will be further expansion in the subsidized 

 vessels, particularly a growth in the ver- 

 satile and profitable long-liners and in 

 the large draggers. Subsidy regulations 

 have been eased so that boats over 65' in 

 length can qualify for bounty aid. Larger 

 per ton subsidies for the bigger craft may 

 also be forthcoming. Continued experimen- 

 tation on vessel types and sizes is likely. 



Nevertheless, despite the somewhat 

 greater emphasis on the subsidized craft, 

 the larger travjler will still be the back- 

 bone of the industry. The seasonality of 

 the fishing effort of the smaller boats and 

 their inability to sail great distances de- 

 mands large trawlers to assure continuity 

 of supply. Trawler owners and government 

 officials do not, however, expect any sub- 

 stantial increases in the trawler fleet 

 because of goveminent import restrictions 

 on foreign-built vessels, local construc- 

 tion costs, and the greater role played by 

 the smaller craft. Replacement rather 

 than expansion is postulated for the trawl- 

 er fleet in the next decade. 



k. The Fishing Labor Force 



There are about ii8,000 fishermen on 

 Canada's Atlantic Coast (table II-15). 

 Approximately 16,000 are in Newfoundland, 

 llijOOO in Nova Scotia, and 10,000 in New 

 Brunswick, Despite the progress made in 

 recent years in increasing labor produc- 

 tivity by encouraging capital development 

 in the primaiy industry, the overwhelming 

 majority of the fishermen are handicapped 

 by the employment of primitive equipment. 

 As noted earlier, only 1,000-1,200 fisher- 

 men have thus far been affected by the sub- 

 sidy modernization program. Only about 

 another 1,000 are employed on deep-sea 

 trawlers. In 1956, out of J40,600 fisher- 

 men in Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and New 

 Brunswick, only 15 percent were on vessels, 

 draggers,, or trawlers. 



The low productivity per man of the 

 inshore fishermen is apparent if one con- 

 siders that in 1956 the offshore fleet of 

 the Atlantic Coast accounted for about UO 

 percent of all groundfish landings, using 

 about 15 percent of the fishery labor 

 force. In 195h, the Newfoundland dragger 



and trawler fleet alone emplojngd less than 

 3 percent of the Provinces' fishermen, but 

 landed 16 percent of the groundfish catch. 

 In 1955, the trawler and dragger fleet in 

 the Maritimes and Quebec employed about h 

 percent of the fishermen in the area, but 

 landed 31 percent of the groundfish catch. 



It was shown earlier that it is pos- 

 sible to characterize the Atlantic Prov- 

 inces generally as areas of labor surplus. 

 This is particularly true in the case of 

 the inshore fisheries. The fisheries prob- 

 lem is aggravated in times of depression 

 and recession in that workers who have lost 

 other employment return to fishing. This 

 happened in 1957 and 1958 in Newfoundland 

 and had the effect of seriously impairing 

 the incomes of all those in the inshore 

 fishery. 



Except for those employed on offshore 

 vessels, earnings from fishing are so low 

 as to be a cause for governmental concem. 

 The Royal Commission on Canada's Economic 

 Prospects succinctly described the situa- 

 tion in these terms: 



"....employment in fisheries is ordi- 

 narily marked by much seasonality, isola- 

 tion, primitive equipment, uncertainty of 

 catch and income, physical hardship and 

 risk and limited social and other cultural 

 opportunities. As a result, thei^e is 

 still much poverty and privation and these 

 are ordinarily combined with concealed un- 

 employment; productivity and incomes are 

 low; education is limited; and opportuni- 

 ties for higher-paid employment are, com- 

 itanly, either unavailable or unattainable 

 owing to lack of training or experience." 



w 



These problems are particularly acute 

 in Newfoundland where isolation remains 

 the greatest obstacle to labor mobility 

 and to the transferral of surplus fisher- 

 men to other occupations. 



"It appears 

 some alternative 

 all areas of the 

 cent of those enj 

 industry live in 

 is predominant. 



, ...that, while there are 

 occupations available in 

 Province, nearly 75 per- 

 ;aged in the fishing 

 areas where that industry 

 A major shift of the 



ii6/ Royal Commission on Canada's Economic Prospects, The Commercial Fisheries of 

 Canada. Prepared by the Department of Fisheries of Canada and The Fisheries Board. 

 September, 1956. p. 121. 



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