Tag Archives: drop in stock numbers

Editorial: Sea change

You might see it at Prosser’s Rock, or in Ochre Pit Cove, or Twillingate. You might see at any one of scores of small ports and wharfs all over the province; sometimes smaller boats, sometimes larger, steaming to port with big loads of snow crab. For years, it has been the high-value backbone of the new fishery: after the failure of the cod fishery, the crab fishery was the big-ticket savior. Sure, there were fewer fish harvesters involved; there were fewer licences than cod, and the bounty wasn’t split among so many. But there were jobs for rural Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, those fishing crab and another valuable species, shrimp, and processing them for market. But the news has turned bad. Batten down the hatches. A rural storm is coming.  continue reading the Op-ed here 07:57