World Demand Complicates Conservation 



By Hon. H. F. Robichaud 



Minister of Fisheries for Canada 

 Ottawa, Canada 



It is indeed a great pleasure to be here and to have the 

 opportunity of speaking to you on a subject of great concern 

 both to the fishing industries of our three countries and to their 

 governments. It has never before been so important to mobi- 

 lize our very best efforts, both nationally and internationally, 

 to see that the resources on which your great industries depend 

 are thoroughly yet wisely used so that they will remain produc- 

 tive for generations to come. 



I think it is a very auspicious occasion when associations of 

 your stature, representing as you do the fishing industries of 

 Mexico, the United States and Canada, meet to discuss matters 

 of common interest. I am sure that now on the closing day 

 of your joint meeting you have already had a very valuable 

 exchange of views, which will help the future development of 

 all phases of the fisheries of our three countries, to the benefit 

 of fishermen, processors and consumers alike. No subject, 

 however, can be of greater or more pressing concern, than the 

 conservation — and by this I mean wise use — of the fisheries 

 resources themselves. 



My subject has to do with fisheries conservation problems 

 in the light of increasing world pressure on the fish stocks — 

 hence the announcement of the title, "World Demand Compli- 

 cates Conservation." Perhaps it would have been more appro- 

 priate to stress the essentiality rather than the complexity of 

 greater conservation efforts. 



Our countries, and indeed the whole world, face an explosive 

 situation in which the expanding fishing effort may seriously 

 damage the resource if not tempered with sound management. 

 In the last two decades we have seen a rapid increase in the 

 world's catch of fish brought about by similarly rapid increase in 

 the size and efficiency of the fishing fleets. Supported by an 

 ever-increasing need for the good protein food which comes 

 from the sea, this trend will continue and the need for our very 

 best efforts to manage the fisheries wisely will become ever more 

 acute. The challenge must be met on both national and inter- 

 national levels if the livelihoods of future generations in the 

 fishing industry are to be preserved and the nutritional needs 

 of the world's teeming millions are to be satisfied. 



One aspect of the great fisheries' expansion of our times has 

 been the development of far-ranging fleets capable of inten- 

 sive exploitation of fish stocks at great distances from their home 



ports. The mobility and fishing power of such operations 

 mean that newly discovered fish stocks may be reduced in 

 abundance very rapidly, sometimes before there has been an 

 opportunity to make a scientific assessment of their potential. 

 This can result in economic loss by all concerned — by the oper- 

 ators of the mobile fleets who lack the basis for sound plan- 

 ning, and by the countries which may watch the resources at 

 their doorsteps dwindle before their eyes, sometimes before they 

 can reach a level of development which would enable them to 

 take part in the exploitation. 



It may be doubted whether these very expensive operations 

 far from their home countries are economically sound, and can 

 in the long run compete with fisheries based on near-by ports. 

 The future may well lie with well-managed operations based 

 closer to the fishing grounds. Be that as it may, the existing 

 mobile fleets pose a serious challenge to the world's, as yet inade- 

 quate, organization for international fisheries research and 

 regulation. 



Fisheries, in contrast with other industries based on living 

 resources, such as agriculture and forestry, suffer two great 

 handicaps. On the one hand, the fish are hidden from our 

 sight and more difficult to study than the resources on land; 

 hence special efforts are needed to provide the scientific basis 

 for getting the best yield from the fish stocks. On the other 

 hand, the fish stocks must usually be classed as common prop- 

 erty resources and, unlike the farmer or the lumberman, the 

 fisherman cannot usually have private control of that part of 

 the resource which he uses. Under these circumstances gov- 

 ernments must carry out the research and the regulation of 

 fishing, as well as positive fish culture to increase the resource 

 where that is possible. A similar situation exists internationally. 

 While some fisheries resources may properly be classed as na- 

 tional property, most of the great existing and potential ocean 

 fisheries are international in nature and, to bring about wise use 

 of these resources, it is essential that international agencies be 

 developed and strongly supported. 



Thus, the first step towards wise use of fisheries resources, 

 nationally or internationally, must be intensive research on the 

 fish stocks and on the effects of both fishing and natural factors 

 on their abundance and yield. It is possible, on the basis of 

 thorough research, to estimate the sustainable yield and to devise 



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