Herring tolerance increased from 10% to 20%

Following concerns from harvesters throughout the west coast and after intense lobbying over the past several weeks, FFAW is pleased to see that DFO has implemented more fairness into the 4R Atlantic Herring fishery by following the recently implemented NE Coast protocol and increasing the small fish tolerance from 10% to 20%. Some of the tolerances have been borderline but the fish are fully marketable, however harvesters are concerned about potential conservation noting proper sampling takes an extended period of time. Some harvesters even ceased fishing to avoid potential issues. While the minimum size is still larger in 4R this flexibility will no doubt benefit both harvesters and the resource. The inshore allocation for this fishery is almost 20M pounds with the bulk of the landings in late fall.