Product Pricing Creating N.L. Industry Friction
Disputes and disagreements over prices are nothing new in the Newfoundland and Labrador fishing industry — in fact, some would call them the norm.
However, a few months ago, this year had the promise of being a little different, as N.L. harvesters were anticipating record or near record price for snow crab and maybe even Northern shrimp. But things are not quite going as planned.
Earlier this year, in N.L., where the crab price is chosen through a collective bargaining process by the ...
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 ...
Status Quo for 2022 SFA 6 Shrimp Quota
DFO Under Fire for Substantial Reductions to Gulf Fishery
As was predicted, it appears inshore harvesters within Northeastern Newfoundland’s shrimp fishing area 6 (SFA 6) will have the same quota as last year.
On April 27, the Northern Shrimp Advisory Committee (NSAC) released its decision for the total allowable catch for Northern shrimp, with SFA 6 receiving a small cut of 1.1 per cent. Last year, SFA 6 fishermen were given a 15 per cent increase in the total allowable catch ...
The Twists and Turns of the 2022 Crab Season
The 2022 snow crab season in Atlantic Canada still might go down as the best ever, but it is certainly not playing out quite as predicted.
All winter, rumours of record crab prices of $10/pound plus were circulating far and wide. This, combined with anticipated quota increases, had many predicting the most lucrative crab season in Atlantic Canada — ever.
But like everything in the fishery, things are not exactly going as planned.
Firstly, on the quota front, fishermen did receive the ...
Are Whale Management Measures Levelling Off?
Have the federal government’s recent actions to help protect endangered North Atlantic right whales from fishing gear entanglements and collisions with vessels been working?
For now, they appear to be. The Departments of Fisheries, Oceans (DFO) and Transport announced in March that for two successive years, there have been no reported right whale deaths in Canadian waters.
This positive news was part of the federally mandated right whale fishery and vessel management measures for the ...
Fishing Safety Knows No Boundaries or Borders
“The fishermen know that the sea is dangerous and the storm terrible, but they have never found these dangers sufficient reason for remaining ashore” — Vincent Van Gogh.
Through many of his masterpieces, Dutch post-impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh had a genuine appreciation and empathy for the dangers faced by fishermen every time they set out on the water. Skip ahead more than a century to present day and commercial fishing is still a dangerous professional and tragically still ...
Little Change in SFA 6 Shrimp Stocks
SFA 4 Sees “Unprecedented” 150 Per Cent Increase
For the second consecutive year, the Northern shrimp stock off Newfoundland and Labrador’s northeast coast appears to be holding its own, including the all-important shrimp fishing area (SFA) 6.
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) held a technical briefing recently regarding the 2022 Northern shrimp stock assessment and reported that the SFA 6 spawning stock and fishable biomasses only experienced a slight ...
Could 2022 Crab Season be Another Record Breaker?
Financially, the 2021 snow crab season was by far the best ever for the majority of harvesters in Newfoundland and Labrador.
And, if early indications prove correct and of course the stars align, this upcoming crab season could possibly be even better.
With speculation abounding of fishermen possibly getting close to $10/pound for snow crab, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans’ (DFO) Science Department confirmed recently what many already suspected — for the most part, the stocks ...
Seeing Red Over Lobster Fishery Proposal
From all reports, the lobster season in this region is chugging along and is on par with last year.
Speaking of last season, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) recently reported that lobster fishing areas (LFAs) 33 and 34 recorded landings of 27,395 tonnes, for an approximate landed value of $515 million. That total equates to a whopping 62 per cent of total Canadian landings of lobster.
There is no doubt that these are exciting times for the lobster fishery in Southwest Nova ...
Whale Worries are Top of Mind
The lobster season is now well underway in Southwest Nova Scotia and from all accounts, everything looks positive, especially the all-important price per pound.
However, if you head south, crossing the border into the Gulf of Maine, there is much more worry, anxiety and uncertainty and it’s all related to whales, North Atlantic right whales to be specific.
According to the Portland Press Herald, on December 3, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a request to lift fishing restrictions in the ...
