POLICIES TO PROMOTE INDIAN 

 PARTiaPATION 



The magnitude of Indian displacement and the severity 

 of the problems it has created drove the Department of 

 Indian and Northern Affairs and the Department of 

 Fisheries and Oceans to adopt measures to protect and, if 

 possible, to increase the participation of Indians in the 

 commercial fisheries. A brief review of these experiments 

 is instructive in designing poHcies for the future. 



Provisions for Indiaas under Restrictive Licensing 



Under the restrictive systems introduced in the Pacific 

 fisheries and described in preceding chapters, a number 

 of special arrangements were made for Indians. 



Salmon licensing The salmon fleet control program 

 introduced in 1969 initially accelerated the long-term 

 decline in Indian participation in the fishery, a result that 

 was feared from the start. To arrest this trend, several 

 measures were taken: 



i) In 1970, funds were provided by the Department of 

 Indian and Northern Affairs to purchase derelict 

 vessels from the existing fleet in order to create a 

 "tonnage bank," which was administered under the 

 Indian Fishermen's Assistance Program (discussed 

 below). Indian fishermen wanting to introduce ves- 

 sels into the salmon fishery were allocated the 

 required tormage for vessel licences out of this bank. 



ii) In 1969 and 1970, whenever an Indian applied for a 

 temporary ("B") licence rather than an ordinary 

 ("A") licence, the Department of Indian and North- 

 ern Affairs was notified and in most cases was able 

 to arrange for the higher ordinary licence fee to be 

 paid. 



iii) In 1971 the Indian licence ("A I") was created and 

 any Indian could convert his ordinary licence to this 

 new category, which carried a fee of only $10. Ves- 

 sels with Indian licences were ineligible for purchase 

 under the buy-back program, but they could be 

 transferred to other Indians (or to non-Indians by 

 converting the licence to an ordinary licence by pay- 

 ing the accumulated difference in fees between the 

 two categories of licences). Some licensed vessels 

 were purchased by the Department of Indian and 

 Northern Affairs, which transferred the licences to 

 the Indian Fishermen's Assistance Program's ton- 

 nage bank, where they were made available to Indi- 

 ans who required assistance. 



iv) In 1972 all temporary ("B") licences held by Indians 

 were converted to Indian ("A I") licences. Sixty- 

 three licences were changed under this provision, but 

 they were mostly on small boats and only 52 of them 

 were renewed as Indian licences the following year. 



INDIANS IN THE COMMERCIAL FISHERIES 153 



v) Beginning mid 1980, holders of Indian licences were 

 no longer permitted to convert them to ordinary 

 licences. 



Despite these special provisions, the number of Indian 

 participants in the salmon fishery declined during the first 

 few years of restrictive licensing. In the first two years 

 alone the number of Indian gillnetters dropped by 29 

 percent. This was partly offset by an increase in Indian- 

 owned seiners and trollers, which was apparently the 

 result of aid provided under the Indian Fishermen's 

 Assistance Program (discussed below). Overall, the num- 

 ber of Indian vessel-owners and crewmen fell by eight 

 percent.' 



One reason for this decline was that many Indian ves- 

 selowners failed to meet the initial landings qualifications 

 required to obtain a salmon licence. A second was the 

 sale of Indian vessels with ordinar>' licences through the 

 buy-back program. And a third was the inability of some 

 Indian vessels to pass the inspection for quality standards 

 introduced in 1973. But later, for a few years after 1972. 

 with the help of the Indian Fishermen's Assistance Pro- 

 gram, Indians were able to maintain and even increase 

 their relative position in the salmon fisheries. 



Roe-herring licensing Two important provisions were 

 incorporated into the roe-herring licensing system to 

 encourage Indian participation: no restrictions were 

 imposed on Indians until 1977, though licences for non- 

 Indians were limited three years earlier: and Indian roe- 

 herring licences cany an annual fee of $10, rather than 

 the $2(X) for gillnet and $2,000 for seine licences issued to 

 non-Indians. 



In 1980, 61 Indian seine licences and 399 gillnet 

 licences were outstanding in the roe-herring fishery. 

 Existing regulations require that Indian licences not be 

 leased to non-Indians. (While some people have sug- 

 gested that this still happens quite frequently, I have not 

 found any firm evidence to indicate that this is the case.) 

 Nonetheless, processing companies seem to have 

 acquired equity interests in some Indian-owned herring 

 seine vessels. 



Licensing in other fisheries For the halibut fishery, 

 special licences are issued armually to Indians who 

 depend on halibut for a significant part of their income 

 but who did not qualify for the restricted halibut licences 

 introduced in 1979. Currently, there are only 10 such 

 licences. Also, as a general Departmental p)olicy, individ- 

 ual Indians and band councils are given priority for new 

 licences in the spawn-on-kelp fishery. At present, Indians 

 hold 1 8 of the 28 licences in this fishery. 



The Indian Fishermen's Assistance Program 



In 1968, the Indian Fishermen's Assistance Program 

 was introduced to improve Indian participation in the 



