A History of Pacific Fisheries Policy Was Com Pleted for the Program Planning and Economics Branch of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (Pacific Region)
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2~4317 A HISTORY OF PACIFIC FISHERIES POLICY DFO - ' I 0801 Douglas M. Swenerton . ~ _ .r..• . .• ..__ .-;: ~.:..-. :~ .- -U. ·, ~ . - ' "Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it." George Santayana SH 224 B7 S9 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS A History of Pacific Fisheries Policy was com pleted for the Program Planning and Economics Branch of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (Pacific Region). The project was originated and directed by Alan Greer, Senior Economist. I would like to give particular thanks to MichelleJamesandSteven Wright for their valuable edits. I would also like to thank my editors from academia and government. The following people were generous both with their time and their uncanny knack for uncovering my mistakes: Gordon Munro from the Department of Economics at the University of British Columbia; Parzival Copes, Terry Heaps, and Don Devoretz from the Departmen t of Economics at Simon Fraser University; Peter Leitz and Sandy Fraser from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food; and Joseph Gough from the Department of Fisheries (Scotia-Fundy Region). Lastly, I am deeply indebted to the many writers and researchers whose work formed the basis for this paper. They have made my job a simple one of amalgamating the existing research on Pacific fisher ies policy. As such, this paper is more a compilation of their ideas than a presentation of my own work. An extensive bibliography follows this paper, and I en courage the reader to refer to it for a list of more in depth analyses of fisheries policy issues. Douglas M. Swenerton May 20, 1993 A History oj Pacific Fisheries Policy i ii A History oj Pacific Fisheries Policy TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1 Why A History of Policy? Who Should Read this Document? What Is Policy? A Brief History of Fish The Complexity of Policy Formulation Crises: Pressure for Change Public Pressure for Change Political Pressure for Change Internal Pressure for Change CHAPTER ONE: THE TREND SETTERS (PRE-CONFEDERATION - 1922) 9 Early Native Management Early Conceptions of Fishing Rights The Government Enters the Fishery Early Enhancement Initiatives Stop, or I'll Say Stop Again! The Low Priority of Enforcement Limited Entry, Take 1 Royal Commission, Anyone? Anyone for Seconds? Anyone for Thirds? A New Superintendent Takes Charge Limited Entry, Take 2 Dealing with the Hell's Gate Slide The 1917 Evans Commission Leases as an Early Management Tool Salmoncentric Policies Racism in Early Fisheries Management Native Rights (?) Up the Creek Without A Paddle: The Babine Barricades Early International Conflicts Fur Seal Bonanza: Canada's First International Fisheries Agreement Summary Endnotes CHAPTER TWO: MODERNIZATION AND DEVELOPMENT (1923-1968) 31 Government Assistance in Industry Growth Government Involvement During World War II Discrimination Ouring World War II The Government Lends A Hand After the War International Cooperation in Stock Management Other International Agreements A History oj Pacific Fisheries Policy iii Growing Interest in Extended Fisheries Jurisdiction Licence Limitation Returns The Rise of Fisheries Biologists and Economists Fish By Numbers: Maximum Sustainable Yield Emerges as a Management Tool H. Scott Gordon Catches the Government's Eye Sharing the Gold: An Illustration of the Common Properly Problem The Growth of the Sport Fishery The 1960 Sinclair Report The Aftermath of the Sinclair Report Summary Endnotes CHAPTER THREE: BRAVE NEW WORLD (1969 - PRESENT) 51 The Da vis Plan Phase One of the Davis Plan Phase Two of the Davis Plan Phases Three and Four of the Davis Plan A Report Card for the Davis Plan A Policy for Canada's Commercial Fisheries The Department Grows During the 1970s Regional Policy During the 1970s The Low Priority of Research Continuing Government Assistance Policies Extended Fishing Jurisdiction Fish Wars The Salmonid Enhancement Program Area Licensing in the Roe Herring Fishery The Government Increases Native Involvement The Pearse Commission The Commission Examines Policy ... .. .and Allocation ... ... and Sportfishing ... ... and Ineffective Reorganization ... ... and Consultation ... .. .and Enforcement... ... and Habitat... ...and the Fisheries Act. The Aftermath of the Pearse Commission Stock and Fleet Management During the 1980s The Spread of Licence Limitation The Era of Published Policies The Rise of Aquaculture International Issues During the 1980s Native Claims on theriorizon Individual Quotas and Area Licensing Summary Endnotes BmLIOGRAPHY AND PHOTO CREDITS 91 • iv A History oj Pacific Fisheries PoLicy INTRODUCTION " All the historical books which contain no lies are extremely tedious," Anatole France . WHY A HISTORY OF POLICY? WHO SHOULD READ THIS DOCUMENT? Should anyone really care about the history of Pacific fisheries policy? The answer is a qualified yes. This document is intended for a broad range of Managerial policy in any context is heavily influ readers -- everyone from new staff at the Department enced by events that have gone before, perhaps more of Fisheries and Oceans to senior managers and so in the public service. The intransigency of regula members of the public. Experience preferred, but not tory change implies that the public service does essential: it is assumed that the reader has at least a things in a certain way because, after all, it's the way passing knowledge of fishing terminology, but this things have always been done. Likewise, industry document is by no means a technical one and the and special interest groups come to expect certain direction of its train of thought is relatively straight things of government because of its assumed histori forward. The information has been classified into cal role. historical segments, so tha t it need not be read in one sitting. One of the biggest problems administrators have to overcome is something that could be labelled The paper is written with tongue firmly planted 'regulatory myopia,' which may be described as the in cheek, but its tone should not be taken as an tendency to follow a policy that is politically saleable, attempt to belittle the difficulties of fisheries manage easy to introduce, or is simply a short-term expedient ment. The constraints on fisheries management are reaction to get the problem off one's desk. It ignores considerable for mere mortals; thus, when this docu the long-term context of one's actions. History is a ment criticizes fisheries valuable tool for placing these decisions in context, policy, it does not impute to viewing things that have gone before, assessing why individual members of the they happened, and determining how the present Department of Fisheries and state of affairs came to be. Just as grown humans are Oceans any evil intent. products of their childhood as well as their current Rather, it presents histori environment, so is present fisheries management the cal events in an effort to un product of past policies. derstand how the con straints have led to mana The reader may also find this paper to be a gerial responses. helpful introduction to the fundamental issues in fisheries management. An attempt has been made to It should also be noted that this paper is a trace the emergence of the major themes in fisheries synthesis rather than a thesis. As such, it does not put policy, from the recognition of conserva tion issues to forth any new concepts as such, but attempts to the economic consequences of overfishing. summarize existing thought and reveal both sides of controversial issues. An attempt has also been made to include anectodal evidence in the place of statistical facts. If nothing else, this pa per should germina te a few seeds of thoug~t and generate a desire to look more deeply into the aspects of management that are of interest, regardless of one's area of expertise. 2 A History of Pacific Fisheries Policy WHAT IS POLICY? A BRIEF HISTORY OF FISH It has been said that, in one way or another, The pre-contact Aboriginal era is not dealt with every employee of the Department of Fisheries and in this document, but we should not discount the Oceans works on policy. This statement underlines significance of a culture that, at the very least, passed the confusion about what exactly constitutes policy. on a valuable endowment of fisheries resources. Part of the confusion arises because it is difficult to Since the arrival of European settlers on the West distinguish policy from regulation: policy is focussed Coast, there have been three distinct phases in the at a 'macro' or large-scale level, whereas regulation evolution of Pacific fisheries policy. focusses on the 'micro' decisions required to imple ment policy. If policy is the direction in which a car The first, lasting until about 1922, was an early is headed, regulation is the amalgamation of nuts regulatory period in which the govemmentattempted and bolts that get it there. It is worth noting that, to define property tights and assisted in establishing strictly speaking, policy can be changed at the whim the dominance of a few large processing companies. of a Minister of Fisheries or senior administrator. In Conservation was the primary concern of regulators, the words of Richard Sheridan, "The policy of a and input controls on permissible fishing gear, areas nation is often decided over a cup of coffee." Regula and times were used to ensure the sustainability of tory change, on the other hand, is generally more fish stocks. exacting and time-consuming. The second phase, originating prior to the Sec Given the somewhat da unting task of condens ond World War, saw the government become ac ing years of fisheries matters into a few pages, the tively involved in the modernization of the industry scope of this paper necessarily is confined to large through capital assistance programs to processing scale decisions and issues. A review of all fisheries firms and fish harvesters. Conservation was still a policy on the Pacific coast would be so fraught with policy imperative, and this period saw the rise of a detail that both reader and author would be hope scientific approach to fisheries management.