Canadian patrols and inspections of NAFO vessels off N.L. coast drop by 50%

portuguese-vessel-santa-isabel“An analysis of program data identified that patrol days and at-sea inspections in the NAFO regulatory area have decreased by 50 per cent between 2011 and 2015,” an internal DFO report published in March noted. Fisheries and Oceans officials told CBC News this week there are reasons for the reduction. There are now fewer foreign ships fishing in international waters outside Canada’s 200-mile territorial limit, and they are subject to more stringent reporting requirements. That, according to DFO, means fewer ships are necessary to monitor them. “We were comfortable making the decision back in 2012 to reduce our numbers of inspections, based on the fact that we had seen better compliance, smaller number of vessels,” said Allan MacLean, director general of the conservation and protection program at DFO. “It’s kind of like taking the cops off the Trans-Canada Highway on a long weekend, ” Earle McCurdy said. Read the rest here 11:31

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