\M IK'tNSINt. I III S\IM I I K ( t)\l\ll K( I \l IISIIIRIIS 



Because i>(' ihc nicnibcrship of the consorliiim. il can 

 K" cxpcclcJ [o ti.nc an Milcrcst in cnsiiiinj; that the 

 cntcq">riNC \mII not disliKalc (.lonicslic paKcssing plants 

 and shi»rc\vorkers. Moreover, participating vesselowners 

 are represented on the coinmillee that negotiates prices 

 with ti>reign biuers. So unless there are reasons (winch I 

 am unaware of) to do otherwise, the consortium should 

 be left to manage the fishing and marketing of fish as 

 long as It does not violate Canadian anticombmes legisla- 

 tion. 



But no special privilege should be implied for this par- 

 ticular venture, if other organi/,atK>ns can secure con- 

 tracts with foreign buyers and make similar fishing 

 arrangements, they should be encouraged to do so, as 

 long as the fish are othervvi.se unutilized. The licensing 

 structure I have alreadv proposed should adecjuately 

 accommodate these arrangements. 



Remaining are the provisions for foreign vessels to fish 

 hake that are surplus to Canadian requirements. This 

 issue concerns arrangements between Canada and for- 

 eign nations, which are beyond my terms of reference, 

 and so I make no recommendations on this matter. 



Dogfish and pollock Dogfish and pollock are the 

 other two species that are now fished under the general 

 groundfish trawl licence and warrant individual licences. 

 Like hake, these species are fished and managed inde- 

 pendently with allowable catches prescribed by regions, 

 and they are underutilized. The 1981 catches of 1106 

 tonnes of pollock and 755 tonnes of dogfish represented 

 less than 10 percent of the tentatively estimated allowable 

 catches of both species. But both fisheries are expanding. 



Dogfish are sold mainly as frozen fillets (under more 

 appealing names) in Europe. They must be processed 

 very quickly after being taken from the sea in order to 

 avoid deterioration. These markets are expanding, and a 

 fishery based on over-the-side sales to foreign buyers 

 looks possible. These new markets should be encouraged; 

 and if they materialize, the arrangements should follow 

 those that I have proposed for hake. 



Pollock are harvested in huge quantities off Alaska, 

 where catches of up to 5 million tonnes are taken by U.S. 

 and foreign trawlers. The main markets for this species 

 are Japan, the Soviet Union and South Korea. 



Both of these fisheries should be managed henceforth 

 under specific licences. Accordingly, I recommend — 



30. Separate quota licences should be introduced for each 

 of pollock and dogfish, under the same arrangements I 

 have proposed above for hake. 



A new dogfish fishery should be encouraged for several 

 reasons. The stocks are very large, and are believed to 

 have increased substantially in recent years. They are 



heavy predators of herring, shrimp, salmon anil other 

 griHiiKltish. Ami they may tlisplace halibut in certain 

 areas,' Ihus, subsidies on dogtish have been advocated 

 by some participants, but I cannot recommend this 

 course of action unless the current trend toward an 

 expanded fishery reverses and encouraging indications 

 tor future expansion wane. 



Pollock, like other members of the cod family, are 

 highly sensitive to changes in environmental conditions 

 and as a result their abundance fluctuates considerably. 



31. llie initial 10-year qiH>ta licences issued for polkK'k 

 should he conservative, with additional catches in 

 years of abundance to he provided for under 1-year 

 permits. 



The initial royalties I propose in Table 8-1 for hake, 

 pollock and dogfish are modest to allow these fisheries to 

 expand. But until the full allowable catches are taken, 

 quota allocations will be unrestricted (within the pro- 

 posed limits on individual holdings), and so royalties will 

 serve to discourage licensees from acquiring quotas in 

 excess of their expected catches. 



Other groundfish The other species of groundfish do 

 not lend themselves as well to separate licensing arrang- 

 ments. Some are inevitably harvested with others; the 

 important Pacific cod is subject to such fluctuations in 

 abundance that allowable catches cannot be reliably esti- 

 mated at present; and most are not yet sufficiently valu- 

 able to warrant new licensing arrangements. 



But a quota system would be beneficial in view of the 

 overexpanded fleets and the threat of additional partici- 

 pation if this fishery's circumstances were to improve. 

 The system should deal immediately with the problem of 

 redundant and idle capacity, encourage subsequent fleet 

 rationalization, and aid in the management of the stocks 

 utilized. 



I therefore propose that — 



32. Initial 10-year groundfish quota licences should be 

 issued in 1983 to owners of licensed groundfish trawl 

 vessels that reported landings in 1980 or 1981 of 

 groundfish other than those species for which separate 

 licences are proposed above. The quota for which each 

 initial liceasee is eligible should be related to his 

 reported landings in those years. 



33. The total allowable catch of these other groundfish 

 species should be determined conservatively for each 

 zone and a small reserve set aside for appeals. 



34. Each initial licensee should be required to select the 

 zone or zones in which his quota will apply, and 

 licences should be issued accordingly. 



35. Harvesting of temporarily abundant stocks should be 

 provided for under one-year permits. 



