Whitehorse Daily Star from Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada • 10

10 The Whitehorse STAR Thursday February 12 1987 I THE NATION Fishing trawler suspected of exceeding quota Cormier said boat is still off Stephenville and she cannot which war signed in Paris in January By THE CANADIAN PRESS A fishing trawler from the French islands of St-Pierre-Mi-quelon which is suspected of overfishing in Canadian waters may not be inspected until Friday a Fisheries Department spokesman said this morning La Goellette was intercepted off -Sydney-Bight off southwestern Newfoundland on Tuesday and asked to report to Stephenville Nfld The trawler was off Stephenville this morning but wind and poor visibility may prevent it from getting into port today Dan Cormier a Fisheries officer from Moncton NB sent to Stephenville to do the inspection was tight-lipped about the incident which comes in the midst of a sensitive Canada-France fishing dispute No charges have been laid -against La Goellette "All we want to do is to have an inspection of the The treaty commits the two countries to negotiate a deal to send a boundary dispute to international arbitration and to discuss French fish quotas for the period from 1988 to 1991 The La Goellette is part of the tiny St-Pierre fleet which objects to the heavy fishing of large shTps from continental France On Wednesday a factory-freezer trawler based in France received a less-than-friendly welcome in St-Pierre-Miquelon when island residents refused to unload the ship and asked its captain to leave port (trawler crew) found the doors of the cold-storage company closed and will not be allowed to unload any more Jean-Pierre Andrieux Canadian consul to St-Pierre said in a telephone interview come in because of the bad Fisheries officer Real Cormier said the 30-metre trawler which was fishing cod south of Port aux Basques Nfld was suspected of exceeding its haddock quota The dispute centres on a controversial treaty between the two countries that has Atlantic Canadians and residents of the tiny French islands south of Newfoundland worried that overfishing by factory trawlers from France jwifl deplete fish stocks Cormier said he wouldnt go out to meet La Goellette but will wait for the trawler to reach port He said he could not comment further until the inspection was carried A Fisheries observer is aboard the French trawler Cormier confirmed He said boats leaving St Pierre to fish in Canadian waters must have a Canadian observer on board La Goellette was intercepted in a wedge-shaped area near St Pierre to which the French were granted access under the treaty Search intensifies for missing fishing vessel VANCOUVER (CP) A sister ship of the missing 36-metre fishing vessel which is the subject of an intensive search off the northern British Columbia coast sank in the same area more than seven years ago The Scotia Cape was scheduled to return to its home port in nearby Richmond BC on Monday The vessel with six men and one woman aboard was last seen Jan 28 off the northern tip of Vancouver Island when it was en route to the Queen Charlotte Islands Search and rescue officials assume the Scotia Cape sank either off the west coast of the Queen Charlottes or in Queen Charlotte Sound between Vancouver Island and the Charlottes The search has concentrated on areas where a life raft from the Scotia Cape might have drafted The Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Victoria said some debris was spotted Wednesday on the east side of the Queen Charlottes but that it had not been connected to the Scotia Cape The vessel was equipped with two life rafts and enough food and water to last the crew up to a month The Scotia Cape was one of four sister ships built by St John Shipbuilding and Drydock Co Ltd of Saint John NB Her predecessor the Scotia Bay sank in 1979 The Scotia Bay was partly owned by the skipper of the Scotia Cape over" But Williams said he doesn't believe the Scotia Cape necessarily suffered the same fate say it was prone to it (rolling over) but it is possible" Both the Scotia Cape and the Scotia Bay fished for BC Packers at the Prince Rupert cold storage plant In 1982 the plant closed and the Scotia Cape moved its home base to the Vancouver area but many of the original crew members opted to stay in Prince Rupert instead of moving south Williams formerly of Shelbour-ne NS has worked on three of four sister ships built by St John Shipbuilding He said the Scotia Port and Scotia Vagn Mark The skipper was Roger Foote whose company Foote Fishing Ltd owns 31 shares of the Scotia Cape Packers is the other owner of the Scotia Cape with 33 shares On Sept 6 1979 the Scotia Bay listed to starboard after making a haul and rolled over She sank within 45 minutes but all crew members were rescued by another fishing vessel within an hour Eugene Williams of Prince Rupert BC who is brother-in -law was the engineer on the Scotia Bay when it went down He said weather conditions were not particularly stormy at the time Nobody really knows what happened The boat just rolled Point are both still in service one as a herring seiner on the East Coast and the other as an oceanographic research vessel based in Massachusetts Meanwhile as relatives of some of the missing crew members waited in Prince Rupert Joy Thorkelson of the United Fishermen and Allied Workers Union said fishermen hope the Scotia Cape has merely suffered engine problems and is unable to make radio contact are lots of places on the west coast of the Charlottes where you make radio contact They may have holed up in some foggy little cove and may be shooting deer and drinking beer Lots of boats have done that in the past A- -'fc rfJhb Ny" If you Have a Sweetie near or far Sendyour Cove through the Whitehorse Start Relentless winter forces residents on fish diet BURGEO Nfld (CP) A relentless winter has put the 7000 or so people in a string of communities on the southwestern coast of Newfoundland on a diet since early January Storms have repeatedly blocked the only highway into the area often leaving Burgeo Grey River Francois and Ramea Island without milk bread produce even potatoes a Newfoundland staple One thing the area does have is fish and plenty of it There are over 1 000 tonnes of fish stockpiled at the local fish plant because it couldn't be shipped to market Burgeo mayor Lloyd Walters said Wednesday the highway into the community of 3000 was been closed about half of January In the last two weeks the road was closed for eight days was cleared for about four hours and then snow blocked it for another two days Monday it was open for three or four Walter said was almost impassable but some vehicles got over can't describe store owner Sam Dollimont said of the road conditions have to see it to believe it The coastal communities are at the end of a 150-kilometre stretch of road that branches off the Trans-Canada Highway near Stephenville Snow has been whipped by high winds into drifts over 10 metres high in places along the isolated and barren highway At one point the town got the ferry that travels between Burgeo and Ramea to make a trip to Port aux Basques to bring back trucks containing essential supplies accumulation of snow just in the countryside alone is in the area of 12 to 15 Walters said the road we have drifts that are 30 to 35 feet high in Walters said the highway which has been reduced to one lane for up to 15 kilometres resembles a tunnel without a top Plowing help drifts in in five said Dollimont owner of the Burgeo Food Centre describe it to you The sun is shining beautifully here but if you went on the road three miles outside of town you won't see The storms have played havoc all over Atlantic Canada this winter The most recent Tuesday left between 20 and 40 centimetres of snow and closed roads in all four provinces Schools were closed and ferry service to Prince Edward Island was suspended Dollimont said he has enough supplies to last until the weekend because a truck made it through Tuesday night after trying for two days Before last weekend his store went two weeks without fresh supplies He said people in the area are taking the situation in stride because they any choice On Friday February 13th put your sweet dreams in print! Send a message to your true love Call 668-2060 NOW to make sure your message gets in! 21 49 2nd Avenue Whitehorse YT.