IXTEENATIONAL FISHERIES COMMISSION 13 



For thi>^ purpose the first division should be into two main areas— 

 the banks south of Cape Spencer and those north and west thereof. 

 Later, when there has been more experience with the matter, smaller 

 areas 'may be chosen, if deemed necessary. 



■-> PERMANENT CLOSURE OF SMALL-FISH GROUNDS 



3.' PREVENTION OF GEAR DEEMED UNDULV DESTRUCTH E 



In the halibut fisherv the sizes vary from 2 or 3 pounds to over 200 

 pounds. The value of the very small fish, if they are accepted at 

 all, is very low. It is not until a size of 11% pounds is reached that 

 full price'is obtained. . 



The '-mall fisli are evervwhere the voung. still rapidly growing, 

 and are not a different race of fish from the medium-sized, first-grade 

 fish The smallest fish, the so-called " baby chickens.*' are from 5 

 to 8 years of age and during that period treble their weights. The 

 next cla>-^^ of fish, the "chickens." are from 8 to 11 years of age, on 

 the average, and within the three years they double their weight. 

 These 'Statements are. of course, approximate only an<l pertain to 

 halibut from He<-ate Strait. On the western banks the ages are 

 <rieater because of the slower growtli. The mortality of these young 

 fish is probablv light, since even at their ages they are larger than 

 most of those fislie> that are presumably their enemies. 



It therefore, appears economicallv desirable to protect these small 

 fish until thev are of larger size. The gain in weiglit of the individ- 

 ual would be' supplemented by the increased value, pound lor pound, 

 so that the economic gain would very probably be c(»nsiderable. llic 

 hearings held by the ccmimission indicate almost universal acceptance 

 of this^view. one that the commission indorses. 



The commission believes it very evident, however, that if the small 

 fish become more valuable at a later stage of life, and that if the 

 fishery thereby gains from an ec(m()mic standpoint, the intensity of 

 the fisherv w'ill corrosi)ondingly increase. It is natural that the 

 profit in a fisherV should govern its intensity: and the greater the 

 profit in fishing the larger classes of fish, the more they will be sought 

 after. What would be saved in one part of the fishery would simply 

 be added to another part, and there is no economic reason why that 

 part should not be fished just as closely and to as low a level as 

 before. This being so. it is unlikely that any considerable part ot 

 the fi.'^ii protected bv regulation wouhl survive the four or five years 

 necessarv to reach spawning size aftei- leaving the ^' Ijaby chicken 

 stage to retain for the fisherv the benefits that accrue from the pro- 

 tection of these small fish would involve restraint of the fishery 

 within the area concerned for other grades of fish as well. 



Nor can the gain bv such protection be in any way a substitute tor 

 •reneral restriction of'the fishery. Even were there thus peimanently 

 withheld from the fisherv some small fraction of the total popula- 

 tion, there would hv serious doubt as to whether it could compare 

 in magnitude with the loss in abundance that is year by year incur- 

 red bv the general increase in gear used. It would, as was remarked 

 in connection with the closure of the winter season, simply cause a 

 temporary setback that would be offset by an increase in intensity ot 



the fisherv. . , , 



Furthermore, it is to be considered that protection has to some 

 extent been afforded these smaller sizes in the past by trade usage 



