Is FFAW Crying Wolf Over 3Ps Cod?
Inshore Sector Increased Catches as Stock Remained Low
One of the characteristics of a fishery is that decisions about harvests run on two tracks: the scientific track of what can be caught sustainably and the allocation track, where fishers and gear sectors fight over who gets what proportions of the catch.
With Newfoundland’s 3Ps cod, mixing up these two tracks can take a relatively clear picture and turn it to mud.
This was the effect of FFAW-Unifor President Keith ...
Quota Cuts Coming for Georges Bank Groundfish
It looks like quota cuts are on the horizon for the Georges Bank groundfish fishery.
Recent recommendations from the Canada/U.S. Georges Bank Transboundary Management Guidance Committee (TMGC) include a 25 per cent cut in haddock quotas, a 32 per cent cut for cod quotas and a 53 per cent cut in yellowtail flounder quotas for 2019.
Co-chair of the Committee, Alain d’Entremont, Scotia Harvest Inc., said the 2019 overall recommendation for cod is 650 metric tonnes (a reduction from 950 ...
A Changing Tide for the Golden Cod of Gilbert Bay
Scientists Proposing New Initiatives to Help Save the Unique Fish
Dr. Corey Morris would rather spend his vacations on the coast of Labrador than Florida.
For 21 years, Morris has been to Gilbert Bay three times a year for weeks at a time, working on conserving the famous Gilbert Bay cod, known for its golden colour.
Geographically, the area around Gilbert Bay is a coastal fiord in Southern Labrador, isolated from the coast by a bunch of islands. It covers 60 square kilometers. ...
It is Time to Upset the Apple Cart
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 ...
Southern N.S. Groundfish Stocks Healthy, Except Cod and Cusk
While the lobster fishery is king, the groundfish fishery in southwestern Nova Scotia is nothing to sneeze at.
This fishery is worth more than $55 million in landed value for 2016/17 for fishing areas 4VXW and Georges Bank and has solid stock statuses for primary target species such as halibut, haddock, silver hake, winter flounder and redfish.
“Halibut is the one that’s just going up and up and up,” said federal fisheries survey biologist Donald Clark in an interview.
“I ...
DFO Announces 2018 Newfoundland and Labrador Recreational Groundfish Fishery
DFO advises that in 2018, the recreational groundfish fishery will be open for a total of 39 days.
For the 2018 season, there is no requirement for licences or tags.
Summer Season:
Saturday, June 30, 2018 to Monday, July 2, 2018
Saturday, July 7, 2018 to Monday, July 09, 2018
Saturday, July 14, 2018 to Monday, July 16, 2018
Saturday, July 21, 2018 to Monday, July 23, 2018
Saturday, July 28, 2018 to Monday, July 30, 2018
Saturday, August 4, 2018 to Monday, ...
The Future, Fast and Slow
In 2011, an award-winning and best-selling book was Thinking, Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman.
Dr. Kahneman had won a Nobel Prize in economics for work he discussed in the book. Although it is interesting and worth reading, this column is not really about Dr. Kahneman’s work.
Instead, it’s about the future of the fishery in Atlantic Canada. In some ways, the future is arriving faster than we can deal with it. In others, it is arriving very slowly, maybe slower than we would hope or ...
GEAC Attempting to Discredit N.L. Inshore Sector
I feel compelled to respond to the letter submitted to the May issue of The Navigator by Kris Vascotto of the Groundfish Enterprise Allocation Council (GEAC).
Many of the issues raised by Vascotto require correction or at a minimum, clarification. In many cases, Vascotto cherry picked information and made an attempt to discredit the inshore sector of the fishing industry in this province.
The Newfoundland and Labrador Groundfish Industry Development Council (GIDC) is a recently-establi...
On the Waterfront – June 2018
FCC Looking for Clear and Stable Policy Framework
On May 3, the Fisheries Council of Canada (FCC) appeared before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans and called for a clear and stable policy framework that will instill confidence to invest and support conservation.
The Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans is examining Bill C-68, Amendments to the Fisheries Act. The Bill contains extensive amendments to restore lost protections from 2012 and to incorporate ...
Creating Value from Fish
Except for lobster, catches of other important commercial fish species have been decreasing in recent years.
And even though cod and other groundfish have been increasing in abundance around Newfoundland and Labrador, it seems like it will be a long time before catches come anywhere close to being able to replace the revenues and incomes lost from decreasing catches of shrimp and crab. That means we will need to maximize value from the catches we are able to take.
So, what is involved in ...
Is FFAW Crying Wolf Over 3Ps Cod?
Inshore Sector Increased Catches as Stock Remained Low One of the characteristics of a fishery is that decisions about harvests run on two tracks: the scientific track of what can be caught sustainably and the allocation track, where fishers and gear sectors fight over who gets what proportions of the catch. With Newfoundland’s 3Ps cod, mixing up these two tracks can take a relatively clear picture and turn it to mud. This was the effect of FFAW-Unifor President Keith ...