VANCOUVER -- Joel Martin spoke for his colleagues in the sport-fishing business in Squamish, B.C., yesterday as he summed up the impact of having the area's three rivers closed to anglers after a CN Rail chemical spill.

"There's certainly a lot of sad faces around," said Martin, who manages a sport fishing store.

"Usually this time of year, we'd have 50 people in the store. But right now, since the closures, there's none."

A CN Rail freight train derailed about 30 kilometres north of Squamish on Aug. 5, sending nine cars plunging into the Cheakamus River canyon and causing a toxic spill.

One of the derailed cars was loaded with about 51,000 litres of sodium hydroxide, a highly corrosive liquid. The tank car tumbled down the steep embankment and broke open, spilling most of its contents into the Cheakamus River.

With the recent announcement that fishing is on hold until the problem is re-evaluated in mid-September, Martin said the timing could not have been worse.

"It is very bad news," he said. "It is definitely the peak time right now, and every two years with the pink run, that's when we make our money."

Echoing the many others who will be hit hard economically by the closures, Martin repeated what marine biologists are beginning to tell the public. "It's bloody awful ... It is going to be many years before the fishery around here recovers."

And that spells a big economic loss for the area, he said.

Martin said his company has been consulting with an environmental lawyer and hopes to be compensated for its losses.

Ian Mann, a spokesman for Fisheries and Oceans Canada, said the department had no choice but to shut down the fishery.

The spill resulted in major fish kills for all species and all age classes on the Cheakamus.

© The Edmonton Sun 2005