APPENDIX IV APPENDIX IV 
PROFILES OF THE FISHING INDUSTRY IN 
CANADA 
PRESENT SITUATION AND TRENDS 
IN THE CANADIAN FISHING INDUSTRY 
In 1973 Canada's harvest ranked 15th among the world's 
fishing natvons, buc only Ehard ane value Of fish) product 
exports. Almost 70 percent of Canada's fish products are 
exported, primarily to the United States. 
Although the fishing industry provides employment for 
less than 1 percent of Canada's labor force, in certain sec- 
tions of the country the industry is a primary employer. 
The economy of many coastal communities totally depends on 
the industry. 
Throughout most of the 1960s the fishing industry stead- 
ily increased its harvest, which reached a high point of over 
3.3 billion pounds in 1968. Since 1968, however, the harvest 
has consistently declined until 1974. Prior to 1974 demand 
for fish products resulted in higher prices and compensated 
for lower catches. Preliminary information indicates this 
was not true in 1974 when the fishing industry suffered an 
economic crisis with large sections of the industry near eco- 
nomic collapse. As a result, the Government began to study 
ways to solve problems confronting the industry. The prob- 
lems were attributed to the following causes: 
--Overexploitation of the stocks, 
--Overcapacity of vessels and processing facilities. 
—-—iInstabimrey of the andustry . 
--Failings in the market place. 
Overexploitation of the offshore stocks, fished by both 
Canadian and foreign vessels, was held as the main contrib- 
uting factor in declining catches. Competing Canadian fish- 
ermen tried to maximize their catch and stocks became de- 
pleted. In addition, international fishing off Canada's 
coasts, particularly in the Atlantic Ocean, has intensified 
steadily since the late 1950s. 
Because the supply of fish available to Canadian fish- 
ermen has dwindled, both the fleet and fish processing fa- 
cilities are overcapitalized. Moreover, many processing 
facilities are not located in areas where they could be 
optimally used and the facilities have not been adapted for 
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