[Marxism] Television's Boston Legal takes on B.C. fish farms

[Macdonald Stainsby <mstainsby@xxxxxxxxx>]

Television's Boston Legal takes on B.C. fish farms
Nimmo Bay resort the backdrop for drama where farms, sea lice are the
bad guys

      Scott Simpson
      Vancouver Sun


Thursday, September 29, 2005


British Columbia's salmon-farming industry will get the full Hollywood
treatment, for better or for worse, in an episode of Emmy-winning
courtroom drama Boston Legal that was filmed on location at an exclusive
B.C. fishing resort.

Nimmo Bay Resort will serve as the backdrop for an episode that deals
with one of B.C.'s most troublesome resource controversies -- the
presumed threat that fish farms pose to wild salmon through the
proliferation of sea lice.

The episode, titled Finding Nimmo, won't be aired until Oct. 11, but it
already has environmentalists cheering and fish farmers jeering.

An ABC teaser on the episode says lawyers Alan Shore and Denny Crane,
played by Emmy winners James Spader and William Shatner, head to the
resort "for some fly fishing and male bonding" after Shore breaks up
with his girlfriend.

"When they learn that the salmon population is being threatened by sea
lice produced by fish farms, Shore and Crane feel compelled to act," ABC
says.

The duo end up tackling salmon farmers in a courtroom in Port McNeill on
Vancouver Island.

The courtroom is strictly fictional.

However there are plenty of fish farms near Nimmo Bay, which is on the
B.C. mainland just north of the Broughton Archipelago.

The Archipelago has been the epicentre of environmentalists' attacks on
fish farming in recent years after researcher Alexandra Morton reported
inordinate concentrations of sea lice on juvenile wild pink salmon
dwelling in the vicinity of salmon farms.

Salmon farmers, however, are highly skeptical.

"From our perspective, what possible relevance can this have to all of
the challenges facing wild salmon?" Mary Ellen Walling asked. "It's a
fictional American television show. William Shatner might be a good
actor, and I think he won an Emmy quite recently, but what possible
knowledge could he have about fish biology?"

She described Boston Legal's entry into the debate as "ridiculous."

"I think at the end of the day, the people in coastal communities are
the losers in this. It's their livelihoods that are going to be affected."

Nimmo Bay owner Craig Murray is a member of the B.C. Wilderness Tourism
that called last month for a moratorium on salmon farming in the
Broughton until there's an authoritative study on the link among fish
farms, lice and wild salmon.

In an interview he said he's not against all fish farms, but believes
the Broughton is a poor location because it encompasses key migratory
routes for salmon between the mainland and Vancouver Island.

"The sea lice are killing our baby salmon on their way to sea as they
are migrating out of the rivers. They are being virtually attacked by
sea lice and not until you see this with your own eyes do you realize
the seriousness of the problem," Murray said.

"If the wild salmon are in jeopardy on this coast that means the root of
all the culture of B.C. is in jeopardy on this coast."

Murray said the Boston Legal episode "brings awareness to the problem
because nobody understands or is aware of the problem now. Governments
have turned their heads away and said there is no problem. If many more
people know about it, then they'll have to do something about it."

The episode is scripted by Boston Legal producer David E. Kelley, one of
Hollywood's biggest creative talents and not inclined to shy away from
controversial or complex social issues.

Kelley himself is notoriously publicity-shy, however, and his production
company did not respond to The Vancouver Sun's request for an interview.

The executive-director of the B.C.-based organization that provided
funding and support for research into sea lice impacts in the Broughton
Archipelago agrees that taking the issue before millions of U.S. viewers
could help the cause.

"This says that there is a much broader audience for the concerns for
wild salmon related to salmon farming than we might have thought
before," said Craig Orr of Watershed Watch.

"People with some influence are getting concerned about it and speaking
out."

Meanwhile, the Canadian Tourism Commission is preparing to put a
positive spin on the appearance of a B.C. fishing resort on a U.S. prime
time TV show.

The commission has booked full-page advertisements in the New York Times
and Los Angeles Times for the day the episode airs, heralding Finding
Nimmo as a chance for viewers to sample B.C.'s abundant natural beauty.

Boston Legal gave the Nimmo Bay resort an unexpected plug last season
when Denny Crane, played by Canadian-born Shatner, raved about it during
one episode of the quirky drama.

The starting price for a visit to the resort is $2,000 a day, for
options that include fishing expeditions via helicopter to remote
coastal B.C. rivers, wildlife viewing tours and guided salmon fishing.

The resort has twice been named sport fishing lodge of the year in
globe-trotting luxury travel enthusiast Andrew Harper's Hideaway Report.

Murray admits the Boston Legal spotlight will give his business
exceptional exposure, but he also hopes his resort can serve as a symbol
for the entire B.C. tourism industry.

Murray said the Canadian tourism industry lost a significant amount of
U.S. business after the terrorist attack on the World Trade towers in
New York on Sept. 11, 2001 -- notably after the Liberal government under
former prime minister Jean Chretien made clear its disdain for U.S.
President George W. Bush.

"There's an absolutely spectacular tourism message that's being sent out
to the Americans to come back to Canada and to British Columbia after
our federal government did its absolute best to alienate America from
Canada," Murray said.

"I wanted to get the message out there to welcome them back and fishing
is the way to do it. That message comes loud and clear."

ssimpson@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

STAR POWER:

Boston Legal's Finding Nimmo episode combines a murder confession and a
few other shockers while the main focus is on sea lice in B.C. Here's a
portion of the plot synopsis:

Reeling over his breakup with Tara, Alan Shore heads to Nimmo Bay in
British Columbia with Denny Crane for some fly fishing and male bonding
in an effort to cure his pain. When they learn that the salmon
population is being threatened by sea lice produced by fish farms, Shore
and Crane feel compelled to act.

ON TRIAL:

Sea lice: A common parasite that attaches itself to salmon and can be
fatal to young fish in high concentrations. A debate rages over the
possibility that fish farms are "hyper-concentrating" sea lice to the
detriment of migrating wild salmon.

The Jury: Boston Legal has millions of viewers. Its second season began
Tuesday night, coming in second in the U.S. to Law and Order with 8.5
per cent of the active televisions in the states tuned in.

The show started broadcasting in the U.K. earlier this year.

In Canada, the Vancouver and Toronto markets show an average audience of
290,000 viewers.

The courtroom: Boston Legal airs 10 p.m. Tuesdays on channels 6 and 21
for most Lower Mainland cable subscribers.

Ran with fact boxes "On Trial" and "Star Power", which have been
appended to the end of the story.
--
Macdonald Stainsby
http://independentmedia.ca/survivingcanada
http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/rad-green
In the contradiction lies the hope
   --Bertholt Brecht.


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