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 ...
Harvesting Plan Announced for 2019 Northern Cod Fishery
Harvesters in eastern Newfoundland are either already on the water or are gearing up for the 2019 Northern cod fishery.
This spring, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) reported that the spawning stock biomass (SSB) for 2J3KL cod had returned to its level of two years ago, about 48 per cent of the critical level needed for a healthy fishery or 398,000 tonnes. In fact, DFO actually revised its 2018 stock projection. The department reported that the 2018 SSB had been revised from ...
Northern Cod Stewardship Fishery Receives 30 Per Cent Increase
The soap opera that is the 2J3KL cod fishery continues.
Last year, after several years of cautious growth, the commercial Northern cod catch limits were reduced by 25 per cent to under 10,000 tonnes by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO).
The reduction did not come as a real shock to anyone following DFO’s earlier 2018 announcement that 2J3KL cod had experienced a 29 per cent single-year decline in spawning stock biomass (SSB).
Last year, the 29 per cent single-year decline ...
DFO Needs to Change Policy on Medical Substitute Operator for Lobster Fishery
The independence of the inshore lobster fishery is a goal we all support.
It helps keep licenses in individual hands through the owner-operator policy and is important to the growth and preservation of our coastal communities. In the last few years, The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) has started enforcing a policy which clearly violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, DFO introduced the medical substitute operator policy. This allowed a ...
A Cod Fishery Juxtaposition
The management approach for the Northern cod stewardship fishery for NAFO Divisions 2J3KL was recently announced by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO).
As in past years, the catch phrase for this fishery once again appears to be cautious optimism, as DFO unveiled a total commercial quota of 12,350 tonnes, a 30 per cent increase relative to 2018.
While harvesters on the eastern shores of Newfoundland await the detailed conservation and harvesting plan for this year’s Northern ...
Looking Beneath the Surface
In the fishery, we are always concerned about what is going
on underneath the surface of the ocean.
Looking at the surface can provide helpful information but
what is below the surface is what really matters.
Beneath that surface is the part of the ocean ecosystem the
fishery depends on. The different fish resources we harvest, the food for those
fish and predators who compete with us to catch them are all down there
somewhere. So is the fishing gear we use to catch them and even the ...
How Should We Define Success?
How should we define success in the fishery in Atlantic Canada?
It is an important question, because how we define success determines what we do to achieve it.
Essentially, there are four dimensions to having a successful industry.
First, we sell practically all our output in markets outside Canada, where we must compete with similar products supplied by others. Our competitiveness in those markets determines how successful we are likely to be.
Unfortunately, competitiveness is not ...
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 ...
FFAW President Refutes Content of GEAC’s Northern Cod-Related Letter
I am writing in response to Kris Vascotto’s letter entitled, Northern Cod: Focusing on Facts and Science to Protect the Future, that appeared in the May issue of The Navigator.
The title chosen contains a fair amount of irony, as the letter itself relied on nothing more than falsehoods and finger pointing in an attempt to further the divisive messaging driven by the organization Mr. Vascotto represents, the Groundfish Enterprise Allocation Council (GEAC).
First, let’s be clear on who ...
Seal Fishery Opening April 9
DFO advises Newfoundland and Labrador Seal harvesters that the seal fishery will re-open in Sealing Areas 4 to 23 and Sealing Areas 25 to 27 at 0600 hours on April 9.
This fishery will open for Front Longliners, Areas 5 to 8 Small Boats and Speed Boats, all Area 4 vessels and for Gulf Longliners, Gulf Small Boats, Gulf Speed Boats as well as Personal Use. This includes License Classes N100 to N106, N200 to N204, N300 to N302, and N400-N401.
DFO further advises Seal harvesters having a ...
