Government Committee Releases Report on Climate Change Impacts to Lobster and Snow Crab
The House of Commons Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans recently released a report related to its study of the migration of lobster and snow crab in Atlantic Canada and the impact of climate change on carapace size.
The report entitled In Hot Water — Lobster and Snow Crab in Eastern Canada, included 10 recommendations, which focused on the need for more research (climate and economic impacts in particular), as well as the need to collaborate with harvesters (i.e. to advance ...
DFO Reports Poor N.L. Salmon Returns
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans is deeply concerned about the latest Newfoundland and Labrador Atlantic salmon stock assessment.
During a March 5 technical briefing, DFO reported that the 2017 assessment was the second year in a row with significant declines in returning salmon.
In 2017, 80 per cent (or 12 of 15) of rivers monitored by DFO showed declines of more than 30 per cent in total returns compared to the previous five to six years. This placed those rivers in the critical ...
Some Positive News on N.L. Crab Stocks
After reporting years of shrinking snow crab stocks, scientists at the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) are painting a not so bleak picture for the upcoming 2018 fishery off Newfoundland.
DFO snow crab lead Dr. Darrell Mullowney said today the fishable biomass off Newfoundland (NAFO areas 2HJ3KLNOP4R) is still at a low level, but has shown some small signs of improvement and should be on par with 2016 stock numbers, bucking a trend that demonstrated declines each year.
Snow crab ...
Minister Announces Changes to the Fisheries Act
Today, Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard announced amendments to the Fisheries Act that would restore lost protections and incorporate modern safeguards to protect our fish and their habitat for generations to come.
LeBlanc said the Government of Canada is putting in place better rules to protect the environment.
“To preserve, protect and help restore our environment we need a Fisheries Act that Canadians can trust. Today, I am pleased we are ...
Changing Supply
Last month in this column, I talked about changing markets and provided some examples of how the U.S. market for fish products had changed over a 20-year period.
This month, I will focus on how the supply of fish has changed in recent decades.
Markets have two sides — demand and supply. Markets are primarily about the demand side — purchasing and consumption — because that is the reason there is a supply. Without buyers, there would be no suppliers. As I have said before in this ...
Fishermen Pot Their Own Snow Crab Science
Veteran N.L. Fisherman Wayne Russell Says His Own Survey Shows Crab Stocks Healthy
It’s an old story in Newfoundland and Labrador that fishermen and scientists do not often see eye-to-eye on what’s happening out on the water.
As sure as a cold northerly wind sweeps along the coast in the fall, a wave of disputes over the actual state of fishing stocks will follow in the wake.
The province’s snow crab fishery was dealt a drastic blow this year with huge quota cuts after Department ...
Uncertainty Surfaces Surrounding Future Lobster Stocks
Record-setting lobster landings have been the catalyst of late driving the fishery in the northeastern Atlantic.
Catches on both sides of the border have sustained an almost uninterrupted surge in abundance for more than a decade. By 2015, U.S. and Canadian harvests had nearly doubled — adding up to a combined volume of 157,000 metric tonnes (346 million pounds) with a value of (U.S.) $1.48 billion.
In eastern Canada, lobster landings have increased from just over 54,000 metric tonnes ...
Bucking the Temperature Trend
The majority of people associated with the fishing industry will agree that climate change and ocean warming is real — oceanagraphic data from the around the world backs up the premise.
Scientists from around the globe have been studying the warming phenomena for some time and have been trying to predict its impact on the many species of fish off our shores.
And while those in the scientific community — even the newly muzzled ones in the United States — are primarily in agreement that ...
ASF Urges Caution for 2017
Final population estimates for North American Atlantic salmon show returns in 2016 were lower than the year before and may indicate further declines in 2017, the Atlantic Salmon Federation (ASF) stated in a press release.
As a result, ASF is urging anglers and indigenous groups to exercise caution by practicing live release or allowing more fish to pass upriver.
This conclusion is based on data from Canada, Quebec, the United States, and Greenland and comes just ahead of next week's ...
Annual Northern Cod Stock Assessments to Begin in 2017-18
Longer Groundfish Fishery Proposed for This Year
With snow crab and Northern shrimp quotas in decline, more and more attention is being given to the return of groundfish, particularly cod.
Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) recently announced that in keeping with recent recommendations of both the House of Commons Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans and the 2+3KLNO Groundfish Advisory Committee, DFO (Newfoundland and Labrador Region) will commence full stock assessments beginning in ...
