138 i.ki:nsinc5 ih( sm\i I tr rn\i\(i R( i\i iisiuRirs 



To overcome the ixeseiii problems m lliis tisheiy atul 

 to promote the development ot ;m expanded abalone 

 industrv. I recommend the following changes: 



56. I'cii-ycar ubidonc qiMita liifnct>s sImuiUI k- ivsiR-il in 

 19JO t*> curreiil holders of ahaloiie (HK>ta liceiu-es. Ilic 

 quotas aiithori/e«l niuk-r tliest- nc« licences sImhiM be 

 CH|ual to iIk' (|iiotas ciirrentl) antlM>ri/e<l. 



57. 11h> tolal allowable catch of abalone should be detcr- 

 uiiiKHl for each zoik', and quota licensees should be 

 required to select tlK' zones in which the> will take 

 their quotas. 



58. The existing restrictions on the transfer of licences, 

 the division and combination of quotas, and the vessel 

 to be used by the licensee slK)uld be abolished. 



59. The Department siHHild be authorized to issue man- 

 culture leases for abaloiR\ 



60. With the help of the special committee of licensees 

 appointed for the abalone fishery, the DepartnM?nt 

 should delineate suitable areas for abalone maricul- 

 ture leases to replace existing quota licences. 



These areas should be determined on the basis of their 

 suitability as natural management units. They need not 

 be equal in teims of their current or potential yields, nor 

 need their number be equal to the current number of 

 licensees. Rather, they should be structured so that each 

 existing licensee can be allocated one or more leases 

 capable of a rate of production approximately equal to 

 his current quota. Beyond that, additional leases should 

 be allocated by open comp)etition. 



Apart from these changes in the licensing system, other 

 changes in abalone management policy should be consid- 

 ered. First, the method of protecting user groups from 

 each other should be reconsidered. Currently, commer- 

 cial abalone fishing is confined mainly to the proposed 

 north zone. Seventy percent of the coast, including all 

 waters south of Cape Caution are closed in order to 

 reserve abalone for Indians, who have traditionally used 

 this shellfish for food, and for sport fishermen. This is a 

 crude and wasteful method of allocating access to stocks 

 among users. Indian food fishermen and recreationists 

 typically "pick" abalone from the intertidal zone while 

 commercial fishermen harvest mostly by diving in deeper 

 water below the low-tide line. The Department should 

 therefore consider prohibiting the commercial harvesting 

 of abalone above the low-tide level to preserve these 

 areas for Indians and recreationists throughout the coast. 

 Then, with commercial operations thus confined to 

 deeper waters, commercial use of the available stocks 

 could be permitted over parts of the coast now closed. 



Second, to cope with a serious problem of poaching 

 abalone for sale by unlicensed divers, the Department 



should make a special efforl to enforce the licensing regu- 

 lations. In this respect, i am encouraged by the recent 

 trend toward stiff penalties for abalone poaching. 



GEODUCKS 



The commercial gecxiuck industry has had a short and 

 buoyant history. It began in 1976, responding entirely to 

 lucrative markets in Japan, which had already stimulated 

 a gecxluck fishery in nearby Washington State. By 1981 

 the Canadian harvest was close to 6 million pounds. This 

 year prices reached more than 40<t per pound, but the 

 market outlook is clouded by quality problems. 



Geoducks are a large species of clam. They are har- 

 vested by divers operating from boats that deliver the 

 catch fresh to shore facilities, where they are then sent to 

 a small number of processors and prepared for export to 

 Japan. 



Data on the stocks of geoducks are meagre, though the 

 standing stock is undoubtedly substantial and has been 

 estimated at more than 200 million pounds. The natural 

 recruitment rate is very low, however, and geoducks grow 

 very slowly over a life span believed to extend up to a 

 century. This means that the sustainable yield is a small 

 proportion of the stock. 



In 1980, in the face of a rapidly rising catch of geo- 

 ducks, an increasing number of vessels involved, and lit- 

 tle knowledge about the potential yields, the fishery was 

 subjected to limited-entry licensing. In 1981, there were 

 45 geoduck ("G") licences outstanding. Licences are 

 issued annually at a fee of $10 to the vessels that carried 

 licences the preceding year. The licences are transferable 

 and a licensed vessel may be replaced only with a vessel 

 of no greater length. 



Unlike abalone, geoduck licences do not specify quo- 

 tas, and the harvest a licensee may take is unlimited. The 

 Department has therefore sought alternative methods of 

 controlling pressure on the stocks. Despite little biologi- 

 cal information, a total allowable catch of 6 million 

 pounds has been set for the coast. Two million pounds is 

 fixed for the north coast and 4 million pxsunds for the 

 south. When the target is reached, the region is simply 

 closed. 



Although some fear that harvesting in certain areas 

 exceeds the sustainable yield, certain characteristics of 

 this fishery fortuitously protect the stocks from extinc- 

 tion. When the density of the stock in an area is reduced 

 significantly, further harvesting becomes uneconomical, 

 and in any event large stocks are found at depths that are 

 uneconomic to harvest at all. But overharvesting particu- 

 lar areas may well reduce yields for a long period. 



The distribution of the harvest is therefore a matter of 

 concern. The Department has attempted to spread fishing 



