SEA-NL is calling on Ottawa to address foreign overfishing.

The organization says the fact that a Faroese longliner with six accusations of fishing violations within the past year was allowed to return to fishing shows that the enforcement regime outside Canadian waters is a “horrible joke”.

Executive Director Ryan Cleary says the joke is on Newfoundland and Labrador as it makes no difference if the province conserves commercial stocks in their own waters when fish who leave the 200 miles are being picked off by foreign vessels.

The Faroe Islands longliner Bordoyarnes was issued six notices of infringement by the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization for violations on the tail of the Grand Banks.

SEA-NL filed an ATTIP request for the number of successful/unsuccessful boardings and inspections of foreign trawlers but were denied by DFO due to the information possibly being “injurious” to international relations or containing information confidentially supplied by a third party.