Fishermen in Newfoundland and Labrador say the commercial cod fishery should not reopen

SF. JOHN’S, NL — Exactly 32 years after the federal government imposed a moratorium on commercial cod fishing in Newfoundland and Labrador, harvesters in the province called Tuesday for Ottawa to reinstate it.

Greg Pretty, president of the 14,000-member union representing inshore fishermen, says northern cod stocks have not recovered enough to be fished again by what he calls “offshore draggers.”

“It’s a disaster, it’s an absolute disaster,” Pretty said during a news conference in St. John’s, NL, adding, “There will be petitions and there will be demonstrations until we get this right.”

The federal Department of Fisheries announced last week that it would end the moratorium and restore commercial cod fishing, calling the decision “a historic milestone for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.”

The 2024 season would have a total allowable catch in Canada of 18,000 tonnes, with about 84% allocated to coastal fishermen.

Pretty said about 1,000 tonnes will go to Canadian and foreign offshore fishing fleets.

Coastal fishermen operate smaller boats — typically shorter than 20 meters — and fish closer to shore than offshore vessels, which are longer than 30 meters, according to the Department of Fisheries. Pretty said offshore vessels are “environmentally destructive” and do not contribute to the long-term sustainability of the province’s coastal communities.

The moratorium on northern cod fishing off Newfoundland and Labrador began on July 2, 1992. Northern cod were once the backbone of the province’s 400-year-old fishing industry, but stocks collapsed in the early 1990s due to overfishing, mismanagement and environmental change. conditions. The moratorium destroyed the province’s economy and ended a way of life for dozens of coastal communities.

In 2006, a small “stewardship” fishery began, allowing inshore harvesters to catch small quantities of cod; The catch allowed last year was 13,000 tons. Scientists monitored catches and used the information in stock assessments and management decisions about the recovery of the species.

Pretty called on Ottawa to reinstate the stewardship fishery rather than reopen a commercial fishery that allows offshore vessels. After Tuesday’s news conference, the union shared a 2015 letter it received from the federal Liberals promising to allocate the first 115,000 tonnes of a commercial cod fishery to coastal fishermen. Pretty called on the Liberals to reaffirm that commitment.

The federal Department of Fisheries did not directly respond when asked why it allowed offshore vessels to enter this year’s cod fishery.

“It’s important to get things right, and that’s why we will rebuild this fishery with caution but optimism,” spokesman Gabriel Bourget said in an emailed statement.

The statement said Fisheries Minister Diane Lebouthillier met “several times” with the union to discuss northern cod. The department is working with industry, governments and indigenous communities to develop the province’s fisheries “in a sustainable and economically prosperous manner,” Bourget said.

Fisherman Glen Newbury, with FFAW’s executive committee, marveled at a news conference 32 years after the moratorium’s devastating announcement, calling on Ottawa to bring it back.

“We as harvesters have done everything we can all these years to maintain, to rebuild our cod stocks, to get back into the cod fishery that Newfoundland was made of,” Newbury told reporters .

He said he worried stocks would run out again “in a few short years” if the offshore fleet was allowed to fish them.

“We’re going to go back further than where we started,” Newbury said.

The federal New Democrats say they support the union’s position. “I’m pushing the federal government to reinstate the stewardship fishery after the Liberals broke their own promises by allowing the darlings of the seas back on the water,” NDP fisheries and oceans critic Lisa Marie Barron said in a Tuesday press release . back to a managed fishery is the only way forward.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on July 2, 2024.

Sarah Smellie, Canadian Press