Redfish Advisory Meeting Underscores Need for Better Management Measures

ST. JOHN’S, NL – The Redfish Advisory Committee Meeting was held in Montreal earlier this week, where industry and government came together to discuss the path forward for the new commercial fishery. The key takeaway from the meeting was industry’s insistence that DFO must remove restrictive measures in the redfish fishery and pivot towards monitoring the developing fishery against sustainability and growth objectives.

“The 2024 redfish fishery had less than 2% by-catch, proving it to be a very sustainable fishery for the Gulf of St. Lawrence fleet,” explains FFAW-Unifor Secretary-Treasurer Jason Spingle. “It’s a healthy fishery with room for growth and we need DFO to work with us to find reasonable solutions to management issues,” says Spingle.

At nearly two million metric tons, redfish stocks in the Gulf of St. Lawrence currently have the largest recorded biomass in Canadian history. The population in the Gulf is so abundant that the species’ growth has slowed, reaching maximum sizes of about 25 cm — well below their normal maximum size of about 35 cm.

Despite the prolonged fight to get the depth restriction lowered combined with the limited availability of at-sea observer (ASO) coverage, the 4R3Pn (NL) fleet harvested the majority of their share of the 2024 Total Allowable Catch (TAC), which is 3,000t of a total 60,000t.

“The redfish fishery means everything to the Gulf of St. Lawrence fleet. They don’t have other species to fall back on, and the sustainable management of the fishery is paramount to their continued economic survival,” Spingle says.

Harvesters faced numerous stumbling blocks put in place by DFO, such as unreasonable depth restrictions (depths were set at a level where the species are not found), and the requirement for 100% observer coverage. Observers were available for less than half the time that vessels needed them, putting these small businesses in a serious financial predicament.

“We had 10 boats and only 5 observers available. It basically put us out of business. We were paying more for observers than crew members,” said 4R Chair Boyd Lavers. “I don’t think DFO should be able to hold up a fleet of boats if they can’t uphold their end of the deal,” explained Lavers.

“What we need as an industry is practical but reasonable flexibility to get more fish out of the water in 2025,” says Spingle. “All the harvesters around the table understand the concerns with by-catch but are committed to continuing their proven history of a sustainable fishery.”

Attending the advisory on behalf of FFAW-Unifor were (in-person) 4R Chair Boyd Lavers, Harvester Rendell Genge, FFAW-Unifor Secretary-Treasurer Jason Spingle and FFAW-Unifor Fisheries Scientist Erin Carruthers.