Tag Archives: Department of Fisheries and Oceans
DFO puts B.C.’s prized spot prawn fishery in peril again
A swell of outrage is rising again as the Department of Fisheries and Oceans revisits regulation changes that independent harvesters say will sink B.C.’s local spot prawn industry. Last spring, DFO put its previously proposed regulations concerning the freezing and packaging of prawns in saltwater while at sea, called “tubbing”, on hold due to backlash by a number of critics and small-scale fishers just prior to the opening of the season. But half a year later, and without any meaningful consultation with stakeholders, DFO is imposing new regulations,,, “It’s like they’re hitting a fly with a sledgehammer,” >click to read< 18:58
From DFO: Routine fishery inspection leads to significant penalties for a North Coast commercial salmon harvester
On July 2, 2021, Garry Dean Stoner was sentenced in Terrace Provincial Court after pleading guilty to 12 counts under the Fisheries Act for violations that occurred between June and September 2017, and in July and August 2018, in waters north of Haida Gwaii. The Honourable Justice Calvin Struyk ordered the commercial salmon harvester to pay $1,200 in court fines, plus $42,800 in penalties,,, Justice Struyk included an additional $44,644 penalty to recover revenue obtained through the sales of the illegally caught Chinook salmon. Mr. Stoner was also prohibited from commercial salmon fishing for 18 months. >click to read< 15:39
NLGIDC provides commentary on the latest scientific assessment for 3Ps Cod
The stock is currently at a low level and growth of this important resource is being impeded by high natural mortality. Jim Baird, The Chairman of the NLGIDC said, “The level of natural mortality has been at the highest levels ever recorded for this stock in the most recent time period.” Baird continued, “Having a better understanding of the processes related to natural mortality is important to provide scientists the ability to make accurate projections related to stock growth.” It is clear that seals eat substantial quantities of cod and many industry representatives believe that seal consumption is likely contributing to this high natural mortality, however DFO scientists are not convinced this is the case. >click to read< 19:56
Hundreds of thousands of pounds of herring dumped last week due to backward DFO policy
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador condemns the Department of Fisheries and Oceans policy that allowed for the dumping of hundreds of thousands of pounds of herring last week alone. “Any DFO policy that allows for the dumping of fish is a backward policy that must end immediately,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s interim Executive Director. “Fishermen should be permitted to land the herring they catch, with the total amount subtracted from the overall quota.” Herring fishermen here in the province say hundreds of thousands of pounds were dumped last week alone as the result of federal policy that sets the small-fish tolerance at 20%. >click to read< 12:35
Owner of vessel aground in Cape Breton en route to recover it – “I’m hoping to get aboard,,,
A Newfoundland man whose family purchased a fishing vessel three weeks ago was on his way to Cape Breton Thursday afternoon to work on recovering it. Jeremy Anstey, of the family-owned Anstey Fisheries in Summerford, N.L., said the Northern Tip is one of four vessels in his family’s fleet that he manages. Although they had just purchased the boat, about two weeks ago they leased the vessel to a First Nations band in Cape Breton. While being leased out, the vessel broke from the mooring in stormy weather and went aground in Iona on Wednesday. “I’m hoping to get aboard (Friday) to see if there’s any damage,” he said, adding it looks fairly sandy where it went aground, so he’s hopeful. photos, >click to read< 12:40
Sipekne’katik fisherman’s protest dumping of lobster ‘not acceptable,’ chief says
A Sipekne’katik First Nation fisherman who appears in a video showing him dumping crates of banded lobsters into Digby harbour has been rebuked by the band’s chief. In the video, Robert Syliboy objects to a new Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) compliance measure that marks the tail fins of lobster with a paper hole puncher. The hole punch aims to identify lobsters harvested under Indigenous food, social and ceremonial (FSC) licenses in St Mary’s Bay. The conditions of those licenses prevent the sale of the catch. In the video, Syliboy says DFO is harming the lobsters by punching holes in their tail fins. >click to read< 07:39
Canadian Coast Guard responds to fishing vessel aground in Iona
“The boat is on its side now, very, very close to the beach,” said Jim MacNeil, a resident of Iona, late afternoon Wednesday, adding conditions were stormy at the time. Stephen Bornais, a spokesperson with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, said the coast guard was made aware of a fishing vessel that was aground after breaking free from the wharf in Iona, Wednesday morning. There were no individuals on board when the report was received. >click to read< 07:10
4 Mi’kmaw bands launch moderate livelihood fisheries with government approval
In a news release Wednesday, the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw Chiefs said the treaty fisheries will happen in the Acadia, Annapolis Valley, Bear River and Glooscap First Nations. The group said the Kespukwitk District Netukulimk Livelihood Fisheries Plan will start Thursday, though not all communities will launch then. The Mi’kmaw chiefs said they are following the path set out by the Potlotek First Nation to fish and co-operate with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.,, The Unified Fisheries Conservation Alliance, which represents commercial fishers, said its members support the deal. “We believe this is an important step in the right direction,,,” >click to read< 19:31
Nova Scotia fishing industry granted intervenor status in Mi’kmaw treaty rights case
The ruling Friday afternoon by Supreme Court Justice John Keith gives the Unified Fisheries Conservation Alliance standing in a proceeding against the Canadian government by the Potlotek First Nation. The Cape Breton band is seeking an injunction to prevent the Department of Fisheries and Oceans from interfering with its self-regulated moderate livelihood lobster fishery. It wants a court declaration that enforcement of the federal Fisheries Act infringes on its treaty right to earn a moderate living from fishing. In an oral decision, Keith said UFCA’s intervention would not unduly delay, prejudice or politicize Potlotek’s case. He said as a group representing fishers using the same shared and finite resource, UFCA has a direct interest in the case. >click to read< 17:45
Arrested by the Feds! Chief Mike Sack busted “for promoting an illegal fishery.”
The chief of Sipekne’katik First Nation has been arrested by federal fisheries officers on the day the band’s new treaty fishery launched in southwest Nova Scotia. Chief Mike Sack was arrested on Monday, taken to the Meteghan fisheries office and later released. DFO has not provided details of why Sack was arrested, or whether he could face charges under fisheries legislation. ‘Why would you arrest me? I haven’t done anything here,'” he said. “It just seems to be all scare tactics for the fisheries, to try to stop what we have going on.” >click to read< 15:59
Misinformation Tension – DFO moving fishery officers into area from across Nova Scotia and Canada
Federal fishery officers from across Canada are being moved to southwestern Nova Scotia as tensions rise again over an Indigenous lobster fishery underway in St. Marys Bay. The top enforcement officer at the Department of Fisheries and Oceans blames misinformation for aggravating the situation, asking both Indigenous and commercial fishermen and their supporters, to step back. “What I want to say to people is to give the fishery officers space to do their jobs. They are doing their jobs.,,, McCready said she is worried the dispute is becoming even more polarizing because of misinformation. One recent claim, she said, is that DFO officers “colluded” with commercial fishermen and cut lines on Indigenous-owned vessels. >click to read< 07:18
Vancouver Island fishermen upset after sudden salmon fishing closures
Bill Forbes and his crew geared up in French Creek to go salmon fishing. Forbes and his crew, who are heading to a spot near Prince Rupert, are one of the few commercial fisheries still open following a sudden and massive closure by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans on June 29. “They can’t keep blaming the commercial fishermen, we may be part of the problem but kicking us out is not the solution,” said fisherman Bill Forbes. “It throws this boat and all my crew, I’ve got three generations of Forbes’ on this boat and it just puts us out of work. I’m old but you know my grandson and my nephew are not. So they have to go someplace else and I don’t know where that someplace else is,” Video, >click to read< 08:54
DFO seized and released hundreds of short lobster from a First Nations vessel in Cape Breton
DFO said enforcement officers inspected a vessel Tuesday night in St. Peters canal operating under a communal food, social and ceremonial licence. The lobsters were released that night. Noel d’Entremont, acting director of conservation and protection in the Maritimes region, said no charges have been laid, but an investigation is continuing. A portion of the incident was captured on video and posted to social media showing lobsters being tossed back in the water by DFO officers. The FSC licence being fished was for a Cape Breton band, which DFO declined to identify. >click to read< 17:07
Prospect area mackerel fishermen demand answers after lucrative season halted by DFO
The fishermen were prepared to set up a roadblock if they didn’t hear back from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans about why the season was halted. While most commercial fisheries for Atlantic mackerel have not started for 2021, a number of fisheries in the Maritimes region are open year-round or opened on April 1.,, DFO issued a variation order to temporarily close the Maritimes region mackerel fishery. About 72 fishermen and their crew from the Prospect area who fish and set traps in St. Maragaret’s Bay are affected by the closure. They say there is mackerel in the waters but they aren’t allowed to pull in their nets because they haven’t been given their quota. video, >click to read< 10:29
Members of Parliament issue conflicting reports on contentious Moderate Livelihood fishery in Quebec in the Maritimes
Parliamentarians issued dissenting reports Thursday on implementing First Nations moderate livelihood fisheries,,, Although all parties supported the right to a moderate livelihood fishery, the committee was not unanimous. Both the Conservatives and Bloc Quebecois issued dissenting reports. The Conservatives consider moderate livelihood fishing a commercial enterprise and subject to the same regulations, including seasons, as all commercial fisheries, with enforcement and regulation unambiguously under the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. The Bloc called for co-management. The office of federal Fisheries Minister Bernadette Jordan issued a statement Thursday that said it had received the report that morning and “look forward to reviewing its recommendations closely.” >click to read< 16:09
Seafood wholesaler, boat master fined for obstruction
The fines resulted from what DFO describes as “a serious case of obstruction,” which included the co-owner of the wholesaler eating a receipt rather than give it to a DFO officer. A B.C. provincial court judge has found Tenshi Seafood Ltd. and the company’s co-owner, Dishi Liu, guilty of violating the Fishers Act. The company was fined $75,000; Liu was fined $25,000. The judge also handed a $10,000 fine to Thuong Nguyen, master of the commercial fishing vessel Dream Chaser, for obstructing a fisheries officer. >click to read< 17:47
Scientists, First Nations team up in fresh attempt to revive struggling B.C. herring stocks
For decades, the fish were viewed as a virtually inexhaustible resource. They were canned, frozen, used as fertilizer, and even rendered into slippery goo to grease logs being skidded out of the forest. But the once coastal-wide bonanza is fizzling out. This year, most of the waters off B.C. were closed to commercial herring boats, with the only quota being allowed in the Strait of Georgia, along Canada’s southwest coast. The first collapse of the stocks happened in the 1960s, due to overfishing. They were allowed to recover but have had ups and downs in recent decades. The herring fishery in Eastern Canada has also been facing tough times. >click to read< 13:48
Association of Seafood Producers Calls for Closure of Commercial Capelin Fishery “Misguided”
ASP says the Department of Fisheries and Oceans’ latest stock assessment for capelin along the northeast coast of Newfoundland and Labrador may be at low levels, but the biomass is near the long term average. The association argues that a fishery took place in 2010 when the stock was at lower levels and the stock rebounded from then. Executive Director Derek Butler says that alone supports a fishery. Butler says capelin are harvested in the last few weeks before they spawn, which is the point in the life cycle when they die. >click to read< 12:41
Cape Breton First Nation’s plan for early fishing forced hand on new regulations
A spokesperson for DFO says the department was preparing the new regulations for the early May start to the commercial lobster fishing season, but was rushed into action by Potlotek First Nation’s plan to start fishing in mid-March. “We can’t have what happened last year in St. Peter’s Bay, where there was a fishery plan for combined Eskasoni and Potlotek for about 1,000 traps and we saw almost three times that in the water. We can’t have that again, it’s not sustainable,” said DFO spokesperson Jane Deeks. Chief Wilbert Marshall strongly denies that claim. In her statement, Jordan cites Marshall II, the amendment made to the Supreme Court Marshall decision that allows for treaty rights to be regulated on the grounds of conservation. >click to read< 18:42
B.C. frozen-at-sea spot prawns would be illegal – could be off the market
An interpretation of a new ruling by the DFO, would find the sale of any spot prawns frozen-at-sea illegal. The ruling, as written, indicates the following: “No person who catches and retains a fish under the authority of a license issued for the purpose of commercial fishing shall have the fish in possession if the fish is skinned, cut, packed or otherwise dealt with in such a manner that […] where size limits are applicable, the size of the fish cannot be readily determined.” That means tubs of frozen-at-sea spot prawn tails could be off the market. Members of the industry are asking for public support in challenging the decision, supporting B.C. harvesters, and giving consumers the ability to continue the movement to access Canadian prawns and eat locally. >click to read< 08:49
P.E.I. Mi’kmaw chiefs denounce DFO’s ‘moderate livelihood’ fishery plan
A news release from P.E.I.’s Mi’kmaw chiefs Thursday called the plan “both unlawful and disrespectful.” “DFO’s continued paternalistic approach to our rights-based fishery goes against the very spirit of reconciliation,” Abegweit First Nation Chief Junior Gould said in the release. Lennox Island First Nation Chief Darlene Bernard said she was “blindsided” by Fisheries Minister Bernadette Jordan’s announcement, especially since she had taken part in a roundtable discussion with Jordan Wednesday during which they talked about the moderate livelihood fishery. >click to read< 09:36
Strait of Georgia: DFO sets herring fishing quota at 20 per cent, cons call for ban
Herring fishermen Quincy Sample in Comox look forward to being back on the water after the Department of Fisheries and Oceans announced a 20 per cent harvest rate for this year’s return in the Strait of Georgia. For Sample and many others, it’s an important part of their livelihoods. “It’s a very important part of our year,” said Sample. “It supplies a good income for us, our families, and our deckhand’s families. It probably accounts for 35-40 per cent of my overall year.” >click to read< 09:15
‘The Crown’s honour is at stake’:Indigenous chief makes appeal to Justin Trudeau as fisheries deal rejected
A first draft memorandum of understanding was sent by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to the Sipekne’katik last week,,, The proposal, which was received with optimism, included the capacity for the Sipekne’katik to legally sell its moderate livelihood catch, which has been problematic for the band. But according to Chief Mike Sack, the government offer fell far short of what he had expected, In an open letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday, Sack wrote: “Although we had tempered our response of this first draft as a potentially groundbreaking and historical understanding, Sipekne’katik remains very disappointed in the draft documents’ intent and content.” “The Crown’s honour is at stake, >click to read< 18:47
Independent inshore lobster fishermen fear the Clearwater purchase could decimate their livelihoods
In 2018, then-Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, Dominic Leblanc, put an end to Clearwater’s 20-year monopoly on the lucrative offshore fishery of Arctic surf clam when he allocated a quarter of the clam quota to the Five Nations Clam Company,,, Clearwater threatened legal action over the deal, and after it emerged that LeBlanc had family ties to Premium Seafoods, the plan was cancelled. Clearwater regained its surf clam monopoly for a year. Then in 2020, just nine days before Sipekne’katik First Nation launched its moderate livelihood fishery in Saulnierville in Southwest Nova, Clearwater announced that Membertou First Nation had purchased two of its eight licences for offshore lobster, over which the company had a monopoly,,, >click to read< Search Results for: Five Nations Clam Company, (lots )>click here< 20:56
Canada contemplating new Aquaculture Act
The Canadian government has started a public consultation process to help develop an Aquaculture Act. In a discussion paper on its website, DFO said the proposed Aquaculture Act would define in Canadian federal law — some for the first time — the many aspects of aquaculture, including definitions of aquatic species and the practice of aquaculture itself. “It is proposed that the Act would also be forward-looking by being inclusive of emerging aquatic species for cultivation, as well as enabling aquaculture in Canadian offshore waters.” >click to read< 11:38
“Mixed Feelings”: Sipekne’katik chief says discussions with commercial fishers in Nova Scotia can wait
Responding to Ottawa’s decision to name Allister Surette as a facilitator in the dispute, Sipekne’katik Chief Mike Sack said he had “mixed feelings.” He said that while he was not fundamentally opposed to participating in the process, “right now, we’re not worried about that.” Surette, president and vice-chancellor of Université Sainte-Anne who has experience as a facilitator in fishery disputes, was named to the role on Friday. Surette said his work might lead to a resolution in the fishery dispute,,, Sack, however, maintained that the resolution lies in his band’s talks with the federal government, not with commercial fishers. >click to read< 16:00
Fisheries officials seize 316 Canadian crab traps set in U.S. water, along with four vessels as part of annual sting
“You have people who push the envelope because it may be worth it for them to do that if they don’t get caught, because there’s money in crab — there’s good money in crab,” he said. “Sometimes getting caught and getting fines may be the price of doing business.” Demsky estimates each set of gear — including a trap, float, ropes and radio frequency ID chip — would cost about $500 to replace. DFO will seek the forfeiture of all of them, and the courts will decide whether the fishers will face fines, the loss of their fishing license or vessels. The fines are often several thousand dollars, but can to go a maximum of $500,000 for a first-time offender, according to Demsky. >click to read< 08:10
Nova Scotia: Fisheries Minister Bernadette Jordan asking sides to meet to de-escalate lobster fishing tensions
And late Friday afternoon the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw Chiefs declared a state of emergency for mainland Nova Scotia because of what it calls political unrest and violence. Early Friday evening Fisheries Minister Bernadette Jordan issued a statement,, “Our Government’s first priority is to ensure everyone involved remains safe. In Canada, anyone can participate in peaceful protests and that process is fundamental to our democracy,” she said. “At this time, it is imperative that all parties, and the public work together to lower tensions on the water and in our communities, to foster understanding between one another,,, “To that end, I’m extending an invitation for Indigenous leadership and industry leadership to meet with me as soon as possible. >click to read< 15:13
DFO working to keep U.S. markets open to northern fisheries
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans is working to ensure that fisheries in Nunavut and Nunavik will be able to export their products to markets in the United States after next year. Beginning on Jan. 1, 2022, the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act’s import provisions rule will take effect. Four Greenland halibut (turbot), three Arctic char fisheries, and a shrimp fishery will all need to comply. “This rule ensures that the U.S. will only accept imports of fish and fish products originating from foreign countries that have enacted management measures to reduce marine mammal bycatch”,,, DFO submitted a progress report to NOAA and proposed that three Arctic char gillnet fisheries be exempt based on their location in river estuaries, short time in the water and shallow depth. NOAA rejected the request for an exemption. >click to read< 14:00
British Columbia: Steveston-based fisher says industry faces uncertain future amid Coronavirus
Some B.C. fishers may be forced out of the industry if they aren’t able to earn enough income this year, according to Steveston-based fisherman Justin Taylor. As domestic and foreign demand fell dramatically in the wake of COVID-19, processing plants, which fishers directly supply, haven’t been able to sell to the restaurants and hotels that normally make up the bulk of the seafood market. As a result, prices are uncertain, and lower. “This is going to be a survival year for me and my crew, for sure,” he said. “When you’re facing 40 to 50 per cent price reductions, you really don’t know after expenses if there’s going to be much money actually pocketed…There’s a real risk of not making any money.” >click to read< 22:08
