The total amount of fish being processed outside the province has skyrocketed following changes made at the provincial level earlier this year. That’s according to an access to information request posted on the provincial government’s website on September 24th.

The document indicates that up to August 27th, well over 1.5-million pounds of fish had been sent out of the province for processing.

By comparison, nearly 42,000 pounds were sent out of the province in 2023, and nearly  46,000 pounds were shipped off in 2022. That said, this year’s stark difference could be attributed to the new all-species buyers license, which was not in effect for the previous years.

Some significant changes were made to the rules of the fishery in the spring after frustrated harvesters protested outside Confederation Building, at one point shutting down the provincial budget in their search for a more viable industry and free enterprise.