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From page 1
ROE HERRING
this stage that united action at least produced a measure of equity of which there would have been not a trace had the fishery been conducted without challenge under the department's own monopoly-oriented ground rules.
Herring fishing under the 50,000 tons quota scheme ended at noon March 23 but parts of the coast have been open this week to allow a harvest of the remaining catch of herring earned under the two for one dogfish subsidy program.
According to Fisheries Service preliminary figures, over 53,000 tons of herring had been taken in waters other than Georgia Strait .as of noon March 23. The department stressed this figure was based on hailings and was subject to considerable amendment once all sales slips had been totalled.
Landings by sub-district:
Queen Charlotte Islands, 8,450 tons; lower central coast, 10,374 tons; upper east coast, 1,580 tons; lower west coast, 23,998 tons; upper west coast, 8,821 tons.
An additional 3,562 tons of herring had been taken in Georgia Strait under the dogfish program as of noon March 27. Coastwide dogfish catches to the same date totalled 4,372 tons, of which 3,695 was from Georgia Strait.
The department has refused consistently to release information on the breakdown of seine and gillnet catches.
A senior department spokesman said March 28 when approached for such information, "We are not going to distinguish between seine and gillnet figures at this juncture — not for publication (in The Fisherman) anyway. In any case, we don't have final figures."
Was the refusal to release catch information still based on a policy decision or was it only because "final figures" were
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allegedly unavailable? "Report it any way you like," the spokesman replied. "The department's position has been pretty well stated already . . ."
Administration of the 1973 roe fishery stands as an indictment of the department and its policies, throwing into question the Fisheries Service's professed concern for good management and conservation — and, as a side effect, making a shambles of the dogfish subsidy program.
Credits earned under the dogfish scheme have been transferred widely in the past week from Georgia Strait to other areas of the coast.
At mid-week, the department reported seines and gillnets were operating under transferred quota credits in Areas 11 and 12, with gillnets only fishing Area 25, Nootka Sound, and some other waters.
Seiners reportedly took about 400 tons of herring earned under the dogfish quota out of Kwak-shua Channel, Area 8, on March 25, the department said.
Subsequently, Georgia Strait waters of Areas 15, 16 and 18, as well as west coast Areas 25, 26 and 27, were closed to all herring fishing for the balance of the season.
Criticism of department policies among the fleet grew in intensity as the season progressed. Longtime herring fishermen based their complaints largely on the fact that while overfishing and bad harvesting practices were rampant in some areas, other parts of the coast were left wholly untouched or were very lightly fished, despite their having proven quantities of suitable fish which could have been exploited much more fully in line with sound conservation practices and rehabilitation needs.
They contend that the Sydney Inlet fishery, for example, was badly mismanaged from the beginning, with thousands of tons wasted from early sets. Then, the inlet was allowed to remain open after the safe maximum level of • catch had been passed.
On the other side of the coin, waters of the upper west coast from Nootka Sound to Quatsino Sound had closures imposed before the harvestable potential of stocks had been tapped to any great extent, and in some cases without any fishery at all being pursued.
The same thing, it is charged, was true in areas of the Queen Charlotte Islands — where fish-See HERRING — page 8
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6 I THE FISHERMAN
— MARCH 30, 1973