100 KAIIONAI l/.INC; I Ml. SALMON AND KOI 1 II KKlNt . 1 ISIU KII.S 



increase in the luinibcr of seme vessels is not rc\caletl in 

 Figure '^-1, however, because many tish lor riK'-herring as 

 well as salmon and are therefore included in the combi- 

 nation category. The niimher of these conihination seine 

 vessels has increased troni 83 m 1%4 to 216 in U)80. The 

 growth of the seine fleet has resulted from vessels being 

 transferred from the halibut fleet, from gillnet and troll 

 vessels converting into seiners, and from new vessels 

 being added from the Indian "tonnage bank." 



The numb)ers of gjllnetters and trollers declined, 

 mainly from their being converted to seine vessels (which 

 involved "pyramiding" the licensed capacity into fewer, 

 larger vessels), but also from their being withdrawn 

 through the buy-back program between 1971 and 1974. 

 However, the declines are not as great as indicated in 

 Figure 9- 1 because an increasing number of vessels carry 

 both t\7>es of gear and hence are included in the combi- 

 nation category. This has resulted from increased restric- 

 tions on net fishing, which have induced many gillnet 

 vesselowners to add troll gear over the years in order to 

 expand their fishing opportunities. 



Landings and Earnings 



Figure 9-2 illustrates the changing volume and value of 

 commercial landings since 1969. Salmon pnces have risen 

 considerably over this period, and so the value of land- 

 ings shows a much stronger upward trend than the 

 landed weight. However, prices and volume of landings 

 have fluctuated widely, making the salmon fishery partic- 

 ularly unstable. 



Figure 9-2 Landings and landed value of salmon since 



1969 



200 r n 200 



1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 



^ including bonus payments. 



Sources: Fisheries Statistics of British Columbia . Department of Fish- 

 eries and Oceans, Vancouver, various years. Bonus payments 

 of 1977 from P. H. Pearse and J. E. Wilen, Impact of Can- 

 ada's Salmon Fleet Control Program. Journal of the Fishenes 

 Research Board of Canada, Volume 36 No. 7. 1979. p. 766; 

 for later years, bonus payments estimated by Commission 

 staff. 



Table 9-1 shows the number of vessels and value of 

 salmon landed in each sector of the fleet in 1980. ITie 

 combination sector clearly dominates. The year 1980 was 

 one t>f low earnings with the total value of salmon landed 

 falling to $133 million from $187 million in 1979. 



Table 9-1 Structure of the salmon fleet and value of 

 landings by gear type in 1980 



gear type 



gillnet 



troll 



seine 



combination^ 



total 



' Includes estimated bonuses. 



'' Includes all vessels that fished with more than one type of gear for 

 salmon and all salmon vessels that engaged in other fishenes as well. 



Source: Vessel numbers and landings compiled from unpublished data 

 from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. 



Table 9-2 shows the average gross earnings of vessels in 

 1980 in each of the gear sectors. Because these are aver- 

 age earnings, they disguise a wide variation in earnings 

 among vessels in each sector. 



In order to indicate the total earnings of vessels in the 

 salmon fleet. Table 9-2 shows not only the value of 

 salmon landed but also the value of other species landed 

 by salmon vessels. The importance of other species (par- 

 ticularly roe-herring) has increased in recent years and is 

 especially marked for the seine sector, which landed 

 nearly as much value in other species as it did in salmon 

 in 1980. 



Table 9-2 Average earnings of salmon vessels in 1980 



gillnet 



troll 



seine 



all vessels 



vessels fishing 

 salmon only 



$12,750 

 21,000 

 84,940 



$24,980 



vessels fishing salmon 

 and other species 



salmon 



$20,970 

 24,700 

 97,150 



$30,300 



other species all vessels 



$ 2.060 

 12,720 

 62,500 



$18,665 



22,500 



115,280 



$10,200 $31,000 



Source: Based on unpublished data from the Department of Fisheries 

 and Oceans. 



Earnings vary considerably among the sectors of the 

 fleet for three reasons: the average capacity of vessels in 

 each gear category varies; the several species of salmon 

 differ in value and in their susceptibility to particular 

 types of gear; and the same species caught by different 

 gear types can differ in value. 



