ThefiTherm&n
Representing the Organized Fishermen of British Columbia
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VOL. IV, No. 2
(140) VANCOUVER, B.C., TUESDAY, DECEMBER 16, 1941
PRICE: 5 Cents
Endorse War On Japanese
At their regular meeting on December 16, the United Fishermen's Federal Union endorsed unanimously a resolution approving the immediate declaration of war by the Canadian Government on Japan.
Another resolution urging the government to immediately intervene in the Kirkland Mine Strike and to enforce on the mine owners the findings of the Federal Arbitration and Conciliation Board in the interests of national unity, was approved. The unanimous award of the Arbitration Board gave the workers union recognition, which is the only point of controversy in the strike issue.
The meeting authorized a letter success, of protest to Premier Mitchell Hepburn, who sent hundreds of police into the Kirkland Lake Mine area, an act that is regarded as the old police intimidation method so often resorted to by him and his ilk. A donation of $50 was authorised to Ci,tv Unkrainians, with the con the striking miners to assist them sent of tne Canadian Red Cross
Annual Dance On January 7
Don't forget the Fishermen's Dance on Wednesday, January 7. As you know, the proceeds will be used to help in the maintenance of your paper. There are great happenings in the fishing industry, especially now with the war in the Pacific, and you will want to keep abreast of all rules and regulations, and such other vital questions as dogfish liver prices.
It will also give you a good opportunity to meet your old friends and to make new ones.
Tickets sell at 50 cents and are available at the Union offices. A good helping hand from the ladies would be greatly appreciated.
Let us make this affair a real
Ukrainians Will Raise Funds For Medical Aid
in their struggle.
The main resolution before the meeting was one demanding the complete cancellation of all Japanese fishing licenses for the duration of the war in the interests of national defense—unanimously approved.
Reduction Plant Operators Silent
Officers of the Cannery and Reduction Plant Workers' Union communicated with the- QhaifHWm- (jrive of the Cannery Operators' Committee on Saturday, December 13, on the question of recognizing Local 89 as the bargaining agent for all reduction plant workers in British Columbia.
The Chairman of the Committee stated that no decision has yet been arrived at although they had several meetings with the intention of establishing relations on an industrial basis, but that all the operators were not united yet on procedure.
. The Union is now deciding on a particular line of action, and all branches will be informed by letter as to what is required.
Society, have started a campaign to raise $6000 for medical aid to the Soviet Union. This sum is only part of the quota the British Columbia Ukrainians have undertaken to raise.
At their first meeting held in the Croatian Hall, they received cash and pledges to the amount of $1400, If the Ukrainians live up to their past reputation they will attain their quota without any difficulty. The gallant fight their countrymen in the Soviet Union are putting up will no doubt spur them on in their
Gov't States No Superabundance
Ferry Dispute
The North Vancouver Ferry employees have at last received a definite answer as to whether the Federal Department of Labor or the Provincial Department of Labor had "jurisdictional responsibility." The Federal Government has now assumed this responsibility and conciliation proceedings have started.
The employees first applied for conciliation in September, but federal and provincial labor officials could not make up their minds as to the "jurisdiction" of the dispute, and" it took three months to settle this single point.
The Department of Fisheries has informed the Union that according to reports received from their officers and the Research Board, the runs of herring in this district were not greatly in excess of normal but that the fish congregated in relatively small areas, thus creating the impression that there was a super-abundance.
After the Department had studied the matter and taken all factors into consideration, it was decided that there be no further increase in the quota in the Lower East Coast sub-district.
White Operators Want Opportunity Lease Japanese Boats
In order that the government's action in immobilizing the Japanese fishing fleet here may not be reflected in a reduced fish catch, white operators should be given the opportunity to lease Japanese-owned vessels from the custodian of enemy property. This is the opinion of Secretary W. T. Burgess of the United Fishermen's Union, as expressed in a statement to The Fisherman this week.
"I believe the government acted promptly and correctly," Burgess said, "and I agree with The Fisherman's editorial demanding cancellation of all Japanese fishing licenses for the duration. While the government's action deprives Japanese fishermen of their livelihood, it was an essential defense measure.
"Some voices have already been raised in alarm over the prospect of a reduced catch affecting our output of dogfish liver oil for Britain. > The implication is that the government's order should be withdrawn or modified in the interests of war production. My opinion is that any modification of the order would weaken our security and decrease the effectiveness of our defense measures. I believe that the majority of Japanese fishermen support our cause, but there is always the possibility of a small fascist minority aiding the enemy, and because of this minority the majority must suffer."
Burgess also suggested that production could best be maintained in the dogfish liver industry by the government establishing a set price for the livers which would ensure sufficient returns to the fishermen and thus encourage the outfitting and the operation of British Columbia's entire halibut fleet as well as many small boat operators.
Under war time emergency, and the vital need for Vitamin A, the dogfish and shark fishery should develop as an important branch of the industry, and we should not be content to have it remain, as it has been in the past, to put it bluntly, an alternative to relief.
He also stated that those larger Japanese vessels, such as herring seiners and packers, which have been taken into custody might be:
1) put into naval patrol service;
2) operated by white crews; »
and that he was placing these proposals before the proper authorities.
Pegging Liver Prices May Become Effective Soon
After conferences with both the producers and representatives of various fishermen's groups in Vancouver last week, Mrs. Phyllis Turner, technical advisor to the government's Oils Administration Board, left for Ottawa on December 4. As outlined in our previous issue she had come to the coast to discuss with the industry the pegging of dogfish oil prices and liver prices.
At the same time she hinted that prices to the fishermen for livers might be set at 12c per lb. At her first meeting with the fishermen Mrs. Turner explained that the production of Vitamin A oils by the Canadian fishing industry had assumed an importance in the war effort equally as great as the production of guns and tanks as vitamin oils were needed in raising the food value of oleo margarine and other foodstuffs.
In answer to questions by fishermen as to why the government had pursued a policy making it difficult, if not entirely impossible, for fishermen to dispose of their livers to American buyers, while [ at the same time giving assurance to Canadian producers that export permits would be granted them to sell their oils in the United States, Mrs. Turner asserted that this had been done mainly because there was only one processing plant which was at Rochester, New York, that was able to concentrate dogfish oil to the state required by the British Government. She stated that the government had assumed that these concentrated oils would then be made available to Great
Fish Prices
Vancouver:
Following wholesale fish prices obtained at Campbell Avenue Dock at Vancouver on Mon., Dec. 15: Ling Cod Large and Baby ...........9c lb-Medium ....____________......~&%c lb.
White Spring Salmon
Salt Water --------------------8c lb.
Red Spring Salmon
Salt Water .....____________15c lb.
Soles________________6c lb.
Grey Cod _____..........-------------3c lb.
Dogfish Livers -----------11c lb.
Grey Cod Livers ..................4c lb.
West Coast Cod ---------------7J£c lb.
Nanalmo Herring -----------SMc lb.
Seattle:
Seattle fish prices for Saturday, December 13, are as follows:
Crabs large ..........$2.50-$2.75 doz.
Small _____......____ $0.75-$1.00 doz.
Dogfish Livers ..............20c-33c lb.
Cohoe ........................................16c lb.
Chum (round) ......................5ViC lb.
Trap Pirates
Our correspondent from Quathi-aski Cove informs us that all fishermen with trap lines should be on the lookout for a dark hull, white cabin, no pilot house, no markings, a boat about 26 feet long.- On board are two men, two dogs, light and all, ready for action. They have already been active, and when questioned as to what they were doing, they answered they were "just airing the dogs."
They were last seen south of Surge Narrows.
City Should Check Garbage Dumping
Fishermen tied up at a float behind the gas works in False Creek, at the foot of Columbia and Keefer, are complaining about the rotten vegetables and apples being dumped at this spot.
A great deal has been said about rats and health in the City of Vancouver, but here we have garbage decaying practically in the middle of one of the most densely populated districts of the cjty. Not only is this procedure obnoxious to the fishermen but it is a question of general health.
Shipbuilding Growing Fast
Shipbuilding is becoming one of the major industries in British Columbia. With the orders the shipyards now have on hand it can be said that during the coming year this Province will be building more ships than Great Britain.
With the new developments in the Pacific, the shipbuilding industry is assuming even greater importance. It can only be hoped that the Government will also see in this industry the necessity of setting up a Production Board, so that greater co-operation and understanding between Government, employer and workers can be achieved. In this way can we be assured that the war effort will be carried out to the full extent. This principle applies to all vital war industries.
Herring Scarce
The herring fleet has been hunting up the coast endeavoring to locate runs of herring. So far no schools of any size have been encountered, except for a small run at Deepwater Bay, where the Government quota is 5000 tons, of which 1500 tons have already been caught.
Fishermen Donate To Mine Strikers
The fishermen are also backing the strikers at Karkland Lake to the full extent. To help the miners in their struggle the UFFU donated $50 and the PCFU $25 towards the fund which is being raised on a national basis so that the strikers and their families may be able to carry on.
Letters of protest have also been sent to the Prime Minister and the Minister of Labor.
It is pretty hard to understand why the Government does not take steps to give the workers their democratic right of collective bar-faining. While the world is at war fighting for democracy there certainly is no reason to deny the miners this basic principle.
License Rules Changed
The Wartime Prices and Trade Board announced that a general license wjll be granted to all dealers. In future, wholesalers will not be
Killer Whales
Mr. W. M. Cameron, of the Pacific Biological Station, Nanaimo, gives some very interesting points in his report on the "killer" whales that were found stranded near Massett early this year.
He states that while the "killer" whale may feed on salmon when these are around in large numbers, their main items of food seem to consist of whalebone whales, dolphins, porpoises, seals and sea lions. In the stomach of one of these monsters were found the remains of thirteen porpoises and fourteen seals.
B.C. Tribune Drive Very Successful
The B.C. Tribune Expansion Committee reports that its drive has been a complete success. Although British Columbia had the second highest quota in Canada, that is $1250, they were successful in over subscribing this figure by about u0 percent.
The money will be used to expand and improve the Canadian Tribune which is the only Canadian labor newspaper distributed on a national scale.
Pioneer Canner Dies
San Francisco announces the death of Frank E. Booth, pioneer responsible for seeing that buyers j in the Pacific Coast fish canning have a license. industry. He was 78.
Leather From The Sea
It is reported that the shortage of cow hides in Japan has caused a widespread resort to substitutes. More expensive leathers are being replaced by cheaper land animal leather as well as leather made from sea animals. Most of the leather from the latter is obtained from whales, sharks, dolphins, salmon and codfish.
Skins of small fishes are thin and can be used only for women's shoes and handbags. Shark leather is on the market as a substitute for shoe leather, but the amount available is extremely small.
Starfish May Be Valuable
To discover possible commercial uses for starfish, drills, mussels and other pests on oyster beds is the purpose of a new project just begun by technologists of the Services Division of Fishery Industries, as reported by the U.S.A. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Under a continuing annual Congressional appropriation of $10,000 two specially appointed Service chemists will undertake extensive chemical and other analyses of these hitherto waste products in an attempt to determine their possible medicinal or other new uses.
Starfish, bitterest foe of the oys-terman, are currently marketless, even as fertilizer. Some years ago, however, when they were worth up to $7.50 a ton for their plant food qualities, there were a few firms — notably one in Virginia — which crushed and sold the dried skeletons as commercial fertilizer. They contain about 20 percent mineral matter — mostly lime, but also potash, phosphoric acid, and nitrogen.
In France, Belgium and Canada, starfish are, so far as is known, still made into fertilizer; and during World War I days they were made into a meal and used as a stock 'feed. Lately, however, in the United States,' they have been PrePared to Bet. The Prince Rupert dragged and dredged from oyster : Co"°Perative pointed out that when . _. . . . ■ she assured them export permits
beds and simply put upon the banks , ,
. . \ for dogfish oil they had gone into
to dry and rot. Oyster growers ... ...
production on the basis of approxi-
Britain under the Lease-Lend bill. She admitted that these oils did not find their way to Great Britain but were sold on the American domestic market.
The failure to procure the concentrated oils she stated under the Lease-Lend Act had made it necessary for the British Government to obtain its requirements from Canada. Hence no further export of the raw product or of any oils to the United States would be granted by the government. This measure naturally would apply also to fish In the round. She went on to explain that British requirements would need the entire Canadian production estimated at six million units of Vitamin A or approximately 200,000 gallons of the dogfish oils. In negotiating for contracts for purchase of dogfish oil the British Food Mission had based their estimates on domestic feed oil prices and prices paid to the fishermen in previous years. She took the position that at 12c per lb. fishermen would actually be receiving approximately 100 per cent more for their products than they had received in previous years.
The attitude of the fishermen, however, was that if the production of vitamin oils was, as she claimed, as essential to the war effort as the production of tanks and guns, it naturally followed that the greater the production by the fishermen, the more assistance we would be lending to the war effort. It was also pointed out that in order to get into production the Prince Rupert and Vancouver halibut fleets and the large bulk of the small boat fleet who had not previously engaged in the dogfish industry, prices would have to be substantially higher than those she had indicated.
The fishermen showed evidence of boat statements showing the earnings of fishermen to be relatively poor even under current conditions and further Mrs. Turner was given a clear picture of the meagre returns afforded the fishermen in previous years. Until the demand for liver oil production came about it has been more or less a relief project barely returning sufficient money to ensure the necessities of life.
The companies had claimed in their meetings with Mrs. Turner that organized fishermen only represented approximately 20 per cent of the fishermen of British Columbia and that they would assure her that the production of livers would not be increased by raising the prices. In the final analysis it appears that operators had tried to convince Mrs. Turner that the Gulf Japanese dogfishermen were the main producers and would be satisfied at any price that she was
have had to spend $4,000 to $10,000 a year to destroy the pests.
New hope is now given these oystermen that they may at least partially recover on this loss. For it is believed that various valuable comme'reial products may be made from the starfish. They may be a source of vitamins — vitamin A is suggested, for example, and one commonly considered involved with defects of the eye, lack of which causes "night-blindness." They may be a source of supply for various medicinal chemicals, or some new method may be found for utilizing them as plant food.
The invention of beer is attributed to Gambrinus, a mythical king of Flanders.
mately 20c per lb. returns to the fishermen and that they were fearful that the pegging of liver prices on the figure she suggested would mean that a large part of the fleet would cease operations.
Her answer to this was that she could still not understand why 100 per cent increase in prices over 1940 would not guarantee the production the government required and that if the statements of the fishermen to the effect that the large white fleet could not operate successfully on the 12c basis was true, then the production of liver oils would have to be obtained without their assistance. No definite reply has been received from Mrs. Turner yet as to the basis of the contract which she said would
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