Canadians Pat Limit on Salmon
To Protect Fish
X
A new fisheries policy in which
competitive canning and fishing
would be abolished through lim
itation of both canning and fish
ing licenses was recently pro
r ounced for British Columbia by
3. L. Howe, Provincial Commis
sioner of Fisheries for the Pro
vince. His statement is regarded
as one of the most important in
the history of the salmon fishing
industry in that province.
It is claimed for the policy that
it is designed to protect existing
investment, the fishermen en
gaged in the industry, and to
conserve the fishery resources. It
is designed to put an end to
competitive efi'ort by limiting
gear and equipment with which
the industry is seriously burden
ed.
Limitation of Licenses
The notable features of the
new policy are:
Limitation for five years of the
issuance of license to salmon
cannery and dry saltery opera
tions to plants and dry saltery
operations now in existence and
where operated or licensed in
1928 or 1929; the issuance of li
censes on the condition that
each plant wall receive fish only
from a designated amount of
gear; failure to comply with this
requirement to result in with
drawal of licenses; similar re
strictions will apply to pilchard
reduction plants pending the
outcome of current investiga
tions; no restriction on fresh or
freezing operations.
The issuance of licenses to
fiants and their regulation of
individual fishermen is under the
dominion Government. Thus,
wnile it is not possible for the
province to directly restrict the
number of fishermen’s licenses
to be issued in any area, by lim
iting the gear from which any
cannery may receive fish it ac
complishes that end indirectly.
Conditions Are Stated
Commissioner Howe announc
ed the new policy at an open
meeting in Vancouver recently at
which all of the fishing interests
were represented. He set up the
conditions briefly as follows:
“1. There is a more or less
fixed supply of fish.
“. To conserve that supply the
Federal Government must en
deavor to permit by legislation
and regulation a regular and
adequate escapement of fish.
“3. To achieve that object the
Federal authorities specify the
maximum number of fishing li
censes that may be operated
■ n an area to maintain the min
imum 48-hour weekly closed per
iocl. If the maximum number of
licenses is exceeded, then the
Federal authorities impose an
added weekly closed time of any
where up to another 43 hours,
leaving only three days’ fishing.
“4. it is obvious that with an
excessive number of fishermen
the loss will be the proportion of
the supply for each, with conse
quent decreased earnings; but on
the other hand, should the num
ber of fishermen in any one dis
trict not exceed the number set
Ly the Dominion Government as
necessary for conservation for
that district, each fisherman not
only secures a fair return of that
supply with a shorter fishing
season.
“5.. What is true of the neces
sity of limiting fishing licenses,
is also true of limiting cannery
licenses. The more cannery li
censes issued, the greater will be
the amount of gear in the water,
thereby continuing the vicious
circle of more fishermen and
fewer fishing days, also as well as
less fish for each cannery; altho
overhead expenses remain the
same. Conservation without
economical production is of no
value to the fishermen, operat
ors, or the public at large.
Restriction of Licenses
“Recognizing these facts and
with the view of enabling the
whole industry to get back on a
jl table basis, we propose for the
next five years to restrict can
nery, and salmon dry salting li
censes to those plants already in
existence and which were oper
ated in 1928 and 1929. These li
censes will be issued on the con
dition that they only receive fish
from a limited number of gill
nets and (or) seines in a ‘given
area.’
* * * * *
“If what I have said is true of
the salmon industry, the same
also applies to the pilchard re
duction and herring dry salting.
“Fearing depletion of pilchards
end herring, the Dominion and
Provincial governments are now
conducting an investigation in
to these two industries. Until
the findings of this investigation
are brought down, we intend to
adopt the same policy towards
reduction plants for pilchards.”
Final Returns of
Primary Election
--X
For Delegate
Wickersham .Division 1 2,054
Division 2 279
Division 3 1,139
Division 4 824
Total 4,296
Rustgard Division 1 1,772
Division 2 163
Division 3 946
Division 4 568
Total 3,449
Wickcrsham’s majority 847
For Treasurer
Smith Division 1 1954