What Has Been Learned From Perils Past?
There must have been an underlying air of irony as groundfish industry stakeholders met in Barcelona, Spain on April 26 to discuss the ongoing Northern cod fishery improvement project (FIP).
Stakeholders included Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP), Marks & Spencer and Youngs Seafoods from the United Kingdom, Sysco France, High Liner Foods from Canada/United States and producer organizations in Canada, including Ocean Choice International, Icewater Seafoods, the Association of ...
Anti-Russia Sanctions Could Hit Crab, Groundfish with Price Volatility
On February 24, Russia mounted a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, dashing any lingering hopes of a smaller-scale, more contained event.
In the build-up to this conflict, the U.S. has managed to forge a stronger united front with Western Europe than most expected. Germany’s decision to suspend the Nordstream 2 gas pipeline, which will lead to sharply higher energy prices in Europe and elsewhere, is a measure of how seriously the Western governments are taking the invasion.
Sanctions are ...
2020 N.L. Recreational Groundfish Fishery
The 2020 recreational groundfish fishery in Newfoundland and Labrador saw an uptick in participation with approximately 8,000 vessels leaving docks and wharves around the province. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans stated that enforcement officers reported 37 violations with 22 charges issued and 15 written warnings.
No Changes in 2020 Northern Cod Fishery Catch Limits
At 2:33 p.m. on July 7, the FFAW-Unifor sent out a press release calling on the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) to release the 2020 management plan for the Northern cod stewardship fishery.
Coincidence or not, later that afternoon, at 4:51 p.m., DFO responded with a press release of its own announcing the 2020, 2J3KL Northern cod stewardship fishery management approach.
DFO stated that the 2020 stewardship fishery management approach will include measures to ensure catches do not ...
Mainly Status Quo for Georges Groundfish TAC in 2020
Concerns Raised Over State of N.L. South Coast 3Ps Cod Stock
With the exception of a slight increase of 42 metric tonnes for yellowtail flounder, it’s status quo for groundfish quotas on Georges Bank (5Z) in 2020.
The combined Canada/U.S. total allowable catch (TAC) for Atlantic cod in 2020 remains at 650 metric tonnes (mt). The haddock TAC has been maintained at 30,000 mt, while the yellowtail flounder TAC increases from 140 mt to 162 mt.
The TACs are as recommended by the Transboun...
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 ...
2018: The Sharper the Blast, the Sooner it Will Pass?
Year’s end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us: American author Hal Borland.
So good readers, were any lasting lessons learned in 2018 that will better the fishery of the future?
What events transpired over the last 12 months that could impact the way the commercial fishery evolves in the years and decades to come?
Perhaps the best analogy one could use to describe the fishing year that was is to compare it to the ...
Happy New Year
This issue of The Navigator marks the beginning of another new year.
It’s a good time to reflect on the past, assess where are and think about the future.
Like most people involved in the fishery in Atlantic Canada, I am a member of the baby boom generation. That means I can reflect back over several decades of involvement in this industry and even a few earlier decades, when I was growing up and hearing about things going on around me. It has been quite a ride.
I can remember the ...
Uncertain Outlook for 3Ps Cod Stock
FFAW Demands All Dragging be Halted in the Area
Above: DFO research scientist, Karen Dwyer presents a technical session outlining the level of the groundfish stock off Newfoundland’s south coast.
After several years of cautious optimism, the overall fate of Newfoundland and Labrador’s beleaguered groundfish stocks remain uncertain.
Earlier this year, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) announced that the 2018 2J3KL stewardship fishery management approach ...
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 ...
