COMPETITION AND INFORMATION AMONG BRITISH COLUMBIA SALMON PURSE SEINERS

e-mail: maxledbetter@yahoo.com
Max Ledbetter

Research indicates that purse seiners caught 80%-90% of the vulnerable migrating salmon present in Johnstone Strait during what were commonly 48- or 72-hour fishing openings.



Some might recall Al Meadow's comments (Cockpit Comments. Western Fisheries 102 (August 1981): 28): "I'll be reviewing a study known as the Ledbetter Report in a future comment. This report is about the seine boat fishery in Johnstone Strait and I have heard disturbing news that the Fisheries Service is attempting to water down and suppress it." In the December 1981 issue of Western Fisheries, Mr. Meadows continued, "Max Ledbetter, writing in the guest editorial section of the October issue, is, I feel, pulling some punches and not telling the full story. He is, however, absolutely correct in his summation, where he suggests that fishermen had better develop communication amongst themselves and their various gear types. Recent history has shown us, and the fact that wild chinook and coho are on the verge of extinction further reinforces the realization that we cannot depend on the D.F.O. to do the job" (Cockpit Comments. Western Fisheries 103 (December 1981): 11).

Later, towards the end of the twentieth century, Pascual and Quinn reported, "The best available information about the spatial distribution of sockeye salmon in this area [Johnstone Strait] comes from experimental fishing cruises performed in 1985 and 1986 (Cooke et al. 1987) and surveys of the distribution of fishing effort (Ledbetter 198[6])." (See Pascual, M. A. and T. P. Quinn. 1991. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 48: 799-810, and my dissertation, Ledbetter, Max. 1986. University of British Columbia.)

The dissertation (Ledbetter, Max. 1986. Competition and information among British Columbia salmon purse seiners. Ph.D. diss., University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C.) is available at the National Library of Canada and UMI (see below). Here is the abstract:

In British Columbia, Canada, salmon purse seiners line up at fishing access points, forming well defined queues (line-ups). These queues were measured from a Cessna airplane, over time, using a one-dimensional recording scale. Sixty-one overflights of Johnstone Strait and Queen Charlotte Strait were attempted; 51 flights were completed.

Two models were presented for exploitation rates in relation to queuing patterns. The overflight model was fit to the line-up distributions. One underlying assumption was that the skippers possessed fairly accurate information regarding the distribution of catches (analysis of variance methods utilizing skippers' logbook data showed that line-up lengths reflected catch rates). The model fit well and the parameter estimates reflected anecdotal and statistical information about fish behavior. The exploitation rates saturated at an effort level of 100 vessels (whereas the maximum effort observed was 363 boats) and indicated that (at saturation) the fleet caught 80% to 90% of the vulnerable migrating salmon present in Johnstone and Queen Charlotte Straits during what were commonly 48- or 72-hour fishing openings. (Note: In addition to vulnerable salmon that survived the fishing openings, salmon that successfully migrated through the strait on days that were closed to seiners and salmon that were not vulnerable to the gear--e.g., below the depth of the nets--also escaped the purse-seine fleet.)

In general, traditional assumptions were rejected. Vessels did not operate independently. Boats were not distributed in a random fashion. The overflight model provided predicted exploitation rates. The exploitation response to effort was qualitatively distinct from the forms incorporated in traditional models.



FOR FURTHER REFERENCES TO PURSE SEINING AND MY WORK ON SALMON


HOW TO OBTAIN A COPY OF THE DISSERTATION

Ledbetter, Max. 1986. Competition and information among British Columbia salmon purse seiners. Ph.D. diss., University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C.


Hello Max,

Firstly, your thesis is in our collection under ISBN 0-315-34900-X.

To Borrow: It's available from the National Library via Interlibrary Loan. There's no charge for this loan and the format is microfiche only. For anyone contacting you to borrow your thesis, give the person your thesis particulars (including the above ISBN) and have him get in touch with his local library to make the loan arrangements (Interlibrary Loan is indeed just that: a loan between two libraries. Individual clients can't request loans). With this info., our Interlibrary Loan office will retrieve the microfiche copy of your thesis and send it to the originating library (as a reference, you may want to look at our Web site http://www.nlc-bnc.ca and refer to Interlibrary Loans).

To Buy: It's available on microfiche only from UMI, our filming and sales contractor. Again the format is only microfiche. There are three (3) price ranges for your thesis. An academic client would be charged $36.00U.S.; a non-academic client would be charged $48.00U.S., and an international client would be charged $50.00U.S.

Similar to borrowing, contact UMI quoting the ISBN and your thesis particulars. As mentioned, the notation on UMI's database is incorrect. Please direct those interested in buying your thesis to: Patty Smail, the supervisor of The Customer Support Service. You can reach Patty at core_service@umi.com or toll-free (Canada and the U.S.) at 1-800-521-3042. (Patti knows the particular problems with the erroneous notation). For further information about UMI, try: http://www.umi.com

Royalties are paid to qualifying authors, i.e. theses of authors which have sold more than seven (7) copies in a given calendar year. A 10% royalty of theses sales is awarded to an author.

In a nutshell, UMI is part of the Canadian theses picture as many Canadian universities and the National Library of Canada were interested in the services they offer, primarily the high profile of their international databases and the diversity of their coverage (an array of Canadian, American and European theses and dissertations make up UMI's current collection). It was (and is) in the best interests of the Canadian academic community and our Library to bring UMI on board. Thus, an agreement was reached in 1997 to include UMI in the Canadian theses profile.

If I may help further, please let me know.

Regards,

Mel Simoneau
Canadian Theses Service
theses@nlc-bnc.ca

(Received, 26 Nov. 2001)



ADD AN AQUATIC SITE TO THE LINKS PAGE

---------------------------------------------------------------------------


Citing declining numbers of salmon and low prices, Governor seeks federal aid by comparing Alaska's fishing industry to Midwest farming

By Mike Chambers
Associated Press - Aug. 27, 2001

JUNEAU, Alaska - Gov. Tony Knowles declared western Alaska's commercial fishing sector an economic disaster on Friday, Aug. 24, [2001] a step toward seeking federal aid for the beleaguered industry.

Officials compared the industry - which is suffering from dwindling numbers of salmon and low prices - to past Midwest farm failures which prompted federal crop supports to help growers weather poor markets.

Some fishermen are calling for a federal or state buyback of fishing permits - which at Bristol Bay can cost about $40,000 each, in an effort to thin out the western Alaska fleet, Golia said.

But Knowles spokesman Bob King said that idea could cost tens of millions of dollars and there's no guarantee it would effectively reduce the number of commercial fishing operations.



Recently, the Guardian newspaper (Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada, 13 Nov. 2001, "Islanders argue inshore fishery has no room for huge N.B. seiners") reported, and thefishingnews.com News Wire message board (http://www.thefishingnews.com/cgi-bin/news_wire.pl) then reprinted,

There is no room for large New Brunswick herring seiners to fish in an inshore Island zone, P.E.I. Fishermen's Association president Donnie Strongman says.

"The only reason they are here is because other inshore fishermen, even those in their own province, have kicked them out of inshore areas," Strongman said.

Campbell said fishermen across the Island believe these large vessels can and will devastate the herring stocks.

"We will insist that federal fisheries take action next season."



Smugglers are using tuna boats to transport cocaine

by Dick Russell
Defenders of Wildlife - Summer 2002 edition, http://www.defenders.org/defendersmag/issues/summer02/tunadolphin.html (also see http://www.eurocbc.org/page820.html and http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/New_Global_Economy/tuna_drugs_Mexico.html)

Last December, after several weeks of surveillance, the U.S. Coast Guard boarded the purse-seine vessel Macel, observed in an area closed to yellowfin tuna fishing off Mexico’s southwestern coastline. Found hidden in special compartments, under tons of yellowfin tuna, were some 10.5 tons of pure cocaine with a street value of $500 million. The ship and its 19-man crew were turned over to the Mexican Navy.

This wasn’t the first time a tuna seiner had been caught with the illicit substance. In 199[5], the Coast Guard seized the Nataly I, a Panamian-flagged vessel en route from Colombia to an island off the Mexican coast. It had 12 tons of cocaine on board, all in boxes marked "tuna." The ship was found to be part of a fleet of a dozen tuna boats operated by the Cali cartel. Later that year, another seiner was captured in international waters off the coast of Ecuador, carrying seven metric tons of cocaine destined for Manzanillo, Mexico. . . .

Officials estimate that as much as two-thirds of all the cocaine destined for the United States, or at least 275 tons a year, now travels by ship via the eastern Pacific. And Mexico is now the primary transit country for cocaine entering the United States from South America as well as being a major source of heroin, methamphetamine and marijuana. Not all of this is coming on tuna seiners, of course, but in the trade cocaine is reportedly referred to as atun blanco -- white tuna.

Craig Van Note, executive vice president of the Washington-based Monitor consortium of conservation groups, launched an investigation of the Mexican tuna industry during the early 1990s. According to a declaration filed by Van Note in recent legal proceedings on the tuna-dolphin issue: "The investigation revealed that most of the tuna fleets and canneries in Latin America had been bought up or established by the major drug cartels operating in that region. The long-range fishing boats have been used for smuggling vast quantities of cocaine north to the United States and east to Europe. The canneries have been used to launder billions of dollars.

"The violent reaction of the Latin American tuna industry to the embargoes of their dolphin-deadly tuna by the United States and the European Union -- and the massive pressure campaign to overturn the embargoes -- can, in my opinion, be largely attributed to the inadvertent interdiction of this tuna-cocaine pipeline by conservationists seeking dolphin-safe tuna.

"The drug cartels’ investment of hundreds of millions of dollars in fleet and cannery operations were crippled by the loss of their major markets for tuna, and their illicit operations under the guise of catching and shipping tuna -- drug smuggling and money laundering -- were compromised by the exposure."



Organized Crime and Dolphin Safety

by Paul Spong of Orcalab and Ben White of Animal Welfare Institute
ECO, the daily summary and commentary sheet of the annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), IWC ECO'99 Vol. LI No.4 stories, http://www.greenpeacefoundation.com/news/eco4.html#crime

The dirty secret behind the massacre of dolphins by tuna fishermen in the eastern tropical Pacific is that organized crime syndicates own virtually all of the tuna fleets and canneries in Latin America-- and use these companies to smuggle cocaine and heroin throughout the world and to launder narco-profits.

The Cali and Medellin cartels of Colombia, the Mexican drug gangs, and even the Sicilian Mafia have bought into the Latin American tuna industry over the past 25 years as ideal fronts for their criminal activities. . . .

The "tuna/cocaine connection" was organized in the 1970's when two Sicilian Mafia families . . . set up operations in Venezuela to smuggle heroin into the Western Hemisphere. Because the Mafia controls Italy's tuna industry, the Sicilians established tuna fleets and processing plants in Venezuela and nearby countries as cover for their narco-trafficking.

In the early 1980's, the Sicilians entered into partnerships with the Medellin and Cali Cartels to smuggle cocaine into Europe, where the Mafia had an established heroin network. By the early 1990's [they] . . . were annually shipping 200 tons of cocaine, worth more than $10 billion, to Europe, most of it hidden in cans or frozen blocks of tuna.

The Sicilians made so much money off the tuna/cocaine connection that they have invested heavily throughout the Caribbean and Latin America. Law enforcement sources report that they have bought control of Aruba, effectively turning that island state into a criminal enterprise for drug-running and money-laundering. . . .

The largest tuna/cocaine operation was set up in the late 1980's by the Cali Cartel and the Mexican drug cartels. A Cali underboss . . . formed dozens of companies and banks in Panama, which bought tuna fleets and canneries. . . .

Remarkably, both the Mexican and US governments have chosen to ignore the tuna/cocaine connection because of the corruption at the highest levels of the Mexican and Panamanian governments. . . .

Environmentalists, meanwhile, are asking all cetacean activists to help expose this dirty deal dooming dolphins.



JAPAN CONCERNED ABOUT INCREASED FISHING VESSEL SIZE

Fiji Government Online, 7 May 2003, http://www.fiji.gov.fj/press/2003_05/2003_05_07-03.shtml

Japan is very concerned about the continued construction of larger fishing vessels and accused developing fishing nations of navigating around laws to exploit the fish resources of already vulnerable developing and near bankrupt Pacific Island economies.

Akira Nakamae, the head of the Japanese delegation to the 4th Preparatory Conference (Prepcon) on the Tuna Commission for the Western and Central Pacific . . . said that fishing industries in some regions, such as Taiwan, [are] currently constructing 26 large purse seiners that will start fishing soon.

Mr Nakamae said the 26 new vessels would have a net increase of their total fishing capacity with some of them over 2,000 Gross Tonnage (GT).

He said this increase by the use of the "flag of convenience" has significantly increased the actual fishing capacity of purse seiners, even though the increase in the number of purse seiners appears relatively small.

Mr Nakamae also showed Japan’s concern about the increase of small fish catch by the introduction of Fishing Aggregating Devices (FAD).

"At present almost all the purse seiners are using FADs to improve catches and [are] thereby catching a large number of small tuna.

"In this sense too, the impact of fishing has been amplified rapidly and significantly on the tuna resources involved that for instance, the Japanese bigeye catch in the North Pacific decreased sharply in parallel to the increase of purse seine fishing capacity," said Mr Nakamae.



Ban Use Of Purse Seine Fishing Boats, Fiji Says
'This type of fishing is killing marine life'

by Robert Keith-Reid
Islands Business, August 2003, http://www.pacificislands.cc

Fiji will press for a complete ban of the use of purse seine fishing boats in the Western and Central Pacific, or at least a minimum number and tighter controls on them. . . . According to Fiji's fisheries and forests minister Konisi Yabaki, purse seine fishing is "environmentally unfriendly and should be controlled, minimised or completely banned." This type of fishing is killing most marine living organisms including juvenile tuna fish. "Its excessive use in the region is detrimental to our healthy tuna stocks, and to our local industry," he claimed in a July statement in which he announced a temporary freeze on the issue of licences for fishing in the Fiji's 1.26 million square kilometres exclusive economic zone (EEZ).



Cape Cod tuna fishermen angered by bigger boat's pricey fish haul

The Boston Globe, 7 October 2003, http://www.boston.com/news/local/maine/articles/2003/10/07/cape_cod_tuna_fishermen_angered_by_bigger_boats_pricey_fish_haul/

Last week, the North Queen, an 84-foot purse seiner based in New Bedford, was guided to a school of tuna by a spotter plane flying overhead. It scooped up the fish within sight of local fishermen in smaller boats.

"It's a crime. We had an agreement with them (not to fish in Cape Cod Bay). They shouldn't be fishing there," Peter Weiss, president of the General Category Tuna Association, told the Cape Cod Times.

"Years ago that bay was covered in tuna fish," said Kevin Scola, a tuna fisherman based in Marshfield. "I remember days standing on pulpit and seeing five or six bunches, with 500 to 600 a bunch."

Scola is convinced that bluefin tuna imprint on an area, and return year after year. When purse seiners catch a whole school, that memory dies with that group -- and bad tuna years in Cape Cod Bay always followed big catches by the seiner fleet in the years before, he said



U.S. launches aerial surveillance of border

by Jane Armstrong
Globe and Mail, 21 August 2004, http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040820.wxbord0821/BNStory/National/

Bellingham, Wash. -- The Blackhawk helicopter hovered over the Pacific Ocean, its pilot pointing out the coves and bays preferred by drug dealers when they bring their wares from Canada.

At Birch Bay, less than 10 kilometres south of the border, the pilot dived for a closer view at the scene of a drug bust last month in which custom agents in a boat retrieved $200,000 (U.S.) from the water and arrested two Canadians after intercepting what they say was an exchange of money for drugs. . . .

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security will pour millions of dollars into equipment and personnel at five border crossings with Canada over the next four years to improve security. . . .

It's no surprise that the first border reinforcements will be at British Columbia, long a sore point for U.S. law enforcers. It was from B.C. that convicted terrorist Ahmed Ressam attempted to enter the United States in 1999 in a car containing explosive material. In terms of drugs, last year a record 2,100 kilograms of B.C.-grown marijuana entered the United States.



Another Group at High Risk for HIV

by Edward H. Allison and Janet A. Seeley
Science, Vol 305, Issue 5687, 1104, August 2004

Fishermen and other seafarers (and their casual and long-term sexual partners) . . . are thought to be among the groups with highest [AIDS] prevalence rates of any occupational group other than commercial sex workers. . . . Almost 29 million fisherfolk, 84% of the world total, work in Asia (6), with perhaps three or four times that number of dependents, so the high seroprevalence rates observed in fishing communities are likely to be regionally significant.



AIDS in fishing communities: a serious problem, frequently overlooked

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
FAONewsroom, 3 March 2005, http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2005/100061/index.html

Rome -- It was in a fishing village on the Ugandan shores of Lake Victoria in 1982 that a new and terrible disease [AIDS] began to affect large numbers of people in Central Africa. At the time, the illness was known only as "Slim," due to the wasting affect it had on its victims' bodies. . . .





Here are a few e-mail responses (to this Web page and to my message-board postings) and my replies:

Hi Max!
I'm surfing around tonight and I've seen your posts in a few forums. In short your info re: BC Commercial Salmon Fishing is old news and posted in the wrong forums-those FF Guys don't give a s*** either way. Also the info you present is old.
The situation here in BC is that David Anderson-when he was Federal Fisheries Minister- got Sportfishermen priority on the Chinook and Coho stocks with Commercials receiving the majority of Pink, Chum and Sockeye-all of us after Conservation & native AFS Fisheries of course. The seine fishery in Johnstone Straight may look ugly-Hell it is ugly-but it's supported by the best scientific advice-tempered of course by political considerations-that the FOC can find.
Your feeble attempt to tie Pacific and Atlantic Salmon Fisheries together somehow-and after reading your site I'm still not sure how- shows how little you know about the Pacific Salmon situation.
One day you may indeed be "doctor of philosophy of something" but for the moment you need to inform yourself better/present your findings in the proper forum.
Start here if you want some action
www.fishbc.com
www.sportfishingbc.com

(17 Nov. 2001)


My reply follows:

I'm retired from fisheries (thank God) and living in Ontario--last time I was in B.C. was 1987. Furthermore, yours is just one opinion regarding old but, it seems to me, still relevant research: fishing power. In fact, the resource management papers published in the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences have not progressed much since 1986. Same old stuff. I guess some of the jargon is new. . . .

And how does a seine separate the coho from the pinks in Johnstone Strait (etc.)?

Thanks for insulting my Ph.D. status before reading the dissertation: It's in the UBC library. . . . If you have been surfing, you must know that numerous small-boat owners worldwide are virtually up in arms at large fishing boats (i.e., quite concerned about fishing power) and have called for a global strike on World Fisheries Day, 21 Nov. (see the WORLD FORUM OF FISHER PEOPLES: http://www.wffp.org/?file1=globalstrikeposter.htm).

Max Ledbetter (18 Nov. 2001)

[You, the readers of this Web page, might note that back during 1980-1981, Redden Net Company (Vancouver) and I put together an unsolicited proposal to find the best seine-net design and mesh-size/style combination for reducing the juvenile chinook salmon bycatch. "Although individuals within the Department of Fisheries and Oceans [DFO] encouraged this attempt to obtain funds from the Department of Supply and Services, the DFO opted for an in-house, small-scale survey" (Ledbetter, M. 1981. Guest editorial. Western Fisheries 103 (October 1981): 17).]

---------------


Re:-"last time I was in B.C. was 1987"
My point exactly-you are completely out of touch.
"And how does a seine separate the coho from the pinks in Johnstone Strait" Seiners are now are (sic) all required to carry tanks which are used to revive any Coho taken. Coho are brailed-do you know what that means?-out of the seine and placed in the revival tanks-with excellent results. If your info were in any way current you'd know this.
As to "me/mine" I'm a Sportfisherman of 40+ years experience here in BC, Ontario, coastal Oregon, Mexico, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Fiji-I've spent more time in a small boat fishing than many people have at work. Because of my extensive first-hand experience I've seen the battles artesenal fisherman fight against factory-fishing operations. The situation here in Canada is in no way analogous to that in other climes-not even close.
Good Luck with your studies-I can only hope that upon your graduation that you don't end up in the employ of FOC-they have enough bumblers advising them as it is.

(18 Nov. 2001)


My reply follows:

I obtained my Ph.D. in 1986 (I'm 47), and I was both on the boats and in the air. Thirty-five seine skippers provided logbooks. So of course I know what brail means. If the B.C. industry wasn't so overcapitalized, it might not have to waste time brailing injured salmon, if indeed it does on a consistent basis. [The point here is that in response to my rhetorical question, the author of the preceding e-mail admitted that the seine itself (the net) does not separate coho from pinks and sockeye. A brail is a dip net and is sometimes used to haul fish aboard from the seine.]

My research on purse seines is still relevant: fishing power is still fishing power. Like they said on P.E.I., a fleet of purse seiners can wipe out a stock (anywhere in the world).

I doubt that you could understand my dissertation, and I have no intention of re-entering the realms of B.C. fisheries. Mine is simply an attempt to promote my past research.

Time will tell. . . .

Here is response from another reader:

Looks like a serious wrap, not too many places for a fish to high tail it to for survival. That's about as tight a wrap as I've ever seen. There's got to be some limits, has to be . . . Thanks for sharing. The dissertation must have been interesting, heck of a lot more interesting than what I did in school, finance . . .

Great Stuff,
Mark


Max Ledbetter (18 Nov. 2001)

----------------------------------------------------------------------


Mr. Ledbetter,
I think I see the connection you are making of the two cases [salmon seiners in B.C. and herring seiners in the Gulf of St. Lawrence]. However, are you aware that the Gulf [herring seiners] have access to 23% of the overall quota, they can't fish for roe (no access to spawning grounds), they don't catch immature fish, they have dockside monitoring and at sea observers, etc. . .

On the other hand, the inshore fishermen use gillnets on spawning grounds and have access to 77% of the quota. Knowing the limitation imposed to the seiners, is the fishing power of the seiners still a threat to stock conservation in your view? Thanks for your input.

(19 Nov. 2001)


My reply follows:

I am not, of course, an Atlantic expert. However, I often fail to see how general quotas protect individual stocks. I have seen seiners TARGET river mouths, inlets, rip tides, individual salmon stocks, ocean perch, chinook, squid, etc., and I have observed firsthand the damage the nets inflict on both mature and juvenile fish. From my field experience, which I doubt is now completely "old hat" (given what I read in the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences), I know the general capabilities of the "pirates" within the fishing fleets.

Sincerely,

Max Ledbetter, Ph.D. (19 Nov. 2001)

----------------------------------------------------------------------


Thanks for your email and site. . . . I work with salmon and bears, especially the significant processes of nutrient transfer to forests which may account for their productivity. I am concerned about the over-mechanization of ocean harvest. What if we harvested mushrooms with bulldozers? I'm for terminal fisheries of salmon using sailboats.

I have flown over Port Hardy [during a commercial fishing opening]. Looks like a Marines invasion.

cheers
Barrie

(5 Dec. 2001)

----------------------------------------------------------------------


Dear Dr. Ledbetter,

Many thanks for providing us with the address of your website. We have read the information presented on the site and found it most useful.

The problem with European fleets is also one of over capacity. Many of our fish stocks are below biologically safe limits. The problem of bycatch is a severe one - non target fish species, cetaceans, turtles, seals and sea birds. Decommissioning of vessels does not reduce capacity, as the fishing quotas are sold to other fishermen who own more powerful vessels. At this time of year there are many purse seiners fishing for mackerel, pilchards etc. in the Western Approaches. In the same area are large pair trawlers, other pelagic trawlers, beam trawlers and driftnetters. It is a nightmare.

European politicians seem incapable of taking steps to deal with the fishing industry, effectively. The subsidies provided to the industry encourage over capacity.

We are involved in a campaign which is lobbying to have cetacean bycatch mitigation measures incorporated into the European Common Fisheries Policy. We are lobbying politicians and fishermen's organisations, and are asking our supporters to do likewise; lobbying supermarkets to provide consumers with information regarding the method of capture of their fish products, and to purchase fish caught using handlines and pole and lines; contacting as many artisanal fishermen as possible (those using handlines, and pole and line only), and asking them to provide as much sustainably caught fish as possible, therefore providing the consumer with the ability to buy fish which has been caught in a sustainable way; we then promote the fish caught using the methods mentioned.

Next year, we are planning a "Fish Free Week" throughout Europe, to demonstrate to politicians, the fishermen's organisations, and supermarkets that the public is not prepared to see the fishing industry destroy our seas, and the creatures living in, and dependent on, them.

I hope to contact the World Forum of Fisher People, as perhaps we might be able to help each other.

Thank you again.

I hope we can keep in contact.

Kind regards,

Mary

(9 Dec. 2001)

----------------------------------------------------------------------


Hi Dr. Ledbetter:

The only substantive comment that I'd make is that while the use of purse seiners may present management challenges in certain fisheries they are generally one of the most energy efficient vessel-based fish catching technologies around. Peter

(10 Dec. 2001)

----------------------------------------------------------------------


Max, a few questions come to mind not the least of which are: given the major changes in the dynamics of the fishery caused by BC deforestation, the SEP, the "New" U.S./Canada salmon treaty, and the collapse of BC and Puget Sound salmon stocks (a) are these fisheries still viable; (b) are they still located in these areas; (c) where to from here? I complement you on this innovative measurement technique and wish you the best in future. p

(10 Dec. 2001)

----------------------------------------------------------------------


Thanks for this, I will have a look.

Any further info will always be appreciated.

Liz

(10 Dec. 2001)

----------------------------------------------------------------------


The following was posted on www.sportfishingbc.com - 01/12/2001 : 10:35:25.

Thanks for the data. As a saltwater guide in 1957/58, it was common knowledge that sportfishing [in British Columbia] was finished for the week after a commercial opening. Things haven't changed. With the private boat licence buy backs it put the Fisheries into the hands of a few owners who will instruct the fleet to fish in the most efficient manner. Only the stragglers in a school of salmon manage to escape the nets. The big schools all get scooped up.

----------------------------------------------------------------------


I feel like I am somewhere in between El Nino, Parvicapsula minibicornis, a farm fish and a purse seiner.

Joey
Vancouver Island

(13 Jan. 2002)

----------------------------------------------------------------------


The following was posted on www.iboats.com - 22/03/2002.

Max, I can feel only a tiny bit better about what's happening in Washington (state) and Oregon. Our fish agencies keep very close tabs on the commercial fishery in, say, the Columbia River and Puget Sound, but for obvious reasons, usually don't have a real clue about what's happening before they get here. There are two conditions that have improved: 1) we are making good progress in hatching habitat, but, of course, much more needs to be done; 2) the "war" that goes on between Canadian and US fishers seems to be abating. On a very positive note, we're experiencing for the 2nd consecutive year a large spring and fall run in the Columbia. We trust El Nino will stay away.

----------------------------------------------------------------------



In partial summary, the question is one of fishing power--the ability of gear, boats, or fleets, in the B.C. and P.E.I. cases and others, to exploit or overexploit fish stocks. Without a historical perspective based on quantitative (and innovative) field research, we are doomed to repeat our work loads: In the absence of extensive (and often necessarily alternative) time series of fishing effort and effectivity (fishing power), stock assessment and fisheries management become absurd. Like they said on P.E.I., a fleet (or transient cluster) of purse seiners can wipe out a stock (anywhere in the world). Max Ledbetter


References

Ledbetter, M. 1986. Competition and information among British Columbia salmon purse seiners. Ph.D. diss., Univ. British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C.

Hilborn, R. and M. Ledbetter. 1985. Determinants of catching power in the British Columbia salmon purse-seine fleet. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 42: 51-56.

Ledbetter, M. 1981. Guest editorial. Western Fisheries 103: 17.

Ledbetter, M. and R. Hilborn. 1981. A numerical overview of salmon run timings in British Columbia catch areas. Cooperative Fisheries Research Unit (University of British Columbia), Report Number 1.

Hilborn, R. and M. Ledbetter. 1979. Analysis of the British Columbia salmon purse-seine fleet: dynamics of movement. J. Fish. Res. Board Can. 36: 384-391.


FOR FURTHER REFERENCES TO PURSE SEINING AND MY WORK ON SALMON


Make Money: Own the Internet for Free
Agloco News
Health
Lasik Health
Fishing News
GoogleReferral.com
Google Adsense Referral
Free Web Hosts
Free Web Hosting Forum With Adsense Revenue Sharing
Free Web Hosting Reviewed
145 Search Engines Free
Article Publishing
Article Marketing Forum
Free Blogs
Free Hosting Directory
Submit to over 100 search engines for FREE
Free Classifieds Advertising