For the hardcore Harry Potter fans out there, you probably already know that the motto of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus — translated as “never tickle a sleeping dragon.”
For the second year in a row, it appears the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) is taking no chances in tickling any of the dragons that regularly participate in the annual recreational groundfish fishery.
Once again, DFO has balked at the idea of implementing any type of mechanism to track how many fish are caught during the annual recreational fishery. This is even more surprising for 2018, given federal fisheries earlier announced that 2J3KL cod, also known as Northern cod, had experienced a 29 per cent single-year decline in spawning stock biomass. A one-year projection showed a high probability of continued decline in the stock for 2019.
DFO said the overall stock level is at 37 per cent of the level needed to open a commercial fishery and as a result cut the 2018 stewardship fishery total commercial catches to 9,500 metric tonnes, a 25 per cent reduction relative to 2017.
However, while tightening the catches of commercial harvesters, DFO will once again collect no data on how many cod come over the gunwales of the army of weekend warrior fishermen out there.
As you are aware, DFO did make an effort to gain some control and oversight with this particular fishery. After numerous calls from conservation groups and commercial fishing stakeholders, over the winter of 2016/17, DFO appeared to be on the verge of finally making something happen, when it held a series of regional consultations, seeking public input on a proposed tags regime for the recreational groundfish fishery.
However, things did not go exactly as planned.
The public consultations quickly turned into public yelling sessions, with participants arguing with each other, as well as the DFO officials. In the end, the idea was scrapped for 2017.
As part of the process, DFO said at the time, it would engage with Canadians in the Atlantic provinces and Quebec on the possibility of introducing a marine recreational fishing licence regime, without the use of tags, for 2018.
So why the status quo for 2018? What happened to the licence idea? Might it have something to do with the pending October 21, 2019 federal election? With federal Liberals looking for a second straight majority, perhaps they are taking no chances in alienating an important group of potential voters?
Ironically, on July 9, while untraceable numbers of codfish were being filleted on wharves and in stages all over N.L., south of the border, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) was releasing its annual Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP) catch and effort estimates.
The NOAA has been collecting saltwater, recreational fishing data from shore and private boat anglers on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts since 1981.
For nearly four decades, the NOAA has used something called the Coastal Household Telephone Survey (CHTS) to collect fishing data from saltwater, recreational fishermen — and simply calling fishermen on the phone has proved to be quite reliable. However, this year, the organization is transitioning to another means of data collection — nothing high tech — just use of the U.S. Postal Service.
In January 2018, the NOAA kicked off its mail-based Fishing Effort Survey (FES).
Implemented in 2018, the NOAA said the FES is a more accurate method of collecting saltwater recreational fishing effort data from shore and private boat anglers on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. As a result of the improved survey, FES estimates are several times higher than telephone survey estimates and vary by state, type of fishing and reporting period. However, analyses indicate that the increase in effort estimates is because the FES does a better job of estimating fishing activity, not a sudden rise in fishing. The improved accuracy of recreational catch and effort estimates generated by the FES will provide better information for understanding the health of marine ecosystems and making decisions that ensure the future of our fisheries resources and the lives and livelihoods they support, the NOAA explained.
The success of the NOAA data tracking program just shows that simple, tried and tested means of collecting information still works. Even in this ever-changing technological world, one does not need to reinvent the wheel to come up with a means to gather data.
So where does this leave the groundfish fishery for 2018?
While commercial fishermen will be adjusting to tighter catch limits when they take the water, the partially unregulated recreational fishery will continue to take unknown numbers of cod for the remainder of the summer and part of the fall.
With the Northern cod recovery not exactly going as planned, with more peaks and valleys sure to be reported after each annual assessment, DFO needs to get a better handle on all groundfish fishing, including the recreational fishery.
Similar to last year, many of the recreational folks are reporting lots of fish again this year, but this is unverified and unsubstantiated and adds nothing towards any sort of all-encompassing cod management plan.
Whether or not the federal government fears poking metaphorical dragons, bears or jellyfish, it is time that better resource management controls are placed on the recreational fishery — once and for all.
