LICENSING THE SMALLER COMMERCIAL FISHERIES 133 



36. The fishing season should be expanded to the maxi- 

 mum period that biological constraints permit. 



Some groundfish vessels now roam coastwide, taking 

 advantage of different species available in different areas 

 at different times. Many of these are the highliners of the 

 fleet, who will receive the largest quotas under the pro- 

 posals. But the need for fishermen to switch from one 

 area to another during a season is related to the overca- 

 pacity of the fleet. For example, today, with too many 

 vessels competing for the available rockfish, the allowable 

 catch is reached early in the season and the fishery closes, 

 forcing the fishermen to look elsewhere. The rationalized 

 fleet and more orderly pattern of fishing that can be 

 expected to result from these proposals will eliminate that 

 problem. In any event, under the above proposals, initial 

 quota licensees will have an oppwrtunity to determine 

 how they will distribute their fishing effort. 



SHRIMP 



The value of the shrimp catch, though not the volume, 

 has increased significantly in recent years. Landings 

 brought average prices as high as 93c per pound in 1980 

 (a high year). TTie catch is taken with trawl gear and most 

 is sold fresh. For most shrimp fishermen, this fisher> is a 

 part-time adjunct to others. The 61 vessels that landed 

 only shrimp in 1980 accounted for only one-quarter of 

 the shrimp catch. 



Like most shellfish and Crustacea, shrimp stocks and 

 yield capabilities are not well known. They are difficult to 

 assess partly because populations often occur together, 

 they are often hard to find, and they fluctuate consider- 

 ably. Stocks off the west coast of Vancouver Island have 

 fluctuated especially widely; catches have fallen from 

 more than 12 million pounds in 1977 to 600 thousand 

 pounds three years later. 



The current catch may be close to the maximum sus- 

 tainable yield, but it is not evenly distributed over the 

 coast; the stocks in certain areas, such as the Strait of 

 Georgia, are believed to be overfished while those in 

 other areas, notably the north coast and Barkley Sound, 

 are believed to be underutilized. 



In 1977, as shrimp landings in the offshore fishery rose 

 dramatically and the fleet expanded excessively, the 

 Department imposed limited-entry licensing on the 

 shrimp trawl fishery. To qualify for a shrimp trawl ("S") 

 licence, a vessel had to show evidence of landings during 

 the preceding two years or of investments in shrimp 

 trawling equipment. Two hundred and forty-four vessels 

 are now licensed. In addition, special ministerial permits 

 have been issued to vessels to fish for shrimp in northern 

 waters where stocks are believed to be underutilized. 



These licences are issued at an annual fee of $10 to 

 vessels that carried licences the preceding year. Licensed 



vessels may be replaced by others subject to the foot-for- 

 foot rule. 



Restrictive licensing resulted mainly from concern 

 about overexpansion of the fleet of large vessels operat- 

 ing off the west coast of Vancouver Island, but it applied 

 coastwide. The large number of licences issued is the 

 result of lenient entr> criteria intended to accommodate 

 the many small boats that had been operating in inshore 

 waters, especially in the Strait of Georgia. 



These licensing arrangements have locked in a fleet 

 that is out of balance with the available catches. First, 

 there are far too many licensed vessels for the resource to 

 support. In most years nearly half of them record no 

 landings; but, as in the groundfish industry, the excessive 

 licensed fishing capacity presents a threat that will 

 impede this fishery's healthy development in the future. 



Second, in spite of the excessive number of licen.sed 

 vessels, they do not take advantage of underutilized 

 stocks in some areas such as the north coast. Many of the 

 licensed vessels are too small for northern operations, 

 and the vessel replacement rules prohibit their licences 

 from being transferred to larger vessels. 



Third, all but 17 of the vessels with shrimp licences 

 carry licences for other fisheries as well; most carry 

 salmon licences, but some combine halibut, herring and 

 groundfish licences. Because the Department does not 

 allow these licences to be "split" (i.e. all must be trans- 

 ferred together with the vessel), anyone wishing to fish in 

 an underexploited area has difficulty acquiring a shrimp 

 licence to do so. 



Solutions to these problems can be found in a quota 

 licensing system. This fishery lends itself well to such a 

 licensing system, and to area licensing based on the three 

 proposed zones and, indeed, to licensing by subzones 

 within these. I therefore recommend — 



37. Initial 10-year shrimp quota licences should be issued 

 in 1983 to owners of vessels with shrimp licences that 

 reported landings of shrimp in 1980 or 1981. The 

 quota for which each liceasee is eligible should be 

 related to his reported landings in those years. 



38. A tentative total allowable catch should be calculated 

 for each zone, with a separate subzone for the area 

 offshore in the west zone, and a reserve set aside for 

 appeals. 



39. Each licensee should be required to select one of the 

 three major zones or the offshore subzone in the west, 

 in which he will take his authorized catch. 



40. Until the quotas allocated in the north zone absorb the 

 total allowable catch there, new quotas should be 

 available on application as I have reconmiended for 

 hake, dogfish and other developing fisheries. 



