This study sees the 1900 strike on the Fraser River as providing the setting in which trade unions began in the fisheries of British Columbia, and analyzes both the strike itself and its background from that point of view. In the two decades to 1890, the Fraser River salmon canning industry grew relatively slowly, limited by the problems of developing techniques for processing, finding labor for packing, and accumulating capital from profits. In the 10 years to 1900, these difficulties had been mostly overcome, and fresh capital, attracted by sizeable profits, nearly tripled the number of canneries. This boom ended in a crisis of over-expansion, marked by strikes and company mergers. One unforeseen effect of license limitation in the seasons I889-I89I was a change from paying fishermen a daily wage to paying them at so much per fish, and consequently the start of a series of disputes between canners and fishermen over fish prices. Though in general prices rose throughout the 1890*s, the individual fishermen failed to benefit, partly because of price cuts and limits on deliveries during periods of a heavy supply of fish, and partly because of the increasing number of fishermen licensed in each succeeding year. In an attempt to increase their bargaining strength, white resident fishermen campaigned for changes in federal fishery regulations to restrict competition from Japanese and American fishermen, and to reduce the number of cannery licenses. The first fishermen's organization, formed in 1893 to further this end, did not survive its unrelated involvement in a strike that year against price cuts. The amendments to the fishery regulations in 1894 and, to an even greater degree, in 1898 reflected the success of this group in gaining their ends by political means. To try to redress the balance, the canners created in 1898 their own closely-knit organization, the British Columbia Salmon Packers’ Association. The difficulties of the seasons of 1898 and 1899, basically caused by over-expansion, led the canners to tighten their organization further by creating in January, 1900, the Fraser River Canners’ Association, a cannery combine with power to set maximum fish prices and production quotas for each cannery, and to levy fines on violators of its decisions. About the same time, and partly in reaction to the canners' move, separate unions of fishermen were organized, first at New Westminster, then at Vancouver. The Vancouver union tried and failed to enroll Japanese fishermen who formed in June, 1900, the Japanese Fishermen's Benevolent Society. The Canners’ Association refused to negotiate prices with fishermen's union representatives or to set a minimum price for sockeye. When the sockeye season opened July 1 the fishermen struck, demanding 25 cents a fish through the season. By July 10, the strike included all fishermen on the river—white, Japanese and Indian. After another week, the Canners' Association felt forced to negotiate and in a series of meetings the two sides came close to settlement. At this point, however, the canners broke off negotiations and made a separate agreement with the Japanese for 20 cents for the first 600 fish in a week and 15 cents thereafter. The canners then provoked an "incident" as an excuse for three friendly justices of the peace to call out the militia to Steveston. In spite of the Japanese defection and the presence of the militia, the remaining strikers held out for another week. Mediation by E. P. Bremner, Dominion Labor Commissioner, and Francis Carter-Cotton, publisher of the Vancouver News-Advertiser, secured them a negotiated settlement which, though not including any union recognition, guaranteed 19 cents throughout the season. This success led to the creation in January, 1901, of the Grand Lodge of British Columbia Fishermen's Unions, the first coast-wide fishermen's organization in British Columbia. The strike marked the beginning of continuous union activity in the industry and the start of a tradition of radical leadership that persists to the present day. / Arts, Faculty of / History, Department of / Graduate

This study examines the complex problems associated with the allocation and management of mobile salmon resources passing through politically partitioned land and sea space in southeastern Alaska and northern British Columbia. While the salmon fishing industry was found to be relatively important at the local level, it is suggested that the salmon of Canadian origin removed off Noyes Island "by Alaskan fishermen are not of critical importance to the economies of either Alaska or British Columbia when considered as a whole. Therefore, it is concluded that the Noyes Island conflict should not be allowed to jeopardize the salmon conservation programs of Canada and the United States by provoking a de facto abrogation of a mutually advantageous treaty designed to prevent the massive oceanic capture of salmon. From this case study in political geography it was determined that salmon fishing conflicts can best be understood by examining: (1) The peculiar nature of the salmon resource. (2) The state of knowledge concerning its origins and movements and the spatial implications of these movements. (3) The evolution of opposing national fisheries, (4) Interrelated political considerations. It was also found that salmon fishing conflicts could be classified into two categories based upon quantitative and ideological differences. Finally, a tentative geographic model was constructed that could serve as the basis for organizing future enquiry into salmon fishing disputes by clearly illustrating the spatial problems common to such conflicts. The model particularly emphasizes the lack of congruency between biotic and political units and the effects this has on competing, nationally organized exploitation of the salmon resource. / Arts, Faculty of / Geography, Department of / Graduate

A case study of the chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) gauntlet fisheries in Southern British Columbia is described. Acrimony between industry and government managers has been commonplace in the management of this fishery. In an attempt to alleviate this acrimony, a management system call the "clockwork" has been implemented, which provides all fishermen an opportunity for greater understanding of the management rationale and greater input into the decision-making process. The clockwork has been generally successful; the stocks are rebuilding and the fishermen are involved in the management of the fishery. However, two problems are identified in the clockwork. First, the success of the clockwork in alleviating the aaimony associated with the chum fishery depends on the ability of fishery managers to provide sound and scientifically defensible in-season stock assessments. If the assessments have no better track record than the intuition of managers and fishermen then the clockwork will not be successful. Second, there is a nagging problem of allocation of harvests between the mixed stock fishery in Johnstone Strait and the terminal fishery in the Fraser River. The main factor is the difference in price behveen the two fisheries; the price in the terminal fishery is only about one-third of the price paid in the mixed stock fishery, Dynamic programming techniques are used to determine the optimal harvest strategies for this gauntlet fishery. Generally, the optimal strategy is similar to a fixed escapement strategy when both stocks are equally abundant. But when one stock is much more abundant the optimal strategy is to harvest harder in the mixed stock fishery. With the current difference in value per fish between the two fisheries, the optimal exploitation rates in the terminal area are zero, all the catch is taken in the mixed stock fishery. The minimum price at which terminal fisheries provide long term economic benefit is the threshold price. For the parameters used to describe the current fishery, the threshold price is approximately 40% of the mixed stock fishery price. Furthermore, the threshold price differs with stock recruitment parameters, especially stock productivity and recruitment variability. Generally the more similar the stocks are, with respect to stock and recruitment characteristics, the lower the threshold value for fishing in the terminal areas. The results provide a basis for discussion of the utility of terminal fisheries, and by adjusting the relative value of the terminal fishery in relation to the mixed stock fishery can incorporate additional social and aesthetic values, as well as costs such as harvesting costs and fisheries management costs. / Science, Faculty of / Zoology, Department of / Graduate

The Dungeness crab (Cancer magister Dana) trap fishery in British Columbia has been regulated by a minimum legal size limit of 165 mm spine-to-spine carapace width (CW, 154 mm notch-to-notch CW) since early this century. Evaluation of the size limit by yield- and eggs-per-recruit analyses has been precluded by a lack of information on basic population variables such as growth, mortality, movement and mating behavior. Information on these variables was obtained in an intensive two year study of the Dungeness crab fishery near Tofino, B.C. from April 1985 until March 1987. A cohort of pre-recruit males and females was followed as the males entered the fishery and were subsequently exploited, yielding information on moult increments-at-size , length of intermoult periods, size-at-maturity, size of mating pairs, mortality, movement, commercial fishing success and exploitation rates. Male C .magister entered the fishery during their fourth year after settlement. Size frequency analysis revealed that nearly all legal-sized (>154 mm notch-to-notch CW) males are within the 155.0±11.2 mm instar (≈50% of this instar). Sublegal-sized males in this instar have a high annual natural mortality rate (M=2.8-4.5), hence a low probability (<10%) of surviving to legal size. Legal-sized males have a high annual fishing mortality rate (F=5.1-6.9). Consequently, a small component of the commercial catch is composed of males in larger instars. Despite females not being landed, the negative slope of female catch curves from four regional fisheries was steepest for the most heavily fished region and shallowest for the most lightly fished region. Females mate after moulting while accompanied by a larger male, and in a heavily fished population larger males may be absent. Thus, the catch curves suggested the possibility of reduced mating and moulting, and consequently fewer large females, in heavily fished populations. Yield-per-recruit analysis suggests landings might be markedly improved by lowering the minimum legal size limit. However, eggs-per-recruit analysis, which modeled the possible consequences of removing large males, suggests that for a heavily fished population the current size limit may result in up to a 50% decline in population egg production relative to an unfished population. The historical presumption that the current minimum legal size limit for males does not impact on population egg production should be reconsidered. To facilitate calibration of trap samples biased by differences in soak times, parameters for models describing changes in bait effectiveness over time, and agonistic interactions between crabs within a trap and those attempting to enter that trap, were estimated. Parameter estimates were obtained by simulating the entry and exit of crabs into and out of traps based on experiments which (1) emphasized the above two processes, and (2) estimated the daily probabilities of crabs of different sizes escaping traps. / Science, Faculty of / Zoology, Department of / Graduate

The principal focus of this comparative-historical study is the fundamental differences in the perspectives of the Indian, commercial, and sportfishing user groups. A second focus is the differences in outlook of the professions involved in the management of the fisheries, and how their management paradigms have developed over time. Evidence is presented on the social history of the fisheries, including their regulatory history and the manager-user relationship. Using the rich material presented by the participants in the Pearse Commission as a primary source, the perspectives of user and manager are outlined. In particular, the views users expressed on the emotional policy issue of TURFs are defined. A comparison of these views clarifies the major interests within the fisheries. Observation of the interactions between the user groups and regulatory authorities, both during and after the Commission, reveals the ability of these interest groups to lobby very effectively within the Canadian democratic system. The major social conflicts within the fisheries that are representative of the importantly different perspectives are: culture conflict, sportfishing/commercial fishing conflict, political ideological conflict, and conflict between profession frames. The most serious conflict is between Indians and other resource users. Indians have sought legal recognition of existing aboriginal rights in fishing, involving increased allocations to Indian users; other users greatly fear displacement as the resources are reallocated. As independent "co-management" planning procedures are being carried on simultaneously between Indian bands and government, and between commercial and sport groups and government, the objectives of the two often conflict. The result is a management and allocation process that remains extremely volatile and subject to such intensive lobbying that rational planning is difficult. The fisheries management and planning process could benefit from the greater inclusion of the social sciences, a move which would help describe with greater accuracy the complex human components of the fisheries. Such an approach would also seek to develop the potential of mediation and negotiation as a means of integrating a number of rational, professional frameworks with user group perspectives, and would imply a continuance in the recent shift from centralist to intermediary planning. It is suggested that crucial management decisions relating to "endangered" stocks of salmon be delegated to councils of professional biologists, for in such cases it is important that lobbying processes not be allowed to compromise conservation principles. Also, economists should assume management roles that can better accommodate, in the processes of policy making, the heavy overlay of politically-important social policies inherent in the fisheries. To date, intense negotiation and bargaining processes, involving both user groups and the management professions, have been effectively conducted on both a public and private level. These processes have promoted ongoing social learning which has had a positive effect within the B.C. salmon fisheries (examples are the Pearse Commission, MAC, CFIC, PARK, and the Canada/U.S. Treaty). These types of processes appear to lend themselves to the establishment of lasting bio-anthropological contracts, and the subsequent realization of more rational salmon fisheries management. A planning process focused upon reducing social conflict, through the development of ongoing negotiation processes between the many participants in the fisheries, is considered the most likely to succeed. Not only will this better maintain the generally good record of biological sustainability of the B.C. salmon fisheries, but also it will gradually enable the full development of their considerable economic and social potential. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

Data were collected from participating grow-out salmon farmers, processors, and the B.C. Salmon Farmers' Association, through interviews, and utilized to define a base farm. A microcomputer based spreadsheet model was constructed to capture the important biological and economic variables. The model details the operating costs and returns of a farm for five years, and assumes operating costs are consistent with the fifth year to provide cash flows for a total of 20 years. The financial analysis includes an examination of the net present values, the net farm income, and the internal rate of return. Results indicate that the base farm is a viable investment at a 6.9% discount rate. A sensitivity analysis is utilized to determine the critical variables in the operation of a grow-out salmon farm. The most sensitive variable turned out to be the growth rate of salmon. The base farm was found to be vulnerable to economic variables such as the product price, and the feed price. Other important biological variables are the feed conversion ratio and the mortality rate, both of which have a significant effect on the viability of the base farm. / Land and Food Systems, Faculty of / Graduate

A procedure for applying the concepts of Bayesian decision theory to salmon management is presented and illustrated with an application to the Babine system sockeye salmon fishery in British Columbia. The particular decision considered is the recommended escapement to aim for in a given year. The Babine fishery is described and the decision theory concepts are outlined. The procedure involves defining the relationship between the recommended spawning escapement and the number of adults returning in the cycle year in probabilistic terms; defining the utility, that is the relative desirability of various sizes of catch; and computing the total expected utility of both the catch in the current year and the spawning returns associated with alternative values of the recommended escapement. The escapement with the maximum expected utility should be chosen and recommended. / Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies / Graduate

The question to which this study is addressed is: can the Eraser River sockeye salmon fishery be managed in such a way as to maximize its present worth? A review of the existing biological and economics literature would suggest that such optimal management is indeed possible. Putting numbers into the theoretical equations and solving for an optimal solution has been based on a three part approach. First, a Ricker form of recruitment function was used to model the basic interseasonal relationship between spawning escapement and subsequent future recruitment. Second, nonlinear production functions were used to model the harvesting process in a highly cyclical fishery spread out over a fairly extensive fishing gauntlet. And third, it is assumed that the manager is faced with two inter-related problems which must be solved simultaneously: he must decide the optimal escapement which has future revenue consequences in terms of size of catch and future cost consequences in terms of size of the subsequent recruitment (the larger the recruitment, the lower the harvesting costs), and he must decide the least cost spatial combination of harvesting gear to take the specified catch. The major finding of this study is that it is possible to manage the Fraser River sockeye salmon fishery in an optimal manner and to do so would increase its present worth substantially. The use of cycle dummy variables to allow for the marked four year cycles in both recruitment and harvesting patterns plays a major role in improving parameter estimation. Nonlinear programming techniques can be developed to allow the simultaneous determination of the optimal intertemporal spawning escapement and the least cost spatial allocation of effort to harvest the optimal catch. The original contribution of this dissertation lies in its use of deterministic models to empirically solve the problem of optimal management of a fishery. / Arts, Faculty of / Vancouver School of Economics / Graduate

This thesis presents a catch allocation model that was developed for J.S. McMillan Fisheries, Ltd. A linear program (LP) was developed to allocate chum salmon catches of variable size to a set of end products, where both the input salmon and output products are differentiated based on strict physical characteristics and quality requirements. The LP is designed to maximise the net profit of a catch subject to constraints on processing line capacity, market orders, and an upper boundary on production. A decision support tool was built around the LP model to facilitate user-directed reporting and updating of model parameters. The decision tool was shown to improve the structuring of the decision process, decrease the company's reliance on expert knowledge in making the catch allocation decision, as well as significantly decrease the time investment in the decision process. / Business, Sauder School of / Graduate

Conventional fisheries management has appeared to be at odds with the rights of Native people in the Province of British Columbia. At the same time many Native Bands want to focus on the salmon fishery for economic and cultural revival. The combination of these two factors with growing management problems for the Federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) has, for some Bands resulted in efforts toward cooperative management (co-management) of the resource. This thesis analyzes the outcomes of efforts towards co-management of one Band (Ditidaht, at Nitinaht Lake), and evaluates its effectiveness in the early stages of implementation. The thesis includes both a literature review and a case study that describes the Band's efforts at local control in light of their developing property rights, made stronger by recent court cases. It also describes how the DFO has responded to these developments, and how both groups attempted to keep the process directed toward improved fisheries management. The literature review reveals that while there are a number of advantages to the practice of co-management over conventional systems, there also a number of challenges that face local groups attempting this practice. The case study focuses particular attention on how the Ditidaht Band has responded to these challenges. Strategies used by the Ditidaht Band and the DFO, in response to increasing property;. . rights of the Band, to better manage the salmon fishery and to overcome barriers to the exercise of co-management are documented and analyzed. These strategies have generally evolved from concern for the conservation of salmon on the part of both parties. For the Ditidaht these strategies also involved a search for economic development opportunities. Outcomes of the efforts of the two parties are also analyzed in terms of propositions about co-management set out in the literature. It is concluded that the DFO has been reluctant to grant the Ditidaht control over fisheries management functions and appear to have done so done so reluctantly, and only as a result of recent court cases. Because of this Ditidaht input has been kept to a minimum and basically only involves enforcement. As for the Ditidaht Band, it has not taken full advantage of alliances with other parties as a mechanism for enhancing its control over the resource. The Band has also generally not responded to the importance of internal cohesion by establishing a forum for solving disputes over allocation. They have also failed to see the importance of using public concern for conservation as a strategic tool. The case study highlights the importance of looking beyond short-term interests, in this case economic development, in order to become self-sufficient in the long-term.