Fisheries Policy and the Survival of Fishing Communities in Eastern Canada

Abstract

Since the introduction of deep-sea fishing technology in the 1970s, fisheries policy in Canada has increasingly favoured large corporate enterprises. The deep-sea fleets have been seen as highly efficient operators in contrast to the smaller, inshore operators, in which simple labour intensive methods are employed, and the catch rates are relatively low. The deep-sea fleets have replaced labour with capital intensity, and have been centralized as much as possible in a few ports. With the fall-out from the current moratoria on most fishing operations, however, such an approach is being re-examined since it is now considered likely that an over abundance of poorly-managed but technologically efficient fishing effort may be the principal cause of the collapse of the groundfish stocks in the north west Atlantic. Concerns about a fleet in which there has been excessive capital investment are matched by worries about the sustainability of the many small communities of coastal eastern Canada whose inshore fisheries have suffered in the general collapse of the stocks. There is a growing realisation that fisheries management and science cannot be separated from the social context in which they operate. Fisheries are ultimately about employment and the overall economic well-being of regions; not just industry, although this, of course, is related. A meaningful debate is necessary that brings together all the various stakeholders in this remarkably diffuse resource sector. The sustainability of stocks is related to the viability of provincial economies, fishing and processing firms and fishing communities. Failure to recognise this interdependence has led to a great deal of division and bitterness between those most concerned in the fishery. As deep water fishing on the continental slope becomes a regular part of the industry, and as new fisheries are found and developed, it is essential that the mistakes of the past not be repeated. Regardless of how the fishery will be prosecuted and managed in the future, debates on the sustainability of fish stocks must ultimately include concern about the sustainability of fishing communities.