Important Redfish Data Collection – Experimental Fishery Key to Resumption of Commercial Harvesting
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) is gearing up again for the experimental Unit 1 redfish fishery as it works out the details to re-establish the once-diminished stock for a future commercial fishery.
While the redfish fishery was strong throughout the 1900s, the stock plummeted in the early 1990s, with a moratorium being introduced on both redfish species — Acadian redfish and deepwater redfish — in 1994.
Starting in 2011, redfish saw a major reproduction boom that lasted ...
Study Reveals Halibut May Be Put at Risk by Redfish Fishery
A new study based on satellite tagging and interviews with fish harvesters has revealed a potentially negative impact between halibut spawning grounds and a potential redfish fishery in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
According to researcher Rachel Marshall of the Fisheries and Marine Institute, the study started as a tagging study on halibut off the west coast of Newfoundland and Labrador in Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) division 4R. The goal was to work with fish harvesters...
Status Quo for 2022/23 Unit 1 Redfish TAC
Industry Waiting for Minister’s Decision on Future Quota Allotments
Unless the scientific advice says otherwise, it will be status quo for the 2022/23 Unit 1 redfish total allowable catch (TAC).
“The index fishery was maintained at 2,000 metric tonnes and the experimental fishery quota was set at 2,500 tonnes with the understanding that the experimental quota may increase, but only under science approval,” said Victoria Waizmann, media relations with the Department of ...
Unit 1 Redfish Access and Allocation Decisions Expected in 2022
Who’s going to get how much of the anticipated Unit 1 redfish bonanza in the Gulf of St. Lawrence is expected to be announced in early 2022 by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO).
“The Department launched formal consultations with stakeholders on September 15 and 16 to help determine access and allocation for the potential fishery. Meeting participants were provided with a questionnaire that is to be submitted to the department by November 29, 2021. To supplement the questionnaire, the ...
Fishery Squabble has Industry Players Seeing Red
Dispute Growing Over Allocation of Unit 1 Redfish
It was inevitable that the interest in the growing redfish stock in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and portions of the Cabot Strait would continue to increase.
It was also inevitable that competing groups for the potentially lucrative fishery would start drawing proverbial lines in the sand.
Over the last few years, many facets of the Atlantic Canadian fishing industry have been quietly whispering and speculating on the growing redfish popula...
Offshore Redfish Fishery Provides Essential Stability for Canadians
Canadians need stability now more than ever.
Stable jobs and strong economic drivers are necessary to the recovery of our small, rural and coastal communities. The Canadian fish and seafood industry is able to promise this essential prosperity to thousands of Canadians just like it has been doing for decades, and it is important that we protect that stability at this critical time.
Recently, the Fish, Food and Allied Workers union (FFAW) called on Fisheries and Oceans Canada to suspend ...
Interest in Unit 1 Redfish Experimental Fishery Growing
Biomass at Highest Observed Level Since 1984
A total of 13 projects from Atlantic Canada and Quebec have been approved for the Unit 1 redfish 2021/22 experimental fishery.
Last season (2020/21), only four vessels participated in the experimental fishery and seven in the index fishery for a total of 11 vessels.
“The number of vessels that will be active in the 2021/22 experimental fishery for Unit 1 depends on whether the 13 successful project proponents for the experimental fishery ...
Redfish Biomass in Gulf Unprecedented
The biomass of the two redfish species combined accounted for 90 per cent of the total biomass of all captured organisms in the 2019 research survey conducted by federal fisheries scientists in the Estuary and northern Gulf of St. Lawrence.
“This relative biomass of redfish is unprecedented and could have important ecological impacts on other species,” reads the latest DFO stock assessment on redfish species sebastes mentella and sebastes fasciatus.
By comparison, the biomass of the ...
Putting the ‘Fisher’ Back Into Fisheries Science
Scientists Reaching Out in Two Key Atlantic Fisheries: Units 1 and 2 Redfish and Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence Cod
One of the key challenges facing fisheries management is that of establishing effective communication between fishermen, scientists and decision-makers.
It is no secret that scientists aren’t always successful in communicating their results. Indeed, the frustrations of stakeholders are often hard to hide. For fisheries management, however, poor communication can be ...
