FFAW CALLS FOR REOPENING OF COMMERCIAL MACKEREL FISHERY AHEAD OF REBUILDING PLAN WORKING GROUP MEETING

ST. JOHN’S, NL – The Fish, Food and Allied Workers Union (FFAW-Unifor) is calling attention to the province’s mackerel fishery in advance of the Rebuilding Plan Working Group that is taking place today. The federally organized group is restarting meetings this fall as pressure mounts to explain the disconnect between DFO Science and harvesters’ observations of an abundant stock. The FFAW continues to ask Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, Joanne Thompson, to re-open Newfoundland and Labrador’s commercial mackerel fishery in 2026.

Fish harvesters have consistently reported a high abundance of mackerel in all regions of the province, including a range of sizes from young-of-the-year “pencil mackerel” to large spawning adults.

“Harvesters’ records of abundant and widespread schools of mackerel from around the province, which completely contradicts DFO’s assessment of a stock in the critical zone. What is being seen on the water is simply not lining up with DFO’s assessment of the stock’s health,” explains FFAW-Unifor President Dwan Street. “This is a clear example of the harm inadequate stock science has on the economic sustainability of NL’s owner-operator fishery.”

A moratorium on the commercial fishery was imposed in 2022, limiting Newfoundland and Labrador harvesters to a small personal-use bait allocation shared across Atlantic Canada—far below historical quotas of 10,000 tonnes that supported coastal communities. This closure has exacerbated economic pressures in rural areas, where mackerel provides vital income. The union met with Minister Thompson in August to reiterate these concerns, describing the bait fishery as laughable and out of alignment with peak mackerel availability in provincial waters.

“Mackerel has been so abundant around our province that harvesters are actually delaying other fisheries like herring. During the recreational cod fishery, many have reported that they couldn’t get their hook to the bottom without catching mackerel,” explains Street.

FFAW is not participating in the Rebuilding Plan Working Group meeting today, in part, because mackerel are abundant and spawning in Newfoundland and Labrador waters. Instead, the Union’s collective focus is on documenting the extent and health of Atlantic mackerel in a rapidly changing marine ecosystem.

“A commercial fishery is the most efficient way to show the abundance and geographic distribution of mackerel,” Street says. “An extensive sampling program will occur along with this fishery and continue into the future to prove to DFO what harvesters already know: that a changing ocean environment has changed the spawning locations of mackerel, the distribution, and possibly other biological factors, like the age at maturity.”

“More work must be done on fully understanding the changing spawning and distribution patterns of the Atlantic mackerel stock. In the meantime, the commercial fishery must be reopened in 2026 for Newfoundland and Labrador harvesters,” Street concludes