Annual Report 1959

Being the Ninety-third Annual Fisheries Report of the Government of Canada 89633-2-1 ROGER DUHAMEL, F.R.S.C. QUEEN'S PRINTER AND CONTROLLER OF STATIONERY OTTAWA, 1961 Price 50 cents. Cat. No. Fs. 1-1959 To His Excellency Major-General Georges P. Vanier, D.S.O., M.C., C.D., Governor General and Commander-in-Chief of Canada. May it Please Your Excellency: I have the honour herewith, for the information of Your Excellency and the Parliament of Canada, to present the Annual Report of the Department of Fisheries for the year 1959, and the financial statements of the Department for the fiscal year 1959-1960. Respectfully submitted, Minister of Fisheries. 89633-2-1f- To the Honourable J. Angus MacLean, M.P., Minister of Fisheries, Ottawa, Canada. Sir: I submit herewith the Annual Report of the Department of Fisheries for the year 1959, and the financial statements of the Department for the fiscal year 1959-60. I have the honour to be, Sir, Your obedient servant, eAP • Deputy Minister. CONTENTS PAGE Introduction 7 Conservation and Development Service 11 Departmental Vessels 31 Inspection and Consumer Service 34 Economics Service 43 Information and Educational Service 45 Industrial Development Service 50 Fishermen's Indemnity Plan 52 Fisheries Prices Support Board 54 Fisheries Research Board of Canada 55 International Commissions 69 Special Committees 84 The Fishing Industry 86 Statistics of the Fisheries 92 APPENDIX 1. Financial Statements, 1959-1960 2. Fish Culture Development Statements XIX 5 British Columbia salmon fishermen hauling in a purse seine near Alert Bay. 6 INTRODUCTION HE DEVELOPMENT of a primary resource as valuable as the fisheries of TCanada demands a management programme founded on sound scientific research, with constant emphasis on conservation, new and improved fishing and processing methods, and greater diversification of the fishing enterprise as a whole. The work of the Department of Fisheries of Canada in fulfilling its responsibilities in the protection, expansion and general regulation of the immense sea and freshwater stocks of fish during 1959 is contained in this report, together with statistical details of the fishing industry. A leading producer and exporter among fishing nations, Canada has an annual catch of all species of fish and shellfish in the neighborhood of two billion pounds, worth ne,arly $109 million to the fisherman, nearly 10 per cent less than in the record year of 1958 but five per cent above average for the years 1955-59 inclusive. The catch was shared by about 75,000 fishermen. The total value to Canada has been estimated at about $210 million. Of the exports of fishery products, worth nearly $148 million, about 67 per cent went to the United States, 19 per cent to the United Kingdom and continental Europe, and most of the balance to the Caribbean countries. On the Pacific coast production was down from the previous year, but this had been expected, the major cause being a smaller catch of Fraser River sockeye salmon, which in 1959 were at the low point in their four-year cycle. Another factor was a tie-up of the British Columbia salmon industry from July 29 to August 10, caused by a strike of fishernien, tendermen and cannery workers. The fishing industry of the Atlantic provinces achieved a higher production level than ever before, with an increase of 15 per cent in landed value over 1958, and 10 per cent over the 1955-59 average. The year also saw great improvement in catching and processing facilities. In human terms, there was greater loss of life than there had been for over three decades. The two most tragic events were the drowning of 35 fishermen during a storm in Northumberland Strait and the sinking, with all hands, of a deep sea dragger out of Grand Bank, Newfoundland. The responsibilities of the Department were increased in several fields, notably in that phase of its work dealing with the inspection of fishery products as part of the programme to improve quality. Twenty-eight plants in eight provinces were certified during the ye,ar to mark their frozen products "Canada Inspected" and "Processed Under Government Supervision". These emblems are reproduced on the following page. The standards which enable processors to use the foregoing quality designa- tions were set by the Canadian Government Specifications Board, and inspection, on a voluntary basis, was made available by the Department in April 1959. At the same time the Department's inspection service for imports and exports, as well as for the products of plants which requested and qualified for inspection, was made available in the Province of Quebec. By agreements between the federal and provincial goverrunents the administration of the Fish Inspection Act and the Meat 7 and Canned Food Act as it concerns fishery products was transferred from the Government of Quebec to the Government of Canada. (In 1923, the administration of Quebec's fishery resources became the responsibility of the province. Except for inspection, this arrangement continues with respect to the control of the com- mercial fisheries under the Fisheries Act.) PROCESSED UNDER CANADA GOVERNMENT INSPECTED SUPERVISION Another step to establish greater uniformity in the inspection of fish products in Canada was taken in July, when the Fish Inspection Act and the Mea.t and Can- ned Foods Act were proclaimed in Newfoundland. This action followed the pro- clamation, in 1958, of the Canada Fisheries Act, which covers the powers of the Minister of Fisheries, conservation practices, regulations, and the licensing of fishing vessels and fishermen. In British Columbia an important step was taken in the establishment of a committee to work out the best management practices and procedures for the herring fishery of the Pacific Area. Known as the British Columbia Herring Management Committee, it has an industrial advisory group drawn from fishermen's and trade organizations with which it consults on herring problems. This committee is some- what similar to that set up in connection with the salmon fishery of the Skeena River, which has functioned successfully for several years. Plans were announced during the year for annual meetings between senior officials of the federal Department of Fisheries and those of the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario in connection with the fisheries of inland lakes. The Department also proceeded with plans for a study of the economy of all Canadian freshwater fisheries. There were important meetings, during 1959, of the Federal-Provincial Committee for Ontario Fisheries and the Federal-Provincial Atlantic Fisheries Committee, both of which are dealt with in this report. Various economic research projects were completed, including studies of assisted fishing enterprises, increasing mechanization of the industry, and the fisheries of Passamoquoddy Bay in relation to the proposed tidal power developments in the Bay of Fundy, and further improvements were made in statistical services. The Department continued its policy of keeping the fish trade and all those directly concerned with the fisheries, as well as the public, informed on all trends 8 and developments in the industry. To do this it utilized all available communications media, mainly press, radio, television, motion pictures, filmstrips, talks and demon- strations, as well as its own publications and pamphlets. Every effort was made, as well, to increase the consumption of fish in Canada by stressing its advantages as a food. Considerable progress was made in establishing working arrangements between the Department on the one hand and the fishing industry, ancillary companies and other fisheries administrations on the other, in an overall modernization programme. Development work was carried out on various new and improved methods of catching and processing fish and shellfish. Operations under the Fishermen's Indemnity Plan were extended during 1959. Under the plan low cost protection against loss of or damage to fishing boats valued at $10,000 or less, and to lobster traps, is provided by the Govemment. Two hundred and six vessels were added to the insured fleet, bringing the total number to 5,278, with a total appraised value of $15,949,150. No direct price support action under the Fisheries Prices Support Act was necessary during 1959. However, most of the 20 community fish processing esta- blishments planned for certain isolated areas of Newfoundland were completed. Construction of these community "stages" had been authorized by the Government, on recommendation of the Board, for the benefit of fishing regions which had been seriously affected by abnormally poor catches in 1958. The Board continued to administer the Fisheries Salt Assistance Programme, which provides fishermen and other processors with a rebate of half the laid down cost of salt used in the curing of fish. The biological, techological and oceanographic work of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada, which functions under the authority of the Minister of Fisheries and as such is the scientific arm of the Department, is dealt with in a chapter of this report and, in detail, in the Board's own annual report, published separately. Canada's responsibilities under international conventions for the conservation of the resources of the high seas and fresh waters in which we have common interest with other countries are the special concerri of the Department of Fisheries. This country is represented on seven international commissions operating under such conventions, and the work of these is summarized briefly in a chapter of this report. 10 CONSERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT SERVICE ATURAL DEPRESSION of certain fish stocks and continued progress in N the improvement of fishing techniques in 1959 clearly indica.ted the need for a continuing effective conservation and development programme. More rigid conservation measures were required to provide the necessary protection for fish populations.

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