The FFAW is responding to the US-based Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch which has placed North American lobster and Canadian snow crab among seafood species to “avoid.”
The reason is based on the potential impact of gear on the North Atlantic right whale which is prone to entanglements with surface gear.
The Fisheries Union says the North Atlantic right whale is not commonly found in waters around Newfoundland and Labrador.
(File photo, 2019.)
According to the union, there have only been three sightings of North Atlantic right whales in waters around this province in the last number of years, and no reports of entanglements.
Lobster represents $94 million in value to NL harvesters and the province as a whole.
The FFAW says snow crab from this province has been certified to the world’s most recognized seafood sustainability standard—the Marine Stewardship Council—for almost a decade. The union has also been working with DFO on the use and development of biodegradable twine, and a ghost gear retrieval program has collected almost 40,000 pounds of gear in the last two years.
