Tag Archives: Minister Joyce Murray
Impact of bait closure heightens
The Atlantic spring herring fishery will not reopen this year, and while no decision has been made on mackerel yet, the stock remains deep in the critical zone. When the closure was announced in 2022, fishers already had bait stored up from the previous year. This year they expect to feel the full effects with the higher cost of sourcing alternatives. Allen Fay, a former bait fisherman out of North Lake who now fishes lobster, tuna and halibut, says the bait bill could double. It will be especially hard on younger fishers just getting into the industry who are already paying a lot for gear. Like many fishers, as well as the PEI Fishermen’s Association, he feels the closure doesn’t make sense because Americans will continue to fish the same mackerel stocks. >click to read< 11:53
‘This injustice must be reversed’: N.B. lobster Class B fisherman, family make plea for rule change
Michel Arseneau’s family would say his relationship with the ocean is a love story. He has been a fisherman for as long as his granddaughter, Maryse Arseneau, can remember. He bought his first lobster fishing licence in 1953. In 1976, his licence was made a Class B by the federal government in an effort to improve sustainability and conservation. It came with strict limits on the number of traps that can be set and the licence cannot be transferred or sold. He isn’t the only one fighting against the decades-old policy. A law firm, Cox and Palmer, is representing the remaining 70 Class B fishers in the Maritimes, who have taken the federal government to court. >click to read< 08:36
1-year commercial cod moratorium ordered for northern Gulf of St. Lawrence
Two days after the 30th anniversary of the 1992 cod moratorium that decimated the Newfoundland and Labrador economy, Ottawa has closed commercial cod fishing in the northern Gulf of St. Lawrence. On Monday, Fisheries and Oceans Minister Joyce Murray announced a one-year ban on directed commercial fishing in the northern Gulf of St. Lawrence in order to give young fish time to reach maturity. >click to read<
Rebuilding the Cod Fishery in Northern Gulf of St. Lawrence – “This is a tough decision; I recognize this commercial closure will pose economic challenges for many harvesters and comes at a hard time for people in Newfoundland and Labrador and Quebec. >click to read<
FFAW-Unifor Disappointed with Minister Decision to Close Gulf Cod – Fish, Food and Allied Workers Union is deeply disappointed with Minister Joyce Murray’s decision to close the cod fishery in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The small cod fishery is economically and culturally significant to the region, and science has shown that natural mortality is the key unaddressed factor in the stock’s ability to grow. >click to read< 12:11
N.L. MP vows he’s ‘gonna keep pushing’ forward on seal management legislation
Clifford Small may have lost a battle in his bid to convince the House of Commons of the need for legislation to manage seal populations, but the Newfoundland and Labrador Conservative MP says he’s not about to give up the fight. Small’s private members’ bill, Act for the Conservation of Fish Stocks and Management of Pinnipeds (seals), or Bill C-251, died when it came to the House for second reading on June 15. There’s more than one way to move a bill through the parliamentary process, said Small. Bills can start in the House or they can be introduced through the Senate, he said, indicating that’s the path he may pursue next. >click to read< 14:20
Huge deep-water area off N.S. declared a marine refuge – will be off limits to almost all fishing
An area off Nova Scotia’s coast nearly four times the size of Cape Breton was declared a marine refuge by Canada on Wednesday — World Oceans Day. Eastern Canyons Marine Refuge is a 44,000 square kilometre swath of ocean running from the edge of the continental shelf near Sable Island to Canada’s exclusive economic zone more than 300 kilometres offshore. All bottom-contact fisheries, including trawls, traps, and longlines, will be prohibited inside the marine refuge, with the exception of one fishing zone for smaller vessels that use longlines. It was criticized by some in Nova Scotia’s lucrative halibut fishery which will be blocked from most of the area. >click to read< 14:55
Woefully inadequate – DFO’s science on impact of seal population doesn’t go nearly far enough
Efforts by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to measure the impact of the massive seal population in Atlantic Canada are “woefully inadequate,” according to a newly released task force report. The industry-led report, which was commissioned by DFO, disputes the department’s claims that, for the most part, seals are not harming fish populations. Industry has long argued that seals are having significant impacts on groundfish stocks, pelagic stocks, shellfish and salmon. >click to read< 09:13
Minister Ignores Established Precautionary Approach for Shrimp – Slashes Quotas in Struggling Fishery
Minister Joyce Murray’s decision today to slash quotas in the Gulf of St. Lawrence shrimp fishery is a significant blow for harvesters and plant workers who have already experienced drastic cuts over the last number of years. A cut of nearly 20 per cent in Shrimp Fishing Area (SFA) 8 in the Gulf of St. Lawrence is contrary to the recently established Precautionary Approach (PA), showing Minister Murray’s lack of commitment to collaborative fisheries management. >click to read< 08:58
What Canadians think of the Blue Economy
Fisheries and Oceans Minister Joyce Murray released findings Friday of an engagement process on its Blue Economy Strategy, which aims to make better use of Canada’s oceans for food production, energy and marine trade. Murray’s ministry consulted 1,600 Canadians to get feedback on its Blue Economy Strategy, which is designed to protect Canada’s oceans and maximize economic benefits from it. But one of the most important ocean-based industries in B.C, salmon farming remains under a cloud of uncertainty, with investments and hundreds of jobs at risk, as a deadline for renewing 79 federal licences looms. Murray offered no clarity on whether they will be renewed in June, which is when they expire. >click to read<, The Blue Economy-Who wants the disappearance of fishermen? The answers are here. >click to read< 19:17
