28 



effort has changed considerably. It is now possible, for example, to 

 use a fishfinder on a trawler, under favorable conditions, which can spot 

 individual fish. Experience with interpreting the charted data has 

 produced this result, but the implication in terms of effort is difficult 

 to measure. 



Fishing effort was initially related to the fishing time, the time 

 actually spent towing. Searching time is difficult to include in the 

 formula; if that searching time drops as the searching equipment improves, 

 more fishing time is allowed; but with scarce fish, the harvest may be-- 

 with a good fishfinder--far better than with a random tow. 



Developing complexities such as these into standard coefficients is 

 extremely difficult. 



Fishing effort and catch results data assume a particular type of 

 gear, often described in management regulations as mesh size. In com- 

 petitive fisheries, operating in an area often of zero visibility, the 

 motivation is high to use illegal gear of smaller mesh size. The moti- 

 vation is particularly high if tacitly supported by that fisherman's 

 host government, which represents him in international negotiations. 



In addition to the strong possibility of noncompliance, there 

 exists a second problem: mesh regulations have been developed for 

 different species and are of different size. The allowed mesh for a 

 bottom trawl is not as small as that allowed for a pelagic, or midwater, 

 trawl. Midwater trawling is directed at schooling pelagic species such 

 as herring and, by regulation, must be "incapable" of fishing on the 

 bottom. However, foreign fishermen report that recent technology allows 

 this to occur. Consequently, it is possible to rig for herring and harvest 



