Arne Petryshen
The Kootenay Trout Hatchery has begun stocking the region’s lakes with kokanee and trout. The first stock took place last week at Campbell Lake, near Fort Steele. That was followed by Premier Lake later last week.
Lance Page, Hatchery Manager, said they will be up to 140 stocking lakes and rivers with about 1.2 million fish in the next two months.
The locations to stock are determined by the regional biologist based on need.
“We have three different strains of Rainbow, we have kokanee, we have two strains of the sturgeon, we have the Eastern Brook trout and we have cutthroat,” Page said.
Page explained that some of the fish are raised for family fishing lakes, while others are raised for fly fishing or trophy lakes.
“Some do better in different environments — that’s why we have different stocks of Rainbow,” Page said. “Throughout the region we have lakes identified as trophy lakes, lakes identified as family fishing lakes and they are stocked accordingly. So the family fishing lakes will get what we call catchables — fish that are of a size ready to catch. Great for kids and camping.”
Then there are the fish that are great jumpers and fighters that will go to the trophy lakes.
They ended up sleeping in their clothes with their backpacks at their side incase an aftershock occurred, which eventually hit and they ended up in a self-refugee camp with roughly 50 other people
On Sunday, they headed to Shurke, an area that wasn’t badly damaged and had a functioning helicopter pad. The locals also opened their homes to tourists and refugees and the McLeods and Pema were able to get some rest.
From Shurke, they went to Lukla, which has a hospital and Pema was able to get some medical attention and antibiotics.
“The group they are with is concerned about running out of resources soon, so they are going to move on to a smaller town named Chuplung, and about 1.5-hour trek from where they were this morning,” said Parsons. “They are experiencing after shocks, and have changed their plans to go to Kathmandu.”
•Robyn Duncan and Kara Brissette are safe in Kathmandu in an American military compound and are waiting for an available flight to get back to Canada.
•Annie Coulter and Jim Campbell are also travelling through the country. According to Coulter’s brother, Dave, there hasn’t been any contact yet with the two.
There is also a connection with David and Patricia Stock, two retired teachers who head up the Canadian Friends of Nepal, which helps support roughly a dozen families and a small school in the country.
There has been limited communication from the families; one family is safe but out on the streets in Kathmandu, while another family in Kuttal—a little village near Kathmandu, are safe even though their house partially collapsed.
Though the Stocks have been in Nepal many times in the past, they are currently on a trip travelling through China.
Gordon Terrace Elementary School has been involved with the group, as students have raised $6,000 every year since 2011 that they’ve sent to the ‘hot pink’ (named due to the choice of the outside paint job) school near Kuttal, where local primary-aged kids can go to school during the day while their parents work.
Through the influence of the Stocks, Gordon Terrace staff and students first began raising money four years ago to build the school.
“My school definitely has a vested interest,” said Michelle Sartorel, principal for Gordon Terrace. “I woke up Saturday morning and had emails from my staff concerned about people over in Nepal.”
Gordon Terrace is hosting their bi-annual Celebration Of The Arts in conjunction with a Mother’s Day sale on Thursday, May 7, with funds raised normally going to the hot pink school, however, given the circumstances inside the country, Sartorel is talking with staff and students about redirecting the money to humanitarian relief and support.
With files from the Canadian Press