The Canadian Coast Guard has decommissioned the science vessel Alfred Needler, a vessel used in stock surveys off the coast of Newfoundland and Labradror.
The Coast Guard says the vessel has experienced a number of significant mechanical and structural failures over the last few months.
Coast Guard officials have determined that the vessel is beyond repair and it has been decommissioned.
The Needler has been key to the department’s fisheries science program and had recently been used in comparative fishing work alongside the Coast Guards new offshore fisheries science vessel.
Coast Guard calls the decommissioning of the Needler a “bittersweet moment” for crew who have served on the vessel over the last 40 years.
Work is underway to preserve artifacts of historic significance from the vessel before it is disposed of in an environmentally sound manner.
(FFAW secretary-treasurer Jason Spingle.)
The fisheries union says the federal government is doing the fishery a disservice by cutting back on science.
The FFAW says DFO is going to decommission one of four survey vessels, and cancelling the northern cod and shrimp stock assessments planned for this spring.
Information from the stock assessments is used in a variety of means including setting quotas.
Jason Spingle, FFAW secretary-treasurer, says fish harvesters and plant workers will bear the brunt of the federal government’s shortcomings when it comes to adequate science.
The union is meeting with federal cabinet minister Seamus O’Regan today to discuss fish science.
