Mackerel Abundance – and DFO Disconnect – Continues 

St. John’s, NL – The abundance, distribution, size, and condition of mackerel seen around the province for the last two months is incredible, with this season marking the fourth year of a moratorium on Atlantic mackerel. FFAW continues to raise the alarm on the issue, meeting with Minister Joanne Thompson yesterday in Garnish and calling for a commercial fishery this fall. 

In an announcement in May, Minister Thompson announced a continuation of the closure of the Atlantic mackerel commercial fishery for 2025 and 2026. A meaningless bait fishery of 440t has been in place for the last two years. 

“We are encouraged by Minister Joanne Thompson’s commitment to understand and address the stark disconnect between DFO Science and what fish harvesters all over the province have reported over the last several years,” says FFAW-Unifor President Dwan Street. “The loss of our commercial mackerel fishery when so much abundance is being witnessed each and every day around the province is certainly a tough pill to swallow,” says Street. 

Last Thursday, harvesters Trevor Jones, Allan Sheppard, President Dwan Street, Inshore Director Sherry Glynn, and Bill Barry of Barry Group Inc met with representatives from Minister Thompson’s office to call for a 10,000t commercial fishery for mackerel this fall.  

“We know that mackerel are spawning on the northeast coast. We are seeing a tremendous abundance of large mackerel, 16-18 inches in length, as well as small, or pencil mackerel. While harvesters are on or near the water every day and are seeing the changes, the department currently does not even have a mackerel scientist based in Newfoundland and Labrador,” Street explains. “Batches of mackerel are not just being reported in a single bay, instead large batches, miles long, are being reported around the island day after day.”

Atlantic mackerel is a transboundary stock, meaning that Canada shares responsibility with the US for the stock. This year, the US set a 3,200t quota, while Canada set a 500t Total Allowable Catch. Since DFO closed the Atlantic mackerel fishery in 2022, the US has continued to set quotas, totaling 15,000t from 2022 to 2025. Over that same period, the total amount of quota set by Canada has been around 1,000t.

FFAW-Unifor is calling on Minister Thompson to set a commercial quota for this fall. 

“We need eyes on the water to document the amount of mackerel in our waters. Harvesters’ observations show that there is more than enough mackerel to support a commercial fishery, but we need an opportunity to demonstrate the sheer volume of mackerel and to compare with pre-moratorium years.  A fall commercial fishery is the best way to do it,” concludes Street.