and especially in Newfoundland, Although 

 much training is necessary before an un- 

 skilled hand can become a satisfactory 

 crewman, the surplus labor in the inshore 

 fishery, plus a family heritage of genera- 

 tions of fishing, affords access to a larg- 

 er, younger, and more amenable human re- 

 source than is the case in New England. 



It may be observed here that the aver- 

 age age of a deep-sea fisherman on the 

 South Coast of Newfoundland in 1956 was 

 35 years. 5V Contrast this with the age of 

 Boston trawler men, where 69 percent are 

 51 years of age or over. 



Surplus and underemployed fishery 

 labor is most prevalent in Newfoundland. 

 It is not surprising, therefore, that many 

 Nova Scotian trawlers are manned by New- 

 foundlanders. This situation, incidentally, 

 has its drawbacks, too. The Newfoundlander 

 has not been used to continued year round 

 work for a cash return. Many return peri- 

 odically to their Newfoundland homes when 

 they have amassed some cash. This insta- 

 bility hampers manning operations. To a 

 lesser degree the New England trawler owner 

 also has access to the Newfoundland labor 

 reserve. Many of the Boston trawler crews 

 are from the Atlantic Provinces with a 

 large number of them Newfoundland natives. 



The general underemployment in the 

 fisheries with its deleterious effect on 

 fisherman productivity, incomes, and living 

 standards makes it likely that there will 

 be continued governmental effort to raise 

 per capita productivity by encouraging 

 further capital expansion. Such subsidies 

 and technical aids as are now given can be 

 expected to continue in the foreseeable 

 future . 



There are elements of a vicious circle 

 in the government's program to raise low 

 incomes by raising productivity. The Royal 

 Commission on Canada's Economic Prospects 

 puts it this way. 



"In the first place, the projections 

 of future fish catches. .. .indicate a rela- 

 tively modest expansion of landings. On 



the other hand, there is much underemploy- 

 ment in the fisheries at present. Accen- 

 tuating this has been the current expan- 

 sion in the use of improved types of boats, 

 gear and fishing techniques and this ex- 

 pansion of capital iray be expected to con- 

 tinue during the next 25 years. The sub- 

 stitution of capital for labour should en- 

 able the marketable catch to be taken by a 

 decreasing number of fishermen. Over-all 

 it seems likely that the demand for labour 

 in the primary industry may be signifi- 

 cantly reduced during the next few decades. 

 If, with the decrease in demand for labor, 

 the supply of labour is maintained at 

 present levels, there is likely to be much 

 greater underemployment than there is now 

 and incomes are likely to be correspond- 

 ingly low." ^ 



A significant difference in the 

 structure of the groundfish industry in 

 New England as compared with the Atlantic 

 Provinces lies in the role of organized 

 labor. All the New England groundfish 

 ports have fisherman unions which organize 

 and bargain collectively with the vessel 

 owners . No such organizations exist in 

 the Atlantic Provinces. 



The unorganized status of the labor 

 force is not surprising when one considers 

 the large excess labor reserve in the in- 

 shore fishery--. One economist pointed out 

 that in Newfoundland the potential recerve 

 of unorganized labor in the fishing indus- 

 try, which can be drawn upon for semi- 

 skilled work, was a drawback to organizing 

 a united labor front in all industries. 



Equally significant, however, are 

 other barriers to the organization of 

 fishermen. The Nova Scotia Supreme Court 

 of 19ii7 unanimously concurred in the 

 opinion that the relationship between the 

 owner and the crew was not that of employ- 

 er and employee but rather that of joint- 

 adventurers. The Nova Scotia Labour Re- 

 lations Board could not therefore make a 

 certificate of bargaining representatives 

 for the crew, 56/ The Court held that the 

 CO -adventurous partnership resulted from 

 the trip-tc-trip "lay" arrangement. The 



5U/ Report of the South Coast Commission , op. cit., p. 99. 

 F^/ The Commercial Fisheries of Canada , op. cit., p. 125. 



|5/ 21 Maritime Provinces Reports (Nova Scotia) 305, Justice J. Doull, 191^7. 

 Lunenberg Sea Products, Re: Application ofj Re: Zwicker. 



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