Tag Archives: DFO policy
Newfoundland fisherman says DFO disregarded his 60-year fishing career
The small longliner June and Judy sits at the wharf in the sheltered inlet, awaiting the start of cod fishing season. Her owner, Winston Boutcher, can keep an eye on her from the window of his living room across the harbour. He knows this boat well. It’s a family legacy. The 28-foot fishing boat has been taking him to the cod grounds in Placentia Bay for many years. He and his brothers used to own her, equal partners in their inshore fishing enterprise. The Boutcher brothers remained equal in all things, until 1995. That year DFO adopted a policy that created two classes of fishing licences: core and non-core. >click to read< 14:59
DFO Policy Puts Harvester Lives and Livelihoods at Risk
A new ‘weak rope’ gear policy being implemented in Newfoundland and Labrador will have negative implications for fish harvesters in this province, including risks to safety, an unknown cost burden, and significant potential for increased environmental waste. Weak rope measures are being implemented with the goal of preventing right whale entanglements. While these entanglements may be a concern for fisheries in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, there has never been a right whale entanglement in the Newfoundland and Labrador fishery.,, “The death of one right whale could have a disastrous impact on seafood exports to the United States. Fish harvesters know this and will gladly take all reasonable steps to protect the species and their livelihoods but implementing this policy without any due diligence is entirely unreasonable,” >click to read< 10:55
Lobster harvesters feel forced to fish until they die by DFO policy
Raymond O’Toole finds it hard fishing alone. He is 85. When he took over a lobster license at 14, there was little that could keep him and his punt off the water. This season, his 71st on the water, he broke a bone in his back heaving the wooden traps that can weight 50 lbs a piece. “I’d retire if I could sell or transfer my license, but when I die, it goes with me,”,,, Across the Strait in Mulgrave, 80 year-old Richard Power contends that his lobster license has long been tied to economic outcomes for his family. With eight siblings to feed, at 12 years old he took up the oars behind his half blind father in the dory. >click to read< 10:36
Fisherman claims DFO policy discriminates against disabled fishermen
A lobster fisherman from Granville Ferry is suing the federal government, claiming one of its licensing policies discriminates against disabled fishermen and is therefore unconstitutional. In a lawsuit filed Friday in Nova Scotia Supreme Court, Dana Robinson says the Department of Fisheries and Oceans can authorize a substitute to fish a licence if the owner has a medical condition, but that authorization expires after five years. click here to read the story 16:31
Putting on the Show! – DFO policy being worked out for tourism lobster charters – Interesting
As lobster fishing think ahead to the start of their commercial fishery this fall, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans is thinking ahead to when their fishery will be over. Specifically the department is in the process of finalizing a policy that will allow fishermen to operate charter operations in the summer months. The policy would see fishermen take tourists or others out on their vessels to show them how lobsters are caught more@thevanguard 18:41
