Summary of Proceedings of Meeting Be'iween Federal and Provincial
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SUMMARY OF PROCEEDINGS I/{ OF MEETING BE'IWEEN FEDERAL AND PROVINCIAL OFFICIAIS ON DEVEIDPMENT OF NEWFOUNDIAND FISHl!:RIES August 21 & 22, 1968 SH Industrial Development Service 224 Department of Fisheries .N4 Ottawa M44 1968 c.2 ~7ooJ Tl!~ LIBRARY BEDFORD INSTITUTE OF OCEANOGRAPHY BOX '006 DARTMOUTH, N.S. B2Y 4A2 LIST OF PARTICIPANTS FI SHERIES Ai'JO OCEANS LI BRAflY ' BIBLIOTHEOUE PECHES ET OCEANS OTTAW/~, 01\lT/\FiiO Federal Fisheries K1 A OE6 CANADA Dr. A.W.H. Needler, Deputy Kinister (Chairman) Dr. R.R. Logie, Assistant Deputy Minister L. S. Bradbury H. V. Dempsey J. G. Falardeau G. L. Grant } H. C. Lucas W. C. MacKenzie W. D. McDougall c. R. Molson R. Prince V. Rossiter G. F. M. Smith W. E. Snaith (Secretary) Provincial Fisheries Hon. Aid~n Maloney, Minister of Fisheries and Minister of Community and Social Development R. Young, Member, Newfoundland Fisheries Development Authority z. Sametz, Deputy Minister of Community and Social Development Other Federal W. M. Crerar, Atlantic Development Board M. s. Strong, Department of Trade and Conunerce D. W. Ware, Department of Finance (i) D MEE'!' ING on the DEVELOPMEN'f 01<' THE NEWFOUNDLAND FISHSI-tl~S arTAWA August 21 and 22, 1968 AGENDA Place: Fisheries Conference Room A-217 Sir Charles Tupper Building Wednesday, 9:00 a.m. 1. Shared Cost Programme - Mr. Young, Mr. Bradbury and Mr. Prince 2. Short Term.Technical Assistance - Mr. Bradbury and Mro Prince 3. Fishermen's Technical Extension Service - Mr. Prince 4. McDougall-Barnes Report on visit to Norway, Iceland and Far.oes - Mr. McDougall 5. Freeze-Drying - Progress Report - Mr. McDougall 6. Fish Inspection - Mr. Dempsey and Mr. Young 7. Indemnity Fund - Insurance on Fishing Gear - Mr. Falardeau and Mr. Young 8. Canadian Atlantic Fisheries Information Service - Progre·ss Report - Dr. Needler 9o Fisheries Research Board - Pink Salmon, Herring and Unexploited Resources - Dr. Smith 10. Herring Fishery Development - Discussion 11. Resource Development - Progress R~port - Mr. Lucas LUNCHEON - TEST KITCHEN 12:)0 - l:JO (ii) TABLE OF CONTENTS SYBJECT PAGE List of Participants {i) Agenda (ii) Shared Cost Programmes 1 Sandlaunce and ·eapelin 2 Queen Crab 4 Synthetic Cod Trap 4 McDougall Barnes Report 4 Freeze-Drying 6 Fish Inspection 7 Indemnity Fund 8 Fishing Gear 8 Vessels 9 Canadian Atlantic Fisheries Information Service 9 Fisheries Research Board 10 Pink Salmon 10 Herring ll Resource Development 12 Productivity Survey - Stevenson-Kellogg Study 13 lnbucon 14 U.S. Marketing Study (A.D.B.) 15 Market Report - Trade and Commerce 16 Problems of Salted Fish and Ground.fish Industries 16 Comnmnity Fish Handling Facilities 17 Vessel Construction Assistance 18 Centralization 19 FRF.D 20 Fogo Island 21 St. Brides 22 Other Business 22 Food Herring Project Proposal 22 Salmon on high seas 23 (iv) SUM?l.iARY OF PROCEEDINGS OF MEETINGS BETWEEN FEDERAL AND PROVINCIAL FISHERIES OFFICIALS ON DEVELOPMENT OF NEWFOUNDLAND FISHERIES August 21 & 22, 1968 The meeting convened at 0900 Wednesday August 21, in the Department of Fisheries' Conference Room, Sir Charles Tupper Building, Ottawa, with Dr. Needler as Chairman. Mr. Young represented the province in the forenoon session and was jo:ined by the Hon. Aidan Maloney, Newfoundland Minister of Fisheries and Minister of Community and Social Development and Mr. Sametz, Deputy Minister of Community and Social Development in the after noon session. A detailed list of those in attendance appears on page i. The discussions for the duration of the meetings centered on subjects outlined in an Agenda which appears on page ii. Items 1 to 3 Shared Cost Programme - Technical Assistance - Technical Extension Seryice In Newfoundland there are ten projects under way, six on a 75% - 25% basis and four on a 50 - 50% sharing arrangement for a total cost of $835,ooo. The Federal share will be $600,000 leaving a cost to the province of $235,000. - 2 - Involved in these projects are 27 technical specialists, including 7 on salt fish extension activities for a total e:xpenditure of approximately $158,000 for fees, travel and living expenses. Of the 27, 5 are from Japan, 2 from British Columbia, 1 from Denmark, 1 from Scotland, l from Ontario and the remaining 17 from Newfoundland. A detailed review by projects of the programme undertaken by the province under the shared cost arrangements in the years 1967/68 and 1968/69 to-date appears as Appendix 1. Following the presentation of the report there was considerable Sandl.$!.unce discussion on the results with particular attention focused on the & search for Sandlaunce and Capelin and it was explained that there t Capel in were favorable indications for a commercial operation based on Capelin along the north coast of Newfoundland if' reduction facilities were made available. The price to fishermen for purse-seined Capelin ranged from $7.50 to $8.50 per ton. While Sandlaunce operations were less extensive than for Capelin it was felt that this resource held considerable prospects for development of a commercial operation. It was noted that Sandlaunce were sometimes encountered mixed with Capelin, but that Capelin tend to be above the bottom, Sandlaunce are f'ound tight to the bottom and indeed, sometimes under the bottom surface. Sandlaunce were to be found on the Grand Bank and the Scotian Shelf' and in the Gulf of st. Lawrence. - 3 - There was some discussion regarding the possibility of encouraging the larger f'ishing companies to adopt a more aggressive approach to the exploration of the Capelin and 5andlaunce resources. It was reported that British Columbia Packers is ordering variable speed equipment for the handling of Sand- ' launce gear and that the purchase cost of suitable seiners was comparativeq low. The Chairman, in SUJDDUlng up the discussion, expressed his satisfaction with the prospects for Sa.ndlaunce arising out of the work undertaken, but he felt that care r must be taken to ensure that the quantities taken could not lead to objections founded in the belief that commercial fishing of the species would have an adverse a!fect on the groundfish fishery by removing a basic food of the ground fish. He observed that Sandlaunce were short lived and that it would take a very heavy fishery to affect species depending on the resources for food. Speaking for the province Mr. Young indicated that monies presently available would not permit engaging in exploring for Herring, Capelin and Sandlawice after these species leave the inshore fishery. The Chairman, commenting in repfy- observed that thel1e was no intention of going into "scouting" for fish, as this was an operation to be left to industry. The responsibility of goveniment should stop with exploratory fishing for new resources and stocks not presentfy- exploited to ~heir present commercial potential. -4- There was considerable discussion on the development of Queen Crab the Atlantic Queen Crab fishery much of which was centered on the question of the processing of dead crabs. It was generally agreed that care should be taken to see that only live crabs are processed, and while there was no specific regulation for the handling of these crabs, the situation was probably covered by the general requirement in the regulations that "only live shell fish shall be processed". It was reported that the federal Halifax: Inspection Laboratory is carrying out work on a study of crab processing. Reference was made to a legal ruling of long standing in the r United States prohibiting the use of the name "Queen Crab" for r J the species. In the U.s.A., these crabs are ce.lled "Snow C:re.b". In the circumstances Canadian processors seeking U.S. marketing outlets for Queen Crab would have to take account or the ruling and label their cans accordingly. Synthetic During the discussion on synthetic cod traps, reference was Cod Traps made to the extensive use of gillnets in some parts of Newfound.lam and it was felt that if, in the course of time, some suitable alternatives could be f'ound, a cut-back in the use of gillnets seemed desirable. Item 4 McDougall - &mes visit to Nozyay, Iceland, Faroe Island.s. Mr. McDougall gave the group a brief sununary, reporting on aspects of his trip with Mr. Barnes to the above noted fishing countries. It was pointed out that in contradistinction to - 5 - practices in the Newfoundland and M:iritimes salt cod fishery, 4 major factors affecting quality of salt fish products prevail in the three countries visitedi 1) All cod is bled at sea as soon as practicable after catching; 2) There are either price or subsidy incentives to fishermen tor landed quality fish; J) All fish are subject to rigid inspection; 4) All fish processing after bleeding is carried out in shore plants. In the discussions which fallowed it was generally recognized that unQ.er present conditions in Newfoundlarrl (i.e., cod caught r I by traps or gillnets and handled in large quantities over a short season), bleeding of fish when caught would be difficult to establish. A change for the better would involve long term planning and establishment of more processing facilities ashore. It was suggested that with the extension of the Resettlement Programme more processing ashore might be possible. The Chairman relt that the time was apportune for a joint project by the Fisheries Research Boa.rd and the federal Inspection Service to study the effects on quality of bleeding fish at sea. It was agreed that it would be difficult to bring about improve ments through more stringent inspection regulations and it would be unwise to put regulations on the books which could not be inforced. It was agreed that a brief edited version of the McDougall-Ba.mes report* delineating their findings should be prepared for the publication "Fisheries of Canada", and at the suggestion of the Chairman *Notei The report has since been published by the I.D.S.