lO: K.MIONAl l/INC; III! SAl MON AM) KOI IIIKKINC. IISIIIKII-S 



The scheme was highly ci>ntri)versial aiul. in resp*)nsc 

 to pressures, the gi>vemineiU made a luimber ol conces- 

 smns that haJ the eflect of weakening the tree/e on the 

 fleet. The most important o(" these relaxed the require- 

 ment tor s;ilmon landings: vessels that had landed any 

 species equivalent in value to the 10 thousand pounds of 

 pink or chum salmon (approximately $1,250 worth of 

 fish) were eligible for ordinary salmon licences. Thus, 

 about 160 additional vessels, including 60 halibut vessels 

 and 40 trawlers, were added to the licensed salmon fleet, 

 and more licences were awarded as a result of appeals. 

 The result was that the fishing capacity licensed to fish 

 for salmon was considerably greater than any capacity 

 previously engaged in the fishery, though the purpose of 

 the scheme was to prevent further expansion.'* 



Several special arrangements were made for Indians. 

 In 1971. any Indian with an ordinary licence could con- 

 vert It to a new subcategory of Indian licences ("A I" 

 licences), which carried lower fees but eliminated the 

 opportunity to participate in the buy-back program intro- 

 duced at that time. Indians with temporary licences were 

 permitted to convert them to Indian licences in 1973. 

 Until recently, these Indian licences could be transferred 

 freely only between status Indians, but if the accumu- 

 lated dilTerence in fees between the ordinary and Indian 

 licences were paid, the licences could be renewed as ordi- 

 nary licences and transferred to non-Indians. As the 

 value of ordinary licences rose over the years, many 

 Indian licences were transferred to non-Indians in this 

 way. In an effort to prevent further decline in Indian 

 participation in the commercial fisheries, conversions and 

 sales of Indian licences to non-Indians \ ere prohibited in 

 1980. 



At the time of writing, there were 162 temporary 

 salmon licences whose evolution is complicated. In 1970 

 the Minister announced that all of these licences would 

 be renewed only until 1978, then they would be elimi- 

 nated. When that term expired for the original licensees 

 (referred to as "original B's"), the 103 vessels remaining 

 in this category were granted an additional five years to 

 1983. These extensions were granted on conditions that 

 the vessels continued to be operated by the original licen- 

 see, that they landed salmon every year, and that the 

 licence privilege could not be transferred. At the time of 

 writing, 87 licences remained in this category, all of 

 which are due to expire on December 31, 1983. 



Over the years, some holders of ordinary licences chose 

 to replace them with temporary licences with a limited 

 life of 10 years from the date of conversion. There are 

 presently 27 of these "downgraded B" licences; 24 of 

 them will expire on December 31, 1983, and the rest by 

 December 31, 1988. 



The remaining 48 temporary licences fall into the 

 "appeal B" catcgi)ry. Many of these are held by fisher- 

 men who acquired B licences, from either "original B" or 

 "downgraded B" licensees, with full knowledge of their 

 special conditions and limited terms. Most of these 

 'appeal B' licences expire at the end of 1983. Al.so 

 included in this category are 14 licences held by Indians 

 who acquired temporary licences since 1973, and were 

 granted indefinite terms, subject to annual review. 



In May, 1971 a short-lived buy-back program was initi- 

 ated to eliminate some of the excess fleet. To provide 

 funds for this purpose, licence fees for ordinary licences 

 were doubled. (Those for temporary and Indian licences 

 were not, on the grounds that the.se ves.sels were not to be 

 eligible for purchase under the buy-back program.) 



It soon became clear that limiting the number of ves- 

 sels was not adequate to control expansion of fishing 

 capacity because licensed vessels were replaced by larger 

 vessels — often several times larger — and capital contin- 

 ued to be invested in more efficient vessels and equip- 

 ment. In an attempt to forestall this, rules were adopted 

 that restricted replacements to vessels of no greater 

 length or tonnage than the vessel being retired ("foot-for- 

 foot" and "ton-for-ton" replacement rules). Later, the 

 freedom to combine licensed tonnage from two or more 

 vessels into a single larger vessel ("pyramiding") was 

 prohibited. Nonetheless, as the value of salmon rose, 

 investment in vessels and equipment continued, and the 

 fishing capacity of the fleet expanded further. 



While the number of licensed vessels in the salmon 

 fleet has declined from more than 6100 in 1969 to 4I7I 

 ordinary, 376 Indian, and 192 temporary licences in 1 98 1 

 (as shown in Table 7-1), the capacity of the fleet has 

 grown substantially; the capital invested is probably sev- 

 eral times greater now than when the fleet-control pro- 

 gram was introduced, and because of technological 

 advances, the fleet's catching power has increased even 

 more. All of this costly increase in fishing capacity has 

 been redundant as it contributes nothing to the catch. 



Current licensing arrangements All forms of salmon 

 fishing privileges are simply limited-entry licences since 

 they authorize a vessel to engage in salmon fishing and 

 catch an unlimited quantity of fish. All of the present 

 licences are issued to vessels, though, in effect, some of 

 the temporary forms license a person as well because they 

 prohibit replacement of the vessel, unless it is lost, and 

 require that it be operated continuously by the owner 

 originally licensed. The restrictions on the "appeal B" 

 licences held by Indians are rather unclear insofar as the 

 vessels are sometimes operated by another member of the 

 Indian licensee's family. 



Salmon licences are renewable annually provided that 

 commercial landings of some fish are recorded at least 



