The federal government has ended the Newfoundland and Labrador northern cod moratorium, which gutted the province91裸聊视频檚 economy and transformed scores of small communities after it was imposed more than 30 years ago.
The Fisheries Department announced Wednesday it would re-establish a commercial cod fishery with a total allowable catch of 18,000 tonnes for the 2024 season.
91裸聊视频淓nding the northern cod moratorium is a historic milestone for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians,91裸聊视频� federal Fisheries Minister Diane Lebouthillier said in a news release.
91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 through working together that we have reached this moment. We will cautiously but optimistically build back this fishery with the prime beneficiaries being coastal and Indigenous communities throughout Newfoundland and Labrador.91裸聊视频�
Northern cod were once the backbone of Newfoundland and Labrador91裸聊视频檚 400-year-old fishing industry. By the late 1960s, the industry peaked as northern cod landings reached about 800,000 tonnes, most of which was hauled in by large, offshore vessels.
But the population collapsed in the early 1990s because of overfishing, mismanagement and changing environmental conditions.
John Crosbie, who was federal fisheries minister at the time, famously said, 91裸聊视频淚 didn91裸聊视频檛 take the fish out of the goddamned water!91裸聊视频� to a group of fishermen upset about the dwindling fish stocks. That was on July 1, 1992.
The next day, Ottawa announced the moratorium. It was eventually extended to other groundfish stocks, wiping out more than 30,000 jobs 91裸聊视频� widely described as the largest mass layoff in Canadian history.
Within a year, the entire $700-million enterprise 91裸聊视频� and way of life 91裸聊视频� was gone.
Young people in rural Newfoundland and Labrador began leaving for St. John91裸聊视频檚 or mainland Canada to find work. Between 1991 and 2001, the province91裸聊视频檚 population fell by about 10 per cent, largely because of people leaving outport communities, according to the Heritage Newfoundland and Labrador website.
The moratorium was supposed to last for two years. But when that deadline passed, fish stocks did not show signs of recovering.
Last year, Fisheries Department scientists announced they had used new modelling showing the cod stock was out of the 91裸聊视频渃ritical zone91裸聊视频� for the first time in decades. They emphasized, however, that the designation change was due to the use of different models, not because there was necessarily more fish in the water.
When a species is in the critical zone, scientists recommend it be left alone as much as possible and that catch limits remain small.
Now the stock is in the 91裸聊视频渃autious zone,91裸聊视频� which means fisheries decisions should still prioritize regrowth. According to federal figures, the total catch of 18,000 tonnes for the 2024 season is just a fraction of what it was 91裸聊视频� 120,000 tonnes 91裸聊视频� in February 1992, just months before the moratorium was imposed.
George Rose, a marine scientist who studied Newfoundland cod for decades, said he remains skeptical of the species91裸聊视频� new designation.
91裸聊视频淚t is not a change in the stock, which hasn91裸聊视频檛 grown significantly since 2015-16, just a change in the goalposts by which the stock is judged,91裸聊视频� Rose wrote in an email Wednesday.
The new modelling 91裸聊视频渞ewrites decades of research and analyses about the stock and its potential productivity, and is based on analyses that are unclear and at best questionable,91裸聊视频� he added.
By lifting the moratorium, Rose said, the Fisheries Department is 91裸聊视频渞olling the dice on this important fishery.91裸聊视频�
The news release Wednesday from the federal Fisheries Department said roughly 84 per cent of this year91裸聊视频檚 total allowable catch will be allocated to inshore fishers, while six per cent will go to Canadian companies fishing offshore.
91裸聊视频淥ur province has waited a long time for the end of the northern cod moratorium,91裸聊视频� said Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey in a social media post. 91裸聊视频淎 sustainable harvest that provides maximum benefits for all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians is most important.91裸聊视频�
The non-profit conservation group Oceans North said the decision was a bad move because it will allow large Canadian and European offshore trawlers to fish for a population they say is far from healthy.
91裸聊视频淚t is a short-sighted choice that is in opposition to scientific advice and favours near-term socioeconomics and politics over the future of the stock 91裸聊视频� a mistake that has been made in the past and should not be repeated,91裸聊视频� the group said in a statement.
Like Rose, Oceans North believes the size of the northern cod stock has not grown in years.
91裸聊视频淔or years, (the fisheries department) had been working on a plan for how we could rebuild this stock to healthy levels,91裸聊视频� said Oceans North fisheries director Katie Schleit. 91裸聊视频淚nstead, we91裸聊视频檙e getting a plan that risks undoing any progress we91裸聊视频檝e made.91裸聊视频�
Meanwhile, the Association of Seafood Producers, which represents more than two dozen seafood businesses, said the reopening was a welcome move.
91裸聊视频淭he iconic cod fishery was once a mainstay and has been the backbone of our province,91裸聊视频� executive director Jeff Loder said in a statement. 91裸聊视频淭he reopening of the commercial fishery will be well-received by our coastal communities, harvesters, plant workers, local businesses and others who rely on the fishery for their livelihoods.91裸聊视频�
Alberto Wareham, CEO of IceWater Seafoods Inc. in Arnold91裸聊视频檚 Cove, N.L., said the 18,000-tonne limit is 91裸聊视频渃onservative.91裸聊视频� IceWater is the only company in the province processing northern cod.
91裸聊视频淔rom our perspective, this is a bit more conservative than we thought we needed to go,91裸聊视频� Wareham said in an interview. 91裸聊视频淏ut it is science based.91裸聊视频�
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