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Ernie Fedoruk is Vice President of the
Outdoor Writers of Canada and former B.C. Director with
the Northwest Outdoor Writers Association. Winner of
26 awards in the last 16 years, the sports/outdoors
columnist retired from a 48-year newspaper career in
1996.
Messages can be faxed to him at (250) 592-7090, or emailed
to efedoruk@islandnet.com
"A man's passion for fishing should not allow it
to interfere with his love of family. But if the glue
binds, then please consider the angler's passion also
a love for family." |
If the Catch Limit is Three, I can make you day...
Catch No. 1 -- Fierce, ugly and stinky:
I scour the papers and magazines regularly, and any article
dealing with fishing is a must-read. Mistakes in newspaper
publishing are common, a failing recognized during my 44 years
in the business. I notice many these days. However, calling
fishermen "fishers" is not a mistake. It is an idiotic, gender-sucking
phrase invented to appease a handful of morons. We who have
been careful to avoid the asylum are not pleased.
Let me explain: the fisher is a small, fierce but stinky
animal. My friends and countless unknown strangers who fish
for recreation or profit are NOT smelly critters. Especially
the ladies who, according to my nose, smell sweet and wonderful.
My 14-year-old granddaughter has been fishing for five years
and refers to herself as a fisherman, as do most if not all
adult women I know. If truth must be known, most adult female
anglers laugh at the "fisher" designation.
The word "fisher" is used too often in the publishing business.
"Fisher" or "fishers" are used even in paragraphs immediately
following admission, as one reporter did, the people involved
in his story were "guys (who) marketed their own fish" and
were "just a small number of guys." If the gender purists
insist, call them, the gender purists, fishers. Please do
not refer to my friends, acquaintances and all honorable people
who fish, either as a recreation or for commercial harvest,
as stinky little critters!
Catch No. 2 -- Fish don’t carry union cards:
When the war of words began over the fading positions of
Pacific salmon stocks, the British Columbia government’s posturing
was totally in favor of union workers related to the fishing
industry. The billion-dollar recreational fishing industry,
a vital segment of tourism, was ignored. An economic study
commissioned a few years back pointed out one sports-caught
salmon was worth almost $600 while one salmon caught for commercial
harvest had an economic value of under $30. Big difference.
Still, the huge economic spread makes no impact with the provincial
government.
Dunderheads will remain dunderheads, one supposes. Former
Premier Glen Clark, a disaster at the top job, surrounded
himself with union representatives as "consultants." When
Clark's fight with former federal Fisheries Minister David
Anderson heated up, John Radosevic, president of the United
Fishermen and Allied Workers Union, charged to the Premier's
defence. Radosevic complained of "corruption" and accused
Anderson of making special rules for "his friends." Radosevic
totally ignored the fact many union buddies were recruited
by Clark as "consultants" or appointed to government corporations
such as BC Ferries.
During the 1999 season an area off Langara Point in the Queen
Charlottes was ticketed a no-fishing zone, said Radosevic,
but "miraculously" became a zone where limited recreational
fishing would be allowed. Bob Wright, owner of Oak Bay Marine
Group, operates a floating resort in the area and was identified
as "the friend of Anderson’s."
"I am really delighted to hear Mr. Anderson is still an
alleged friend," laughed Wright, "because he has effectively
closed (around Victoria) Pedder Bay and the area around Oak
Bay, where I have my main operations. "I have never been on
a fishing trip with Anderson. David Anderson didn’t even send
me a Christmas card, and I am not a Liberal."
A reporter asked if Wright would sue for defamation. "Hardly,"
replied the former Pacific Salmon Commission representative.
"He (Radosevic) has not got any money. He’s just got a big
mouth."
Catch No. 3 -- Support in the trenches:
The accusations of being overly-harsh on Clark and his union
enthusiasm are fired at me despite my being the longest-serving
member of the Victoria chapter of the American Newspaper Guild.
Hey, I loved Clark. Every morning the flake served up a new
idea for an entertaining column. Some credit goes to his hand-picked
consultants and much to his bureaucrats, none of whom could
organize a one-man race to a two-hole toilet.
Before he resigned as Premier, Clark’s woeful posturing
in them supposedly-fading BC salmon picture was recognized
by others. Les Leyne, who writes the political column for
the Victoria Times Colonist, suggests "people in this doomed
(fisheries) industry don’t think much of Anderson but he is
setting some kind of record for putting conservation principles
ahead of personal popularity." Which Anderson did before he
was whisked away to head the federal Environment Ministry.
"Clark, by contrast," wrote Les, "seems intent on exploiting
whatever political support he can find, by throwing rocks
at Ottawa and the Americans -- his perennially favorite targets
-- and beating the phoney ‘give the resource to BC’ drum.
Clark’s job as top dog went down the toilet because he pressed
BC Ferries, a crown corporation, to go full steam ahead and
build three "fast ferries." The aluminum catamarans, which
will eventually cost BC taxpayers more than a half billion
dollars, are total disasters. The ships can’t come close to
the speed projected, throw wakes that anger all coastal dwellers
living near the ferry route and the first two went back to
the docks for a series of repairs.
All other ferry-building mistakes would take three days
to list. Ask Clark if Boeing built three 747s before the prototype
had passed all tests. Understand now why Boeing is a successful
company and Clark no longer is No. 1 in BC?
Copyright ©
Ernie Fedoruk retired in 1996 after a 47-year journalism career as an outdoors and sports columnist, has just completed
14 years as director/officer of the Outdoor Writers of Canada,
also was director of the Northwest Outdoor Writers Association
for 11 years. His passion is fishing – to find and to
protect – and insists his greatest contribution as a
conservationist is incompetence.
Ernie Fedoruk Freelance Journalist
1867 Neil Street Victoria, BC, V8R 3C6, Canada
phone:(250)592-4438 fax:(250)592-7090
e-mail: efedoruk@islandnet.com
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contact efedoruk@islandnet.com
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