La zona económica exclusiva: una perspectiva latinoamericana

Terence C. Bacon f CANADA'S 200· MILE FISHING ZONE ... zone obviously has also involved a substantial investment in surveillance, en– forcement and in regulatory controls. Canadiao fishermeo are controlled with respeet to mesh size, size limits, catch quotas, effort eontrols, area c1osures, time elosures, gear type limitations and limited entry lieeneing, to namejust a few measures. In order to be effeetive, the Canadian government has beeo . forced to expando its control and monitor services. The fleet of the Depart– ment of Fisheries and Oeeans is Canada's second largest civilian-manned fleet. It consists of more than 600 vessels; they support programmes involving flsheries surveillance and enforeement, ftsheries research, oceanography and hydrography, and seareh and reseue operations. In 1979, in the Newfoundland flshery alone, there were 180 prosecutions and forfeiture of more than 60 nets and several vessels and motors. Another area of signiflcant cosí is fisheries .research. These activities cover a broad spectrum of scienUflc investigation, inc1uding the provision of biolo– gical advice required for management. The main objectives are to develop and maintain a knowledge of the flSheries resources, including species interactions, . and to assess the effeets of environmental influences and fishing on the resource base; to develop and maintain a knowledge of the effects of conta– minants and habitat alterations 00 aquatic resources and to study and to investigate the enhancement of those resources, ineluding the application of aquaculture. In the 1981-82 fIScal year the federal government spent approxi– mately $ 55 million on marine research. While the fmt five years have brought fmancial gains to the flshing industry and a fuller knowledge of and control over the living resources off our shores, they have also witnessed the emergence of problems both internal and exter– nal. Emmerging domestic and international problems. First, there are sorne domestic probJems that sorne of your countries may face as well. It concerns the allocation of resources between OUT in-shore aod off-shore fishing industries. the coastal flShery has historically been largely an in-shore one. The off-shore flShing started up in the 1950's and grew rapidly after adoption of the 200-mile zone, coming into increasing competition with the in-shore fishery. For the off-shore fisherman seasons are short inasmuch as they are given a small percentage of the total available catch, wlúch, for example, is the case with northern cod, which they can catch in a very short perlod of time. As a result, there are periods when vessels are under-utilized and even tied up in port. Any aI)alysis of the health of ill·health of the Canadian f1shing industry must involve considerations of three basic factoes: the resource; capital and labour employed for both harvesting and processing; and fmaUy, the marketplace. There are other variables often cited as sources of evil to the industry, such as fishing plaus, vessel construction 147