Legislation Expected this Fall to Lift N.S. Licence Freeze
The moratorium on the issuance of new licences for fish buying and processing in Nova Scotia could soon be lifted.
“We’re probably going to take legislation to the legislature this fall around that,” said Nova Scotia Fisheries and Aquaculture Minister Keith Colwell in an interview.
A licensing policy review, initiated after concerns were expressed by industry over a number of things including grandfathered licenses and what are commonly referred to as bingo card licences, has been ...
Complexity Versus Simplicity
For as long as I can remember — which now goes back nearly four decades — market research has consistently found that consumers do not feel confident about their abilities to buy fish or prepare it at home.
That is a serious problem for our industry, because it means people consume less fish than they would otherwise. But it is also a problem that provides opportunities.
Compared to other protein foods — beef, pork, poultry, sheep — fish are complicated. Consumers typically ...
FCC Future Leaders Canada Moving Forward
By Paul Lansbergen
President, Fisheries Council of Canada
This year, the Fisheries Council of Canada (FCC) launched a new sector-specific career development program.
The huge success of a similar program in the U.S. gave us confidence that Future Leaders Canada would be valued by the sector. Our expectations for the first year were modest to build momentum for future years. The response and reactions from the sector during the application phase were encouraging.
In the end, we ...
Pearcey’s Twine Store
Pearcey's Twine Store and Stage has been a fixture on the Battery side of St. John's harbour for generations.
Photos by Jennifer Oake and Krista Jestican
New Bait Options on the Menu?
Blackbelly Rosefish, Asian Carp Given Nod as Alternative Lobster Bait Sources in Maine, Approval Pending in Canada
Maine lobster fishermen can now use blackbelly rosefish and Asian carp to bait their traps.
Both species were approved as alternative lobster bait sources earlier this summer and the hope is by this fall, approval will also be granted for use in Canada.
Cooke Aquaculture USA was given the nod by the Maine Department of Marine Resources to sell whole, blackbelly rosefish as ...
NATI Event Highlights Leading Edge Fishing Industry Innovations
By Craig Rowe
Chair, NL Association of Technology and Innovation (NATI)
There’s no industry more deeply rooted in our history than the fishery.
There’s no trait more deeply engrained in who we are as people than innovation. In what at first might seem like an unlikely pairing, the technology and innovation sector in Newfoundland and Labrador sees tremendous opportunity to work with the fishery to increase competitiveness, expand markets and help bring increased economic value to ...
A Different Type of Harvest
Harvesters in S.W. Nova have been busy gathering rockweed and Irish moss this season.
Photos by Kathy Johnson and Lonnie Snow
Providing No More – Part II
On February 6, 2018, the fishing vessel Fisherman’s Provider II left port in Canso, Nova Scotia on a five-day halibut fishing trip. After nearly two hours of erratic steaming behavior, including going around in circles just off Canso, the vessel ran hard aground on a well-known shoal. At first, the skipper and three crewmembers had plenty of time to comfortably get off the vessel, but the captain, Roger Stoddard, was apparently not about to leave his vessel under any circumstances. This is ...
The Fisheries Problem from Hell: Right Whales and Gear Entanglement
The North Atlantic right whale population is hovering at the brink of failure, with around 400 surviving individuals.
In some years, there has been some population increase and in other years not. But the fact is that unintentional killing of right whales through both ship strikes and gear entanglements is preventing the population from increasing to a safer level and exacerbating the risk the entire species will go extinct.
Although the population increased between 1990 and 2010, since ...
