing patterns on congested drifts.
Other government agencies with access to language services, such as Employment and Immigration Canada, should be involved, he said.
Union secretary-treasurer Bill Procopation agreed. Rounding out the union delegation was Bud Sakamoto, who is well aware of the problems racial tensions have caused in the past.
CABLE-FREE GEAR MONITORING
Scanmar supplies a package for every boat and every budget. A basic system starts you off with a display cabinet, a hydrophone and a single sensor. After that, you just add sensors to tailor the system to your exact needs.
# SCANMAR
Leading the way — Cable-free of course
MARITIME SERVICES
3440 Bridgeway Street, Vancouver, B.C. V5K1B6
(604) 294-4444
IN PRINCE RUPERT CONTACT: SAMTRONICS RADAR LTD. 415 THIRD AVE. EAST (604) 627-1339
8 • THE FISHERMAN / OCTOBER 20,1989