MARICULTURE AND OCEAN RANCHING 149 



holder could pursue in the knowledge that 

 fish in the designated fishery belonged to him 

 alone. In short, the licence holder's main con- 

 cern would be to have just the nght amount 

 of fishing power at hand to make the pre- 

 scribed catch, at lowest possible cost, . . .'^ 



... the sponsors will be able to maximize 

 their revenues and possibly their local 

 employment through researching alternative 

 ways of harvesting. . . .'^ 



I find these features of the proposals for ocean ranch- 

 ing most attractive; particularly, the opportunities to har- 

 ness private initiative and ingenuity in producing fish, 

 linking tho,se who would incur the costs directly with 

 those who would benefit. Policy should encourage cau- 

 tious developments in ocean ranching along these lines 

 and enable opportunities in this new field to be pursued. 



I therefore recommend — 



2. The Department's program for niaricultural leases 

 should include ocean ranching operations based on 

 development of natural stocks and artificial produc- 

 tion. 



For the immediate future, I suggest that only a few 

 modest ventures of this kind be approved to test their 

 feasibility and the system for regulatmg them. Thus — 



3. For the time being and until the feasibility of these 

 ventures and the regulatory UK'thod is demonstrated, 

 the DepartuK'nt should approve only a few niaricul- 

 tural leases involving ocean ranching operatioas as 

 pilot projects. 



The approved pilot projects should be designed to 

 demonstrate that these ventures can benefit, rather than 

 impinge upon, established commercial fisheries and 

 should provide for close monitonng and control by the 

 Department. 



Each should be based on a maricultural lease over a 

 bay or inlet of modest scale, with the lease having the 

 characteristics described later in this chapter. Lessees 

 would have the exclusive right to harvest fish in the pre- 

 scribed area and the obligation to conduct enhancement, 

 management and protective functions as set out in the 

 management plan approved by the Department. TTie 

 enhancement would include developing natural stocks in 

 streams entering the sea in the lease area as well as pro- 

 ducing fish by approved artificial techniques. The opera- 

 tions should be designed and located to minimize inter- 

 ference with established commercial fisheries, and prefer- 

 ably to augment the commercial catch. 



MARICULTURE LEASES 



In Chapter 18 I identify the overiapping interests of the 



federal and provincial governments in mariculture, and 

 recommend that their respective roles be clarified in a 

 federal-provincial agreement. For species to be adminis- 

 tered by the province, the design of leases should be left 

 in provincial hands. But for those under federal control, 

 the Department must develop leasing arrangements that 

 will offer the requisite management incentives to their 

 holders and provide the Department with the necessar>' 

 supervisory controls. 



Leases must be developed for both mariculture and 

 ocean ranching operations. And within each of these gen- 

 eral categories, appropriate provisions should be incorpo- 

 rated into leases to reflect the unique nature of the species 

 involved and their management requirements, leaving 

 wide scope for variations among them. Nevertheless, they 

 should share certain common features. 



I pointed out in Chapter 7 that the essential feature of 

 mariculture leases is that they confer rights over a defined 

 geographic area. In Chapter 8, I proposed that leases 

 have certain general characteristics: that they be allo- 

 cated through competitive bidding (unless a proptised 

 project is feasible only for a particular applicant); that 

 they be issued for specific terms; that they specify the 

 quantities offish to be harvested; that they cany an obli- 

 gation to pay royalties on the authorized harvest; and 

 that they be transferable with the approval of the Minis- 

 ter. These basic provisions are consistent with other rec- 

 ommendations in this report concerning limited-entry 

 and quota licences. To accommodate developments in 

 mariculture and ixrean ranching the Department should 

 incorporate lhe.se features into provisions for mariculture 

 leases. 



Thus I recommend — 



4. Mariculture or ocean ranching operations should be 

 authorized b\ the DepartnK'nt under mariculture 

 leases. F^ch mariculture lease should designate a 

 specific area in which its holder has the exclusive right 

 to har>est and manage specified species of fish. 



The lease area for ocean ranching operations might 

 include a small bay or inlet adjacent to the rearing facil- 

 ity, where its holder would be able to harvest his catch 

 efficiently and without interference from others. 



The Department will need to approve fisheries man- 

 agement, enhancement and harvesting plans under mari- 

 culture leases, to ensure that they are biologically and 

 technically sound and assign responsibilities to lease 

 holders. The leasing system should offer flexibility in this 

 regard, so that arrangements can be changed periodically 

 to take advantage of opportunities and to solve problems 

 as they emerge over the life of the lease. Thus, leases 

 should permit regular revisions to approved management 

 and harvesting plans. 



