Lobster Survey, Methodology

Lobster Survey, Methodology - Translation from French

Date:	Time:	Duration:	Location:
Context of the interview:

Identification

1. Name.....................................................

2. Age.......................................................

3. Place of birth..........................................

4. Place of residence.........................How long?.................................

5. Home port..................................Since when?...............................

6.Education.............................................................................

7. Father's occupation..................................................................

8. Types of fishing practised since he has been a fisherman 1.............2.............3.............4............5.............6..............

9. How long has he been lobstering? 1-5............5-10............10-15............15-20............20-25..............

10. Capital assets

1 - Type of boat.....................................................................

2 - Dimensions................................................................................

3 - Engine...........................................................................

4 - Number of traps..................................................................

5 - Materials........................................................................

6 - Dimensions......................................................................

7 - Approximate cost of equipment...................................................

8 - Number of fisherman's helpers...................................................

11. Member of the association: Yes........................No.........................

How long?.............5.............10.............15............. + ................

Section 1. Fishing practice and work organization

(section concerning the three periods '70-'75, '80-'90 and the past 2-3 years)

1.1 Biography of the fisherman
We would like to know how you got started in the fishery.

1.1.1 - Start in the fishery

.1 - With whom?
.2 - Transfer of knowledge
.3 - Training context (family member)

1.2 Crew characteristics

1.2.1 - Fishing crew

.1 - Number of fisherman's helpers
.2 - Age

1.2.2 - Relationship

.1 - Family relationship?
.2 - How long working together?
.3 - Changes since the 1970s
.4 - Comments

1.2.3 - Division of work

.1 - Who does what?
.2 - Work relations

1.3 Gear characteristics

1.3.1 - Type of gear used at the start

.1 - Boat in '70, '80-'90
.2 - Traps (type and number)

1.3.2 - Boat today

.1 - Since when?
.2 - Origin (father, uncle, built, bought)
.3 - Power (engine)
.4 - Speed
.5 - Repairs

a - By whom?
b - Annual cost

1.3.3 - Type of trap

.1 - Dimensions
.2 - Materials
.3 - Made by whom?
.4 - Fished with other traps before?

a - Dimensions
b - Materials

.5 - Change in traps

a - How long ago?
b - Differences observed
c - What do you think of the effectiveness of traps today ('70)?

1.3.4 - Navigation equipment

.1 - What equipment do you work with?
.2 - Indicate changes in equipment (e.g., GPS)
.3 - Since when?
.4 - Previously (in the 1970s)?
.5 - Comments on effectiveness (relative to the 1970s)
.6 - Impact on catches?

1.4 Fishing location

Background
The lobster population has increased in recent years, and fishing practices have changed. We would like to know how and in what respects they have changed to better determine what proportions of the increase in landings are due to fishing effectiveness and to the increase in biomass. Therefore, we would like to know what has been modified in your methods to be able, among other things, to understand the changes in spatial distribution of the resource.

1.4.1 - Location fished today (locate the fishing grounds on the map)

.1 - Fishing grounds

a - Since when?
b - Toponymy
c - Reason for choosing this area

.2 - Characteristics of the fishing grounds

a - Average distance between the grounds
b - Depth
c - Nature of the sea floor
d - Currents
e - Tides

.3 - Lobster characteristics on these grounds

a - Size
b - Abundance
c - Changes

1.4.2 - Location fished previously (indicate on the map)

.1 - Previous fishing grounds

a - How long ago?
b - For how long?
c - Local toponymy
d - Reason for leaving (why changed grounds?)

.2 - Characteristics of the grounds

a - Average distance between the grounds
b - Depth
c - Nature of the sea floor
d - Currents
e - Tides

.3 - Lobster characteristics on these grounds

a - Size
b - Abundance
c - Changes

1.4.3 - Changes observed on these grounds and in the resource over the past 25 years (indicate changes over time)

.1 - Sea floor
.2 - Water temperature
.3 - Currents
.4 - Tides
.5 - Lobster abundance
.6 - Variation in size,
.7 - by sex
.8 - Identification of reasons

1.4.4 - Changes in the fishery spatial pattern

.1 - Is your fishing effort more concentrated (spatially) than before?
.2 - Are there places where you did not fish before but are fishing now?
.3 - Are there places where there is lobster but where fishermen never go?

1.5 Fishing technology and effort

1.5.1 - Operating techniques

.1 - Traps

a - Number of traps per line
b - Distance between traps
c - Changes since the 1970s (specify)
d - Comments

.2 - Lines

a - Daily selection of fishing grounds
b - Position of lines on the sea floor (orientation)
c - Distance between lines
d - Changes since the 1970s (specify)
e - Comments

.3 - Hauls

a - Hauling technique?
b - Do you haul the traps more than once a day?
c - How many traps more than once a day?
d - More than once a day how much of the season?
e - Changes since the 1970s (specify)
f - Comments

.4 - Number of days

a - At sea
b - Of maximum operation during the season
c - Difference from the 1970s (more days than before)
d - Comments

.5 - Bait

a - Type (species)
b - Quantity
c - Changes - Species - Since when?
d - Supply
e - Cost per season
f - Comments on the effectiveness of bait today (compared to before)
g - What do you do with your bait afterwards?

- What do the other fishermen do?
- What is your opinion about that?

1.6 Fishing strategies

1.6.1 - Fishing strategies and ability to predict catches

.1 - Able to predict seasonal catches

a - How?
b - According to what?

.2 - Are the predictions often correct (explain)?
.3 - Fishing strategies to compensate for weather
.4 - Interference with other types of fishing (disturbs the fishing operation)

1.7 Economic planning

1.7.1 - Production volumes

.1 - In general terms relative to others (reasons)

1.7.2 - The market

.1 - Price variations

a - Effect of variations on operations

.2 - Relationship with processors (buyers)

a - Their influence on the market
b - Their influence on operations

1.7.3 - Other types of fishing practised

.1 - Which ones?
.2 - Profitability

Section 2. Knowledge of the resource

Background
Because we can only evaluate the lobster population on the basis of landings, a large proportion of the population is imperfectly known to biologists, and we think you can help us learn more about the lobster population in the region. If we had a better idea of the spatial distribution of the lobster, we could learn more about the females, their role in reproduction, their distribution and their behaviour.

Accordingly, in this section, we would like you to tell us what you know about the lobster, its life, its behaviour and so on. This is not to compare what you know with what the biologists say, but simply to find out what you know, what you have observed and how you explain these phenomena. So we would like you to answer as if you had to explain it to your son who is starting to fish with you, as it was taught to you.

2.1 Biological and spatial characteristics of the lobster

We assume, from the information collected on catches, that there is a time during the season when lobsters separate from one another. We would like to know what your observations are.

2.1.1 - Observations on the spatial distribution of lobsters

.1 - How do lobsters share the space with each other?
.2 - Place where the following are found (note the characteristics of these places)

a - Young (those which will enter the fishery the following year)
b - When do you see them there?
c - Males
d - When do you see them there?
e - Brooding females
f - When do you see them there?
g - Non-brooding females
h - When do you see them there?
i - At the time of egg release, do you think the females gather together (concentration = how many lobsters)?
j - If there are concentrations, what quantities of females are found in them?
k - Do you see concentrations of large brooding females without small brooding females (where and when)?
l - Do you see concentrations of large non-brooding females (where and when)?
m - Do you see concentrations of small brooding females separated from the large females (where and when)?

.3 - Are there places where you do not find

a - brooding females?

.4 - Are there concentrations of small lobsters (nurseries of lobsters two inches long or less)?

a - Where are they?
b - What size are the lobsters in them?
c - How many small lobsters are in them?

.5 - Does this differ with the season?

a - Where are the lobsters in winter (males, females, young)?

.6 - Travel

a - Long distances?
b - Where to (the Islands, Cape Breton, PEI)?
c - Explain

2.1.2 - Life cycle

.1 - Eggs

a - In what period of the year and where do you see black eggs?
b - In what period of the year and where do you see green eggs?
c - Same every year
d - Particular observations in recent years:

- larger with eggs
- smaller with eggs
- differences in past 10/15 years
- from what fathers and grandfathers said about them

.2 - Moults

a - In what period of the year and where do you start seeing moulting lobsters?
b - How many do you see?
c - Is there a difference:

- females?
- males?

d - Same every year
e - When do you see empty lobsters?

- Why are they empty?
- When?
- Where?
- How many?

f - Same every year

2.2 Influence of natural factors on the lobster

2.2.1 - Fluctuations in the lobster volume as indicated by catch rates

.1 - Through the season, what makes your catch rate vary most often?

a - Fishing equipment
b - Condition of the resource
c - Winds (strength or direction)
d - Seasonal weather (snow storms)
e - Temperature
f - Currents
g - Type of grounds
h - Predators
i - Is it different now from:

- '70-'75?
- late 1980s - early 1990s?

.2 - Are the seasons similar from year to year?

a - Start
b - End

.3 - Does the presence of prey (fish, crabs) influence the catch rate?

a - What prey?
b - How is this observed?
c - When?
d - Is it the same every year?
e - Is it different now from:

- '70-'75?
- late 1980s - early 1990s?

2.2.2 - Influence of natural factors on lobster size

.1 - What can influence lobster size?

a - Sea floor
b - Currents
c - Cooling of the water
d - Weather variations (extreme heat or cold)
e - Ice
f - Storms
g - Competition with other species for food

2.2.3 - Influence of natural factors on lobster abundance

.1 - What can influence lobster abundance (factors other than the fishery)?

a - Sea floor
b - Currents
c - Cooling of the water
d - Weather variations (extreme heat or cold)
e - Ice
f - Storms
g - Competition with other species for food
h - Predators

2.2.4 - What influences the quantity and quality of eggs?

Section 3. Management of fishing activities and resource conservation

Background
If we want to succeed in managing the resource and the fishery properly, the fishermen must be involved; accordingly, we must take into account your own management system - we must know how you do things. Therefore, we would like you to explain how you organize the fishery among yourselves.

3.1 Relationships among fishermen and territorial management

3.1.1 - What are the relationships between the lobster fishing crews in the community?

.1 - Work relationships between crews?
.2 - Are there fishermen who are leaders in the community?

a - Why do they have this role?

.3 - Relations between older and younger fishermen
.4 - Relations with new fishermen

3.1.2 - Ways and means of acquiring territory (fishing grounds)

.1 - How did you obtain your grounds?
.2 - In a given territory, possibility of changing grounds
.3 - What are the (social) reasons for changing grounds?
.4 - Ownership rights? (If someone wants to fish where you are fishing...)
.5 - How is ownership identified?
.6 - Do you know whether it is different elsewhere in the Islands?

a - Acquisition
b - Ownership rights
c - Ownership identification

.7 - Comments

3.1.3 - Relationship at sea with fishermen involved in other types of fishing

.1 - Power relationships
.2 - Helping relationships

3.1.4 - With lobster crews from other communities

.1 - Relationship at sea with fishermen from other ports
.2 - Are boundaries between fishing territories maintained?

a - By what methods?
b - Are they respected by fishermen?

3.2 Validity of the information on landings

Explain that this section is not intended to blow the whistle on anyone - no names are sought; rather, its purpose is to determine the proportion of false declarations and the significance of fraud in the fishery compared to past years. Participative management of the lobster fishery also involves a reduction in illegal activities. Moreover, we find it difficult to determine the state of the resource, since we do not know the proportion of honest declarations or the level of fraud in the fishery.

3.2.1 - Do the statistics on landings reflect what is actually being caught?

3.2.2 - What proportion of fishermen declare everything they catch?

.1 - How much (proportion) is declared by those who do not declare everything?
.2 - By comparison with the past 5, 10, 15 or 20 years?
.3 - In the time of your father and grandfather?

3.2.3 - Is there fraud in the fishery?

.1 - What is the amount of fraud practised in the fishery?
.2 - Who does it most often (fishermen, sportsmen or others)?
.3 - In comparison with the past 5, 10, 15 or 20 years?
.4 - In the time of your father and grandfather?

3.3 Local conservation methods

3.3.1 - Do you have internal conservation rules?

.1 - Methods of conservation used which are not imposed by the government?

e.g.: - throwing back large females
e.g.: - no-fishing zones

.2 - Are these rules complied with?

a - If not complied with, is there internal control?

.3 - Do you control excesses (e.g., too many hauls) among yourselves?

a - How do you do it?

3.4 Conservation methods proposed by the FRCC

The FRCC has proposed a framework for the conservation of the lobster stocks, one which, to improve management, would be based on an increase in egg production, a reduction in the exploitation rate and optimization of resource quality as determined by the fishing period. We would like to know your opinion on these FRCC proposals.

3.4.1 - Have you read the FRCC document?

.1 - What do you think of it?
.2 - Is there a problem in the conservation of the resource?
.3 - Is it protected well enough?

3.4.2 - What do you think of the current management plan for the lobster fishery?

.1 - Duration (too long/short)
.2 - Start and end (too late/early)
.3 - Maintenance or reduction of the fishing effort during the season (how)?
.4 - Number of licences
.5 - Number of traps per licence
.6 - Could you fish as much with fewer traps?

3.4.3 - What do you propose to improve conservation of the resource (what do you recommend to improve management of the resource)?

3.4.4 - Would you be in agreement with an increase in the minimum capture size?

3.4.5 - Would you be in agreement with not taking the large females?

3.4.6 - If we had to close areas to protect reproduction, which would be the best areas, in your opinion?

3.4.7 - Do you believe greater egg production will result in more lobsters in the fishery later on? How could we increase egg production?

3.4.8 - How could we reduce the pressure of the fishery on the stocks?

3.4.9 - The FRCC suggests optimizing fishery yields by limiting fishing to times when the resource is at its best. What do you think of this?

3.4.10 - Are there measures other than those proposed by the FRCC which could be applied (quotas)?

3.5 Relations between fishermen and the association

3.5.1 - Types of contact

3.5.2 - Frequency of contact

.1 - Do you attend the meetings?
.2 - How often?

3.5.3 - Main issues

.1 - Topics covered
.2 - Topics you would like covered

3.5.4 - Procedures for consultation and decision-making (mechanisms)

.1 - Do the fishermen have their say?
.2 - Are the fishermen taken into account?

3.5.5 - Ties between the association and the government organizations

.1 - Does the association represent the fishermen well?
.2 - What should be changed?

3.6 Relations between the fishermen and government representatives

3.6.1 - Government representatives

.1 - Fisheries officers
.2 - Biologists;

a - What they have learned from the biologists
b - Type and frequency of relations

.3 - Managers

3.6.2 - Characteristics of relations between the fishermen and representatives

.1 - Most important issues and information
.2 - Demands and responses obtained (e.g., relative to management and conservation)
.3 - Communication of research results and their application
.4 - Do they listen to you enough?

3.7 Vision of the fishery and its management in the future

3.7.1 - How do you see the fishery in 10 years, 20 years, 50 years?

.1 - State of the resource (factors affecting future yields?)

a - Fishing effort
b - Natural factors

.2 - The next generation
.3 - Knowledge
.4 - Management

3.7.2 - Changes to be made to the management process (regulation)

.1 - Who should decide on fishery regulations?
.2 - What voice should fishermen have in fisheries decisions?

3.7.3 - Place of the association

.1 - Its role;

a - How should it be improved?

.2 - Possibility of sharing the management role
.3 - Its relationship with the fishing community

3.7.4 - What should the role of the buyers (processors) be in the exploitation and management of the resource and the fishery?

3.7.5 - Ties between lobster fishermen and other fishermen, and changes in the fisheries as a whole.

Section 4. Environmental observations

4.1 Interpretation of variations in landings

4.1.1 - How do you interpret the increase in landings during the 1980s?

4.1.2 - How do you interpret the recent decrease observed to some degree everywhere in recent years?

4.1.3 - Aside from the recent increase in landings, has lobster abundance been cyclical since the start of this fishery? What did your father and grandfathers say about this?

4.2 Interpretation of the effects of other species

4.2.1 - Reduction in cod

.1 - Do you believe there is any link between this reduction and the increase in lobster?
.2 - Has cod ever been as scarce as it is now?
.3 - Did this situation have an effect on the abundance of lobster?

4.2.2 - What is the explanation of the link between cod and lobster?

4.2.3 - Is there another link between lobster and other species which may explain certain fluctuations (e.g., herring)?

4.2.4 - Do you believe that the great abundance of seals is a threat to the lobster?

4.2.5 - Do you believe that exploitation of the common rock crab has an effect on the lobster?

4.3 Observations and interpretation of changes in the environment

4.3.1 - Have you observed changes in the environment over the years (e.g., climate, currents, temperature, winds, longer winters, shorter winters, warmer summers)?

4.3.2 - Are there years that stand out in particular?

.1 - What phenomena did you observe?
.2 - Do you remember phenomena which your father or grandfather told you about (which years)?

4.3.3 - What do you think about the role of the lagoon at Havre aux Basques in lobster production?

.1 - How was it before?