For the first time since the 1992 moratorium, the latest Northern cod science indicates the stock is in the healthy zone, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) announced.
This allows for an increased commercial fishery, along with the previously announced expansion of the Northern cod food fishery.
The 2026 management decisions are:
- Northern cod: TAC increase from 38,000 tonnes to 59,000 tonnes.
- 2J3KLPs capelin: The TAC is unchanged at 14,533 tonnes.
- Northern Gulf cod: No directed commercial fishery and total removals remain capped at 500 tonnes a year to support rebuilding.
This level of harvest keeps Northern cod on a path to once again be a key driver of the fishing economy in Newfoundland and Labrador. This is the result of years of science-based decision-making and ongoing collaboration with harvesters, processors and industry stakeholders.
This approach is grounded in peer-reviewed science and balances conservation with economic opportunity, keeping harvesting sustainable and reflects a total harvest rate of 12 per cent.
As the overall quota is growing, every fleet will have significantly more fish available to catch in 2026.
“Northern cod is part of who we are in Newfoundland and Labrador. This increase in the total allowable catch is what science-based management and real conversations with harvesters, Indigenous communities, our provincial partners and industry make possible. Our government remains committed to working collaboratively, because when our fisheries thrive, so do the people and communities who depend on them,” stated DFO Minister Joanne Thompson.
Allocation shares for Northern cod are also being adjusted:
- Inshore fleet: 70 per cent of the TAC, 41,300 tonnes, up from 30,400 tonnes in 2025.
- Offshore and Midshore fleet: 20 per cent of the TAC, 11,806 tonnes, up from 3,800 tonnes in 2025.
- Indigenous and Special Allocations: 10 per cent of the TAC, 5,895 tonnes, up from 3,801 tonnes in 2025.
These adjustments will ensure that the primary beneficiaries of this fishery continue to be inshore coastal communities of Newfoundland and Labrador. At the same time, the offshore sector also plays a critical role in supporting coastal communities and helping to provide a consistent, year-round supply to global markets.
The health of Northern cod depends on a healthy ecosystem, and capelin is at the centre of it. As the main prey for Northern cod, 2J3KLPs capelin is one of the most important factors in the stock’s health. The capelin TAC remains at 14,533 tonnes for 2026. This precautionary approach helps maintain a stronger capelin population to support a stronger Northern cod population.
The 3Pn4RS Northern Gulf cod stock remains in the critical zone, still well below the level needed for a sustainable commercial fishery. To support rebuilding efforts for Northern Gulf cod, total removals from all sources — including the food fishery, food, social and ceremonial (FSC), and bycatch in other commercial fisheries — will continue to be capped at 500 tonnes annually.
DFO said the food fishery makes up the largest share of removals and keeping all removals within the cap is essential to continue to support rebuilding efforts. As a result, no directed commercial fishery will take place from 2026–27 to 2028–29. The stock will continue to be closely monitored and the management plan would be reviewed if there are indications of significant change in the stock status.
These decisions support a clear, science-based approach that will create more economic opportunity for harvesters and plant workers today, and for generations to come.
The FFAW-Unifor welcomed the DFO decision to maintain fair access for inshore harvesters and plant workers in the 2026 commercial Northern cod fishery.
“Maintaining the 85/15 sharing arrangement is an important outcome for harvesters and plant workers throughout 2J3KL,” said FFAW-Unifor President Dwan Street. “However, we remain concerned by the reduction in direct inshore allocation and the significant increase in offshore access. As this fishery rebuilds, any shift away from owner-operator harvesters and plant workers must be carefully scrutinized to ensure Northern cod continues to benefit the people and local economies that depend on it.”
FFAW-Unifor has consistently called on the federal government to maintain the existing allocation structure for Northern cod, including protecting inshore access and upholding the 85/15 sharing arrangement between 3KL and 2J.
“The decision provides stability for harvesters and plant workers throughout 2J3KL,” Street said. “It recognizes that fair access for 2J can be maintained without taking away from 3KL harvesters, and that the benefits of Northern cod must stay with the people who depend on the fishery.”
Minister Thompson’s decision protects the existing sharing arrangement, maintains inshore access and provides much-needed certainty for harvesters and plant workers throughout 2J3KL, the union stated.
“This is what fairness looks like,” said Street. “Northern cod must be managed in a way that supports adjacency, respects owner-operator enterprises, and delivers the greatest possible benefit to harvesters, plant workers and working people across Newfoundland and Labrador.”
However, not everyone was welcoming the 2026 cod allocations.
The Labrador Fishermen’s Union Shrimp Company Limited (LabShrimp) said it is devastated by the Carney government’s egregious decision to exclude Southern Labrador communities from the increase in Northern cod allocation.
“This decision is an insult to the people of Labrador,” said LabShrimp President and CEO Dwight Russell.
The organization stated that while the announcement increased the Canadian Northern cod quota to approximately 59,700 tonnes, with a sharing arrangement of 70 per cent inshore, 20 per cent offshore, and 10 per cent to Indigenous organizations, it did not include new offshore entrants.
“Nobody in Ottawa can say they did not know what was at stake and still, Labrador was cut out,” Russell said.
In a press release, LabShrimp stated that “the increase benefits Icewater Seafoods and Ocean Choice International, the same island-based private companies that already dominate the offshore Northern cod fishery. This year, they have access to almost 12,000 tonnes of Northern cod, worth an estimated $100 million, from cod that is largely off the shores of Southern Labrador communities.”
“This is taking from the North to benefit the South,” Russell said. “In any other industry, our adjacency to the resource would not be argued. The resource is off Labrador. The need is in Labrador. The capacity is in Labrador. The benefits should reach Labrador.”
LabShrimp said it is not a privately owned company that puts its profits into private hands. It’s put back into communities, families, fishers, the people of Southern Labrador.
“I would ask the Minister and the Prime Minister of Canada a simple question: is the North only a place to extract resources for the benefit of the South?” Russell said.
“Today’s decision confirms that Canada’s plan for the North does not include Labrador. We will bring this back to the people and decide on how we will continue to fight these irreconcilable decisions. Friends over fairness, that’s the decision the Carney government made. Now they have to wear it.”
DFO advised that the 2J3KL Northern cod fishery was to open for 3KL-based inshore fixed-gear harvesters to fish in NAFO Divisions 2J3KL on July 5, 2026.
The base weekly authorized catch limits (in round weight) for 3KL-based regular season fixed-gear harvesters are: July 5 – September 12 — 10,000 lbs. base weekly
The base bi-weekly authorized catch limits for 2J-based inshore fixed-gear harvesters will be finalized soon.
Catch and gear limits for 3KL-based harvesters from September 13 onward will be determined following a mid-August review. An additional seasonal review may be required to determine catch and gear limits later in the season.
3KL-based harvesters will have the option of fishing the regular season at the weekly base catch limits identified above, or they may opt to fish only during the 3KL fall season starting September 13 with a catch limit of no less than 75,000 lbs. base bi-weekly (round weight). The catch limit for 3KL harvesters opting for fall-only conditions will be confirmed during the mid-August review.
| Total Allowable Catch 2026–27 | ||
| Fleet | Per cent Share | Quota (t) |
| Inshore (<65’) | 70.00% | 41,300 |
| Indigenous Allocation — Nunatsiavut Government | 3.33% | 1,965 |
| Indigenous Allocation — Innu Nation | 3.33% | 1,965 |
| Special Allocation — NunatuKavut Community Council | 3.33% | 1,965 |
| Midshore (65–100’) Fixed Gear | 1.00% | 590 |
| Midshore (65–100’) Mobile Gear | 0.05% | 30 |
| Offshore (>100’) | 18.96% | 11,186 |
| TOTAL | 100% | 59,000 |
From the inshore sector allocation of 41,300 t:
- 98 per cent (40,474 t) is provided to the fixed-gear fleet:
- 15 per cent (6,071 t) is provided for 2J-based fixed-gear inshore harvesters
- 85 per cent (34,403 t) is provided to 3KL-based fixed-gear inshore harvesters
- Two per cent (826 t) of the inshore fleet sector allocation is provided to mobile-gear harvesters
- Access to NAFO Division 2J will be expanded to a small number of inshore fixed gear core licence holders based in Labrador, consistent with current overlap privileges available to some Newfoundland-based 4R harvesters.
