Tag Archives: SEA-NL
SEA-NL launches petition to change status of non-core groundfish licenses
SEA-NL has launched a petition urging the House of Commons to change the status of non-core groundfish licenses in this province so they can be sold or handed down. “Non-core license holders are treated like second-class fishermen,” says Jason Sullivan, President of SEA-NL, the distinct voice of the province’s licensed owner-operators. “That must end based on safety-at-sea, and fairness.” DFO’s licensing policy for Newfoundland and Labrador states that non-core groundfish licenses are not eligible for reissuance, meaning they die with the inshore owner-operators who hold them. >click to read<, and sign the petition 11:55
Overwhelming support for extending length of inshore fishing boats – SEA-NL
The province’s inshore owner-operator fish harvesters overwhelmingly support extending the maximum length of fishing boats in their fleet for safety reasons, and to fall in line with the rest of Atlantic Canada. “The message from the inshore fleet is clear that the days of chopping off boats are over,” says Jason Sullivan, President of Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador, the distinct voice of the province’s licensed, owner-operators. “Fisheries and Oceans has gotten the message loud and clear that the policy must change.” >click to read< 10:32
Should Russia be kicked out of NAFO; its trawler fleet banned from fishing outside Canadian waters?
There’s a case for it considering Canada has closed its airspace to Russian aircraft, and even a call by hockey legend Wayne Gretzky for Russia to be banned from the rescheduled World Juniors this summer in Alberta as a consequence for the country’s invasion of Ukraine. Offshore trawlers from the Russian Federation have access to thousands of tonnes of quota a year in the NAFO zone, including redfish, turbot, and skate. Kicking Russia out of NAFO and banning its offshore draggers from the area (if that’s possible), could be another message to President Vladimir Putin that his invasion of the Ukraine is unacceptable. Below are the NAFO quota tables for 2022, including a breakdown of fish set aside for Russia. >click to read< 09:34
SEA-NL up and running as ‘distinct voice’ of skippers, licensed inshore owner-operators
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) elected its first executive during a founding convention earlier this month, and the Board’s first order of business was to hire an Executive Director. “Licensed inshore harvesters finally have an organization to serve as their distinct voice, and their voice alone,” says Jason Sullivan, a Bay Bulls fisherman who was elected SEA-NL President during the virtual convention. >click to read< 11:48
SEA-NL calls for third-party investigation into DFO NL
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) is calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to order an independent investigation of the operations of the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans in the province amid alarming allegations of political interference raised by the CBC. “DFO’s last shred of credibility in this province is on the line,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s interim Executive Director. “The allegations by the union representing DFO scientists not only call into question the department’s faith in itself, but what little faith inshore harvesters and all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians have left in DFO to manage the wild commercial fisheries.” >click to read< 10:48
SEA-NL says bottom-trawling must be banned from all three adjacent cod stocks (not just two)
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) has recommended that Fisheries and Oceans expand its ban on bottom-trawling to include all three cod stocks off the province’s shores. “Fisheries and Oceans cannot scientifically justify banning bottom-trawling for cod in two adjacent stocks when all three are in the critical zone,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s interim Executive Director. DFO allows for bottom-trawling of the cod stock off southern Newfoundland in fishing zone 3Ps. However, bottom-trawling is banned in the northern cod fishery off eastern Newfoundland and Labrador, and for cod in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. All three cod stocks have been designated by DFO science as in the critical zone, meaning fishing must be kept to a minimum. >click to read< 12:06
SEA-NL: Standing Fish Price Setting Panel
SEA-NL says an immediate priority for the 2022 inshore fishery is for the province to amend its fish price-setting system to address a weakness that cost harvesters untold millions of dollars in last year’s snow crab fishery alone. “Inshore harvesters were not paid a fair-market return from their snow crab sales in 2021 because a provincial government regulation stood in the way,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s interim Executive Director. “The regulation must be amended before the start of the 2022 season, or what little faith that exists in the price-setting system will be gone altogether.”>click to read< 08:05
DFO responds to Ryan Cleary’s allegations of a ‘backroom’ plan
The interim executive director of Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador accused the Department of Fisheries and Oceans of orchestrating a “backroom” plan to rebuild the cod stock off southern Newfoundland and exclude the voice of inshore harvesters. According to Cleary, DFO has assembled a working group, made up of DFO and FFAW union officials, fish processors, indigenous interests and the offshore, sector to develop a rebuilding plan for cod in the 3Ps fishing zone. An official for DFO, however, says when DFO established the working group they invited members of the 3Ps Groundfish Advisory Committee to participate. >click to read< 13:32
SEA-NL condemns DFO’s backroom plans for rebuilding south coast cod stock
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) accuses Fisheries and Oceans of orchestrating a “backroom” plan to rebuild the cod stock off southern Newfoundland and exclude the voice of inshore harvesters. “Any rebuilding attempt that does not include the input of the inshore fleet is doomed,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s interim Executive Director. “When DFO leaves inshore harvesters out of the equation they get the math and science wrong, and the department is doing it again.” >click to read< 10:37
DFO forces fishermen to shorten boats, Transport Canada fines them for it
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) takes issue with the sudden move by Transport Canada to come down like a hammer on inshore fishermen who’ve had fishing vessels modified or cut in length without advance approval. “Fishermen have been told for years by officials with Transport Canada, Fisheries and Oceans, and their own union that they didn’t need architectural drawings or advance approval to modify or cut a vessel to fish in the under 40’ fleet,” says Ryan Cleary, Interim Executive Director of SEA-NL. “Now the same fishermen are being told they will be locked up, and/or slapped with million-dollar fines if they didn’t do what they were told they didn’t have to do,” added Cleary. “Sounds to me like grounds for a class-action lawsuit.” >click to read< 13:19
SEA-NL calls on new federal Fisheries and Oceans minister to investigate allegations ‘pirate’ draggers destroying Grand Banks
“Canada may have the toughest fishery enforcement within its own waters, but as long as it’s a free-for-all once migratory stocks swim over the imaginary line that is the 200-mile limit those efforts are in vain,” says Ryan Cleary, Interim Executive Director of Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador. “Fisheries and Oceans Minister Joyce Murray must investigate the magnitude of the overfishing, and take immediate actions to stop it,” said Cleary. “This is not just about Newfoundland and Labrador, but a national food-security issue, as well as propelling a blue economy. >click to read< 10:33
‘Pirate trawlers’ destroying Grand Banks under DFO’s nose, says Captain of Faroe Islands longliner
The captain of a Faroese longliner says “pirate” factory-freezer trawlers are destroying the Grand Banks by directing for moratorium species such as cod and other illegal fishing activities. While Fisheries and Oceans is said to be aware of what’s happening, Capt. Christian Mathisen says enforcement officials have told him their hands are tied because Covid-19 protocols Covid-19 protocols from boarding and inspecting the huge foreign draggers. photos, >click to read< 15:08
SEA-NL calls on Premier to draw line in sand for province’s inshore fleet over Gulf redfish
SEA-NL is calling on Premier Andrew Furey to take a stand for the province’s inshore fleet to ensure the sector is the primary beneficiary of the adjacent and exploding redfish stock in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. “Redfish could be to the inshore fleet what Hibernia was to the oil industry, but Premier Furey must draw a line in the sand to get us there,” says Ryan Cleary, interim Executive Director of Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador. >click to read< 13:17
Full Steam Ahead! SEA-NL founding convention is scheduled for Nov. 18-19th in Gander
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) — a new group formed to represent the province’s more than 3,000 licensed, independent owner-operator fish harvesters — has scheduled its founding convention for Nov. 18-19th at Gander’s Quality Hotel. “It’s full-steam ahead for SEA-NL,” says Ryan Cleary, interim-Executive Director. “Enterprise owners will finally get their own distinct voice in the industry they drive, and, ultimately, achieve a direct say in all decisions that impact their enterprises.” >click to read< 10:14
SEA-NL questions federal candidate Mary Shortall’s commitment to inshore fish harvesters
“As a labour leader Mary Shortall turned her back on the fishermen and women of Newfoundland and Labrador in favour of the union executive,” says Ryan Cleary. “The question must be asked, who will Mary Shortall stand for if she’s elected to Parliament: workers or the union and party executive?” Cleary points out that as President of the Federation of Labour, Shortall failed to react to a 2016 Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court decision, later upheld on appeal in favour of inshore scallop harvesters who took their union to court over a compensation fund for lost fishing grounds in the Strait of Belle Isle. In the court case, it was revealed the FFAW-Unifor had negotiated a compensation package with Nalcor without permission of scallop harvesters. >click to read< 09:41
SEA-NL: Investigation into foreign control/corporate concentration in fish processing sector required
SEA-NL is calling on Premier Andrew Furey to launch an investigation into foreign control/corporate concentration in the province’s fish processing sector to coincide with a similar ongoing federal review of offshore fishing licences. The federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) is currently reviewing foreign ownership/corporate concentration of offshore licences to prevent foreign interests from establishing effective control over licence-holders. “Ottawa’s review of offshore licences is only half the story, and only half the issues that must be addressed in the province’s fishery,” says Ryan Cleary, interim Executive Director of Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador. “The whole story about potential illegal control of offshore and inshore fish quotas won’t be told until the Premier launches a parallel investigation.” >click to read, including the letter< 20:16
DFO and fishing vessel safety – A Damning Indictment of its safety culture
Fisheries and Oceans’ decision not to extend the halibut fishery in the Gulf of St. Lawrence for the province’s inshore harvesters who didn’t catch their quotas due to poor weather is a damning incitement of its safety culture, says Merv Wiseman, an outspoken search and rescue advocate. “DFO is telling fishermen if you don’t go to sea because of bad weather you’re going to lose your fish,”,,, “Putting extra pressure on fishermen to make decisions contrary to safety is a recipe for disaster that we’ve seen play out too many times.” A Transportation Safety Board report into the 2016 drowning of four Shea Heights fishermen found they took a risk in going out in questionable weather in order to land their weekly cod quota, and to recover fishing gear before deadline. >click to read< 07:34
SEA-NL calls for review of the panel system for fish pricing
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) says this year’s snow crab fishery had the highest landed value in the province’s history, but there’s evidence inshore harvesters may not have gotten a fair share of market returns. “When the market price of snow crab continued to rise after the final price to inshore harvesters was set at the end of April with no way for harvesters to appeal that price, then the system must be overhauled or scrapped, says Ryan Cleary, interim Executive Director of SEA-NL. “In that light, SEA-NL is asking the Andrew Furey administration to review the panel system of fish pricing.” >click to read< 15:46
SEA-NL accuses federal Fisheries Minister of favouritism. Demands an apology.
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) demands the federal Minister of Fisheries and Oceans apologize for showing favouritism to her home province – describing Nova Scotia as “leading the way” in Canada’s seafood sector. “Bernadette Jordan needs to be reminded she’s the Minister for all of Canada – not just Nova Scotia,” says Ryan Cleary, interim Executive Director of SEA-NL, a new and distinct voice for the province’s licensed, owner-operator inshore harvesters. “Premier Andrew Furey himself must ask the Minister whether her goal is to lead the way for jobs and more fish to leave Newfoundland and Labrador,” said Cleary. “It’s time the Furey administration took a stand for the wild commercial fisheries.” >click to read< 14:49
29 years of northern cod moratorium have cost NL at least $26 billion
In his 1992 book, No Fish and Our Lives, Some Survival Notes for Newfoundland, Cabot Martin wrote that a rebuilt northern cod stock could support annual harvesters of 400,000 tonnes (881 million/lbs).The moratorium remains the biggest layoff in Canadian history, and while there’s a small-scale inshore stewardship fishery, Fisheries and Oceans does not set a total-allowable catch (TAC), and it’s not considered a full-fledged commercial fishery. Where are we today? All three commercial cod stocks adjacent to Newfoundland and Labrador are categorized by DFO scientists as in the critical zone, meaning removals are to be kept to a minimum. >click to read< – 25 Years ago Today – The Northern Cod Moratorium – Sunday, July 2, 
marks a quarter of a century since then federal fisheries minster John Crosbie announced what was planned to be a two-year moratorium on the northern cod fishery. It continues on today, though it has often seemed lost in the wake of a lucrative crab and shrimp fishery that remarkably saved the industry and many communities. But back in 1992, a province settled and built on the back of the mighty cod fishery, >click to read< 11:20
SEA-NL up and running as ‘distinct’ voice of owner-operators; membership sign-up has begun
For Immediate Release – The Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador Inc. >(SEA-NL)< has been formed to serve as the distinct voice of the province’s more than 3,000 licensed, commercial inshore fish harvesters — with membership signup officially starting today. “It’s high time independent owner-operators were recognized as a distinct group within the Newfoundland and Labrador fishery, with a say on all decisions that impact their enterprises,”,,, >click to read< 13:18
SEA-NL Calls on Federal Fisheries Minister to Reverse Decision to Limit Increase to 2021 Northern Shrimp Quota
“DFO went outside its own rule book to limit the increase to this year’s quota, which will translate into the loss of more than 2,000 tonnes of shrimp to the province’s inshore fleet,” says Ryan Cleary, interim Executive Director of SEA-NL, a new association to represent the province’s more than 3,000 independent owner-operators. Cleary wrote federal Fisheries and Oceans Minister Bernadette Jordan Tuesday regarding her recent decision to institute a year-over-year limit of 15% to this year’s northern shrimp quota off southern Labrador and northeastern Newfoundland. (A copy of the letter is attached.) >click to read< 11:10
SEA-NL forms to represent the licensed commercial inshore fish harvesters of Newfoundland and Labrador
In a media release Thursday, the Seafood Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador said it will represent the interests of only licensed owner-operators. As an association, says the press release, >click to read< SEA-NL won’t need permission from the province’s Labour Relations Board to organize and incorporate. “Owner-operators are a distinct group within the province’s fishing industry, and it’s high time they were recognized as such,” said SEA-NL organizer Ryan Cleary. >click to read< 18:39
