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Strike up the band
Girls of summer
U.S. Marine Corps Band makes its first Canadian appearance at the Aberdeen Centre. The 50-member ensemble performs Sept. 8.
Team BC capped an unbeaten run at the Canadian Bantam Girls Baseball Championships with a 5-4 win over Ontario in the gold medal game at Brighouse Park Sunday.
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SOCKEYE
POLICE
It’s a feeding frenzy on the dock
Strawberry shopper sought in hit-and-run
Fishers get rock star reception at Steveston wharf BY NELSON BENNETT
nbennett@richmond-news.com
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BY NELSON BENNETT
nbennett@richmond-news.com
CHUNG CHOW/RICHMOND NEWS
Fish were flying off the boats at Fisherman’s Wharf in Steveston where people waited in line for hours to catch a deal on salmon Monday. Fraser River sockeye was going for $15 a fish or $50 for four. “It’s less than three bucks per pound — that’s pretty darned good for salmon,” she said. Mauriks doesn’t have an Area E gillnet licence, so the only salmon he had to sell — springs and coho caught in the Queen Charlottes in July and August — sold quickly. There has been a spillover, he said, with consumers also buying his frozen tuna. “Our tuna business has just gone through the roof,” he said. Mauriks thinks public attitudes towards conservation has a lot to do with how brisk fish sales have been. When returns are low, many consumers are reluctant to buy fish that they fear may be threat-
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Beer, Wine, Pop, Juice, Water
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ened. So with an estimated 30 million sockeye returning, he thinks consumers feel good about buying and eating fresh fish — even fish other than sockeye. “It’s a situation where there’s a big surplus. People feel good about eating salmon now,” Mauriks said. While he’s happy to see commercial fisherman having a good year for once, Ernie Crey, fisheries advisor for the Sto: lo First Nation, worries that the Department of Fisheries and Oceans is allowing the commercial sector to catch too much fish too fast. “There’s been too much fishing too quickly and the catch has
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exceeded the ability of industry to handle it,” he said. “I’m saying they (DFO) are being too generous with these openings.” Fishermen have been having a hard time finding ice and totes, and processors are now turning some fishermen away, saying they have no more cold storage. “The big trouble is a lot of these companies have had difficulty getting employees,” says John Cummins, (MP for DeltaRichmond East). Crey advocates for allowing more fish to escape up river to spawn. Recently, Carl Walters, a fisheries biologist at the University of see Crey page 4
8171 Westminster Hwy. (at Buswell, one block east of No. 3 Rd.) Walkway access also from Save-On Foods parking lot
Mon-Sat 8:45-6:30 Sun 10-5 (604) 780-4959
Richmond RCMP are looking for a hit-and-run driver whom they say sent another driver to hospital at the beginning of July. And they may have gotten lucky. Police have been able to identify a possible suspect who just happened to be caught on surveillance video buying strawberries at a local strawberry farm. RCMP have released surveillance footage in the hope someone can identify one of the suspects. The accident occurred July 1 around 1 p.m. on Westminster Highway near No. 8 Road. Police say a black Acura MDX was westbound on Westminster Highway when a car — believed to be a grey Toyota Camry — backed out of a strawberry farm just west of No. 8 Road. The driver of the Acura swerved to avoid the car, lost control of the car, see Suspects page 4
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Hit-and-run suspect.
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A cheer went up Monday afternoon as the Madrone, a local gillnet boat, pulled up to the public docks in Steveston, heavily laden with sockeye salmon. Claudia Vallance of White Rock was near the front of a very long line of people waiting to buy Fraser River sockeye at $15 a fish, or four for $50. “It doesn’t get fresher than this,” said Vallance, who had been standing in line for about two hours for a chance to buy sockeye at about half the price they typically sell for. The Madrone had just returned from the Fraser after a fifth commercial opening Monday, something local gillnetters haven’t seen for years. The lineups had started earlier in the day. “There were about 400 people waiting at one o’clock,” said John Mauriks, a northern troller who sells fish from his boat at the public docks. “They (the fish boats) sold out quickly.” This is the first time local gillnetters have been able to fish for sockeye for four years. The returns this year have stunned everyone. This year’s return is now predicted to come in at around 30 million — more than double the best estimates. The public docks were just as busy on the weekend, with the public lugging away several fish per customer. Agnes Jackman of New Westminster came away with several seven-pounders at $20 per fish.