A Fisheries Story

1
A Fisheries Story

• Swimming With Salmon

2
Fisheries Management

• Operates within mandates established by the
  national economy
• Economics is the dominant paradigm in fisheries
  research.
• (must generate increased revenue for Canada
  e.g. restructuring program goals - 400 mill.
  Plan 1999 - 2004)
• Policies remain broad to accommodate the changing
  national economy dynamics of the fluctuating
  resource base

3
Management Goals

• Driven by international market demand for
  fisheries resources, retaining competitive
  strength in a changing global economy
• Sustaining fishery jobs across all sectors

4
Fisheries Sectors

• Fisheries and Oceans Canada currently recognizes
  3 major fishery sectors The
• Offshore Commercial,
• Inshore Recreational
• First Nations fisheries
• sectors

5
Learning From Past Tragedies?

• FOC research reports demonstrate that managers
  are aware of the decline in highly valued marine
  stocks (e.g. B.C. salmon fishery)
• A 1993-1997 MOF Seafood Production Table
• Total salmon landings for BC85,000 T worth
  466.8 mill. wholesale in 93 48,600 T worth
  300.4 mill. in 97

6
Past Tragedies Relearned

• Example from Newfoundland cod fishery
• (Sean T. Caddigans research,1999, Failed
  Proposals for Fisheries Management and
  Conservation in Newfoundland, 1855 - 1880 )
• Tragedy of the commons

7
Sectoral Analyses

• There is an awareness of the commercial fleet
  sector running into defecit (Mitchells 1980 FOC
  report Current FOC records)
• Recreational fisheries most profitable to
  Canadas economy
• Sectoral analysis of market information and
  fisheries management is also undertaken at the
  international scale.

8
Analysis from Abroad

• Systems analysis of fisheries marketing issues at
  the international scale may be useful for
  assessing the economic policy goals of a fishery
  for a nation (Sylvia, 1994)
• Back to Caddigans Nwfld.cod fishery ex. .What
  are the limits of extensive growth? Ecological
  equilibrium? Impacts of exploiting marine
  resources on the economy?

9
Sectoral Analysis TAC

• Transfer of shares among sectors holds important
  economic consequences amongst the
  inshore-offshore fishery sectors
• Benefit-cost analysis can be applied to fisheries
  allocation decisions (e.g. study of Alaska
  walleye pollock and Pacific cod harvested in U.S.
  fisheries off Alaska)
• - Results showed the need for consistent
  social welfare accounting when management actions
  are evaluated. (Herrick et al., 1994)

10
Benefit Cost Analysis

• Satisfying the need for consistent social
  welfare accounting requires integrating national
  welfare interests with those of the areas in
  which the fisheries occur, where concerns over
  regional welfare are more prominent. (Herrrick
  et al., 1994)

11
Sectoral Analysis Hinders Regional Interests?

• McCorquodale Ommer (1984) suggest that sectoral
  analysis approaches fail to address regional
  social welfare accounting
• Why? Offshore sector perceived as efficient
  viable, the leading sector while the inshore
  sector is perceived as fragmented by nature
  
• - denies idea that inshore sector can be
  economically sound

12
Solution for Sectoral Problem?

• McCorquodale Ommer propose an integrated
  approach to fisheries management (Reject the idea
  of sectors)
• Problem with their assumption Canada has enough
  marine resources to share across all
  boundariesforgets international market
  potential for the commons tragedy

13
Integrated Management Today

• Canada-BC signed a joint agreement on Pacific
  Fisheries Management (Clark Chretien, 97-looks
  good politically)
• Goal increase participation from community
  stakeholders in all fishery sectors, especially
  those hit hardest by long term salmon fleet job
  losses

14
FOC IM (Commercially)

• Commercial fishers estd industry-led
  Responsible Fisheries Board adopted the
  Canadian Code of Conduct for Responsible
  Fisheries in 95
• Claim to fame success of industry stakeholders
  participating in selective harvesting using new
  technologies. (Harvest more of the lg.est most
  valuable market species release by-catch e.g.
  worthless fish, juvvies marine mammals)
  
• Problem Regional recreational FNs rep.?

15
Recreational Sector Rep.

• Recreational fisheries management changes in 1996
  resulted in
• 136 million in lost revenues to businesses
  affiliated with the recreational salmon fishery
  in BC
• Loss of 2,175 seasonal jobs with associated
  earnings of 33 million.
• Collectively represent a drop of approximately
  25 from the 1994 levels. (BC Job Comm., 1996)

16
FOCs Conflicting Objectives

• First Nations sector rep. in B.C. still looks
  like FOC lip service. Whos commissioning
  research on this sector?
• Sectoral analysis (Current Commer., Rec.,
  FNs)Back to cost-benefit analysis Good idea if
  equal rep. across all sectors becomes an
  objective)

17
FOCs Conflicting Objectives

• FOC Pacific Fisheries Restructuring Program
  Goals
• - Increase jobs, decrease fleet, move to
  selective harvest, increase competitive edge on
  international market, promote recreational
  fishing dispel myth that coast is closed

18
Conflicting Objectives - TAC

• According to the BC Job Prot.Comm., The Coast is
  closed myth
• .resulted from wide misunderstanding about
  catch restrictions administered by the DFO (BC
  Job Protection Commission, 1996).
• Problem We still dont understand limits of
  catch restrictions What is MSY?-Statistical
  problem still being debated by scientists FM
  reqs closer look at biomass, biological,
  economic and social factors.
• (Pitcher Hart, 1982)

19
The Problem with Money

• Problem with managing according to the dominant
  paradigm of economics
• - Managers, senior bureaucrats politicians
  fail in accounting for the cost of fishing on the
  marine resource base fish dont grow according
  to market demands for increased revenue
• - cost-benefit sectoral anlayses are not
  paying enough attention to biological stats that
  can inform TACs, locally, nationally or
  internationally.

20
Conservation Initiatives

• Protecting and rebuilding fish populations
  
• Protecting and rebuilding fish habitat
• Administered by FOC Restruct. Plan

21
Conservation Initiatives

• What does the Pacific Salmon Treaty do for
  endangered coho? (What are we measuring for?)

22
Conservation Fish Pop.s

• Notion that fish need protection is a construct
  of human values advocated by culturalists and
  fisheries managers (a la Pinchot)
• Fish hatcheries aim to sustain the fisheries
  industry (not the fish populations)

23
Population Enhancement

• FOC hatchery goals are to increase the
  populations of threatened or declining fish
  stocks according to escapement records, recorded
  catches, and TAC records.
• Ex. Goldstream hatchery

24
Hatchery Enhancement

• Hatchery programs are looked upon favourably by
  most fisheries managers, politicians and the
  public today as the common perception is that
  they produce lots of fish quickly, are equated to
  jobs in the fishing industry, increased tourism,
  and the sense of human gratification that society
  is providing for the fish resource.

25
Rivaling Scientists Remake Salmon

• Fish culturalists lost integrity as scientists
  due to population enhancement efforts around the
  19th century (those with practical experience
  with saving the salmon) - Joseph Taylor, 1999
• Academic scientists criticized the culturalists
  surficial understanding of fish biology

26
Scientific Rivals

• Academics were good with winning factual debates
  regarding enhanced fish populations (sceptic
  stats!)
• But
• The culturalists field science reports usually
  won out on informing policy decisions (more
  suitable to satisfying fishing demand)

27
Scientists Unite

• By the 1940s, fish culuralists and academic
  scientists saw the benefits of collaboration
• Why? Increased fish habitat loss declining fish
  populations commanded more immediate attention

28
Tragic Discoveries

• The process of natural selection is altered in
  the process of pond-raising hatchery fish such as
  salmon.
• By the 50s, significant changes in behaviour,
  size, and genetic diversity of salmon stocks were
  being noted by scientists (Taylor, 1999).

29
Tragic Results

• Hatchery programs continued to grow as popular
  mitigation programs for development projects
  e.g. dams which simultaneously devastated natural
  salmonid production

30
Hatcheries Yield Tragic Results

• Over the last decade, several reviews have
  reported that hatchery programs have been putting
  already fragile wild populations at even greater
  risk of extinction
• (Berejikian, 1995 Currens et al., 1995
• Lister et al., 1981 Yuskavitch, 1999)

31
Tragic Science

• Scientific observations of changes in genetic
  diversity of salmon stocks demonstrated that
  hatchery enhancement reduced the overall fitness
  of wild salmon, and the hatchery salmon
• (Busack Currens, 1995 Dowling Childs,
  1992, Hindar et al., 1991, Waples Do, 1994)

32
The Tragedy

• By instituting ever more intensive interventions
  in the salmons life cycle and environments,
  scientists of the 20th century had effectively
  remade salmon (Taylor, 1999).

33
ltlthttp//jcomm.uoregon.edu/ gtgt(n.d.)

• Hatchery Production

34
Confessions of Mad Scientists

• The discovery of these tragic results has led
  fisheries managers to place greater onus on the
  protection of wild stocks with regards to salmon
  enhancement program initiatives.
• Redemption is in the gene pool?!

35
More Research Warranted

• Many biological studies on wild fish and fish
  habitat have ensued (e.g. Systematics of the
  salmonid genus, Philips et al., 1994. Can. J. of
  Fisher. Aquatic Sciences)
• Back to More Management Problems FOC defines a
  hatchery-raised stock as a wild stock after two
  life-cycles. (Anon)

36
Population Enhancement

• How does this remaking of salmon scenario
  impact escapement counts and TACs?
• How can managers hope to restore a wild
  population if they do not discriminate between a
  wild and hatchery bred salmon?

37
Population Enhancement

• How do scientists and managers define a
  historical population?
• Fisheries managers are intent on rebuilding
  salmon stocks through enhancement, on
  monitoring stock abundance on the West Coast
  (FOC, 1999). (e.g. RICs ref. to too much data
  in the db)
• FOC calls its enhancement program Strategic
  Stock Enhancement (FOC, 99)

38
Population Enhancement

• Population restoration projects to augment
  endangered fish stocks are in progress
• Mandate is to produce more fish catch (TAC).
• Use fancy stats to measure historical abundance
  of fish according to historical yields in gill
  nets
• (e.g. comparing current abundance indices to
  historical self-sustaining Lake Trout
  populations in Lake Superior 1995 study)

39
Fish Habitat Assessments

• Provide inventories on stock enumeration and
  environmental characteristics of fish habitat
  sites (veg. cover, slope, depth, LWD present in
  spawning grounds)
• Provide good baseline information for
  rehabilitation opportunities

40
Habitat Enhancement Research

• Charles K. Minns (97) developed Habitat
  Suitability Matrix
• A complex and comprehensive quantitative
  framework for assessing net change of productive
  capacity of fish habitats
• (Minns et al., 2001)

41
Habitat Suitability Matrix Model

• represents habitat preferences of many species by
  life stages to ensure that needs of all fishes
  occurring in an ecosystem or eco-region are
  considered.
• (Minns et al., 2001. Defensible Methods of
  
• Assessing Fish Habitat)

42
HSM Approach

• FOC researchers (Minns et al.) established rules
  and criteria for preparing habitat scenario data
  sets and computing suitability matrices.
• Researchers propose using an HSM approach in a
  regulatory context to assess fish habitat as an
  aid to the existing decision-making process

43
Prognosis for the Future

• Integrated management mixed with ecosystem
  management for more true to form sectoral
  analyses of allowable catch rates

44
Conclusion

• Goals for the national economy (increased revenue
  from fisheries and job protection) are
  inextricably linked to the fishery resources
  (fish fish habitat)
• The impacts of fishing enhancement on fish
  populations need to be more completely understood
  by both fisheries scientists and fisheries
  managers.

45
http//www.riverdale.k12.or.us/salmon/art/ahosman
n.jpg(Nov., 2001)

46
Fishy Bits

• Chum salmon from two rivers (Alaskas Yukon R.
  and Russias Anadyr R.) have shrunk by 25 in
  size over the last 30 years (1965-1997),
  scientists say.
• Theories on causes? Can you guess.?

47
Fish Shrinking Theories

• 1.Hatcheries
• Competition from hatchery fish from the U.S.,
  Russia, Canada and Japan was blamed for the crash
  in Yukon River salmon populations in recent
  years.

48
Fish Shrinking Theories

• 2. Fishers Fishing Down the Gene Pool
• Other fisheries researchers point to genes for
  the downward size trend.
• Fishers tend to remove the biggest fish from
  the gene pool, leaving only the smaller fish to
  reproduce.

49
What You Can Do

• Stewardship Work (E.G. Projects with
• B.C.s Streamkeepers)
• - Plant native shrubs and trees onshore of
  degraded salmon habitat river sites
• Shrub and tree species to plant include
• red osier dogwood, willow, alder,
• cottonwood, western red cedar and Doug fir
• Plant native grasses to stabilize shore banks.
• (reduce erosion)

50
What will this do?

• The idea is to provide bank stability,
• organic matter and insects on
• which the fish feed, habitat for birds and
• other terrestrial species, and shade that
• keeps the water cool (high water
• temperatures can kill native fish species).

51
Time Check

• VERY BRIEF summary of my masters project
• 10 minutes of Vid Strength of the River
  Fishing Traditions of the Stolo, Heiltsuk and
  Namgis Peoples of Canadas West Coast.