3KL COD OPENING JULY 13
July 5, 2025
Today DFO announced a July 13th opening for the 3KL inshore fixed gear cod fishery, along with the weekly and biweekly limits, all of which was recommended by the FFAW Cod Working Group.
The question has been asked why the weekly and biweekly limits did not change very much from last year despite the quota doubling for 3KL. There are several reasons:
- There are more fishing weeks in 2025 than 2024. This year the fishery opens two weeks earlier than last year and this year’s quota increase will allow the summer season to stay open until the fall season begins on September 14. Last year, the summer quota was caught and the fishery closed on August 26 and didn’t reopen for the fall until September 15 – which is three weeks. Between the earlier opening and filling that gap between the summer and fall seasons, that’s an additional five weeks fishing in 2025 compared to 2024.
- Processing capacity. Last year, many harvesters were unable to sell their weekly limit due to lack of processing capacity. We can expect some increase in processing capacity this year, which should allow more harvesters to sell their weekly limit.
- Buddy-up now available. This year, buddy-up is available for the first time in the cod fishery. With this comes a chance that previously inactive licenses could become active. Doubling the weekly limit with more active licenses would result in less weeks fishing.
The Working Group put together the best plan possible while trying to balance fairness for all harvesters and ensuring the quota gets taken.
There has also been questions about whether other fleets, like offshore draggers, can take inshore quota if not harvested. DFO has confirmed that this cannot happen.