4VWX Herring Fishery TAC Set at 21,000 Tonnes
The total allowable catch (TAC) for the 4VWX herring fishery has been cut by 11 per cent this year to 21,000 metric tonnes, down 50 per cent from the 42,500-tonne quota in 2018.
With the Southwest Nova Scotia/Bay of Fundy Atlantic herring stock in the critical zone for the fifth year in a row, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) has been decreasing the TAC to promote recovery, says Lauren Sankey, DFO communications advisor for the Maritimes Region.
“DFO reduced the TAC from ...
Herring Quota Cuts in Line with Industry Recommendations
Other Stakeholders Worry That They Don’t Go Far Enough
A 33 per cent decrease in the total allowable catch (TAC) for the Southwest Nova Scotia, Bay of Fundy Atlantic herring is close to what was being recommended by industry, but does not go deep enough to rebuild the stock, say others.
The TAC for the 2022 fishing season was set at 23,450 tonnes, representing a 33 per cent decrease from last year’s TAC of 35,000 tonnes.
“The Atlantic herring stock in Southwest Nova ...
Herring Fishery in Risk Management Mode
The 2022 Atlantic Canada pelagics fishery is in a tailspin.
The March 30 announcement by Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) Minister Joyce Murray that there will be no directed commercial or bait fishing for southern Gulf spring herring and a complete closure of the Atlantic mackerel commercial and bait fisheries in Atlantic Canada and Québec sent shockwaves through the fishing industry.
Now, the lucrative Bay of Fundy herring industry is doing its best to avoid further quota cut bombshells and ...
Industry Shocked by Mackerel and Herring Closures
The March 30 announcement by Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) Minister Joyce Murray that there will be no directed commercial or bait fishing for southern Gulf spring herring and a complete closure of the Atlantic mackerel commercial and bait fisheries in Atlantic Canada and Québec has sent shockwaves through the fishing industry.
“Announcing a moratorium on the mackerel fishery is one more example of how DFO and Minister Joyce Murray would rather eliminate livelihoods rather than do the actual ...
Outlook Bleak for Southern Gulf Spring Herring Stock
The outlook is bleak for the spring spawning herring stock in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence, with the most recent stock assessment projecting it could be close to extinction in 10 years.
“In the projections it doesn’t reach zero but goes pretty close to zero,” said Francois Turcotte, Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) marine biologist based in Moncton, N.B.
There is “a lot of uncertainty” around the projection which is based on the declining biomass, said Turcotte. ...
Herring Fishery Touch and Go
Above photo: The herring seiner Sea Life II lays berthed at the West Head wharf on Cape Sable Island. Landings in the 4VWX herring fishery were spotty for the first three months for the season, which opened on June 1 and ends on October 14. Kathy Johnson photo
The 4VWX Atlantic herring fishery has been more down than up this season, with spotty landings in the Bay of Fundy and Scots Bay by the 11 purse seiners left in in the fishery.
“The fishery has not been good this year,” said ...
No Movement on Nova Scotia Lobster Marketing Plan
The idea of lobster harvesters in LFA 33-34 paying for a marketing scheme is in the doldrums.
Word is that the Nova Scotia government will not force the issue, so the decision is up to the 1,600 mostly unorganized or unaffiliated harvesters in this area.
The United States is a year ahead of Nova Scotia in this regard.
Maine, the nation’s leading lobster producer, has a Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative in motion. The aim, funded by lobster harvesters, is to make Americans aware ...
N.S. Herring Fishery Patterns Changing
For the uninitiated, catching fish with all of the modern gear is a simple thing, with the creatures having little chance of surviving the onslaught.
This might be the case in instances where migratory patterns are set, or as in the case of scallops, the prey is basically static on the ocean bottom.
Climate change, especially the warming of ocean waters, is changing all that.
Herring, an important food and bait fish in Atlantic Canada, used to disappear in the fall, with purse seiners ...
More Fisheries Closing
DFO advised that the shrimp fishery in Shrimp Fishing Area 6 (Northern Shrimp), that portion of NAFO sub-Division 3Ps in Shrimp Fishing Area 7, and in Shrimp Fishing Area 8 (Gulf Shrimp) for inshore vessels less than
100 feet, based in NAFO Divisions 2J, 3K north, 3K south, 3L, 3Ps, and 4R will close on Saturday, December 31, 2016 at 2000 hours.
DFO also advised that the Bluefin Tuna fishery in NAFO Divisions 3LNOP for all vessels and all gear types, including catch and release, will ...
Positive Results from N.S. Herring Fishery
The herring purse seine fishery based off Yarmouth and Pubnico, Nova Scotia ended Oct. 1 and has been labelled as a decent season.
This fishery has run the gamut of mega-TACs (total allowable catch) in the 1970s-1980s when fish meal and oil plants were in full swing, to the roe fishery which severely put a dent in the biomass as half the harvested herring were unceremoniously dumped back at sea due to the lack of markets.
The fishery literally collapsed and went from a sector which saw ...
