fishing enterprise units. The fleet is 

 composed of 17 vessels (with four to 

 seven men per vessel), representing a 

 totail capital investment of about $ 170,000. 

 While seiners operate under high fixed 

 costs, their catching performance permits 

 recovery of fairly high returns. Data on 

 six seiners covering 1957 operations re- 

 vealed an average net income per vessel 

 of $26,445. Average crew earnings were 

 $3,818 per man, while the net boat share 

 averaged $4,172. There was a return of 

 22.4 percent on invested capital. 



Notwithstanding this relatively good 

 performance, the history of the seining 

 fleet has been one of uneasy expansion 

 and restricted operation. This situation 

 has resulted from limited markets for 

 fresh herring and local opposition to 

 seining activity, particularly on the part 

 of weir interests and lobster fishermen. 

 Seiners have operated much like a fettered 

 fleet: their movements have been re- 

 stricted to certain distances from shore 

 and from the sites of stationary fishing 

 gear and their fishing effort has often 

 been reduced, due to the inability of the 

 market to absorb the catch. There is 

 hope, however, that new channels of 

 herring utilization will alter the existing 

 supply-demand relationship and, thereby, 

 reduce local opposition to the application 

 of efficient capital in the herring fishing 

 industry. 



Herring carrier fleet .--This fleet is 

 a necessary adjunct to the weir and 

 purse- seining fisheries. Vessels vary 

 greatly in size- -from about 40 feet to 65 

 feet- -and carry a crew of one to three 

 men. In 1957, there were 57 independently 

 operated vessels engaged in the carrying 

 trade, representing an average capital 

 investment of $6,496 (based on survey 

 data covering 46 vessels). Values ranged 

 from $350 to $21,650. Total net income 

 from, carrying operations- -derivedmainly 

 from the herring trade--showed little 

 change during the 2-year study. The 

 average income per vessel was $4,072 

 in 1956 and $4,115 in 1957. This uni- 

 formity was due to the supply-demand 

 relation for the commodity transported 

 and to the constancy of both receipts and 

 expenditures in the region as a whole. 



Lobster fishery. --In the Quoddy Region 

 this fishery is smeill compared with that 

 in some areas of the Maritime Provinces. 

 During the 10-year period ending in 1957, 



the value of lobster landings averaged 

 about $0.5 million per year. Typical 

 lobster enterprises consist of one or two 

 men, with investments in a small boat, 

 in about 150 lobster traps, andinamodest 

 stock of shore equipment. A small capital 

 outlay in gear and equipment for use in 

 other fisheries usually accompanies the 

 "lobstering assets." Total investment of 

 lobster enterprises in Charlotte County is 

 estimated at $659,000 representing an 

 average of about $1,985 per enterprise. 

 Investment varies annong the several 

 subdivisions of the area. In Grand Manan, 

 in particular, lobster enterprises use 

 more gear and are generally more heavily 

 capitalized; net returns per man are 

 higher. Operating expenditures in the 

 lobster fishery are fairly inflexible and 

 relatively independent of results of the 

 catch. The net income, however, is sub- 

 ject to considerable variations from year 

 to year in response to supply and price 

 conditions. In 1957, the average net in- 

 come of 22 lobster enterprises was $811. 



Groundfish fishery. --In Charlotte 

 County this fishery is pursued by approx- 

 imately 350 men, fishing mainly on in- 

 shore grounds, using small motor boats 

 and limited capital equipment. The value 

 of their landings from 1948 to 1957 

 averaged about $270,000 annually. Since 

 1950, a trend toward modernization and 

 expansion has developed. Largely through 

 government assistance, mechanized ves- 

 sels (chiefly draggers) have been intro- 

 duced and have had appreciable success 

 in improving fish landings and incomes 

 of fishermen. A modern large-scale fil- 

 letting and freezing plant was established 

 in the area in 1967 and has greatly in- 

 creased the local demand for groundfish. 



Mollusk fisheries . --Clams, mussels, 

 and scallops support the principsul Cana- 

 dian fisheries for mollusks in the area. 

 There are an estimated 300 men engaged 

 in these fisheries. Most of these men 

 participate in other fishing activities. 

 The income derived from shellfish land- 

 ings averaged about $225,000 annucilly 

 from 1948 to 1957. Clams constituted 

 about three-quarters of the total value. 

 Capital equipment associated with the 

 shellfish fisheries in Charlotte County 

 is negligible. Largely for this reason, 

 the fisherman's expenditures are small; 

 consequently, receipts from the sale of 

 mollusks approximate a net reward for 

 labor. 



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