Posted on 30-4-2003
Canada
Closes Newfoundland Cod Fisheries
ST. JOHN'S, Newfoundland, Canada, April 28, 2003 (ENS)
- The government of Canada has announced the closure of three
cod stocks in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and northeast of Newfoundland
and Labrador. Recent scientific assessments of the stocks determined
they are at historically low levels and show no signs of imminent
recovery despite a decade of severe conservation measures.
In 2000, these three cod stocks were worth about C$23 million
in landed value, compared to about C$1.8 billion for the entire
Atlantic fishery. The landed value of these stocks has been
steadily decreasing for more than a decade. They were valued
at C$163 million in 1990.
The government has pledged to spend $50 million on a four part
action plan to assist individuals and communities which will
be most affected by the closure and to expand scientific research
into the serious decline of these cod stocks.
The government will put $44 million over two years toward community
based economic development assistance. The Atlantic Canada Opportunities
Agency and Canada Economic Development Quebec will manage the
funds to provide assistance for short term job creation. Human
Resources Development Canada will assist affected individuals
and businesses by offering programming under the Employment
Benefits and Support Measures. In Quebec and New Brunswick,
similar measures are delivered by the province.
The Canadian government will work with stakeholder groups and
with provincial governments to determine by the fall of 2003
what further measures will be required for a comprehensive approach
to strengthening the sustainability of local economies, and
diversifying the economic base of communities.
The conservation measures planned, including the creation of
seal exclusion zones, indicate the government believes seals
are responsible for the fall in cod populations.
The conservation measures also include no trawling zones, the
closure of the recreational cod fishery in the Gulf of St. Lawrence
and northeast of Newfoundland and Labrador, and, for the next
three years, a 40 percent reduction in the total allowable catch
of capelin, an important food source for cod.
The government will put $6 million towards a two year scientific
research program to expand on current activities to evaluate
and assess the impact of seals on fish stocks.
"The investment in science will help us learn more about
the relationship between seals and fish stocks," said the
Fisheries Minister Robert Thibault. "Conservation of the
resource is critical. It is my responsibility to protect these
important resources when they are in such obvious danger. It
is my duty to take firm action to ensure this resource is preserved
for future generations."
This closure comes 20 years after the Sea Shepherd Conservation
Society, founded by Canadian Paul Watson, advised the Canadian
government and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO)
to establish a moratorium on cod fishing. Despite much lower
catch quotas enacted over the last decade, the cod populations
have remained extremely low, in sharp contrast to the bountiful
numbers seen just 25 years ago.
Captain Watson, aboard the Sea Shepherd conservation vessel
Farley Mowat observed, "As is typical of the DFO, it's
too little, too late. It's a case of closing the barn door after
the rustlers have stolen all the horses. By closing the fishery,
the DFO is admitting that it grossly mismanaged the fishery.
Sea Shepherd holds the Canadian government and the DFO directly
responsible for this terrible mismanagement."
Watson, who has worked for a halt to the annual Canadian seal
hunt since the mid-1970s, says the cod closures lead to doubt
on how the DFO can manage the hunting of other species, including
the seal populations that live and breed in the same area. "The
Canadian government permitted over 350,000 harp seals to be
needlessly slaughtered this spring - the highest seal quota
ever and the largest marine mammal hunt in the world,"
Watson said. An additional 700,000 seals are scheduled to be
hunted in the next two years, according to the DFO. Watson says,
"Many of the seal hunters include former cod fisherman
who are subsidized by the Canadian government to kill seals
as an alternate vocation. The pressure on seals may increase
now that the cod fishery has been closed and more fisherman
are thrown out of work."
Of 10 managed cod stocks on Canadas East Coast, there are three
stocks in particular that concern the department Northern Cod
(2J3KL), Northern Gulf (3Pn /4RS) and Southern Gulf (4TVn).
Catches of Atlantic cod stocks and landed values have dropped
dramatically over the past 10 years.
Of the Total Allowable Catch of 20,000 metric tons set in 2000
for these three stocks, fishers harvested approximately 18,000
tons.
Of the 6,380 groundfish license holders entitled to fish for
cod from these three cod stocks in 2000, only 3,882 actually
fished for cod mostly in small quantities.
Almost half of these license holders relied on cod for less
than 10 percent of their total fishing income. The 288 licence
holders who relied totally on cod for their entire fishing income
earned less than C$10,000.
In total, the government of Canada has spent $3.9 billion for
income support, industry adjustment measures and economic development
assistance programs for the Atlantic fishing industry between
1992-2001.
A total of 1,769 fishers opted for early retirement and 3,686
licences were retired through the four economic assistance programs
started in the 1990s.
In 1992, Canada closed the Georges Bank cod fishery farther
south due to the crash of cod populations.
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