FOPO Committee News Release
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Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans |
HOUSE OF COMMONS CHAMBRE DES COMMUNES OTTAWA, CANADA K1A 0A6 |
Comité permanent des pêches et des océans |
For immediate release
NEWS RELEASE
Northern Cod: A Failure of Canadian Fisheries Management
Ottawa, November 25, 2005 -
Mr. Loyola Hearn, member of the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans, and Fisheries and Oceans critic for the Official Opposition, tabled today in the House of Commons the Committee’s unanimous report on Northern cod. The report entitled Northern Cod: a failure of Canadian fisheries management makes 14 recommendations for the federal government.
In July 1992, federal Fisheries and Oceans Minister, John Crosbie, announced a moratorium on directed commercial cod fishing. There was a limited index commercial fishery restricted to the inshore between 1998 and 2002, but the fishery was closed again in 2003 following the realization that the harvest had had a more severe and rapid impact on the resource than expected.
The Committee traveled in late September to Newfoundland and Labrador to fully understand the factors that allowed the “world’s greatest fish stock” to be grossly overfished for so many years and to find out whether lessons from the past had been learned. The purpose of the trip was to study the events leading to the collapse of the northern cod fishery and the failure of the stock to re-establish itself since the moratorium. The Committee met in Bonavista, Port Blandford and St.John’s.
“That we conclude that overfishing was the cause of the collapse of the northern cod stock should not surprise anyone. However, in our view, it is clear that overfishing is a consequence of mismanagement, both foreign and domestic,” said Mr. Hearn, speaking for the Committee.
“Not dealing with foreign overfishing, re-opening of the inshore fishery in 1998 at unsustainable levels, and not recognizing sooner the size of the seal herds all contributed to the lack of recovery of the northern cod stocks. These were poor strategic choices in an overall atmosphere of no long-term vision and strategy,” said Mr. Tom Wappel, Chairman of the Committee. “The set of recommendations contained in this unanimous report should be taken seriously by DFO,” added Mr. Wappel.
“I am pleased with yet again a unanimous report from the hardest working committee on the Hill,” said Mr. Peter Stoffer, vice-Chair of the Committee. “This report outlines serious faults with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and it is time for the federal government to fix this department once and for all,” added Mr. Stoffer.
Among its recommendations, the Committee calls for a reopening of a commercial inshore fishery on a bay by bay basis with access based on historical attachment. The Committee did not want to set the size of this fishery but specified that the annual total allowable catch be conservatively set at a level that would allow the biomass to increase, but that would also be sufficient to provide reliable data about the size of the stocks.
In addition the Committee makes a series of recommendations regarding the assessment of inshore cod stock, stringent monitoring measures, distrust between stakeholders, reinvestment in cod science, and various aspects of the protection of sensitive cod habitats.
The Committee’s report is available on the Parliament of Canada’s web site at: www.parl.gc.ca. Copies can be obtained by contacting the Clerk of the Standing Committee. The Chairman of the Committee can also be reached at (613) 995-0284.
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