Tag Archives: Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada
No signs of herring stocks rebounding 2 years into moratorium, DFO says
Two years into a moratorium on the East Coast’s spring herring fishery, biologists say the stock isn’t improving. Fisheries and Oceans Canada put a moratorium on fishing for herring in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and on the mackerel fishery in Atlantic Canada and Quebec, on March 30, 2022. At the time, the department said urgent action had to be taken to give the stocks a chance to recover and to ensure the long-term sustainability and prosperity of East Coast fisheries. DFO biologist Laurie Maynard said that over the last two years of evaluation, the herring stock has plateaued at around 30,000 tonnes, but isn’t showing signs of growth. more, >>click to read<< 14:58
Northern cod remains in cautious zone, DFO says growth has stalled. FFAW critical of methodology
Scientists with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada say the northern cod stock remains above the critical zone in Newfoundland and Labrador but hasn’t shown signs of growth since 2016. DFO released the findings of its latest stock assessment on Tuesday, showing levels are still in the cautious zone. Paul Regular, northern cod stock lead for DFO, said their findings suggest numbers haven’t changed much since 2016. The province’s fisheries union, meanwhile, is questioning the validity of DFO’s findings this year, given that some of the work was done earlier in the season than normal. Video, more, >>click to read<< 11:42
It’s time for Canada to relax fishery closures around right whale sightings, committee says
The standing committee on fisheries and oceans is recommending that the federal government relax the fishing closures it imposes when endangered North Atlantic right whales are sighted in Canadian waters. In a report released Tuesday, the committee said the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada should modify its rules for the 2023 season in the Gulf of St Lawrence, Bay of Fundy and Roseway Basin off southern Nova Scotia since most single-whale detections are animals in transit and not staying to feed. It also says season-long closures should rarely be imposed. >click to read< 07:20
FFAW wants mackerel fishery re-opened
On Thursday, Mar. 30, 2022, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) issued a release announcing there would be no directed commercial or bait fishing for southern Gulf spring herring and the closure of the Atlantic mackerel commercial and bait fisheries in Atlantic Canada and Quebec. Now in 2023, Fish, Food, & Allied Workers (FFAW) is calling on the government to reopen the Atlantic mackerel fishery, stating that Newfoundland and Labrador communities shouldn’t bear the burden of this decision. “The biggest problem is that the fishery was closed when it should not have been,” said Courtney Glode, Communications Officer with FFAW. The U.S.A. announced in March that they will proceed with the commercial fishery in 2023, on the East Coast stock shared with Canada; however, an announcement on whether or not the moratorium will be lifted in Canada has not yet been made. >click to read< 10:07
Fishermen should be listened to
It’s a typical story of David versus Goliath,,, That appears to be the case as prawn fishers on the Island take a stand against what looks to me to be an arbitrary and bureaucratic decision by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada to change regulations regarding the harvesting of spot prawns, which now makes the sale of frozen-at-sea spot prawns illegal. Thanks to the efforts of many, has agreed to conduct an emergency review of 
the regulations and, hopefully, common sense will prevail and the new rules will be reversed. Unfortunately, that kind of common sense just didn’t appear to exist in DFO when the northern cod stocks collapsed off Canada’s east coast in the early 1990s. >click to read< 07:25
Letter: Why Richard Gillett went on a hunger strike. ” In my opinion he is a brave man,,,”
April 13th, Richard Gillett went on a hunger strike because he felt that rural Newfoundland and Labrador was facing a bleak future due to the mismanagement of oceans that had sustained us for 500 years. Richard had two requests: one for a review of the science and management of all provincial fish stocks, the other a review of the relationship of the Fish, Food and Allied Workers union and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Those are two very legitimate questions.,, In my opinion he is a brave man who is concerned about this province and has done more than anyone since the moratorium to bring to the forefront the state of our oceans. Click here to read Capt. Wilfred Bartlett, retired, letter 17:41
Looming conflict between First Nation and feds traps herring fisherman in between.
In Bella Bella, the Heiltsuk Nation is preparing to block any attempts to catch herring by 20 commercial fishing vessels currently anchored in Shearwater, where they wait for fish to begin spawning. Read more here thetyee.ca 08:32
In case you missed it, Farmed Salmon Escaped and are on the run in Newfoundland!
Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada officials confirmed this week that farmed salmon escaped from an aquaculture site in the Fortune Bay area, and have turned up in the Garnish River. We told them it was going to happen, 
they told us that we shouldn’t fear about it, but there is no signs to say that we shouldn’t fear,” Hutchens said. “In fact, what we do know is everywhere there’s been a finfish farm agricultural site, wild Atlantic salmon populations have drastically declined,” continued
