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SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Alfie Kamitakahara : Japanese in Steveston - community life and evacuation RECORDED: Vancouver (B.C.), 1972?-08-15 SUMMARY: Alfie Kamitakahara discusses the Japanese and their community life in Steveston, and their evacuation during World War II. [Very little documentation is available for this tape.];

CALL NUMBER: T2049:0001 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Art Moore RECORDED: [location unknown], 1976-01-27 SUMMARY: Art Moore started fishing in 1930 when he got his first license. You were not allowed in those days to get a license until you were 14 years old. He tells of how he went fishing when he was 13 and hid in the boat from the fisheries officer, as he had no license. He says the fisheries officer knew he was there but he never interfered with Art. The license cost $1.00. That fisheries officer is dead now. Pollution so bad in the North Arm that the vast number of salmon going up has been drastically reduced, due to mills, etc. Claims that the mills dump their vats into the river when everyone is sleeping. Millions of fish have been killed by pollution. "If they don't watch this a little closer there won't be a salmon left". "The Fraser is the largest spawning salmon river in the world". Moore also attributes the decrease in salmon to the population explosion and consequential raw sewage outfall. Moore caught typhoid on the Fraser and also a disease on his face. Deep-water ships used to come into the Terra Nova Cannery. Now these ships can't get within 5 miles of the cannery on account of the fill on the river and the flats. Recounts a story of one of his friends, Mr. Takahashi, who celebrated the bombing of Pearl Harbour: "They actually believed that they were going to take our country". Of all they boys that Art Moore went to school with (in his last year) he is the only one still alive. Recounts the story of a classmate named Yeta who had poor eyesight and was a good friend of his. When Yeta was 18 he had to go to Japan for military training and he was put into the front lines (in a trench) in the Manchurian War and was machine-gunned to death by a bi-plane. Recounts the story of another friend who went to Japan for military training and came back selling bonds. Art Moore claims that the Japanese-Canadians got paid more for their boats and land than they ever paid for them. CALL NUMBER: T2049:0002 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Art Moore RECORDED: [location unknown], 1976-01-29 SUMMARY: Art Moore recounts stories of incidents concerning Japanese submarines on the B.C. coast during the War (the shelling of Estevan Point etc.) Recounts the story of Jack Homer who got a shell from a Canadian war vessel show through his bow (this happened on the B.C. coast).

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Phil Thomas RECORDED: [location unknown], 1976-03-15 SUMMARY: Phil Thomas worked for B.C. Packers as a machinist. His father, Stan Thomas, was a cannery man as an "Iron Chink" master and a carpenter in the Fraser River and up the north coast with the B.C. Packing Co. before it became B.C. Packers. Mr. Philips and Mr. Gillespie were managers. In 1935, when he was still 15, he went to work for B.C. Packers in the summer, it was a big year, and he worked on a packer, pumping out the water. He also pumped gas for boats. He was born in Marpole and moved to Sea Island. He went to Bridgeport School and then Richmond High School on Cambie Road. Describes the lacquer machine used to preserve the cans. In 1938 he went to the Queen Charlotte Islands to work as a machinist and part engineer -- repairing boats and machinery for four years. Then he worked filling cans with fish at the rate of 60 cans a minute. He went to Kildonan on the west coast of Vancouver Island for B.C. Packers. Describes canning and the salting and smoking of fish. Discusses the changes to the fishing industry that have resulted by equipment improvements and fish stock depletion. Discusses unionization. He knew a few Japanese people before the War and was sorry to see them go. He was at the Queen Charlotte Islands during the War where there was an air base. When you travelled by water you had to use no lights, just blackout curtains. There were reports of submarine sightings, but none were confirmed. There was a net used to protect Prince Rupert harbour that was probably not very effective. People on the Queen Charlottes felt that they were vulnerable to invasion or attack because it was so isolated and remote. The radiotelephones were poor and communication was infrequent. The companies helped the Japanese fishermen back into the industry with boats and gear.

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Buck Suzuki interview RECORDED: Delta (B.C.), 1976-01-15 SUMMARY: Tatsuro "Buck" Suzuki started fishing in 1925 at 9 years old. He describes fishing: including fish, equipment, engines, and changes. He describes and criticizes the buy-back program, and highlights the centralization of the industry. He discusses how early unions were divided on ethnic lines which was good for companies, but not very co-operative. Japanese fishermen were deprived of certain rights -- limits on area, catch and number of boats. Describes anti-Japanese sentiment before WWII. He discusses two union groups: left-wing Pacific Coast Fishermen's Union and the right-wing B.C. Fishermen's Protective Association. The latter being all-white and limited, while the former was made up of a bunch of radical dreamers. Buck was a liaison between the two. Buck discusses the night of Pearl Harbor, the orders given to the Japanese people to tie up their boats. Surprise at the Canadian government's treatment of Japanese people. He advised negotiation and caution rather than fighting to the Japanese community. He tells of his experiences being the first Japanese to return to the coast to Steveston after the war. Discrimination and trouble fishing for Japanese. A committee established to protect the Japanese. Buck became Welfare Director of the Union. He discusses current (1976) and future state of fishing, and makes suggestions.