Management of Canada's North Atlantic Fishery

For years, Newfoundland has suffered the highest rate of unemployment of any Canadian province. The province has also experienced often monumental development problems with respect to both non-renewable resources, and a manufacturing base. The one bright spot in the provincial economy was fish--both the inshore fishery, and the offshore fishery. The Canadian government's 1993 ban on cod fishing in the Atlantic, however, has caused a collapse of the fishing industry not only in Newfoundland, but throughout Atlantic Canada (Demont, 1993, pp. 10-12)

Fishing was the pillar of the Newfoundland economy. By 1980s, however, serious problems had developed with respect to the provincial fishing industry. These problems were of sufficient significance to bring into question the dependability and stability of the fisheries upon which the Newfoundland economy depended.

Beginning in the late-1970s, numerous resource management issues have arose that held the potential to create significant damage to Canada's Atlantic fishing industry. One significant issue was the application of technology. Technological innovation pitted one group of fishers against another--those using traditional methods against those employing more technologically advanced (and productive) methods (Matthews and Phyne, 1988, p. 168; Lipton and Strand, 1992, pp. 197-208). Within this context, a

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t of being non competitive. There are essentially three solution alternatives to the technology problem. The first alternative is to place no restrictions on boat size or gear type. A second alternative is to impose a regulatory structure that protects the small-boat fisher through restrictions imposed on boat size and gear type. A middle ground approach would be to reserve a specified proportion of the catch for the small-boat fishers. Such reservation could be effected through either catch limits assigned by boat, or by limiting specific fishing areas to small- boat fishers. Resource Allocation The "tragedy of the commons" concept underlies the regulation of resource allocation (Gordon, 1954, pp. 124-142). The concept holds that, with open access to a resource, the rational (in an economic context) action for each individual player is to take as much of the catch as is possible, before it is taken by other players (Hardin, 1968, pp. 123-148). It is contended, therefore, that regulated resource allocation is necessary to protect the resource base (fish, oil, or whatever). In Canada, the regulation of resource allocation is widely supported, both within the fishing industry, and within government (Ma
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Approximate Word count = 1856
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)

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