Weak Rope Policy Puts Harvester Lives and Livelihoods at Risk

When a bureaucrat in Ottawa formulates a policy about fishing gear in Newfoundland and Labrador without first consulting with fish harvesters in the province, that policy is established in ignorance. That is exactly what is happening with the Department of Fisheries and Ocean’s (DFO) new “weak rope” policy that it plans to implement in 2023. The weak rope policy is the result of the possible impact that the death of a right whale, due to entanglement in fishing gear, could have on ...