Tag Archives: Robert Rangeley

Is politics getting in the way of rebuilding a sustainable fishery in Newfoundland?

The sentinel program, created after the cod moratorium in 1992 to monitor fish populations, is run exclusively by the Fish Food & Allied Workers, the powerful union that represents around 15,000 fishermen, fish plant employees and other workers in the province. DFO relies on data from the sentinel fishery to help assess fish stocks, and has paid the union millions to run the program. “The FFAW and the DFO are cheating the fishermen out of a resource that belongs to the people of Newfoundland,” said Jason Bateman, a former enforcement officer with DFO.  Ryan Cleary, a former member of Parliament for St. John’s-Mount Pearl and an outspoken critic of the FFAW, said the union has found a way to prosper since the collapse of cod by integrating itself into fisheries management, acting almost as a regulator, while becoming a vocal industry voice that contradicts science. >click to read< 17:55

‘Wake-up call’ needed for Canada’s fisheries management: scientific audit

The report found Canada has a lot of work to do to reverse the term decline of its fish stocks, and it needs to pick up the pace. Oceana’s science director Robert Rangeley said he hopes the audit is a “wake-up call” for better fisheries management. “My biggest fear is one of complacency,” said Rangeley. “We’re still hovering around one-third of our fish stocks (that) are healthy, which is very poor performance for the 194 stocks that are so important for coastal communities.” >click to read<09:34

Hope fading for recovery of northern cod off Newfoundland: ‘This stock isn’t growing’

Hopes have been dashed for a recovery of the once mighty northern cod stock off Newfoundland, a leading conservation group says. Three years after scientists confirmed there were signs of a comeback and catch limits were increased, the federal government decided this week to reduce the limit. Ottawa cited a spring stock assessment that found the cod population had declined 30 per cent after seven years of rebuilding. >click to read<09:55

Disappointed by cut to cod quota, FFAW president says stocks can handle larger harvest

The president of Newfoundland and Labrador’s largest fishermen’s union says the province’s cod stocks can handle a greater harvest and didn’t need to see this year’s commercial quota cut. Keith Sullivan of the Fish, Food & Allied Workers’ Union told CBC Radio’s The Broadcast that the 25 per cent cut to this year’s quota will hurt Newfoundland and Labrador communities that are heavily reliant on the fishery. “It doesn’t really take into consideration the livelihoods what people depend on the fishery, whether you’re a fish harvester or you work in a plant or the entire economy of coastal communities,” said Sullivan. >click to read<20:13