BULLETIN 158 Physical and Economic Organization of the Fisheries of the District of Mackenzie, Northwest Territories BY SOL SINCLAIR, S. TRACHTENBERG, and M. L. BECKFORD / • FISHERIES RESEARCH BOARD OF CANADA OTTAWA 1967 PHYSICAL AND ECONOMIC ORGANIZATION OF THE FISHERIES OF THE DISTRICT OF MACKENZIE, NORTHWEST TERRITORIES Bulletins of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada are designed to assess and interpret current knowledge in scientific fields pertinent to Canadian fisheries. Recent numbers in this series are listed at the back of this Bulletin. Editor: J. C. STEVENSON Associate Editor: G. 1. PRITCHARD Assistant Editor: R. H. WIGMORE Production: R. L. MacIntyre Fisheries Research Board of Canada Sir Charles Tupper Building Ottawa 8, Ontario, Canada The Board also publishes the Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada in annual volumes of monthly issues, an Annual Report, and a biennial Review of investigations. Fisheries Research Board of Canada publications are for sale by the Queen's Printer, Ottawa. Remittances must be in advance, payable in Canadian funds to the order of the Receiver General of Canada. Publications may be consulted at Board establishments located at Ottawa; Nanaimo and Vancouver, B.C.; Winnipeg, Man.; Ste. Anne de BeJIevue and Grande-Riviere, Que.; St. Andrews, N.B.; Halifax and Dartmouth, N.S.; EJIersJie, P.E.I.; and St. John's, Nfid. BULLETIN 158 Physical and Economic Organization of the Fisheries of the District of Mackenzie� Northwest Territories By Sol Sinclair and S. Trachtenberg University of Manitoba, TVinnipeg, Man. and M. L. Beckford Manitoba Department of 1�lines and Natural Resources, J17innipeg, Man. THE FISHERIES RESEARCH BOARD OF CANADA Ottawa 1967 © Crown Copyrights reserved Available by mail from the Queen's Printer, Ottawa, and at the following Canadian Government bookshops: OTTAWA Daly Building, Comer Mackenzie and Rideau TORONTO 221 Yonge Street MONTREAL Aeterna-Vie Building, 1182 St. Catherine St. West WINNIPEG Mall Centre Bldg., 499 Portage Avenue VANCOUVER 657 Granville Street or through your bookseller A deposit copy of this publication is also available for reference in public libraries across Canada Price $1 .75 Catalogue No. Fs94-158 Price subject to change without notice ROGER DUHAMEL, F.R.S.C. Queen's Printer and Controller of Stationery Ottawa, Canada 1967 CONTENTS FOREWORD, 1 PREFACE, 3 ABSTRACT, 5 CHAPTER 1. HISTORY OF THE COMMERCIAL FISHERY, 7 Definition of the area, 7 Great Slave Lake fishery, 7 Buying companies, 9 Production in relation to quotas, 9 Production by species, 12 Numbers of fishermen, carriers, gear and equipment, 14 Expansion of the fishery to other lakes, 17 CHAPTER II. STRUCTURE OF THE FISHERY, 19 Summary, 19 The fishermen, 20 Region of residence, 21 Ethnic groups, 22 Company affiliation, 22 Species fished and distribution of licenses by lakes, 26 Turnover among fishermen, 27 CHAPTER III. OPERATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS, 31 Summary, 31 Data available, 32 Residence and ethnic groups of sellers, 33 Species and forms of fish sold, 38 Classification of sellers by gross sales, 40 Classes of sellers in relation to buying companies, 41 Distribution of sellers by volume class, 43 Turnover among sellers, 45 Landings and sales by size of crew, 46 CONTENTS - Concluded CHAPTER IV. DOMESTIC FISHING, 49 Introduction, 49 Unorganized fishing, 50 Arm of Great Slave Lake (1946-54), 50 Hay River Region (Fall 1958), 51 R.C.M.P. fishing at Fort Rae (1940-59), 51 Snowdrift area (Fall 1961), 52 Rae trading area (1962), 52 Organized fishing, 53 General observations, 1959-64, 54 CHAPTER V. SPORT FISHING, 57 Summary, 57 Angling licenses, 58 Licensees, 58 Leading species and areas, 60 Competition with commercial fishing, 61 Economic importance, 61 Factors affecting further development, 61 APPENDIX A. Commercial fishing in the District of Keewatin, 65 APPENDIX B. Landings, landed values and quotas on lakes other than Great Slave, 1957-5 8 to 1963-64, 68 APPENDIX C. Sales slip specimen, 70 FOREWORD During the Federal-Provincial Ministerial Conference on Fisheries Develop­ ment, held at Ottawa in January 1964, attention was directed, among other things, to amelioration of depressed incomes among fishermen engaged in the freshwater fisheries of Canada. The Conference recommended that the governments concerned collaborate in a study of the problem with particular reference to the reorganization of marketing of the products of these fisheries. Accordingly, a study group, repre­ sentative of the governments of the three Prairie Provinces and Ontario and of the federal government, was set up soon after the Conference and reported to the Federal-Provincial Prairie Fisheries Committee (of which, in the meantime, it had become a sub-committee) in the fall of that year. The group's examination of the problem led to the conclusion that consoli­ dation of the export trade in freshwater fishery products, through the establishment of a (federally sponsored) central or regional export-sales agency, would be desirable. It was concluded also that, to ensure that any gains (in the form of higher prices) derived from marketing reorganization redound to the benefit of primary producers, it would be necessary to establish complementary organizations within each of the several provincial jurisdictions. In order to assess the feasibility of a plan of this kind in practice, a Commission of Enquiry was appointed, at the request of the FPPFC and under the auspices of the federal Department of Trade and Com­ merce, in the spring of 1965. This Commission reported to the Government of Canada in the fall of 1966. The conclusions confirm with some modification those of the earlier study. In the Northwest Territories, the fishery resources are managed by the federal Department of Fisheries while the federal Department of Indian Affairs and North­ ern Development is involved in the general economic development of the area and in welfare policy affecting its residents. Responsibility for a reorganization of the local fishing industry, therefore, would fall upon these authorities. With the agree­ ment of the other agencies, the Department of Fisheries undertook to investigate the conditions in this industry with a view to determining an appropriate type of "complementary" marketing organization for the fisheries of the Northwest Terri­ tories. Consultants from the staff of the University of Manitoba were employed for this purpose and work on the project was started in October 1964. A preliminary report was submitted for the information of the FPPFC in May 1965. Following further work in the field during the summer of 1965, this final report was prepared. The report is in two parts, of which the accompanying document is the first part. It describes the fisheries of Great Slave Lake and adjacent waters and presents an analysis of some of their economic aspects. The second part of the report con­ tains conclusions and recommendations and its distribution is to be restricted to officials associated with fishery management and development in the Northwest Territories. The third author, Dr M. L. Beckford, was formerly with the Economics Service of the Department of Fisheries of Canada. w. C. MACKENZIE, Director, Economics Service, Department of Fisheries of Canada. 2 PREFACE This report describes the physical and economic organization of the fisheries in the District of Mackenzie from 1958 to 1964.1 In the study, emphasis was placed on the production of commercial fishermen and their relationships with fish buying companies in order to indicate ways and means whereby fishermen might secure increased returns from their efforts. Great Slave Lake accounted for the major portion of commercial landings. Recent expansion of fishing to other lakes may be expected to contribute increas­ ingly to production. Since 1945 the quota for whitefish and trout from Great Slave Lake was approximated only once; for all other years, landings of these species were consistently below the quota. An IBM 1620 computer was utilized in the analysis of license and sales data. License data were based on the period 1958-63; those for sales included the period from summer 1961 to winter 1963-64. There were slight discrepancies in the totals for certain computations, resulting from limitations of the computer memory capacity. There have been changes in personnel and organization in the commercial fishery since this study was undertaken. Such changes are continuing and should be borne in mind in relating the authors' findings to current conditions. The authors gratefully acknowledge the assistance and cooperation received from the following: The Director, Assistant Director, and staff of the Economics Service, Department of Fisheries of Canada, Ottawa; the Area (now Regional) Director and Staff, Department of Fisheries of Canada, Winnipeg; the District Supervisor and staff, Department of Fisheries of Canada, Hay River; the manage­ ment and staff of fish buying companies, Hay River and Edmonton; the fishermen interviewed at Hay River; scientists of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada, Hay River and London, Ontario; officials of the then Indian Affairs Branch, De­ partment of Citizenship and Immigration, and of the Department of Northern Affairs and National Resources, Ottawa, Hay River and Fort Smith. lA brief description of commercial fishing on Nueltin and Windy lakes in the District of Keewatin is included (Appendix A). 3 ABSTRACT DEVELOPMENT OF THE COMMERCIAL FISHERY Commercial fishing in the District of Mackenzie dates back to 1945; operations were then confined to Great Slave Lake, which continues to be the leading fishing locale. Total landings in 1945 were just over 1.5 million Ib (round weight). Of this total, trout represented about 1 million lb. By 1949 total landings of all species were 9.4 million Ib comprised as follows : whitefish, 5.75 million lb, trout, 3.25 million lb, inconnu and pike, 0.4 million lb. The catches of whitefish and trout approximated the quotas only in 1949; from then to 1957, landings of these two species declined. From 1957 to 1963, landings fluctuated between 5.75 and 6.24 mil­ lion lb.