CHAPTER VI 



COMPARATIVE COSTS IN THE CANADIAN AND 

 NEW ENGLAND GROUNDFISH INDUSIRIES 



Introduction 



In this ch^ter, costs and earnings 

 in New England groundflsh ports - indi- 

 vidually and collectively - will be com- 

 pared with those of the Canadian ground- 

 fish industry in an attempt to discover the 

 underlying differences in the two fisheries. 



Soorces of Advantage of 

 the Canadian Groundf ishery 



The data supplied to us from New Eng- 

 land and the Atlantic Provinces of Canada 

 indicates that the principal sources of the 

 advantages of the Canadian industry and the 

 problems of the New England industry are 

 the geographic, historical, and organiza- 

 tional differences which exist in fisheries 

 of the two regions. 



1, Geographic Factors 



The Canadian groundflsh industry, 

 centered in the Atlantic Provinces, is 

 adjacent to almost all of the major fish- 

 ing grounds of the Northwest Atlantic, 

 grovmds »rtiich abound with heavy concentra- 

 tions of the many species of groundflsh. 

 New England, on the other hand, is in close 

 proximity only to the Gulf of Maine, Georges 

 Bank and Browns Bank, and is far removed 

 from the more productive fishing grounds; 

 the Grand Bank, the Gulf of St. Lawrence, 

 and the coast of Labrador, New England's 

 location relative to the more proximate 

 fishing grounds is one of the major factors 

 nBking for the highly specialized fisheries 

 characteristic of the respective ports, 

 Ihe dangers of too great dependence on one 

 species has been demonstrated by the effect 

 on the Boston fleet of the decline in the 

 abundance of haddock on Georges Bank, and 

 by the effect of the fall in the abundance 

 level of ocean perch in the Gulf of Maine 

 on the Gloucester and Maine port vessels. 

 These two developments have caused both of 

 these fisheries to becane higher-cost 

 enterprises. 



In sharp contrast to his New England 

 counterpart, the Canadian trawler operator, 

 because of his proximity to the prolific 

 adjacent banks, can engage in a diversified 

 groundfish fishery. Data furnished by 

 Canadian trawler-owners reveals that, for 

 the average Canadian trawler, haddock ac- 

 counts for I4O percent of annual landings, 

 ocean perch for 25 percent, cod for 10 per- 

 cent, and flounder for 20 percent, Conpare 

 this to the average large trawler in New 

 Bigland, the great bulk of whose annual 

 landings is either haddock or ocean perch, 

 and the remainder are species caught inci- 

 dentally to these. 



Not only does the advantageous lo- 

 cation allow Canadian traviLers to engage 

 in a diversified fishery. They also are 

 engaged in a more productive fishery, both 

 in terms of catch per day and annual land- 

 ings, relative to New England trawlers. 

 In both 1956 and 1957 the average large 

 Canadian travder landed about twice the 

 poundage of groundfish as did the average 

 New England trawler, (table VI -1). Similar- 

 ly, Canadian trawlers, because they are 

 closer to the grounds, can make more trips 

 than can New England vessels. In 1956 and 

 1957, Canadian trawlers of the 200 gross- 

 ton class averaged 3 to 5 more trips than 

 did comparable Boston vessels. The dif- 

 ferences in activity of the l50-199 ton 

 vessels was even greater, Canadian vessels 

 made l5 more trips than did Boston vessels, 

 20 more than Gloucester vessels, and 25 

 more than Maine vessels, (table VI-2), 

 Not all of the relative inactivity of New 

 England trawlers, however, can be attrib- 

 uted to their locational disadvantcige. 

 Trawler activity on many vessels in Glouces- 

 ter, and on all the large vessels in Boston, 

 is to a degree controlled by the layover 

 requirements of the union. This is dis- 

 c\issed below, 



2, Historical Factors 



The differences in the historical 

 development of the New England and Atlantic 

 Provinces groundfisherias have also had 

 their effects on costs. 



The groTindfish trawling industry of 

 New England is much older than that of 

 Canada, Its development has been sporadic, 

 conditioned by precedent. The large 

 trawler was first introduced in Boston in 



75 



