There will be a commercial cod fishery this year, the first one since the 1992 moratorium.
The federal government has labelled it a “historic decision.”
The total allowable catch will be 18,000 tonnes—that’s about 8,000 tonnes less than what harvesters were seeking.
The fishery will apply to 2J3KL, an area which stretches from Labrador down to the Avalon Peninsula. Most of the quota goes to the inshore fleet with almost 7 per cent going to Indigenous and 3 per cent for NunatuKavut. The offshore fleet gets 6 per cent.
Ottawa says the “responsible reopening” will generate economic benefits for the province—including jobs.
Federal Fisheries Minister Diane Lebouthillier says they will “cautiously but optimistically” reopen the fishery, with the prime beneficiaries being coastal and Indigenous communities.
Meanwhile, government is also making moves on the recreational groundfish fishery.
Last week, details of this year’s fishery were announced.
Ottawa says they intend to eliminate the catch and release aspect of tour boat operations, and introduce a tagging regime starting in 2025.
Consultations will start in the fall on that aspect.
Meanwhile, the FFAW is not impressed with the announcement.
President Greg Pretty calls it “extremely disappointing” despite what he calls “hoopla” from federal MPs.
The reason, according to Pretty, lies in allocations for the offshore fleet.
Pretty says their concerns were evident back in January, when he attests a “ridiculous” redfish decision was made that transferred the resource to the offshore.
On cod, he says they were looking forward to quotas of around 25,000 tonnes.
He calls Ottawa’s decision “an absolute insult, contemptuous decision against inshore harvesters.” Pretty says it is simply a rollover from last year, with a bonus to the offshore.
The Atlantic Groundfish Council believes today’s announcement on northern cod is something to be celebrated across the province.
President and CEO of Icewater Seafoods, Alberto Wareham, believes today is the start of a “great step forward for northern cod.”
Wareham acknowledges that the quota is less than what they were asking for, but they understand why the minister wants to be conservative in their approach.
“The world is watching, we want to do it right” says Wareham, who is hopeful stock surveys next year will lead to even more increases.