STORIES

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

A Book to the Rescue

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Community: Okanagan and Kootenay

By Kiley Turner

I was thrilled to be chosen to work on the THINK SALMON project. The topic was local, environmental, and wildlife-oriented; the project backed by two non-profit organizations. I knew some of the team members already, and was excited at the prospect of working with them.

There was just one problem: the salmon. I have to admit that the extent of my salmon knowledge went about this far:

• They are orangey-pink inside.
• They are a Big Deal in BC, for economic and cultural reasons.
• They are lovely to eat, and have come into ever-greater favour with all their omega fatty acids and protein.
• My friends lose their minds when they get to fish for them.

Pretty pathetic, I know. I was hired because I’m a copywriter, and probably because I love animals and wildlife in an almost loony way. (Let’s just say if I go crazy, it will be the variation with the 50 cats.) But I had a big learning curve to climb if I wanted to do the salmon justice in my contributions to the site.

Enter a great old used bookstore in Penticton, BC: Books ‘n Things. Struggling through the shelves upon shelves of books of every shape, size, and orientation (boy, do people go through cookbooks!), I found the marine section and squeezed my way into a little cubbyhole. After a few minutes and several sneezes, I had it: Pacific Salmon, by R.J. Childerhose and Marj Trim, published in 1979.

On the long drive back from Penticton to Vancouver (made longer by the necessity of stopping at too many fruit and vegetable stands for peaches and tomatoes—it was August), I read the book aloud to my partner, Craig. We oohed and aahed for hours as we got into the history, biology, and life struggles of salmon.

Those little alevin! Peeking out from the gravel, trying desperately not to be snapped up! The pesky jacks, barging into a salmon coupling just at the crucial moment! The courageous females, beating their tails into tatters to secure the right place to deposit their eggs!

Excuse the exclamation marks, but they are required to reflect the surprise and awe we felt as we read the adventure saga, Pacific Salmon. The book covers a vast amount of ground, and it is brought alive not only by excellent writing but by immaculate line drawings (Joey Morgan) and species paintings (Harry Heine).

Here’s just one excerpt from the book to give a sense of the great writing:

The fry can also move like a snake. By curving its body and pressing against the crevice walls on both sides, it slides itself ahead. To back out of an unsuitable passage the tiny fish can turn around in a surprisingly tight space. It can drop down passively or actively slither backwards. It can retract its head from too constricted an opening with a slow powerful tail beat. A sand barrier on top of the gravel is overcome by butting into it vertically; the sand grains drop past the thrusting fish, thus gradually opening up a passageway.*

Pacific Salmon was a start, and I have since become fascinated with all-things salmon. I feel like a little kid delving into new learning and exploration, and at 35, I’ll take it. So how do I think salmon? Frequently, and with lots of curiosity.

*R.J. Childerhose and Marj Trim, Pacific Salmon (Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 1979), p.39.