Tag Archives: Regroupement des Pêcheurs professionnels du Sud de la Gaspésie
Immediate closure of herring and mackerel fisheries a broadside into coastal fishing communities
The Coalition of Atlantic and Québec fishing organizations questions the rapidity of the government decision and the lack of transparency in the science. “How do you go from a no closure to a closure situation without consulting commercial fishers,” said Martin Mallet, MFU Executive Director. “The 2021 stock assessment showed that the 4000t quota would enable recovery of the resource. This decision had been taken in collaboration with industry, and we were to revise the situation after the next stock assessment in 2023. Without consultation or even advance notice of a potential problem, DFO has slammed the commercial fishery.” This unilateral closure of the spring herring and mackerel commercial fisheries will have a major negative impact on the fishery since these fish are a significant source of bait for the lobster and snow crab fisheries. >click to read< 09:16
DFO will not change fishing area closures, despite proposed exemptions
In a statement released Friday, department officials said they had received proposals from the Maritime Fishermen’s Union and from the Regroupement des Pêcheurs professionnels du Sud de la Gaspésie asking the department to consider exempting shallow waters from temporary closures. However, the department has concluded that the measures will remain in place to protect the North Atlantic right whales from gear entanglements. “This course of action is based on the best science information available about the presence of right whales in our waters,” the statements said. >click to read<11:19
