FISHERIES MANAGEMENT 43 



to issue short-term permits (of the kind I propose in 

 Chapter 8) to a limited number of vessels authorizing 

 them to carry out test fishing according to stnct stan- 

 dards of control and reporting, with compensation being 

 in the form of catches. I recommend that these possibili- 

 ties be investigated: 



8. Tlie Department should explore the feasibility of test- 

 fishing programs in which conuiKTcial fishing vessels 

 conduct experimental fishing according to Depart- 

 mental specifications in return for all or part of their 

 catches. 



My advisors suggest that as much as 10 percent of the 

 catch could be taken in test fisheries and that the result- 

 ing improvements in stcx;k management and utilization 

 could well enable total catches to be increased by this 

 amount (so that test fishing would not necessarily 

 encroach on other fisheries). I explain in Chapter 6 that 

 tagging provides crucial information about the composi- 

 tion of the stocks, and this can usually be done in con- 

 junction with a test-fishing program. 



Herring In-season management of the frenzied roe- 

 herring fishery is exceptionally difficult. Probably the 

 weakest part of management is the collection of informa- 

 tion on stock abundance. A month or so before herring 

 are expected to spawn, patrol vessels and chartered 

 fishing vessels use echo-sounders to locate and assess the 

 size of stocks. As fishing vessels assemble in a fishing 

 area, fishermen also sound for fish, supplementing the 

 information collected by the Department's vessels. 



Echo-location is a difficult technique, and interpreta- 

 tion of readings is a skill that can be acquired only with 

 experience. Because the roe-herring industry is new, and 

 turnover among fishery officers has been high, this critical 

 element in management has often been clouded by 

 uncertainty. In view of the importance of in-season stock 

 assessment, the system must be better organized and the 

 results clearly documented. 



Even with area licensing, the fishing power of the fleet 

 that converges on openings is immense, far exceeding the 

 capacity needed to harvest the available catch. Conse- 

 quently, openings are often very short (a few hours or 

 even minutes) and the fishing is frantic. Timing is crucial. 

 Harvests must be taken just before the fish spawn, and 

 for this purpose, samples of the stock are taken to meas- 

 ure the roe content and ripeness. Fishery oflRcers must 

 restrain the fleet until the appropriate moment, often 

 under heavy pressure from fishermen. Unless a very con- 

 .servative approach is taken, the system is prone to disas- 

 ter, and overexploitation or harvesting at the wrong stage 

 of maturity can easily result. Fear of such outcomes 

 causes fishery managers to be so cautious that stocks are 

 often underharvested or not fished at all for fear of 

 depleting them. 



In recent years fishery managers have, for the most 

 part, successfully restricted harvests within the levels pre- 

 scribed in pre-season plans, though experience has varied 

 considerably among areas. But regulatory activities in the 

 field are rarely planned on a scientific basis and the 

 results almost never documented. As in the salmon 

 fishery, the absence of a coherent system for orderly deci- 

 sion making is a conspicuous deficiency. 



Iniprming in-season management for salnmn and 

 herring The provisions for managing the salmon and 

 hernng fisheries during the fishing season should be more 

 systematic. I propose that the ccwrdinator for each of 

 the.se fisheries should initiate a thorough review of in- 

 season management procedures. Thus — 



9. The DepartnK'nt should thoroughl> review its provi- 

 sioas for in-season management of the salmon and 

 roe-herring fisheries with a view toward establishing 

 systematic procedures. iiKluding — 



i) Specifications for in-season field programs of test 

 fishing and monitoring. 



ii) Procedures for recommending and authorizing 

 in-season \ariatioas in regulations. 



iii) Procedures for ensuring full documentation of in- 

 season investigations, regulatory actioas and 

 appraisals of their results. 



Improving in-season management will call for upgrad- 

 ing the staff's technical capabilities. To this end, in Chap- 

 ter 19, I recommend improved training arrangements for 

 fishery oflicers and other management personnel. 



I am particularly concerned to eliminate the pressures 

 now put on field managers during the fishing season over 

 allocating catches among competing fishing groups in the 

 salmon and hernng fisheries. Catch allocation is a highly 

 contentious issue that extends far beyond the field mana- 

 ger's responsibilities for regulating harvests and escape- 

 ments, and ought not to be left to him to decide in the 

 heat of the fishing season. Hitherto, field managers have 

 had to deal with unreasonable pressures in this respect 

 and, as the Department has acknowledged, escapement 

 targets have often been "compromised."" The end result 

 is bad management. 



To relieve field managers of these pressures I propose 

 in later chapters a general policy for allocating catches. 

 The more detailed allocation decisions should be made at 

 senior levels within the E)epartment. Field managers 

 should be left to deal with the techmcal means of achiev- 

 ing harvest and escapement targets; and, in the context of 

 annual post-season evaluations, their success should be 

 judged on these grounds. 



