operating expenses of Maine trawlers, and 

 are much lower on Gloucester trawlers. In 

 any event, the discretionary element in 

 this cost item is large and the differences 

 which exist may be best attributed to 

 differences in accoiinting procedures. 



Summary 



Ihe coii5)arison of the financial 

 experience of large groundfish trawlers 

 operating from the Atlantic Provinces and 

 the various New England ports quickly re- 

 veals the much lower costs of Canadian 

 groundfish operations. It further reveals 

 the significant cost differentials even 

 aittong trawler operations within the New 

 England area. The costs of Maine and 

 Gloucester trawlers are substantially less 

 than those of Boston trawlers. 



The coats of trawler operations of 

 the Atlantic Provinces and New England are 

 influenced by many factors; the location 

 of the centers of trawler operations rela- 

 tive to the major fishing grounds; the 

 type of fishery conducted; the structure 

 of the groundfish industry of the respec- 

 tive areas; and the economic climate of the 

 region in which the industry is located. 

 These factors, and their interdependence, 

 are responsible for both the significantly 

 lower costs of the Canadian vessel and the 

 large differences in the costs of trawler 

 operations within the New England area, 



Canadian trawler operators have large 

 and very real advantages relative to the 

 large-trawler operators of the New England 

 area. The most notable are the higher 



landings, lower wage payments, and lower 

 running costs of the Canadian trawler. The 

 superior productivity and lower costs of 

 the Canadian trawler are, however, reflect- 

 ed neither in higher receipts nor more 

 profitable operations. In fact, the fi- 

 nancial experience of the Canadian trawler 

 owner indicates that his vessel produces 

 much less revenue and incurs much higher 

 losses than its New England counterpart. 



This paradox, that New England large 

 trawlers, landing less at higher costs, 

 produce more revenue with smaller losses 

 than Canadian large trawlers, is illustra- 

 tive of the structural differences in the 

 groundfish industries of the respective 

 areas. The Hew England industry is made 

 up of a series of ports, each specializing 

 in a particular species of groundfish. It 

 is also characterized by a large number of 

 nonintegrated firms engaged solely in 

 trawler operations or processing. The 

 Canadian industrj' is made up of multi- 

 species vessels ovmed by, and selling to, 

 the vertically-integrated processor who 

 produces for the frozen-export market and 

 often "buys" raw material from himself. 



The historical development and ultimate 

 ntructure of the Nev; England groundfish 

 industry tends to sustaii: and inrnire the 

 continuation of port specialization of the 

 New England trawler, at least imder present 

 conditions, while the development and 

 ultimate structure of the Canadian industry 

 would appear to insure the nonspecialiaa- 

 tion of Canadian trawler operations. 



80 



