Tag Archives: cod collapse

‘You can’t touch the union boat’- Part III: ‘Where did all the f—ing money go?’

Former offshore trawlermen demand investigation into what happened to millions of dollars generated from offshore crab quota meant to support them, and how it was sold without their knowledge for fraction of value to Conne River First Nation  The controversial offshore snow crab quota fished by “the union boat” for almost 20 years, generating revenues estimated at between $30 and $60 million, was quietly sold late last year to the  Miawpukek First Nation at Conne River for $1 million.,, The news raises the question why the offshore crab quota that reached as high as 500 tonnes (1.1 million pounds) sold for millions of dollars less than market value? The going rate today for a small supplementary crab licence (65,000 pounds) is more than $2 million.,, Bateman worries that nothing will come from his whistleblowing. “If a Fishery Officer feels as strongly as I do to come forward publicly and nothing is done, then maybe there’s no hope.” >click to read< 10:48

‘You can’t touch the union boat’- Part II – FFAW crab licence

When Fishery Officers Jason Bateman and Ryan Legge inspected the F/V Katrina Charlene in late June, 2011 at the wharf in St. Lawrence word spread immediately up the chain of command within the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) in Newfoundland and Labrador. Managers themselves with the department’s Enforcement and Conservation division specifically referred to the fishing vessel as “operating under the FFAW crab licence. ”On June, 27th 2011, the day the skipper of the Katrina Charlene was charged with illegally fishing undersized snow crab, an email,,, It read: “Kevin, A heads up that we are in the process of an inspection in St. Lawrence on the F/V Katrina Charlene operated under the FFAW crab licence. >click to read< 10:33

Lobster: the last, best fishery – Part 2, The new cod?

“Another likely contributing factor is the large amount of food the fishery provides to lobsters, as many lobsters escape traps after having fed on its bait; it has been said that we are basically ranching lobsters,” says Rochette. Also, as reported in Part 1, increasing water temperature has so far been   favourable to lobsters in Canada, given we are in the northern part of the species’ range. But for how long can that last, as waters continue to warm? And what lessons have we learned from the collapse of the groundfish stocks? Could lobsters be the new cod? photos, graphs, video, even Boris Worm!  >click to read<  Part 1, November 26, 2020 >click to read<  13:18

Dogfish Neck? Cape Skate? Pollock Peninsula? – Cape fishermen anticipated cod collapse

AR-160327185.jpg&MaxW=650Can this still be Cape Cod without the cod? There still is cod, and they’re still being caught, but the stocks have collapsed and that was further underlined this week when a Georges Bank quota cut of 62 percent to 762 metric tons was proposed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Fisheries Management Council on Monday. That follows an earlier massive cut during the last three-year management period – totaling a 95-percent reduction over the last four years. Outer Cape fishermen are ahead of the curve – most have already abandoned cod. Read the rest here 07:53