DFO Should Not Appeal Category B Licence Court Ruling
About 50 years ago, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) introduced the Moonlighter Policy to remove people from the fishery as a conservation method.
The policy targeted fishermen who held other jobs or professions. It was deemed by government that fishing was not their primary source of income and they were left with a choice: leave your job and maintain your Category A licence or keep your job and be reduced to a Category B licence.
Ultimately, for many this was not a choice at ...
Scientific Processes and Excellence in the Newfoundland and Labrador Region Being Undermined
A Perspective from the Professional Institute of Public Service Canada’s Members From the Newfoundland and Labrador Region
Editor’s note: The following letter was sent to Timothy Sargent, Deputy Minister, Fisheries and Oceans Canada in Ottawa by the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada.
The provision of unbiased scientific advice is a cornerstone of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO); the Department has used science advice for decades and it is the ...
Hello from the Other Side
On the far east of our country lies one of Canada’s most unforgettable provinces, Newfoundland and Labrador.
And yet, to our very own federal government in Ottawa, we are easily forgotten, especially when it comes to our fishery resource.
Our nation only joined Confederation in 1949. What most Canadians do not realize is that we brought into Canada one of the world’s richest fish resources — so much so, that Canada was propelled from 14th to 6th place as a fishing producing nation...
Significant Gaps Remain in Canada’s Fisheries Management Regime
The Navigator managing editor’s overview of the Oceana Fishery Audit in the January issue was welcome and invites comment.
I agree with the Audit’s assessment that the Department of Fisheries and Oceans’ (DFO) management of our fisheries leaves much to be desired and I support Oceana’s goal of improving it. However, I would challenge certain basic elements of its approach that reflect the same mistaken assumptions that DFO’s management itself is shaped by.
First, “rebuilding...
Northern Labrador: The Forgotten People
A few generations ago, as the population of Newfoundland grew, there wasn’t enough fish to sustain us all, so we started building schooners, not only to fish the Grand Banks, but to migrate further north.
We moved north to a thousand miles of coastline with sparsely populated communities on the Labrador Coast for the rich catches of cod and salmon. Many built fishing rooms called stations where they would return with their families every year, shipping their fish back to the Island each ...
Fish Audit Confirms Fish Negligence
A new fish audit released by Oceana Canada confirms, yet again, that the Newfoundland and Labrador fishery is being basically abandoned by the federal government.
The current audit exposes that Canada is failing the wild fisheries from coast to coast — with just one third considered to be healthy. The findings include the fact that nearly one in five stocks are critically depleted, including the Northern cod. Nearly 80 per cent of stocks lack a rebuilding plan and the health of a third of ...
Weak Rope Policy Puts Harvester Lives and Livelihoods at Risk
When a bureaucrat in Ottawa formulates a policy about fishing gear in Newfoundland and Labrador without first consulting with fish harvesters in the province, that policy is established in ignorance.
That is exactly what is happening with the Department of Fisheries and Ocean’s (DFO) new “weak rope” policy that it plans to implement in 2023.
The weak rope policy is the result of the possible impact that the death of a right whale, due to entanglement in fishing gear, could have on ...
PFHCB Rules Need to Change
I am sharing a photo (below) with you loyal Navigator readers of some of the squid that ran ashore on the beach near my fishing stage and fish store at Main Tickle, Twillingate recently.
This is not an uncommon occurrence this time of the year, but the only difference now is that years ago when we were fishing, the squid would always be picked up for bait.
In many fishing communities now, there are just one or two fishers left, their enterprises being sold out to “Big Fishing Skippers...
Fight for the Fishery or Flee the Province
If you could save and safeguard hundreds of communities in Newfoundland and Labrador, would you make that effort?
Would you make the attempt, especially, if it involved immersing yourself in understanding our fishery, past, present and future and perhaps even engaging in a fish fight?
That’s the question the Fishery Community Alliance (FCA) has been posing to endless politicians, both provincially, federally and most recently to the municipalities of Newfoundland and Labrador.
The ...
When Someone Shows You Who They Really Are, Believe Them
In this federal election, more than ever before, everyone in our coastal communities need to get out and vote.
Especially fishers and all those that depend on a vibrant, prosperous and safe fishing industry, principally in the South Shore St. Margaret’s electoral district.
Given some of their poll locations, especially in Shelburne County (from Barrington, Cape Sable Island, Shag Harbour, Bear Point, Woods Harbour to Forbes Point), the lobster fishing capital of Canada, they barely had ...
