History and Sources

OUT OF TOUCH

OUT OF LINE

On June 26, 2024, the Liberal Government broke a 42 year commitment and announced a return to a commercial Northern cod fishery, but fish harvesters in Newfoundland and Labrador are demanding a return to a Stewardship Fishery.

The Trudeau Government announced an end to the cod moratorium on June 26, 2024; why isn’t this good news?

Hidden under the seemingly positive news of ending the moratorium, the federal government abandoned their 42-year commitment that the first 115,000mt of a new Northern cod fishery would be allocated to inshore and Indigenous groups.

Justin Trudeau reaffirmed this commitment to inshore harvesters in a letter sent to the FFAW September 19, 2015, which is based on the original 1982 commitment by then Minister Romeo Leblanc.

WE CANNOT REPEAT THE MISTAKES OF THE PAST!

REINSTATE THE STEWARDSHIP FISHERY.

Risk to Rebuilding and Long-Term Sustainability

Inshore fishing boats use less environmentally damaging techniques to harvest fish, such as handlines, longlines, and gillnets.

The offshore fleets, fishing in vessels greater than 100 ft and using bottom trawlers, targeted the last remaining aggregations of overwintering, pre-spawning, and spawning cod prior to the collapse.

Because the offshore concentrated on these fish aggregations, their catch rates were the last to drop during the infamous northern cod collapse. These giant corporate vessels continued fishing long-after the inshore fleets saw drastic declines in catch rates and sounded the alarm on the state of the stock.

It is too risky to allow this type of fishery when the stock has just entered the cautious zone.

“This fishery needs to be protected for generations to come, and breaking the 115,000mt promise and allowing draggers back in already is going to do irreparable harm to our fishery, our coastal communities, and our province as a whole.”

Glen Winslow, Fish Harvester from Shea Heights, NL

What is a Stewardship Fishery?

Established in 2006

Established in 2006, the Northern Cod Stewardship Fishery enabled a limited fishery by the inshore fleet and was limited to Canadian inshore fleets using handline, longline, and gillnets.

Investment & Sacrifice

Inshore harvesters who contributed to the Northern Cod Stewardship Fishery are rightfully concerned that their work (and sacrifices!) undertaken over the past decades to preserve fish stocks will be eradicated by large-scale, offshore operations.

Prioritized Rebuilding

The Northern Cod Stewardship Fishery prioritized rebuilding of this stock, and the limited fishery saw an increase in spawning stock biomass from 10,000t in 1995 to 342,000t in 2024.

Community Resources

This will be devastating to coastal communities in Newfoundland and Labrador who depend on small-scale cod fishing, and who were counting on the government’s decades-long commitment to the first 115,000mt.

An important promise has been brazenly broken by the Trudeau Government.

The Management Plan increased the TAC by 6,000t (from 13,000t in 2023 to 19,000t including the NAFO allocation), with at least one-third of the increase allocated to offshore and international fleets.

The inclusion of any large offshore, dragger vessels (Canadian or international) is negligent in safeguarding the continued rebuilding of the stock, and breaks the decades-long commitment from the federal government to protect the community-based, small boat fishery.

For a province with so much Liberal representation, Newfoundlanders and Labradorians have been abandoned by the sitting government.

REINSTATE THE MORATORIUM ON NORTHERN COD AND PROTECT THE STOCK FROM OFFSHORE DRAGGERS

The Minister chose to end the Northern Cod Stewardship Fishery and, by declaring a commercial fishery, gave access to corporate offshore and international bottom-dragger fleets.

This year there was a 6,000t increase in the allocation, with 5% allocated to international dragger fleets via NAFO.

At least one-third of the increase was allocated to offshore and international fleets, in clear violation of the 42-year commitment to inshore harvesters and their coastal communities.